With early spring in the air, my garden needed attention.
I recently bought a number of trees to plant around the property and wanted to protect them from the ravages of the strong southerlies we get, especially at this time of the year in Queenstown! I needed some stakes to support them.
Due to previous experiences, I wanted long stakes to properly support the young trees in their early years.
So started the hunt for 50 treated pine stakes, 3-metres long.
After a couple of hours of frustration on various websites and follow up phone calls, it was clear that nobody supplied stakes longer than 1.8 metres.
So, I moved on to emailing a variety of contacts – builders who might know subbies (or suppliers), landscape gardeners, landscape architects who might have contacts – but all I got was either no reply or no leads. What now?
I jumped in the car (the trees will sequester the exhaust fumes) and headed off to speak, in person, to local building supply companies. Well, my first couple of stops were interesting, and I was heading for a clean sweep of disappointment until I made my last call to a Building Supplies Company – Carters in Glenda Drive.
I quickly wished I had visited them out the outset.
10-minutes after putting my mask on and signing in with my QR code I had secured what I needed. I was introduced to a buyer, she listened to me, made a phone call, secured the price, and delivery, offered me a trailer, took a deposit, and had me leaving with a big smile under the mask.
I will use Carters in Glenda Drive next time I need a product or service that they have expertise in.
A great experience I want to shout about!
The reason for this story is because it demonstrates the importance of the type, depth and relevance of the service that customers can gets from a product or service supplier – in my case it was a superior experience for me – I ended up with what I needed – on time, below budget and with no hassles. I will be a repeat customer – and I will spread the word (referral) – hence this story.
Customer service is a complex, and potentially difficult area for business people – but the rewards for getting it right can be significant and potentially also life-saving for the business. It’s too easy to shop online and in-store staff should be a key point of difference for your business. There are many different customer service skills that need to be addressed and many cannot be trained but they are talents that are identifiable, including:
- Friendly Attitude- there is nothing that beats a smile and friendly attitude to help resolve issues
- Active Listener – a person needs to feel understood, heard and responded to
- Able to read customers’ requirements
- Adaptability- everyone is different, and issues can vary
- Conflict resolution – this is not easy but essential
- Creative – be able to be clever and find fun ways to go the extra mile
- Decision making – get and take action quickly
- Dependability and Responsibility – staff need to be trusted and encouraged to resolve issues
- Effective Communicator. – be clear, concise, and natural.
- Empathetic – understand how the customer feels and where they are coming from.
- Put yourself in their shoes
- Basic Acting skills – which enable you to be cheerful when a customer is grumpy
This list of skills required to be a champion in customer service is not finite – do think your business could be doing better?
One way to approach the issue is to invest in ongoing training for you and your staff – get in an expert to help. The best local person in this area is Duncan Ashford of Lionheart Consulting, (who you can call on 021 0287 6313) who has heaps of experience in teaching teams how to communicate better. He has a depth of experience in this space; having worked with many international corporates and local businesses.
I really hope this helps you and your business – there’s nothing like a delightful story to add a positive note to your day!
If you have any business issues, I can help you with Get in touch.
Robin Martin
P.S. This article is part of my Secrets of Success series, aimed at helping business owners and entrepreneurs with some of the key components of business success. The insights I wish I’d had at the start of my business career. I hope that by passing on these little gems of knowledge I can give you some support and help you along the pathway to growth and prosperity.
