It’s more important now than ever to provide sparkling customer service. With a decline in construction and more and more portable sanitation providers fighting over fewer and fewer jobs, premium customer service is the best way to win over and retain customers.
For the first time, we added a customer service theme to the PRO editorial calendar for 2009. Of course, we often deal with quality service issues throughout the year, but we made the decision to give the topic a bigger emphasis this month. Looking at where the economy has taken us the past 10 months, our timing — totally coincidental — couldn’t have been better.
Since I was a teenager, I’ve worked in jobs that demand good people skills and quality customer service. From my days of slinging hot dogs and peanuts at baseball games to serving readers of PRO today, being cordial, responsive and putting a professional foot forward have always been an important part of the job description.
Along the way, I’ve seen a lot of masterful customer service efforts and witnessed a good deal of scary-bad service. With that experience as a backdrop, here are my favorite tips for PROs who want to improve their company’s customer service:
Be responsive
More than ever, customers are impatient for answers. Use of the Internet, cell phones and text messaging has ramped up the demand for instant response to all inquiries. Pick up the phone on the first ring. Check your voicemail and answer calls and texts as soon as it’s practical. You may not like the many interruptions, but leave your e-mail open all day and respond to messages promptly. The only time you should delay electronic or phone communications is when you’re already focused on a customer or a critical task. Remember the last time you Googled to find a service provider? When the list popped up, you likely called one name, then quickly went on to the next company on the list if you didn’t get an answer. Rapid response will boost the bottom line for your business.
Remember names
I’m not great at remembering names, so I marvel at people who have a talent for it. If you want to learn from the best, watch a politician. Years ago, I interviewed then Wisconsin Gov. Tommy Thompson. A few years later, I ran into him at an event and was shocked when he walked right up to me, shook my hand and made a point of calling me by name. I don’t know how he remembered, but his name recall is a talent that helped him get elected four times. If you don’t have a knack for matching names and faces, you can still make a favorable impression by repeating a customer’s name during conversation or recalling details from past conversations. This personalizes relationships and shows you’re engaged in service decisions.
Dress for success
Long ago, when I was a size 40 and my waist and inseam were both 32 inches, I got a job selling men’s suits in a department store. One day, my supervisor pulled me aside and gently told me I needed to iron my clothes if I wanted to keep my job. I learned to put a sharp crease in my dress shirt sleeves and had no more problems. If you want to command respect in the field and promote professionalism, you need to tuck in that clean uniform shirt, wear slacks that are clean and not threadbare, and walk with a posture that shows you mean business.
Clean and consistent wins the day
On a service route, never leave a restroom in “just good enough” condition. Make sure it’s in “I’d send my grandmother in there’’ condition. Set a cleanliness standard for yourself, and never move onto the next restroom until you’ve met the standard … even if it means falling a little behind schedule making a filthy unit right. You never know when a client decision maker is going to use your unit, and you never know when a prospective new client is going to use your unit. If every unit is cleaned to your satisfaction, you will retain existing customers and attract new ones.
Add “Yes’’ and “I’m sorry’’ to your vocabulary
Sometimes we resist saying “yes’’ to a request, or to acknowledge a mistake. Why is that? As a writer for so many years, I’ve been called on mistakes made in print a few times and have had to apologize. Nobody likes to make mistakes, but everybody makes them. We need to understand when we’ve failed, quickly accept responsibility, say we’re sorry and move on. Say “Yes’’ to requests whenever you can, take responsibility for mistakes and you’re likelier to build loyalty with customers.
Develop a signature service
You know how the maid leaves a mint on your pillow at a five-star hotel? While I’m not suggesting you leave a piece of candy after servicing a restroom, you can add a classy little touch or small gesture to your service routine to help your business stand out from the competition. It might come in the form of a convenience accessory built into a special event unit, like a corner shelf with a few toiletries, a unique air freshener or a solar light to brighten the unit. Or perhaps a floral arrangement or privacy skirting set up outside the restroom. Check out what your competitors are doing and come up with a creative solution.
Always follow up
How do you know if your customer service efforts are working if you don’t ask your customers? Contact your clients after every job to ask if they were happy with the service and if they have any suggestions for you to improve customer service. Call them, send out an evaluation postcard or shoot them an e-mail the day after you pick up their units. Customers can teach you valuable lessons and the follow-up might be the first step to securing your next job.
