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Great Customer Service in One Slide.png

Service is the dominant form of industry these days. Everything is a service; in fact, -as-a-service is appended to an enormous number of industries.

  • We have software-as-a-service. (the online apps economy)
  • We have platform-as-a-service. (the API economy)
  • We have vehicles-as-a-service. (the ridesharing companies)
  • We have space-as-a-service. (home and office timesharing apps)

Yet how many of these new service industries focus on – and deliver – great service?

Great service sets us apart from our competitors. It’s the fastest, simplest way to pull ahead of everyone else who has a similar offering. Reminding ourselves of what constitutes great service is relatively hard, especially if our company isn’t accustomed to delivering great service.

What constitutes great customer service?

Great customer service is a reminder of six key actions we must take all day, every day to better serve customers. These six actions apply to any industry, any customer, and spell out PLEASE. They are:

  • Pay attention! By the time someone complains, their experience is already ruined. Pay attention and anticipate problems before they happen.
  • Listen! Put away opinions and preconceptions of what we think the customer wants and listen to what they’re actually saying.
  • Execute! Nothing makes up for not doing what we said we’d do. Deliver exactly what is promised.
  • Ask! We’re not telepaths. We can’t read minds. Ask customers early and often what we could do better.
  • Serve! Put away ego and pride. Whether we’re right or wrong, the customer pays the bills and is the boss.
  • Exceed! Customers have preconceptions and expectations. Exceed them and they’ll return over and over again.

Here’s a helpful sign you can print out and share with your team.

great customer service.png

(click for more sizes)

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