It’s no secret that good customer service results in a happy shopper with higher intentions to return, however the trick some businesses are missing can be as simple as providing the right staff training.
It is naive to think that hiring staff with a sunny disposition and a polite manner is all it takes to ensure good customer service. As a business owner it is a must to invest in customer service training to ensure your staff know exactly what to do and how to act when things don’t quite go to plan.
Customer service expert, Martin Grunstein, highlights that the ‘most important impressions in businesses are first impressions and last impressions.’ Giving a good first impression allows you to set the standards. Your customer will feel positive about the service and products they are about to receive and less likely to complain later on in an aggressive manner. However, just as the first impression is essential to build an expectation, the last impression could potentially become a deal breaker.
Grunstein explains in his whimsically titled article, ‘I’M NOT IN THE MOOD FOR YOUR ANGER’ just how to react when a customer complains, expressing his opinion on how he finds it ‘amazing in this day and age how few companies have their staff trained in the skills to deal with complaints.’ Rather than leaving customers feeling ‘inconvenienced, insulted and ignored’ Grunstein explains that staff should instead ask the question ‘what can we do to put it right?’ If you and your staff are able to follow the basic rules of good customer service, allowing the customer to first of all express their opinion without interruption and secondly accepting acknowledgement of their inconvenience, you are on the right track to finding a resolution.
Resolutions don’t always have to result in physical or financial compensation either. Grunstein found that the gesture alone is often enough to please a customer and resolve a situation explaining that 80% of complaints to a lighting company he trained did not take up the offer of express airfreight when their delivery was late, but instead were content with the gesture resulting in returning customers and a good reputation.
Providing great customer service and knowing exactly how to act when things do go wrong, therefore, is essential to ensure your business continues to establish its reputation. The Jamaica Blue™ café franchise has managed to build its reputation for delivering both great customer service and products by providing all franchisees and their staff with expert customer service training delivered by a team of experienced professionals. Ensure your café business leaves the best first and last impression every time; the Jamaica Blue team are there to help you along the way.
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