I recently posed the following question to a group of business owners at the International Franchise Association convention: How do you ensure a great customer service experience for your customers?
I asked the others in our meeting what was missing. Most believed that customer service training was missing.
His response was quick. He defended his omission of any customer service training because he chooses his employees for the right personality.
He said, “I made sure that I hired good people. I hope they know what to do.”
When it comes to customer service, hope is not a strategy. Customer service must be purposeful. You can hire the nicest people in the world, but you still must give them direction, teach the best practices, and continue to reinforce your customer service strategy so that employees are continuously reminded and motivated on what and how to deliver your brand of customer service. You must take what they already know and teach, very specifically, how to make it work for your business. And it starts with some initial training.
For example, Disney puts every employee (also known as Cast Members) through a training program knows as Traditions. It doesn’t matter if the Cast Member is taking tickets, selling souvenirs, helping people on rides, sweeping up trash or being brought into the corporate offices. All new hires learn what the traditions behind Disney are all about and how to “Manage the Magic,” which is a very purposeful way of creating a connection with the guest.
Don’t leave customer service to chance. Regardless of how good the employees’ people skills are, you can’t simply hope they will understand how to apply what they know to your business. Train them and train often. Reinforce the positive and learn from any problems. Consistently amazing customer service doesn’t happen by accident. It happens on purpose!
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