May 2005

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<I>May 2005</I></div> <div> <I>The following article was first published in the Eastern Daily Press' 'The Business'  on 24 May 2005</I></div> <bR> <div> <B>Put yourself in their shoes</B></div> <div> I<FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" >'ve written before about great customer service - that hallmark of truly outstanding businesses.  About how happy, fully engaged employees can make a real difference in the way your organisation looks after its customers, making them real advocates of your business who return regularly and who recommend you to their friends.  But how do you know if you are providing great customer service?  What means do you have to gauge the impression your business has on its customers?  </FONT></div> <bR> <div> Many larger businesses engage in some form or other of customer service surveys, trying to learn how well they've met their customers' expectations.  These surveys can get quite involved and cost a lot in terms of time and money.  They may, or may not, ask the right questions of the customer.  Either way, in my experience, many businesses who go to all of the trouble to ask their customers how they're doing seem, strangely, to stop there.  They appear content with (or, possibly, confused by) the data, and don't put the knowledge they've gained to good use by making plans for improving things in the future.</div> <bR> <div> Then, for the much smaller business who can't afford to commission a professionally-run customer feedback programme, what means are available to judge what your customer service is like?  Well, to begin with, something anyone can do is to simply spend a few minutes every day `putting yourself in one of your customers' shoes', thinking about what the experience of dealing with your company is like.  Remember, we're all - each and every one of us - experts in customer service.  We just don't necessarily think about ourselves that way.  Every one of us is a customer of many businesses; we buy goods and services from all sorts of companies, regularly.  And we enjoy dealing with some and we don't like dealing with others.  We recommend some businesses to our friends and family and we warn them to stay away from those who have given us poor service.</div> <bR> <div> So, with your own customer experiences in mind, it's a useful exercise to periodically `turn the tables' and imagine what it is like to be <U>your</U> customer.  Think about the last interaction you had with a customer and, if it had been you in their shoes, what your impression would have been.  It doesn't take long, it's not very scientific and it doesn't answer the question `what should I do about it?', but it is a start on the journey that is outstanding customer service.  </div> <bR> <div> I suggest, then, that the simplest way such an exercise can be made fruitful is to establish in your business your own `golden rule' for looking after your customers - `treat customers as you would like to be treated'.  Then, if every member of the team spends a few minutes each day thinking about how pleasant (or not) it's been for your customers, and how it would have felt being those customers, you have the beginnings of a customer service improvement programme.  Because, once you know where you are now - in your customers' eyes - you can set your sights on being better next time…just the way you like to be treated when you go into that shop you like so much.</div> </td> <td valign="top" width=180 BGCOLOR="#CC3333" TEXT="#080000"> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>