The turn of almost all companies is based on providing excellent service to their customers. It doesn't matter if they are industrial, agricultural, public or commercial companies, they all require clients to survive.
Because of this, I want to express some considerations about my perception that customer service fails in some organizations, with the hope that this will serve to improve and rethink the mission we must give to that area.
Considerations:
1. In some organizations, customer service areas are associated with the attention of complaints and claims, that is to say, for them, this is customer service. And under this premise, the complaint is a nuisance for the organization because they are going to attend to clients with problems and therefore in a state of shock. This can lead to poorly faced, unmotivated, and unserviceable service workers.
2. As the customer service areas are considered problematic, personnel are hired that are like soccer stopers (tough, who collide with the rival forwards, steal the ball and pass it to their own teammates).
3. In other cases, even more serious, when a new person enters the organization, he or she is placed first in the customer service areas, in order to "train". The bad thing is that already in that position, it can happen that: a) instead of being formed, it deforms. b) It does not have the capacity for tolerance and we may lose a good talent. c) That the company loses very good clients due to the low capacity of solution that a novice person brings.
4. The service areas for some managers is not a priority, therefore they are endowed with very few resources and end up being unmotivated areas, both for employees and for customers.
5. In some companies, it is assumed that the service areas are of “high turnover”. Therefore, they do not invest in training or incentives, since "in case they are going to leave."
6. Additionally, there are organizations that do not have clearly defined their policies, procedures and standards. This causes each situation to be analyzed differently and in some cases the customer service personnel do not even know how to respond.
What to do then:
It is essential for companies that wish to improve their current customer service to develop actions such as the following:
1. Evaluate your current internal processes and their effect on customers and on collaborators themselves. Inadequate processes, either due to their bureaucratic burden or the amount of time it takes to resolve them, tend to generate annoying customers and if they are, their workers will be the same.
2. Analyze internal policies regarding the client. How do you consider the client within your organization? It is a must-see question, since it will demonstrate that this priority is within your business strategies.
3. Evaluate managerial attitudes towards the client. Because even if this point is not considered, much of the way in which an organization addresses or solves problems with its customers is going to be very similar to the attitudes that managers have about them. Remember that managers influence the way they do work, they are cultural “mirrors” for their collaborators.
4. Identify the parameters, indicators or service standards that the organization has. If you don't have them, it's a problem to solve. And if you have them, evaluate them in order to determine if they are in accordance with the needs of your customers and the competition.
5. Analyze the current recruitment and selection system for service personnel. Is the profile clear? Are actions being carried out to identify their true suitability? Are the new Collaborators clear “where are they going”? Are the occupational competencies guiding the recruitment and selection processes?
6. Evaluate the current job recognition and reward system for customer service officers.
7. Last, and not least, it is essential to evaluate the training system that the Collaborators are receiving, for the best performance of their functions. Today's training should be oriented in the following directions:
to. Technical training on products and services of the organization.
b. Training on customer service and its proper management.
c. Training on self motivation, stress management and personal development.
