Here are some ideas that might help:

Ask your customers these three questions:

1. What do they want from you?
2. How are you doing (giving them what they want)?
3. How can you improve?

Get everyone involved

The more people in your company who are involved in creating solutions, the more (and better) solutions you will have. Besides, the success of your company is everyone’s responsibility.

Pick one thing to improve

Whether you manage a company, a team or yourself, start your customer service improvement planning by picking just one thing. This gives you the power of focus, which can multiply your success. It’s okay to have a few other goals in reserve. But don’t focus on them until you accomplish the first one.

What are you doing to improve your customer service for 2010?

I’d love to hear about it. Please share your thoughts using the comment form or send me an email. Thanks!Other articles you might like:

• What would help you improve customer service?
• Three things you can do to improve customer service
• 5 New Year’s Resolutions for Amazing Customer Service
• Get everyone involved in customer service
• Make the Most of Customer Service Week 2008

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!)

2. Use a daily reminder

Help employees deliver Amazing Customer Service every day by using a reminder. Maybe it’s a quote. Maybe it’s an example. Maybe it’s a standard or promise your company makes to your customers. Expose your people to a message of service every day. Keep it top of mind.

3. Catch employees in the act of delivering Amazing Service

Watch your staff. When they do something Amazing with a customer, notice it. Thank them. Tell others. And encourage your other employees to do the same. Get customers involved too!

4. Make it easy and convenient for customers to give you feedback

Create at least 5 different ways your customers can tell you how your company is doing. Feedback forms on your website, survey cards, questions from employees. Ask your team to come up with new ways. And make sure your feedback answers these three questions:

-What do customers want from us?

-How are we doing?

-How can we improve?

These questions help your customers tell you what you need to know to improve your business. They are critical to continually improving your organization.

5. Make it personal

Find ways to give your customers a personal experience when they do business with you. An easy way is to remember and recognize them. Our local coffee shop has thousands of customers. (One of only two locally owned shops in a city of 63,000). Every time I walk in someone greets me. The owners remember my name. They chat me up a little. And when I leave always yells or waves goodbye.

Improving customer service is not complicated. You do need to pay attention. But it’s something every organization can do and they can do it starting today.Other articles you might like:

• Five Ways to Improve Customer Service Starting Today
• A New Tool to Improve Customer Service
• Customer retention tip: Be easy to talk to
• Six Ways to Get Million-Dollar Feedback from Your Customers
• Encourage feedback from your customers

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.)

We do this by using our knowledge, experience, our intuition and our conscience. We advise them and we coach them.

Seth Godin writes about this. He says it’s too easy for companies to let their customers make bad choices.  And left on their own, many will. The problem is, if their bad choice blows up, they’ll have a lousy experience.  Maybe they blame us or maybe they won’t. But we’re not in business to avoid blame.

We’re in business to help our customers. And that means being their their coach.Other articles you might like:

• To improve customer service coach your peers
• Adobe does the right thing, apologizes for customer service problems
• Toyota has a customer service problem
• It’s Okay to Say “No”
• Help Your Customers by Being Flexible

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.

Almost every business has someone who stands out in how they care for customers. They care about people and it shows. They always take an extra step or two for their customers. They’re friendly, courteous, warm, patient and knowledgeable about what your company does. They listen well and they are focused on helping customers get what they want. They follow through and they follow up. They are the people your customers ask for when they come back. And they’re the employees your customers write letters about, telling you how wonderful they are.

These are people you want others to emulate.

Your first step is to define what you want in your Amazing Service role model. What personality traits and behaviors do you want in this person? Then prioritize them (because you’ll never get them all). Paint a picture of your ideal employee, from your customer’s perspective. These are your Amazing Service standards.

You should include employees and customers in this process. Get their input. Ask them to share their views on what they should expect from your company. They will give you an incredible amount of valuable information.

Step two, watch, listen and learn. Pay attention to your employees as they take care of your customers. Watch what they do and how they do it. As you do this, remember the ideal employee profile you created in step one. Make notes of how various employees measure against your Amazing Service standards. Then list these employees and rank them.

If you have one employee who is a perfect (or almost perfect fit) great. You have your first role model. If not, pick a couple who offer the best match. And make sure the group you select cover all the Amazing Service standards you created earlier. This way you will be able to model all the important aspects of Amazing Service to the rest of your employees.

