Chapter 6 - Customer Service

Listen to your Customers

Do you know what your customers think of your store? What do they like? What don't they like? It's time to start listening to them.

Listening is critical to customer service. So critical, that you can never rely on just one method of listening. You must have an array of techniques to ensure you are getting close enough to your customers.

Listening Methods

There is no shortage of methods to listen to your customers, both internal and external. From the suggestions below, create a listening plan for both inside and outside your organization. Develop new strategies that will work in your own company, and don't rely on just one or two ideas.

1. Face to Face
   Get out there and meet your customers. Spend time in your store or out on the road with the sales staff. Ask them how well you're doing, and what needs to be done to better meet the needs of staff and customers.



2. Market Research
   Find out what's happening in your immediate and secondary markets. Who's doing well and why? What are the latest consumer trends? You don't have to hire an external market research company (but it often helps). Read trade journals and newspapers, and talk to suppliers. Make sure you understand what's going on in the real world outside your ivory tower.



3. Focus Groups
   Facilitate meetings with both external and internal customers. A group setting can bring out fabulous new information you can use to enhance the level of your service. Use outside firms to coordinate and run these meetings to ensure they go smoothly. Some retailers even form Consumer Councils that preview, and provide input into, all customer related company decisions.



4. Surveys
   Gather aGather as much information as you can through the use of surveys that are either mailed out or completed face to face. Find out how well you are doing and what else your customers would like you to do. Don't forget to survey your internal customers as well.



5. Hot Lines
   A "1-800" phone service not only makes it easy for your customers to reach you, but also conveys an attitude of wanting to listen.



6. Customer Complaints
   
   Rather than avoiding them, aggressively seek out customer complaints. You can't improve unless you know what's broken. Every customer complaint is a golden opportunity to improve.

A Final Point About Listening

If you're ready to start listening, make sure you're also ready to act. Nothing frustrates and turns off both external and internal customers more than providing input that is ignored. Listening without acting moves you backwards, not forwards.