6 Reasons Why You Can't Ignore Customer Service

Customer service has been the buzzword for the last couple of years.  As world economies remain relatively sluggish, organizations are investing heavily in improving their customer experience. Why is that? What is the payoff?

This is a guest post by Shaun Belding, author of “Win at Work: navigate the nasties, get things done and get ahead”.

Historically, it’s always been considered a ‘soft skill,’ or something that was common sense.  But research tells us that common sense just doesn’t seem to be that common any more.

Here are the six reasons most of these high-performing companies are focused on customer service:

1.  Great customer service increases sales 

It’s a truism that, the more people like you, trust you and believe you are delivering what you promise, they will buy more from you.  If you are in a sales-driven organization, there is a straight-line correlation between your service performance and your sales.

2.  Great customer service increases customer loyalty and retention 

Most customers want to be loyal, and all it really takes is for you to send the message that you genuinely care about them.

3.  Great customer service reduces operating costs 

Loyal customers complain less, and take up less of our time - even when things go wrong. How do we make them loyal? See 2) above.

4.  Great customer service decreases employee turnover 

It’s not a coincidence that companies with the highest employee turnover rates are also the ones with the reputation for the lowest customer service.  Nobody wants to work for a company they can’t be proud of

5.  Great customer service reduces marketing costs 

There is no better marketing strategy than word-of-mouth.  And there is no faster way to create positive word-of-mouth than by creating great customer experiences.

6.  Great customer service creates positive work environments 

A company that is truly delivering outstanding customer service also has outstanding internal customer service.  Employees work together as a team, and help each other out whenever they can.

It’s no secret that customers have far greater expectations than they used to.  And why shouldn’t they?  They have a tremendous array of choices that they didn’t have just ten years ago.  Why wouldn’t they look for an organization that is going to treat them well?  Why should they accept anything less?

All indications are that this trend is only going to become stronger.  And the companies who are so heavily investing in customer service are already starting to see  profound payoffs.

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