From: http://www.bizjournals.com/

If businesses value high customer satisfaction, why are there so many dissatisfied customers?

Although all businesses say they want their customers to be satisfied, what is more difficult to identify is how they and their customers define satisfaction.

At the highest level, I’d define it as solving customer problems, answering their questions in a timely manner, and tailoring responses to each customer’s needs. That doesn’t sound too complicated, but it’s not as easy as it seems.

Here are my top five tips on how to provide excellent customer service:

1. Hire the right people

As hard as you may try, you probably can’t train someone who doesn’t “get” good customer service. Your employees need to have both the attitude and the aptitude to make and keep customers not only happy, but also loyal.

2. Show empathy

Most people just want to be heard, first and foremost. Listening and responding appropriately to them should always precede any recommendations.

3. Offer speedy response

Put some “pep in your step” when you address issues that are important to your customers. We’ve all seen examples of online customer service forms that promise response within 48 hours or even a week. That’s not my definition of good customer service.

4. Provide easy accessibility

Customers should be able to access the support team easily and quickly, without their call going into an endless queue. Far too often, the person who finally answers after the automated service can’t even resolve the issue. The lesson to learn is to have live people answering phones, empowered to resolve problems. This goes for responses on your website as well. Be sure to make it easy for customers to access the “help” section of your site and then monitor it frequently enough to respond quickly.

5. Ask your customers and then listen to them

Survey your clients about their needs and pay heed to what they tell you.

Speaking of asking your customers, their survey responses should be part of the metrics you collect as you measure your customer service. Ask them what you could have done better and whether they were satisfied with the timeliness and completeness of the response. To that, we have added:

• Weekly management team meetings to review client responses
• A system of client “touch points”: For example, our client reps contact new clients within seven days. They also contact every client at least quarterly to ask how they are and what they need.

I’ve heard people say that today’s customers are more demanding and harder to please. That may well be, but it just means we need to try harder and smarter. We also need to remember that customers have different sets of expectations.

However, regardless of when they were born, how computer literate they are, or how they like to communicate, they all want good customer service. And, if we ask the right questions, listen to their answers and respond quickly and effectively, that’s exactly what we should be able to provide.