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Happy Holidays!!
Wishing you the best this season!
Hope Your Days are filled with cheer!
So say all of the holiday cards that adorn our refrigerators from friends and family. Same for the ones I receive at my place of business. We send them ourselves to our customers and friends.
Everyone is taking time to reflect on their blessings and their gratitude for customers and partners in business at this time of year.
But what happens March 5th? Or June 18th? Or August 11th? Do we have the same feelings at that time? Are we grateful for our customers or business partners as we are between Thanksgiving and New Years?
My guess is yes, but do we show it? Most times we are focused on taking care of our day to day and unless there is a birthday or anniversary, we don’t find the time to be grateful.
Customer Service is a daily thing. It is an individual event that takes place with every call or interaction. Many times we are focused on the next lead, or the next email or the next meeting that we forget to take time and finish what we are doing with care.
When you think of great customer service experiences, maybe Disney comes to mind. Or Zappos, Nordstrom’s or Apple. If you sit back and look at each interaction you get the sense that nothing changes each day. Every day has the “holiday” spirit.
So what things do we see from these leaders that maybe you can implement in your business?
- Phone skills: One of the skills least focused on by certain companies. I wrote an article previously focusing on how the receptionist is the most important person in your company because they give the first impression to customers. Zappos excels in this area with their teams of employees ready to take your call. As for your employees: Do they sound happy? Do they sound professional and listen so they can resolve any questions? Or are they just moving the call through and sound like this is a painful task.
- Getting out from behind the counter. Nordstrom’s finishes all sales by getting out from behind the counter and handing you your purchase, shaking your hand. Do your people get out from behind their counter or desk or do they make people reach over it. Or worse, just point them to where they need to go or most often, give the programed “thank you while the words “next” come tumbling out.
- More help than needed. Think of the Apple store. Swarming with people who can help. Is your business focusing on cutting staff so low that customers wander your aisles looking for help? Maybe you think the product you have on the showroom floor is enough to keep them busy till you feel you have time to go engage. Remember that each minute someone is not waited on feels like twenty.
- Have Fun: What is the first thing people say about Disney? It’s that their employees (or cast members) all look like they are having fun. Does all of your staff communicate a sense of enjoyment to your customers during any interaction? People like to do business with people who like what they do and show it. It relaxes us as customers and makes us feel like your team has things under control.
All of these little things have differentiated these companies in our mind. You don’t get this level of service just because it is the holiday season. You focus on it every interaction day, every transaction, every day.
If you ever find yourself having a meeting where you need to prompt your staff to “gear up” their level of customer service for the holidays, then you need to rethink your approach during the rest of the year.
Even though we are becoming a digital species, we cannot let our people skills dwindle and every day should be a holiday because your customers have chosen to do business with you.
Happy Holidays (all year round) !!
Glenn Pasch is the current COO of PCG Digital Marketing as well as a writer, National Speaker and Trainer. Glenn will be speaking at the upcoming Digital Marketing Strategies Conference in Orlando FL. February 5th-7th