When an organization decides to implement a service quality strategy, it is ready to take action. It is looking beyond day to day. You are wanting to differentiate yourself from your competition in an enduring, rather than a temporary way.
This also implies that the quality of the service is not achieved overnight. It is a gradual and progressive process. There must be perseverance, continuous training of the members of the organization and, why not, also trial and error.
For all this, the position that characterizes leaders who seek quality in service as a long-term strategy is the offensive, and not the defensive.
When we are in the role of clients, we clearly perceive the difference between these two positions. We realize if our service provider is actively seeking our satisfaction, or is simply reacting to our requirements. We contract a recurring billing service, in which we receive strong assistance from the seller, but once hired, the company completely changes its role, from "active sellers" to "passive providers".
In the event of any inconvenience, we make a claim and we are the clients who must worry about following up on that claim, until we get the response we need. The call is cut and we must communicate again, because they have blocked the outgoing calls. We leave a message and we must call again, until we find the right person. They take up the subject, but never communicate anything to the client. If we want to know what resolution state it is in, we must call again. Have you experienced any of these situations?
Now let's look at some practices that show you are on the action, on the offensive, and not simply reacting and putting out fires:
- You do not wait for the competition to start taking away your market, but you go ahead with a differentiation strategy, you do not wait for your dissatisfied customers to express their claim to you (which happens in a very low proportion), but you ask them how satisfied they are. You do not wait for your employees to begin to show their discomfort in front of customers, directly affecting the service, but you take care that they are also satisfied, to provide excellent service.You do not wait for an unexpected vacancy to make you fill a position. with staff without adequate training. You train your staff and prepare them to grow. You don't wait for a claim to repeat itself over and over again. A single time is enough to take preventive measures and not trip over the same stone twice.You do not wait for a deficiency of your service to provoke the claim of your clients. When a customer complained, there were already 9 other unsatisfied, who will be looking for an alternative in your competition. You do not wait for your service to resemble the many others on the market, and end up competing with a price war. You differentiate yourself by adding value for which your customers are willing to pay more. You do not expect to lose competitiveness due to high costs. You work on your costs, reduce your waste and inefficiencies to generate more and more value for your clients with the scarce resources you have.and end up competing with a price war. You differentiate yourself by adding value for which your customers are willing to pay more. You do not expect to lose competitiveness due to high costs. You work on your costs, reduce your waste and inefficiencies to generate more and more value for your clients with the scarce resources you have.and end up competing with a price war. You differentiate yourself by adding value for which your customers are willing to pay more. You do not expect to lose competitiveness due to high costs. You work on your costs, reduce your waste and inefficiencies to generate more and more value for your clients with the scarce resources you have.
A quality service strategy implies a clear orientation to action, which you must demonstrate every day of your day. What level are you on today and where do you want to go?
