The Importance of Customer Service

Let's talk about customer service. I wanted to share this with you, whether you have an online business, whether you're a professional, whether you help people, you have a product, service, or whatever it may be.

If you have a business, you have to have customer service in some way, shape, or form. This subject has really been on my heart. I had a trying week last week and that glaring theme across the board was customer service.

I want to give you guys a couple of different examples of some situations that I experienced last week and some key takeaways and tips that you can implement in your own businesses.

The first part of customer service I want to talk about is the importance of making the journey for your clients as smooth as possible.

I had to close two different bank accounts. It required me to go to each bank, pretty much back to back.?This gave me a great experience of being able to compare one thing to another back-to-back right away.

For the first experience, I called PNC.?I asked if?I could pop in for a quick meeting because I wanted to close one of the accounts. The woman on the phone welcomed me in and said, absolutely come right in.

The journey with her was smooth and streamlined! She walked me through everything I needed to do and I left feeling super happy and satisfied.

Having a clear, smooth journey and a smooth process?while making it very simple for me was super, super appreciated.

Then I called Bank of America?where there was no physical person - it was all automated.

I went to one of the branches and had to wait in line. When I got to the teller, the teller said, you're going to have to go over there. So I waited again a little bit longer.

Finally, a woman came out, she started walking me through the process, and then she said you have to get back in line to do this then come back over here. It was just a very choppy process and it wasn't a great experience. It didn't have me leaving thinking, oh, this was so wonderful. It was back and forth and not streamlined.

The first tip is if you can make the customer or the client journey from them hiring you to them working with you as smooth as possible, that's the way to go.

The next little situation has to do with listening. It's important to listen to your clients. This particular situation was with 1-800-JUNK. Since I getting ready to sell my house?they were moving a lot of stuff that I had in my basement out. I wanted them to totally clear everything out.

I specifically told them not to throw out this one tote. I said, don't throw this tote out, it is very important. I put it on top of the washer and I go run some errands.

I come back and they had moved that tote into where the rest of the junk was going to be thrown away. I reiterated the fact, please do not throw this thing out and I walked it upstairs and I set it aside before leaving.

After finishing some errands, I pulled into the driveway?and I?see they're literally dumping out all the contents of the tote into all the junk in the truck. I'm like, what is going on? I told the guy, I can't wrap my mind around this right now. Why do you want to throw this tote out so bad??

Customer service tip number two, make sure to listen to your clients. Don't let it go in one ear and out the other. If they're voicing concerns, if they need something, if they're giving feedback, listen, it really goes a long way.

The third tip is, make the experience personalized and special. I can't tell you how important this is. Whether you're dealing with people on social media or you're on Zoom calls, you can still personalize the experience and get to know your clients. In fact, that's one of the most important things, even before customers begin to work with you.

In one of my particular experiences, I had a couple of doctor's visits, and my one visit was awful. The doctor was so mean and so nasty. It was just so confusing because I have this?issue going on?and want?it checked out and she was just yelling at me the whole time.

I had another doctor's visit?and it was wonderful. The doctor was extremely friendly, kind, asked me questions and talked about family. I left feeling like this person really cares?and it really made an impact and a difference on me.

To sum up the three tips:

First, make sure to make it a smooth process, a smooth journey when you onboard clients.

Second, make sure to listen and pay attention. Listen to what your clients are saying and ask them questions if you're not really sure what they want.

Third, is?providing a personalized experience and sharing empathy, and being a personable person. We're not just transactions, everybody is important. I really wanted to touch on this?because it's just been hitting so close to home in so many different ways.

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