Employees Should Be Taught Excellent Customer Service

Timothy Gavakava* waited patiently for the young lady behind the counter to finish her telephone conversation with her boyfriend. He wanted to quickly grab lunch and be on his way to an appointment with a potentially huge client. Unfortunately, the lady who was supposed to be serving at this food outlet had an important phone call with her boyfriend about their plans for the evening. She kept chatting and giggling oblivious of customers who by now were in a queue waiting for her. Timothy shuddered he wanted to pounce on her, scream and kick her. He grew impatient and eventually decided to forgo lunch and rush to his afternoon appointment.

A lot of people go through awful customer service at the hands of employees who are too big to be bothered by customers. They treat customers as an inconvenience that they have to deal with each day. Very rude, abusive and arrogant service personnel are awash in today’s businesses. One hesitates to ask these employees about certain features or promotions run by their companies for fear of being publicly humiliated for asking “silly” questions. You wander whether these employees are aware of where their salaries come from or why they left their houses in the morning coming to work?

Have your customers started complaining about the attitudes and behaviours of your customer service personnel? If your answer is yes, then it is long overdue for you to teach your employees about the excellent service they should be giving your customers. Unfortunately for you, most customers are like Timothy Gavakava, they simply walk away silently, waving good bye and good riddance. They have neither the time nor the patience to complain.

This calls for you to teach your employees to provide excellent customer service. The daunting task is for you, as management, to make it happen. If your customers are going to experience excellent service then the major responsibility for creating a customer- friendly atmosphere begins with you, the boss. Not only are you responsible for teaching first-rate customer service skills, but as the leader you must demonstrate these behaviours and be a role model for your employees. Without a positive example from you, they’re not likely to improve.

Whether or not an employee works specifically as a customer service person, he must speak and relate to customers and potential customers as if they are the paymasters. In fact, they are. Tell your employees to seriously consider this startling truth: If customers don’t keep coming back and purchasing your company’s products or services, there will be no company. And obviously, if there’s no company – or if you’re forced to downsize – many of the people working for you now may lose their jobs. I bet you’ll have your employees’ complete attention.

Your main goal is to have each customer leave with a smile on their face and a feeling of having been taken care of by you and your employees – and having purchased just what they needed or wanted. If you want your customers to come back again and again, you’ve got to satisfy them by making it easy for them to do business with you, which will get them to return for more. Everyone in your organization should understand that if they ill-treat customers, they will not get repeat business and salaries will not be paid.

How do you go about teaching your employees the intricacies of excellent customer service? Start with simple everyday things that are easy to implement and relate to. We call these quick wins for employees. It is not about doing extraordinary things, but doing ordinary things in an extraordinary way.

If a customer walks into your premises or approaches an employee they should become the centre of attraction. Employees should stop talking to their colleagues and get off the phone. Give the customer undivided attention, they deserve it, they are the boss, remember! Show them you are more than prepared to help them with all they want today. Customers need to feel that employees were ready to serve them at any given time and they will bring back their business.

Customers need to be acknowledged that they have arrived. An employee should look up at the customer, smile and welcome their potential pay cheque. Yes customers do bring in the money that is used to pay salaries, in case you have forgotten! In China they have a proverb which says that, “a man without a smiling face should not open shop.” Surely in a very competitive market place it is the shop that provides excellent customer service that thrives. Genuine smiles which shows the customer that they are valued and welcome is what we are talking about here.

Probe customers by asking them how you can help or assist them today. Teaching your employees to become comfortable with the use of questions is a sure way to solve most customer complaints. Probing is likened to drawing water out of a deep well. The more you do it the more information you draw out from your customer which helps you in serving them. Provide answers that are factual and useful to the customer. Explain everything in simple understandable language which the customer is able to relate to. Be empathetic, show your concern for them in a big way.

As your employee prepares to conclude the sell they should learn to ask, in a friendly way, if they have been of assistance to the customer. If the answer is no, they should continue to serve the customer until they have satisfied their needs. No one should walk out of your company doors unsatisfied with your service. Once a customer has come to you they should remain with you. Keep them under lock and key, they should never go to competition again. Why should they? Ask the customer if they need anything else. Are they sure there is nothing else you can do for them today? When are they coming back again? How about their friends, relatives and colleagues? Where are they transacting? Encourage them to tell someone about their experience with you and persuade them to come to you for business.  

In all this your employees should keep smiling. Not a plastic smile. No, never! The customer is able to tell the difference between a genuine and a faked smile. Be genuine when smiling. We are talking about a heart-warming smile, a smile that comes from within, the kind of smile that will make customers want to deal with you always. A smile that tells the story, “I like you,”  “You make me happy,”   “I am glad to see you”

Why should your employees not afford to smile? Remember this is the paymaster they are dealing with! They are about to earn their next salary from this transaction. They cannot afford to mess up with the real employer, someone who determines whether they earn a salary this month or not. Make them aware of this fact. Repeat it over and over until it becomes second to nature for them. Talk about it in the morning briefings, weekly meetings or whatever platform of communication that is available to you.

The above quick wins do not require your business spending money on a training budget. Hence there is no justification for your employees not doing it. Keep doing it and your customers will be happy. If your customers are happy they come back for more and their friends come too. This is good business for you, the bottom line increases, management is happy, they pay a bonus and employees become happy too. Everyone is happy and excited. Do it and you have just earned your next pay check.

*not his real name