Elite customer service is proactive. Anticipating the needs of customers, before problems are raised, allowing you to nip issues in the bud.
Fully embracing this approach reduces customer dissatisfaction and enhances your perceived value. No matter what has happened, the outside perspective is of a company in control.
Such a service doesn’t need to be the exclusive remit of your customer facing teams.
These same principles of handling external relations can also be translated across to your internal operation.
“Having satisfied customers leads to increased revenue and increased brand awareness.
Having satisfied employees is the key contributor to a companies success.”
MyCustomer
Third party suppliers and customer behaviours are both external influences on your operation. Ultimately they’re harder to control.
Internal channels, however, are much easier to retain a strong grip upon.
By stretching customer service safety nets across your internal operations, you can ensure that if anything were to go wrong on your end, you spot the problem before the customer.
Question is, how to build it?
Internal Customer Service
For the majority of organisations, customer service is a solely outward facing enterprise. The clue is, after all, in the name. The “customer” is the focus.
And yet, turning the lens internally can provide a highly effective, preventative, safety net.
“Roadblocks will happen at any business, but internal customer service provides consistency for your team’s productivity.”
Hubspot
Think of a safety net as your very own company detective. Spotting gaps and highlighting missed information that, if left unattended, will have a negative knock on effect for the customer.
Having an extra layer of security minimises the risk of a valuable prospect receiving an unwelcome experience.
Sending internal communications, at key stages of your customer journey, allows a business to check all is progressing as desired.
This automated safety net, triggered at critical stages in your best practice workflow, facilitates the picking up, and swift rectification, of any issues before they become a problem.
Adopting a proactive approach ensures roadblocks are eliminated, guaranteeing a seamless customer experience throughout your interactions.
Safety Net Success
Customers aren’t the only party to benefit.
If you want to provide world class customer service, you will need to extend the same courtesies to your own employees.
“Internal customer service is when we provide customer service to the people we work with, helping them to do their best to serve external customers and promote the interests of our company.”
Forbes
Organisational efficiency is one key area improved via the establishment of a safety net.
In the spotting of gaps, or errors, the provision of all requisite data at every stage in the process has a much higher completion rate.
The knock on effect minimises the requirement for staff to waste time chasing colleagues for gaps in the information required to complete the next step.
When your employees can stay focused on their goals your customers will be happier, too.
Likewise, if you’re constantly chasing your tail as a result of missed errors subsequently brought to you by clients, you have a decreased ability to provide great service to all.
It is your responsibility to set the bar high, and starting with your own internal communications is the way to go.
If individuals, teams or stores are operating as isolated silos, issues arise as the business doesn’t operate as a collective. This mentality will set all processes up for failure and create an environment of distrust and resentment.
Installing an internal safety net can reduce risk of friction, optimising performance of your staff allowing them to better serve clients with a greater customer experience.
Intrigued to learn more? Check out our Insights Hub to keep your business at the cutting edge.
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- July 1st, 2021