Customer Service: More Than Just Icing on the Cake

Customer service straddles the fine line that divides "asset" and "liability" in every business venture. The only way to perfect customer service and turn it into a value-added company proposition is through ongoing training, empowering employees to handle problems on their own, and by leading your staff by solid example. Your company's customer service mantra needs to be repeated daily.

We all experience customer service issues daily. This past week I experienced an incident at Whole Foods Market in which customer service turned into a liability. I am -- or was -- a fan of their Chantilly cake topped with summer berries. While shopping for a dessert to bring to a neighborhood gathering, I noticed there was one Chantilly cake left in the bakery case -- the perfect dessert. I asked the pleasant bakery clerk if she could box the cake for me.

Gazing at the cake with a concerned look, she told me that the fruit "looked old" and that she would change it for me. A nice gesture, but it left visions of mold under the old. When I asked how she knew the cake hidden under the frosting and fruit would be good, she assured me the cake would "be fine." Needless to say, I opted out of the cake purchase.

The problem here began hours before the attempted fruit makeover. The bakery case never should have played host to a cake that was less than perfect. And, if the bakery supervisor was on mark, the cake would have been tossed before the store opened. But this kind of customer service training should have begun when the bakery assistant was first hired, and it should have been based on common sense.

Here are ten tips on perfecting your customer service:

1. Define how you view customer service: Is the customer always right? Is the customer entitled to equal compensation? Is the customer contacted by management on every complaint? These are important steps to define.

2. Outline a customer service policy based on how you as an owner perceive customer service. Make sure the outline is based on common sense. If the customer is upset, make them happy. When little Jimmy cries, Mommy does anything to make him stop. The same holds true with customers.

3. Realize every customer service predicament involves a customer and an employee. After solving the customer's problem, your next step is to solve the employee problem.

4. Develop a customer service manual that each employee has to read, agree to, and sign.

5. Empower your employee to solve problems. A disgruntled customer can quickly become a loyal customer if their needs are immediately met. Having to wait, come back, or call someone regarding a problem infuriates customers.

6. In a world where "word of mouth" has turned into "word of Yelp," it is wise to resolve problems in a nanosecond rather than let them fuel hostility.

7. When hiring, discuss your customer service philosophy and make sure your potential employees have the same vision as the company. It's difficult to change the way employees view customers.

8. Develop a customer service complaint and resolution form. Each incident needs to be tracked from the beginning of the complaint through the resolution process. You need to know more about customer service than "Mrs. Johnson was ticked off because the food was cold. We bought her a dessert. She's fine now."

9. Discuss customer service regularly at pre-shift meetings.

10. An important rule to remember: If the outside is bad, the inside is rotten.