2.2. The 15 Principles For Complete Customer Service

1. The primary cause of success for any organisation is service to its customers.
2. Everyone in the organisation provides service for its customers, even if they never see those customers or know their names.
3. Perception is a reality in the minds of every customer when it comes to experiencing service satisfaction.
4. Every customer is different in some way from every other customer; discovering and understanding these differences results in a high probability of delivering service in a manner that is perceived to be satisfying to each customer; service to each customer that is tailored to individual needs is the primary objective of any successful organisation.
5. Serve every customer as you would serve the person you most love.
6. Every successful organisation strives to ensure that its internal systems are designed and implemented to deliver flawless and seamless service to every customer under all conceivable conditions and circumstances.
7. Service to customers is based not just on systems, processes, and procedures but also on the personal effort and creativity of those who serve. Encourage, support, and reward personal initiative in exhibiting creative ways to serve others both inside and outside the organisation.
8. Successful organisations serve well those who serve customers – internal customers (employees) are served as well as external (paying) customers; creatively taking care of those who take care of customers is a priority.
9. Solicit feedback from customers at all times and then listen, especially when it hurts.
10. Seek always to do it right the first time; if this is not done, then do it very right the second time. Service recovery after initial service failure is paramount to grasping victory from the jaws of defeat.
11. Continuously measure how well customer service is translating into customer satisfaction. Statistics tell stories – are these stories what you want to be told to your customers?
12. Policies trump processes and procedures. All processes and procedures should be designed and implemented in the service of the organisation’s stated reason for existence – its mission to serve its customers.
13. Use the Kaizen philosophy: set goals to improve every day in every way.
14. Employ Lagniappe: delight customers by providing more than they expect.
15. Always be willing to start from scratch in thinking about how to better serve customers. Effective customer service policies, processes, and systems can be viewed as wealth-producing assets. Not every asset, however, can be efficiently used to turn a profit. Using the right assets in the right way produces wealth.

Tailor your level of service to suit your customers’ needs. Some businesses work well providing a ‘no frills’ basic level of service while others go beyond customer expectations to achieve a level of service to make their customers say ‘WOW‘.