Customer Service Tips to Reduce Customer Service Issues;

And to Deliver Good Customer Care

Use these customer service tips to improve customer satisfaction. An understanding of the definition of customer service and what it means to deliver good customer care is necessary for all businesses.

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Customer Service Tips

What is good customer service? Build strong customer service strategies with customer service tips designed to reduce or eliminate the most common service issues.

Customers are NOT the problem; typically our business processes are the problem.

But we tend to treat customers like they are the problem.

Develop a customer service program that is focused on delivering good customer care and build it into your strategic plan.

For example, if a customer wants to place an order with no notice, or short notice, why do so many businesses get angry or frustrated about that? Or if customers expect customer service quotes to be turned around in very short time frames, why do we get frustrated about that?

It is very likely that the customer isn't deliberately trying to tick you off; he or she is placing the order (or needs a quote quickly) at the last minute because that's when they've discovered a need (it might be that their customer has just placed the order).

Customer Service Tips for Good Customer Care

Use these common problem examples (in a business to business selling and service environment) to develop your own customer service action plan.

Providing exceptional customer service means streamlining the service process; continuous improvement of your service parameters and programs is a key strategy.

• The order is delivered late in the plant, but the same delivery is required/expected – results in internal reschedule, other customers might be affected.

  Action: Consider charging the additional costs. This is not a punishment, this is a recovery of real costs.

• Job specifications change at the last moment. This results in the job having to be run on different equipment (which increases cost).

  Action: Need to reprice and adjust the schedule.

• Special order items (outsourced) are required for a late incoming order.

  Action: Put a rush on materials needed for the job. If extra costs incurred, pass them on.

• Cancellation with no notice - downtime (machines and people); missed efficiencies.

  Action: Communicate that the order was scheduled with others, by canceling there is an efficiency cost and a lost opportunity cost for the orders that you turned away. Advise the customer that next time there will be a cost for no notice cancellations.

Customer Service Tips and Strategies For Customer Service Quotes, Proposals, and Orders:

1. Define customer service quotes turnaround times (when your customers can expect a quote or estimate). For example, 4 hours unless extraordinary circumstances. Learn to define required time – don't accept ASAP.
• When customers phone in and ask for a quote, ask when they need it. Many will answer "as soon as possible" – don't accept that, ask the customer to define the time – e.g. in 4 hours, or next day, or whatever the expectation is in your industry.
• A 'live' job should have priority over a job that your customer is bidding on. You could say to your customer:
2. How fast do you need it?
3. Just checking the Production schedule and need to know when you might want to run this order.
4. When's the sales or the customer meeting?
• To buy time to do the quote, say... "for the best price I’d really like to take a little more time to check out a couple of other options..."
• Don't say you're backed up or busy and that you can't get to the quote till later – that tells the customer that you're thinking about you, not about the customer - say we can do a better job preparing the quote if we have a bit more time to do it.
• Set up realistic turn-around expectations.
• Create a 'cheat sheet' or excel spreadsheet to do quick calculations or quick estimates – this works with preferred practices.

You may be able to create an excel price list for your customer to fill in and complete for basic prices – you need to brand it with your name and your customer's name and make sure it works (test it for a number of different variables) and then encourage them to use it.
The result will be faster turn-around for them,
and less quoting work for you.)
5. Develop a specifications sheet for each type of service – for common pitfalls by service; and attach to the confirmation. In your software system link the common pitfalls to the services description (that is, automate it).
6. In your business operations plan, develop a process and strategy for handling unannounced jobs. Find ways to fit them in! And welcome them in!
7. Follow up on sold and booked jobs: Is the job on schedule? Are there any known changes?
8. Follow up on customer service quotes: the customer service representative should use this as an opportunity to get information (won/lost: if won, when will the order be placed; if lost, reasons why).
9. Order/schedule acknowledgment. If you don't have an order and schedule confirmation, develop one. You can do one in excel, in word, or through your custom system.
   Use disclaimers (have your lawyer help you with these), e.g. scheduling equipment and resources based on the booked order...every reasonable effort will be made to deliver your order as promised...
10. If your customer is late with the order and still needs it as originally requested, look at the impact on customers, equipment, human resources and costs.
    Is the customer willing to pay for the additional costs (e.g. of a partial order, of moving someone else's order off, their order on, and the other order back on to machinery)? Many times we just say no, we can't handle the time demands, but if you have strong customer service skills you can demonstrate them by looking for options.
11. Conduct customer service surveys on a regular basis. Ask your customers to help you improve your customer service skills and deliver good customer care.

The definition of customer service is the service that is provided before, during and after a sale.

Customers keep your business operating; without customers you will not have a business. Use these customer service tips to develop and build your own customer service program and to deliver outstanding service to your customers.

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