The Key Is Customer Service. - What sets you apart from others?
INTRODUCTION:
Greetings to all. Before I begin, Gwen Payne has submitted an article for review for a guest post slot. Her topic is "Provide Long-Distance Care for your Loved Ones With These 5 Innovations." I believe this to be an interesting and useful topic for many. I will post her article as a guest blog post on April 17th. Thank you, Gwen, for your submission. If anyone is interested in having their article posted on my blog, please submit it to me for review in word format to crondina@caesarrondinaauthor.com.
Tonight's topic came about interestingly. About 2 1/2 years ago, I posted a blog regarding customer service. It focused on the problems we all have with customer service call centers. As it turns out, two of my subscribers sent me emails asking to elaborate more on customer service related to brick-and-mortar retail stores.
As it turns out, I have been working on my next course for a learning platform I create courses for, Udemy.com, which happens to be about this topic. I've been working on this course for a month now, and three modules are completed, and I have the last two left to be completed. The course will run approximately two hours and be published in 3-4 weeks. This course has five modules with a quiz at the end of each module. After successful completion, you can download your framable certificate of completion. Worthy of hanging on your wall. This preview is a small preview of what will be taught in my course.
Every business has customers. Without them, they would not remain in business. Customers range from brick-and-mortar retail stores to online outlets and more. However, the basics of good customer service are the same. Only the variations in training are different. Since I already wrote a post regarding online outlets, this post will focus on brick-and-mortar retail stores.
Think about this question for a moment.
Is it better to be good or good to be better?
Allow me to take a moment to explain my experience in this area. I started my own retail business during what was considered the worst economic times in our history. Companies were laying off workers weekly, and small businesses were closing. Finding a job was close to impossible. I was young and did not have a great deal of experience. Therefore, many others with far more experience than I got the few available jobs that were available.
I learned quickly that not having an income and needing to pay back my school loans and other bills doesn't cut it. I had the knowledge and skills but lacked experience. I made a choice. A huge gamble. It took every penny I had, but I started my own business. It was a retail store for walk-in customers, but I also catered to commercial businesses. I opened a 2-way radio electronics business. I knew that the small companies that used 2-way radios to communicate could not afford the larger shops that carried the major brands. My business model was to cater to these shops and work my way up.
I knew that pricing and customer service would be the key to success. This was my shot. A big risk and gamble. If it tanked, I would be broke. I owned that business for 17 years. A retail business and commercial business relies heavily on strong customer service skills. Needless to say, it was very successful. But not before, I learned some hard lessons.
At some point, I became interested in becoming a firefighter and paramedic. After a fire department hired me, I sold my business. It was an honor and a privileged to become a career firefighter and paramedic. I did all my schooling for this while I owned my business. I was very fortunate. Because of how my business model was structured, I hired and trained good people, allowing me time to continue my education in my other areas of interest. Owning a boat and being a U.S.C.G. licensed Master Captain gave me the opportunity to captain many boats and learn more about good customer service. Boaters are a niche community and are usually very hard to please. This was my testing ground. If that is not enough to convince you, I also have been an educator for over 40 years.
As a firefighter and paramedic, I also took care of patients. In its own way, that is also a form of customer service. The same applies to public service in the fire service. Those of us who worked in the field called them patients and citizens in the communities we serve. However, in their eyes, we are providing a service, and anyone who provides it MUST have strong customer service skills.
I worked in that field for over 30 years. Add that to the years I owned my own business and ran a boat captain business; it is fair to say that my entire working life revolved around customer service skills and learning proper structure. After retiring from the fire service, I worked my way up the ladder to corporate management. During this time, I continued to operate my boat captain business part-time. My whole working career revolved around keeping customers happy and solving problems. Considering all of this, I believe this qualifies me as someone who knows and understands the business structure model and customer service.
Along the way, everyone learns certain lessons. The most important lesson about customer service is that some people will not be happy no matter what you do. Some customers like to complain and are never happy. Your job is NEVER TO STOP TRYING TO MAKE THEM HAPPY.
WHAT IS CUSTOMER SERVICE?
Customer service is the assistance and advice provided by a company to those people who buy or use its products or services.
Well, that's a good start, but let's elaborate more on that.
Customer service is the support you offer your customers — both before and after they buy and use your products or services — that helps them have an easy and enjoyable experience with you.
That's a good start. But there is much more to it to get to that point. So let us get started,