When you treat customers well, they come back and they tell other people about their good experiences.

It is estimated that 80% of people who receive bad service or have a bad experience will tell ten people about it.

Let’s face it. No matter how hard we try to excel, things go wrong. It might be something that we consider minor but it can be monumental to the customer. It’s how you deal with it that will not only make or break you but will set you apart from your competitors.

Make sure that you are all singing from the same songbook. If you, as the business owner, are waxing lyrical with an aria by Puccini and the rest of your team are neck deep in Wolfmother, then the culture isn’t going to be maintained.

The customer service culture has to start at the top — and it’s your responsibility as the business owner, to establish that culture, and bring it home to every single person in the team.

But that can be the problem. If you are time poor, and let’s face it, so many people are, the importance of customer care can be overlooked.

I found this story some time ago and just love it…..

When Sir Richard Branson launched Virgin Blue airlines, the teams were fresh, vibrant and trained to go overboard, literally, in the customer service arena.

The cabin crew were preparing for takeoff when they noticed an elderly lady clutching a box on her lap. An attendant offered to stow it for her in the overhead lockers.

“No, it’s my dog” the old lady said. The crew member replied very nicely that pets were not allowed to be in the cabin and that it would have to be placed in another part of the plane. The dog would be returned as soon as the plane landed.

Later on, the baggage handlers found the box and that the dog was no longer in the land of the living. Rather than tell the lady this, they promised to personally deliver the dog to her door, and then set about trying to find a replacement.

They arrived at the lady’s home, complete with the lookalike canine.

“That’s not my dog!’ she stated.

“Really?” said the staff, “How do you know?”

“Mine’s dead!” was the reply.

Whether or not it’s true, the message is clear. Go overboard for the customer.

That’s where we come in. If you need help, either establishing a customer care culture, recreating it or just ensuring that all your staff are trained to be as fabulous as they should be, then contact us. We CAN help you.

This entry was posted on Thursday, August 9th, 2007 at 1:13 pm and is filed under General Topics. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.