Has Customer Service Become a Lost Art?

I recently had a retail customer service experience at a local pharmacy that is worth mentioning.

I had never been in that pharmacy before, and as I entered, an employee said hello and asked me if she could help me find anything. When I told her what I was looking for, she not only directed me to the right aisle, but took me there herself and helped me to find that particular item I was looking for. She even helped me to compare two products and ultimately make my selection.

How did I feel? Like they cared about me – that they were genuinely interested in helping me to find what I needed. And as a result, I have become a loyal fan – and I will go back to that pharmacy anytime I need something and recommend them over the other two nearby pharmacies that offer similar products.

In today’s world, it seems like good customer service is a rarity. It's become a lost art. Simply doing the basics of good customer service puts you head and shoulders above a lot of other businesses out there today. Whether you are in retail sales or business to business enterprise sales, how you make your customer feel is often the difference between them choosing you and someone else.

If you want your customers to have a good experience with your company, you need to be intentional about it. Define how you want customers treated and train your teams accordingly. How do you want customers greeted at the beginning and end of a transaction? How do you want their questions and concerns to be dealt with? Are you prepared to empower your employees so they can resolve issues quickly? Identify the three to five things that you want every customer to experience and then enable your teams to provide those experiences. Promote success stories internally - this has the added benefit of increasing employee engagement - and coach the rest to help them get better at customer service.

Model the behaviour that you want to see in your teams. It may not happen overnight, but with continued efforts, you will definitely see improvements in your customer service - and more importantly, your customers will too!

Check out my website (www.rikelyconsulting.com) and reach out to me for more ideas on improving your customer service.