(If you don’t have any employees who come close to meeting your standards, then you need to think about adding or replacing staff. You can train and coach a lot of things but you need to have good people to start with. )

Once you have one or more role models, you then need to find ways to transfer their Amazing Service behaviors to the rest of your employees. Here are some suggestions.

1. Publish your Amazing Service standards

Print, distribute and post your new Amazing Service standards. Make sure all your employees know what they are and what they mean. If you want great results, let your customers know what your Amazing Service standards are. Use them to make a statement about what they can expect from your company. Use posters, emails, flyers. Make laminated cards to give to every employee. Put them on customer receipts, signs, menus, brochures, websites – anywhere your customers might see them.

2. Record your role models in action

Use audio or video to record your Amazing Service role models working with customers. Show these in staff meetings on a regular and consistent basis. Highlight when and how the employee is doing things that meet or exceed your Amazing Service standards. Note: avoid focusing on what they do wrong in these sessions. No one likes to get criticized by a group of their peers. It will make the process less effective.

3. Have regular coaching and role playing sessions

Schedule regular meetings with your staff to coach them to your Amazing Service standards. Use role playing as a coaching tool in these sessions. Pick one standard each meeting. Prepare several staff before the meeting to play the parts. Many people snicker and sneer at role playing. Let them know you’re serious about using it as a tool for improvement. Make it fun but useful.

4. Reward employees who deliver Amazing Service

Set up a program to reward and recognize employees who are “caught” delivering Amazing Service, according to your standards. Create ways to acknowledge their efforts publicly. Give prizes, plaques or other incentives to employees who demonstrate the service standards you are looking for.

5. Reward employees for noticing when other employees deliver Amazing Service

This is key. As an owner or manager, you can’t be everywhere, so you need to engage all your employees to help. Develop ways to reward employees for observing and “turning in” other employees who deliver great service. If employees are looking for Amazing Service, it means they’re thinking about it. Plus it means they’re engaged in the process. To observe a fellow employee delivering Amazing Service, they need to know what it is. They need to understand your Amazing Service standards.

6. Get your customers involved.

Engaging employees to observe and report Amazing Service is good. Getting customers to do it is great. Find ways to get them involved in the process. Start by getting their input on what your Amazing Service standards should be. Then let them know what your standards are. Encourage them to nominate employees for recognition and rewards. Make it easy for them to do this. The more engage your customers are in this, the more loyal they will be (if you process is genuine).

When we think of improving customer service, we usually think of training. But that will only take us so far. To have a measurable and sustainable improvement, you need to focus on it constantly. Finding and using role models is an effective way to do this. Try this for 90 days and you’ll see a significant improvement in the quality of your customer service.Other articles you might like:

• Know your company’s customer service standards or create your own
• For better customer service, catch them in the act
• Recognize Others for Delivering Great Customer Service.
• Practice What You Preach
• This Tip Can Improve Your Customer Service Immediately

-Jan Carlzon
Author of: Moments of TruthOther articles you might like:

• Customer Service Quote for October 8, 2009
• Customer Service Quote for May 20, 2009
• Plan your customer service improvement for 2010
• Be consistent then great!
• Customer Service Book Review: Customer Satisfaction is Worthless, Customer Loyalty is Priceless

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.

What about when you’re angry or frustrated with a company or person you do business with? Think about the emotions you have in those situations. And consider your motivations too. What drives you in those interactions? What actions do you want from the people you do business with? How do you want them to resolve your complaints?

We all wear at least two hats. One is our “service” hat which we wear when we are serving others. Another is our “customer” hat. Keep both of them handy at all times as a reminder to put yourself in your customer’s shoes.Other articles you might like:

• Remember to put yourself in their shoes
• Top Ten Ways Retailers Can Sell More This Holiday Season
• Radio Shack Employee Charged with Hitting Customer
• Enjoy your work and you’ll deliver better customer service
• Here’s what real customers say about customer 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 our success in improving is not dependent on our present skills or our intelligence. It’s determined more by how hard we work and how persistent we are.  The more we stick to our efforts to improve, the more successful we are likely to be. Improvement is within our control. It’s determined by our efforts more than our abilities.

Pick one aspect of customer service you’d like to improve. Picture what the new and improved version will look like. Talk to your boss or a co-worker about it. Tell them what you plan to do. Then look for ways you can make this change and stick with it until you’re successful.
Other articles you might like:

• Is grit more valuable to success than intelligence?
• Be an Amazing Listener
• Are You Listening?
• 23 Ideas to be a better boss
• 1% Improvement