One Critical Question to Ask Yourself Every Day

What happened to the old saying, the customer is always right? I'll bet every one of you reading this article has a "customer service nightmare" story to tell. My most recent nightmare experience took place recently when my business partner and I went in to a wireless phone store to purchase two new pda wireless phones. We told the young man who greeted us that we had only one question: is this phone compatible with the database software we intend to purchase? "I don't know," he said, "Most customers do the research on this before they come in." We politely requested that if he didn't know, he find the answer. He told us we could call the company ourselves, that he didn't have time to be put on hold with them. As you can imagine, we left without spending what we felt was a significant sum of money. And of course we've told at least 10 other people about the disappointing service at that particular store.

So here's a question to ask yourself every day: how does our business need to look and act in the way the customer needs it to look and act? What would happen if you thought through and walked through every step of the process from your customer's point of view?

Here are a few thought-provoking questions for you and your employees to consider:

- What does our customer need, not just in terms of our product - what kind of experience does our customer need?

- What is it like to be our prospective customer?

- What do our customers see, read or hear about us?

- What are other customers saying about us?

- What experience our customers have when they call our business? (By the way, women hate layers of voice mail, they want a real person. And there's nothing worse than reaching the voice mail system that asks you to enter "the first four letter of the person's name." What if you don't know the name of the person you need to speak with?)

- What if our customers' first experience with us is electronic, through our website or email? What impression do we make?

- What is our customers' first meeting with us like? Are they comfortable, are they made to feel welcome?

- Do we ask questions to try to understand their needs before trying to sell them something?

- Are we asking about their expectations or making assumptions about what they want?

- What is our process for giving them a proposal?

- How long will they wait for an estimate?

- Will the project be ready on time, as promised, and at or under budget?

- Is it easy, relaxed, and efficient to do business with us?

- Is it frustrating? Where are the points of irritation?

- What does our customer experience once they become a customer?

- Is it predictable, reliable, rewarding, convenient, and consistent?

- What is not just adequate but over the top spectacular? How does that look and feel to our customers?

I invite you to play this game in your business?pretend you're a customer. Get your employees, friends and customers involved. See what your customers experience from their eyes. Or better yet, survey your customers and ask them what it's like.

And ask yourself this one critical question every day?how does our business need to look and act in the way our customers need it to look and act?

Let me know what you discover!

© Copyright 2005, Darcie Harris

Darcie Harris is co-founder of EWF International®, an Oklahoma based firm providing peer advisory groups for women business owners and executives. EWF International® franchises are available throughout the Southwest. View this article and others at http://www.ewfinternational.com.

More Resources

Unable to open RSS Feed $XMLfilename with error HTTP ERROR: 404, exiting

More Customer Service Information:

Related Articles

4 Tips Toward Overcoming Bad Customer Service
Customer service is the pits, you say. You are not alone.
Transforming Disgruntled Customers into Your Biggest Advocates
"I am writing to complain about the widget I bought from your site the other day."Sell anything and eventually you will be on the receiving end of a sentence like this.
What Type Of Software Is This?
The other day while at the book store, I came across some accounting software CDs strewn with other CDs and books in garage sale box.How can any self respecting businessman (even a small one at that) pick up a copy of this cheap sale accounting CD from the box for his business to use? He'd think "what type of accounting system is this that would end up in a garage sale?".
The Art of Giving Great Service
Sales is tough to get right, and depends on retaining those customers, yet people do it badly and unprofessionally all the time. It's really not difficult to learn the art of good service, and if you get it perfect, you will see those rewards.
Ten Ways to Help You Improve Your Customer Service
1. Stay in contact with customers on a regular basis.
When the Customer Demands: Give a Discount or Lose the Order
Periodically every sales person encounters the customer who refuses to buy unless they receive a discount. Sometimes this is driven by the organization's culture or the buyer wanting to look good to their boss and sometimes it is simply the mindset of the individual buyer them self.
Customer Service, Italian Style
Nowadays, we complain nearly all of the time about how few businesses remember how to provide quality service to their customers. But a recent trip to Italy not only reminded me that the art of service is not dead, but that providing outstanding service is the key to almost any successful business.
Learn to Anticipate Your Customers Needs
This morning I was having breakfast with my good friend Diane at one of my favorite breakfast nooks. I enjoy the atmosphere there although I've been less than pleased with the customer service so far.
How to Walk the Floor and Talk to Customers
This may seem a strange topic to introduce. Yet, it is the most under-used skill by many retail managers, but one of the most important roles in their supervision.
4 Customer Service Mistakes Companies Should Avoid Making
1) Being placed on hold endlessly. Don't you just love it when you call a company and they place you on hold, leaving you to listen to their latest on-hold, recorded sales pitch, over and over again.
Leverage Customer Capital First
If you're still dreaming about raising outside capital for your business before you have any paying customers, I've got a nice big bucket of ice water to throw on you. Wake up! The cold reality is that investors aren't interested in your business idea unless you can demonstrate that you've got customers who are actually willing to buy.
In the Villa of the Sick Cat -- A Lesson in Customer Care
If you're a pet owner, you know the stress of having a sick pet and you know that having a great veterinarian is a wonderful thing. My cat, Zoe, came down with a nasty infection that had me racing off to the vet's office last week with an unhappy, howling kitty in tow.
Keeping Clients Happy Keeps them Coming Back
Whether you are a seasoned small business professional, or you have just opened your doors to new clients, your marketing strategy should not only involve bringing in new business, it should also include keeping your current clients, your most important asset, happy and coming back for more or referring your services.Top-notch customer service is the most important contributing factor in the success of your business.
Why Cant Microsoft Make Soft Packaging?
Why is it that Microsoft wants you to buy its product but does not want you to open the plastic case that is welded around the cardboard box? I believe that such packaging along with cockroaches will survive atomic disasters!Good luck finding any clue as to an easy way to open this fused bit of skin-tearing packaging. I split my scissors trying to pry open the ends.
Profit from a Customer Service Recovery Program
A client recently said to me: "Most days things seem to run smoothly; but whenever we have a customer complaint, we seem to collapse. Where are we going wrong?"How you handle and solve customer concerns and complaints is a measure of your standing in the "excellent", "bad", or "mediocre" category of customer service.
Handling Customer Complaints
Even the best business will receive an occasional customer complaint. Knowing how to resolve these complaints will help you gain loyal customers who will then refer others to your business.
Are You Putting Technology Before Your Customers?
Which is more important the technology or the customer?The one thing about the online world you can be sure of is change.It seems like every day there is a new technology being addedwhich will make the internet more accessible.
Customer Service and Call Center Outsourcing, Whats The Buzz?
The buzz is all about customer service and call center outsourcing, also known as BPO (Business Process Outsourcing). According to Gartner, the outsourcing market in Europe has grown with over 6%, BPO with 10%.
Businesses Need to Rehumanise
Big companies and corporations have lost the human touch. The question is, when will humanity catch on, or like robotic sheep will we do whatever the business shepherds tell us, no matter how bad we are treated? I am talking from firsthand interaction here.
How to Retain Your Customers the Dish Network Way
Customer retention is vital to a business. If you cannot retain your customers you will be continually losing current customers and always on the search for new ones.