Sometimes things happen just as we want them to. But often we get better results if we plan the changes we want. It doesn’t mean we’ll get exactly what we plan for. But we’re more likely to get what works than if we leave it to chance. So my message today is simply that we should all plan our customer service improvement for next year.

Here are some ideas that might help:

There are many ways any business can (and should) improve customer service. Here are a couple that stand out and can be done without spending a ton of money.

1. Make service a priority

This means your reason for being in business is to help your customers. So everything you do needs to be held up against this standard. Your actions decisions, policies and procedures need to show this. This creates a culture of service in your company. (Your customers know if you DON’T operate this way!)

In the world of customer service improvement, we talk about the need to ask questions and listen. Let the customer tell us what they want. And we should do this.  But helping customers get what they want takes more. We need to be their coach.

Our customers can and should tell us where they want to go. But we need to help them find the best way to get there. That’s where our skills come into play. (If they already knew the best way, they wouldn’t need us.)

It makes sense that if you improve customer service, you will increase customer loyalty. But improving customer service is not necessarily easy. It takes more than a seminar or a motivational speaker. It takes effort and time to make a sustainable improvement in the level of service you deliver your customers.

Not long ago I was talking with Dr. Alan Weiss about customer service. Among the many good ideas he mentioned to improve customer service, one stood out. Alan said “if you want to improve customer service in your company, get a role model”. So, with thanks to Dr. Weiss for his thought starter, here are some of my suggestions to find (or create) a Amazing Service role model in your company.

You cannot improve one thing by 1000% but you can improve 1000 little things by 1%.

-Jan Carlzon
Author of: Moments of Truth

Here is your Daily Dose of Amazing Service:

Put yourself in their shoes

And here are some additional thoughts on this topic…

Think about when you’re the customer. How do you feel and what do you want from people you buy from? What are the top three things you want from them? Most people want similar things like courtesy, helpful information, solutions (rather than dead-ends), a friendly smile, fair value and quick service.

Here is your Daily Dose of Amazing Service:

Use grit to improve your customer service delivery

And here are some additional thoughts on this topic…

When I was younger, I had a boss who said “You’re only as good as your last sale.” I always hated this because I felt it disregarded everything else. But I think what he meant was, “if you want to be successful, you can’t rest on your laurels” , which I agree with completely. And  so do some psychologists. They have found persistence, or what they call “grit”, is an important factor in whether or not people are successful in life.

As we work to improve our customer service skills, this can be helpful. It tells us