We hear it all
time about big companies, and most likely we have professed a few of same sentiments ourselves: "They've gotten too big to care about individual customers," "Personalized service is a thing of past," and "If you get mad and go away, there will always be another customer right around corner."Perhaps--but I like to think that no matter how big or small, a company's first priority is to satisfy its customers.
There's such a thing as "Buffalo Hunter's Syndrome"--the feeling that because there always has been plenty of a certain thing (in this case customers) there always will be plenty. But we need only to look at what happened to once great Buffalo herds of American plains to understand fallacy of this way of thinking (are you listening K-Mart? Ames?).
CUSTOMER DISSATISFACTION IS LIKE A CANCER
No matter how big an enterprise, dissatisfaction can eat away like a cancer. The bigger entity, perhaps longer it takes for "disease" to run its course--but it will run its course!
Large companies often dedicate entire teams and departments to customer service--to studying it, measuring it, and supposedly improving it. But what about small business owners, or even solo-professionals--individuals who are one-person businesses--who either don't have time or lack budget for such an approach? How can they handle customer service?
KEEP IT SIMPLE
As a solo professional, I've kept my customer satisfaction process simple, relying on two main principles to guide me.
Principle #1--It takes less effort and drains less of my energy to be helpful and pleasant than it does to be a "grump." Try it sometime. If you're having a bad day, go ahead and be genuinely nice to next customer who calls, emails or visits--even smile while you're on phone. Dare to laugh! You're bound to get an energy lift, an up-tick on your mood meter. You'll be happier . . . and so will customer.
Principle #2--Role play. Whenever I'm contacted by a customer or potential client, I imagine myself in that person's position. How would I feel? What would my needs be? How would I want to be treated? I then respond accordingly.
By employing these two simple ideas, I've been able to make providing good customer service second nature--it's simply norm--which allows me to focus more on sustaining and growing my business.
