The psychology of customer service goes beyond what you want for your business. You are in for a huge reality check as an entrepreneur and small business owner if you have not vetted your customer and market to understand their needs.
The psychology of customer service is multi-faceted. As a business owner you must juggle customer satisfaction, customer retention and the customer experience delicately. There is an art that goes into balancing all three and maintaining your customer base and growing your business with new customers. The psychology of customer service can be cracked, continue reading and I will share the golden nuggets to begin the process.
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Psychology of Customer Service
Many people go into business with a plan to succeed and generate a hefty revenue. They have a product or service that they are excited about and cannot wait to share it with the world. The research has been completed and the strategy to gain customers is in place and now the business is ready to make its grand appearance. Whether it’s just you or a team, you are all set to conquer the market, right? Well that may be the case but did you:
- Research customer service trends and strategies?
- Do you understand the concept of the “customer experience”?
- What about capturing the VOC?
You might say, why do I need to understand customer service? I am selling software. I am selling cakes. I am selling apparel. I do make-up. Well guess what, regardless if your transaction is over after your service is performed, that should not end your customer-relationship. Whether you are offering a service or product you will still need to have an understanding of proper customer service to survive in business. When you are offering tangible or intangible goods to consumers an expectation is there and most times it is unspoken. This is where you will have to do some work outside of selling to understand your market’s expectation. Just because you fulfilled a service or sold a product does not mean you have satisfied your customers. This is a huge mistake many companies have made along the way and this could be the end all, be all of growing your company and increasing revenue.
The problem is for many decades, customer service has been considered a clerical function and not considered an important department to focus attention or money to improve. The tasks were very tedious, data entry stemming from mail inquiries or phone calls. The processes involved monotonous steps of completing forms, passing forms to internal departments and signing off on documents and fulfilling the customers concerns. The thing that went under the radar for years was the wealth of data that was being gathered and set aside. Companies finally started to realize that the customer service department was filled with vast information that could contribute to an organization’s growth.
Customer service has grown into a business within a business. Regardless if it is a small corner store or a large corporation, the art of service must be incorporated for success. Most companies have an element of service wrapped in their mission statement and or company goals. Being able to display to the customer upfront that you are committed to servicing them is key in the first step of winning them over and gaining their repeat business. Being able to understand that customers come in two forms will catapult your relationship with consumers and employees. This concept is simple when you think about it. You have internal customers and external customers and both have expectations.
When you have a business, the internal customers are your employees. If it is just you running the company, then you have to learn how to treat yourself well which is another blog for another time. But when you have a team of people, small or large, they become your customer. Think about it this way, morale is the key when dealing with internal customers. The morale of the internal customer is vital to any business success.
Employee morale is an element that many businesses fail to be in tune with and they lose great people due to this oversight. Staying on top of the pulse of your business is extremely important and a great leader knows that morale must be created and it starts with the head of the business. As your business grows and you hire people, it is vital that you pull out their personality during the interview because you want the culture of your company to be upbeat as well as on the cusp of the industry with experienced employees. Therefore, internal customer service must be nurtured and trust must be built in order for the team to come together and achieve a common goal without conflict. One way to make sure that your internal customer service is top notch is to hold regular meetings to encourage positive dialogue.
It is self-explanatory who are the external customers. They are the people that you offer your product or service too with expectations of payment. But are you aware of what they expect of you? Sure, they want your product and or service but is that enough in this day and age? If you are a one man or one woman show than you must gather the data on your customers. Finding out what they are buying is the easy part of the discovery process. The hard partfor most business people is listening and observing because they are too busy thinking of how can I sell more of my product or service. There must be a system in place where you capture the voice of your customer (VOC).
The easiest way is simply to ask them while they are in your presence – Are you pleased with your XYZ? Was there anything we could have done better? Would you recommend our product/service to your friends and family? The value in collecting their responses could be the difference in being in business next year or not. Taking a true interest in your customers is major because you should want to know how you are doing, not how you think you are doing. You must ask for feedback even if you already know you are doing poorly in an area. If you have a team of people it is important to share the external customer feedback with them as well because you want everyone to do better so that you can have repeat customers and longevity.
As your business grows, the service aspect should grow as well. There should be a better grasp of at-risk customer and how to retain them and also how to win-back customers that you lost. The comprehension that service is not just a function but a service-oriented selling function is necessary for longevity. Customer service once mastered can turn a compliant into a profit when conflict-resolution is applied properly. Just remember that everyone wants something, you just need to stop and listen to what your customers are telling you.
The psychology of customer service balls down to understanding your customers, both internal and external. It is the perfect balance of meeting the customer’s needs, understanding their concerns and expectations. Then you must ensure that you meet their needs, concerns and expectations in a timely fashion and with the highest form of professionalism. Most customers are savvy and have done their research and want more than good service; they want an experience. Look at companies like Apple, Zappos, Amazon and eBay to namea few. They all cater to the customer.
When you sign into Amazon they immediately alert you with books and products you may like all right on the home page. This creates an experience each time you connect with Amazon’s website. It shows that they have taken the time to store my searches and purchases in a way to benefit my needs and future purchases. This type of experience is one of the reasons why Amazon has been able to expand and run other companies out of business.
Read:8 Tips to Master Customer Service and Profit
Zappos will talk to you for hours and not sell you anything. One customer service rep did just that for 10 hours and 43 minutes. Read about it here: Click link When this story got out many wanted to understand why. Why would a rep talk with a customer that long and not sell anything to them? When Zappos was contacted, their response was “Zappos’s first core value is deliver wow through service, and we feel that allowing our team members the ability to stay on the phone with a customer for as long as they need is a crucial means of fulfilling this value.” It was all about the customer experience and building a positive impression.
Apple has a “secret” employee training manual. Their training is so valuable that someone leaked it a few years ago. It is down to a science and it is centered around the customer and the customer experience. Apple also empowers their employees with all the tools they need (mainly Apple products) to satisfy the customer.
I am a firm believer in not reinventing the wheel. But that does not mean copy your competition. It means study successful people and successful businesses and then add your unique flavor. Make your business uniquely yours by creating a niche and researching your industry in order to stay at the forefront of technology and trends.
Customer service can be quite emotional but once you develop your listening skills, create a positive experience and deliver on your promise than the rest is lite work. Creating a strong customer base will be the best free marketing you will ever receive. Positive word of mouth from people you have serviced well will always be a great selling point and a great source of testimonials to add to your website. Always ask for referrals and testimonials. They will make your foundation stronger and add legitimacy to your product and service.
Get into the minds of your customers by interacting with them and then understanding the psychology of service will come natural!
Also get a planner and organize your life and business!
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Jacqueline Michele Ridley is a board-certified problem solver (aka board-certified Lean Six Sigma Green Belt), Customer Alignment Strategist (aka Customer Service Expert) and workflow strategist with over 25 years of experience in Customer Operations and Quality Improvements in multi-million-dollar businesses.
For information, visit JacquelineMichele.com
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