No matter how great your company’s mission statement or how qualified your executive staff, your business simply cannot thrive and prosper consistently without a solid customer service standard. All the service-related conferences, seminars and workshops rolled into one can’t deliver the one that’s right for your company. A customer service standard must be tailored specifically to the unique and special characteristics of your particular company.
Acknowledging this, here are a few guidelines to try on for size. Feel free to creatively shape and hone those that stand out the most for your business until just the right fit emerges.
1. “Success is in the details.”
It’s always good to start with a few good customer service values like the familiar ‘success is in the details’ to get a solid foundation for developing more specific customer service standards.
2. “If you call or visit a branch office, you will find…”
Try developing standards based on the various customer relations scenarios that a customer might encounter. For instance, determine what level of customer service a customer will find if they were to write to one of your facilities, call or visit a branch office or visit your website.
3. “You can expect…”
Developing a standard based on what the customer can expect in terms of service provides a clearly communicated, shared service objective. This results in mutually agreed upon criteria that sets the pace for your customer service team and grants an added sense of security to customers. Customers just may be more open to sales tactics and strategies when they know what level of service they can rely on.
4. “We’re committed to providing service according to the following standards…”
A clearly stated and well-defined customer service commitment can work wonders. Employers gain added confidence with a clear cut standard that focuses their intentions and customer service aspirations. A stated commitment can also boost morale among teams. A shared customer service belief system that teams can easily stick to begins with a realistic commitment statement.
5. Timeliness, Accuracy and Appropriateness
These are the three key elements can help define customer service standards like no other. They form the backbone of any successful customer-company relationship and just so happen to be a close description important service issues. Try setting basic standards with these elements in mind. Broad strokes at first can develop into more specific definitions tailored to fit your company’s unique characteristics. Starting with key elements that keep customers happy will get your company well on its way to standards that produce solid results.
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