Why Do Executives and Owners Hire ServiceQuest?
Many who reach out to us know they have a problem to solve. Some hear it from their customers and employees. Others see it in the numbers. Some have instincts and gut-level gnawing.
A giant client switched out their phone system and almost immediately issues with consistency plugged the happiness pipeline. The underlying causes were straightforward and most were easily fixed. The point here is that busy executives and managers always want the fastest path to resolution, with the least impact on the positivity of customers and profits.
What’s the role of a customer?
A new client in the customer service project planning stage asked, “How do we measure success in customer service?” In his logical and straightforward way, he went right to the pivot point. It became an exercise for us in customer behaviors and what to measure: customers saying positive things about the company, bringing their friends and family, and returning again and again. “So, how do we measure these?” he continued.
The leading KPI is customer satisfaction or happiness, made up of activities and metrics that create known outcomes. Employee growth & happiness, repeat customer business, positive word-of-mouth, and customer order size and frequency are reliable external indicators and good places to start for most of our evaluations.
We rely on a mix of tradition and innovation. Voice of the Customer (VOC) and Net Promoter Score (NPS) are important baselines. Surveys and interviews yield some of the most valuable gems, while new AI-driven tools allow us to capture customer sentiment in the purest, real-time forms.
Some indicators are subtle, and therefore sometimes overlooked. Consistent outputs in products and services that go to the heart of the brand promise become opportunities for operations, marketing, technology, sales, and customer service teams to solve together. But, where to start?
To illustrate, here’s a possibility for getting started. Identify a pain point such as a customer observation or complaint. Progress can really accelerate when the chief executive or her assigns sit in the customer service center and listen for an hour.
Not the Paper!!
“My morning paper was late and soggy today.” Before jumping to a rapid, obvious conclusion just yet, proceed with the right motive, mindset, and words.
“Hi Mr. Hazen, I know you love your morning coffee and paper! Let’s work together to get to the bottom of this for you. We value you as our friend and subscriber!”
Using their best skills, the employee will fix the immediate problem and dispatch a fresh, dry paper to Mr. Hazen, with a coupon for a cup of coffee at the corner cafe.
But here’s where the magic really begins, where the business can cash in on consistency.
With clearly defined standards (for example, today’s dry newspaper delivered to the 3×3-foot zone at the front door or the newspaper box at or before 7 a.m.), what remains is to orchestrate consistency. Unless the standard misses the mark, your goose will keep laying that golden egg with consistency. To create and maintain consistency, stay on top of the daily variables and enjoy the results!
Why Hire ServiceQuest
Each day, we show up to help our clients see their business from a very unique angle. Because the purpose of business is to acquire and keep customers profitably, our sun rises and sets on the customer. We see the business universe through customers’ eyes. And although the customer isn’t always right, we never stop advocating for them, which can only be effective if we effectively listen to them and truly hear them.
Hearing the customer can be as simple as sitting next to an employee who tackles a customer problem or question. Putting on a headset and taking a few calls really, or “listening” to the customer through modern AI tools really pinpoints customer sentiment.
Growth and Leadership Conference
We are hosting a conference on May 18th, in Salt Lake City for businesses who want to get to their next level of growth. We’ll be looking at some examples we’ve seen with clients who have experienced rapid growth and what steps they took to ensure they didn’t get trampled by the moment. We will also be talking about some practical steps and strategies you can take to help spur improvements. Register and learn more HERE.
