Why A Retroactive Customer Service Strategy is Silly

The vast majority of organizations don’t do customer service properly. Without a great customer service strategy, you end up being retroactive in how you deal with customers. The smart companies understand that if they first delight, impress, or go out of their way for their customers, they will have to do a lot less apologizing.

Proactive > Reactive

Sam Walton said it best, “There is only one boss. The customer. And he can fire everybody in the company from the chairman on down, simply by spending his money somewhere else.” Instead of the putting out fires when they arise why not give your staff the training they need to do their job to the best of their ability.

Too often we blame marketing for poor sales, or we make excuses as to why people don’t like our product or to frequent our establishment. Before you jump to the conclusion of whose fault it is, maybe for a change look at how you approach customer service.

Do your employees get adequate training when they start? How do you know? 

Do they receive more training once they have experience on the job?

What do your customers think of your customer service? Do you ever ask them?

What if you incentivized your customers to help improve your customer service?

Who has the best in class customer service in your category? If it’s not you, why not?

What company do you look up to as a leader in customer service outside of your industry? What can you learn from them?

Is customer service a priority to all levels of management and employees at your company?  Be honest…