Start the New Year Off Right

The beginning of the year is an excellent time to put in place a renewed effort to providing your clients and customers with the best possible service. Like an expensive automobile, it is important to have a professional do an oil change, tune up and maintenance check on a regular basis. Likewise, by bringing in a professional consultant to assess your customer service strategies and delivery system, this can help you develop an extra edge over your competitors.

Look at Things from a Different Perspective
Many times a consultant can help you see things from a different perspective and gain insights you just can’t get from where you are standing. One of my clients, Keith Paul, President of Handy Pro and Handyman Service Incorporated in Plymouth MI, shared with me how he learned to look at his business differently. He and his technicians had always used the term, “customer” to refer to the people they served. In one of our training sessions, we discussed the difference between the word client and the word customer. Once they understood that client meant long term relationship, they immediately substituted the word client from that day forward. Each time they were with their “client”, it brought a different awareness and guided the conversation in a more proactive direction.

Build Sales
Another insight they gleaned was how much of a natural opportunity his technicians had, at point of contact, to up sell additional services and products to their clients. Since they had already developed a trusted relationship, it was non-threatening for the client, and comfortable for the technician to communicate the different possibilities that created more value for their client.

There are many reasons to get a fresh set of eyes to take a look at your business. One of the best is to be able to continually raise the bar of your client’s satisfaction level, by providing service that exceeds your competitor’s level.

If you are interested in a better career in customer service visit www.customerservicejobs.com

Tom Borg is president of Tom Borg Consulting, LLC. He is a business consultant, speaker, coach and author. He helps companies and organization become more successful and profitable by helping them attract and retain their customers and clients. Read more of his blogs on csjobsblog.com.