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Help your business shine with stellar customer service

Set your brand and staff up for success with a customer service game plan

Have you ever entered a store or restaurant and weren’t sure how to interact with the space? Maybe you couldn’t find the product you were searching for, or you weren’t sure whether you should seat yourself at a restaurant. And to make matters worse, there wasn’t a staff member available to assist you or to explain where everything was. It’s a very awkward and isolating situation that leaves customers feeling unwelcome or like they did something wrong.

Interactions like these can make or break a business. According to Rosalind Chamberlain, owner and customer service expert with Executive Business Services, who transformed her own retail and real estate companies by studying the exclusive training services of five-star customer service brands Ritz-Carlton and Chick-fil-A, customer service is where the excellence of your business should sprout from. It’s how people will remember you, your product, your services, and — most importantly — how you treated them when they came in contact with you or your product.

That’s why customer service is so vital to your brand’s success. Let’s take a closer look at customer service and how you can provide stellar support for your patrons.

Get the process going

Start by defining your process. Chamberlain describes this as a series of steps performed to achieve a concrete goal or a collection of linked tasks that end with a positive result. This process is often designed to streamline operations, improve efficiency, and ensure a consistent output.

Whether it is how soon employees should greet each customer, how each interaction at the register plays out, or how workers should assist customers on the floor, setting clear guidelines on how these interactions are expected to flow creates customer service that is always on point and equal for each new customer.

Chamberlain outlines the process plan as follows: “First design a plan, create a module to emulate that plan, execute the plan, and then monitor and optimize it. . . Once you find what works for you in that time period of your business, just stick with that time after time because by doing so you are going to prevent costly mistakes.” A strong customer service process up front is like a safety net to protect you from poor interactions between your workers and the public.

Start up your systems

Now, there’s one important key to making sure your processes work adequately — having the correct systems in place. Systems are a collection of tools, techniques, and people that help organize your business and keep things running smoothly for your staff and customers. They help streamline your business and reduce points of friction for both employees and customers. Without proper systems in place, your staff won’t be able to follow the customer service processes you implement.

Systems might include well-designed technology like POS systems that simplify transactions between customers and employees, chatbots that answer customer questions online if you’re an e-retailer, or tools to survey your customer to gain valuable insights on how you can serve them.

Inventory management systems ensure that your business is properly stocked with what your customers want or need. This cuts down on customer pain points like needing to find a staff member to help them locate a product. For more tips on implementing an inventory system, check out our article on inventory management.

These are just a few of the systems you can implement to support your staff in providing excellent customer service.

Set standards that excel

To help you guide your systems and processes, it’s helpful to understand your brand’s standards. Chamberlain states, “Standards are the ethics and morals of your business. Its best practices. It’s the protocol for your business. It sets the stage on how customers and stakeholders view your business. It’s what’s expected each and every time that the customer comes in contact with you. . . Standards are the ethics values of your business such as policies and benchmarks that everyone attached to your brand must adhere to.”

By implementing strict standards that your staff must follow, you can ensure that all of your customers are treated with respect, compassion, care, and whatever values you would like your brand to focus on. It’s important that you tailor your business’s standards to match the type of clientele you would like to attract and keep. For example, the standards set in place at a store selling high-end business attire will look different than the standards set in place at a store selling kid’s clothes.

If you own the high-end store, the policy may be to address everyone formally, while at the kid's clothing store, you might be advised to be less formal and more friendly. At the high-end store, staff may be advised to offer personal shopping assistance to their customers, while at the kid’s store, employees may just offer their name and tell customers to ask them if they need any help.

Setting standards can seem overwhelming. A good place to start is with your first impression. How will you greet your guests? The key is to wow them right away to set the tone and make a great first impression. Remember, the main goal of any standard you establish is to make each customer feel welcome, appreciated, and happy to be at your store.

Chamberlain says it best: “Remember, it’s not the product or the service that they’re buying, it’s the emotional connection. It’s really you. It’s what you bring to the table. When customer service expectations are met, more importantly surpassed, your bottom line will increase — guaranteed every time — because people want to be a part of what you’re doing.” That’s why customer service is so important. It is a direct reflection of your brand, services, products, and the quality of everything you offer. So go out there with a big, warm, and welcoming smile! And just see how well people will receive the greatness you are putting into the world.