The way you engage with your customers and prospects is crucial in delivering a remarkable customer service experience and creating customer loyalty. It’s a tough marketplace out there and customers are increasingly picky about who they’ll do business with.
The only true differentiator in any business is the experience that customers get when they interact with your brand ambassadors – your staff on the front line. They’re the ones who need to create the positive, memorable experiences that will keep your customers coming back for more – they really are the difference that makes the difference to your organisation’s success! You therefore need to invest in customer service training for them to help them perform at their best and maintain employee motivation at all levels.
We all know the old adage ‘people buy people first’. We like doing business with people we can relate to and who we feel understand our needs and wants – people who show a genuine interest in us and who are willing to go beyond the industry norms by always going that extra mile.
Apple guru Guy Kawasaki had it spot on in his book Enchantment (2012), when he wrote about the importance of ‘customer enchantment’ in delivering remarkable customer service. He refers to the three pillars of enchantment – likeability, trustworthiness and quality – and talks about the integral role our front line staff play in delivering these pillars.
That’s why your staff need to be equipped with the knowledge, skills and behaviours that enable them to be true brand ambassadors for your organisation. Your people need to be so in tune with your values and goals that your customer’s lasting impression becomes associated with who you are – and they leave feeling enchanted by the care and attention they’ve received, even if they were originally calling to discuss a problem. And that means you need to invest in bespoke programmes to boost employee motivation and engagement, then offer them any ongoing support and mentoring they need to put what they’ve learnt into practice, including specialised courses, such as telephone training or sales training courses.
