If you’re looking for a way for your business to fail, bad customer service should be at the top of the list. Unhappy customers quickly turn into lost customers, which means not only lost current business but lost future business. Plus, people who have experienced bad customer service are twice as likely to talk about their experiences than people who have experienced good service. That means that you’ll not only lose the business of your customers but also any potential future customers that might hear about your poor service.
Excellent Customer Sevice Begins with Your Employees
Regardless of your business, great customer service is vital, and it begins and ends with your employees. Your employees are the people who deal directly with your customers. You can put all of the customer service strategies and rules into place that you like, but at the end of the day, if your employees are unhappy with their work, that unhappiness will transfer directly to your customers, costing you business.
Employees who don’t believe in the goals, products, or services of the companies that they work for are not going to represent their company well to other people. Employees who hate their jobs aren’t going to do them well. Even employees who don’t have customer-facing responsibilities can have a negative impact upon customer service if their lack of engagement causes delays, mistakes, or reduced morale throughout the company.
Happy employees, on the other hand, are enthusiastic about their work. They believe in the products and mission of the companies they work for and are therefore more than happy to relay that enthusiasm onto customers. Employee happiness is directly related to customer happiness, and both are essential to a strong bottom line. Telling your sales people to smile when they talk to clients isn’t going to improve business; giving your sales people a reason to smile absolutely will.
The key to employee happiness is a positive workplace culture that is supportive, communicative, and rewarding. If your customer service is lagging, chances are the key to improving it lies within the culture of your organization. Start your improvement process by asking your employees directly what they value and what they think the company should value. Taking steps to help your employees feel more appreciated, more heard, and more satisfied will lead directly to your customers feeling the exact same way.
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