Besides having a good product/service, it is important to have good customer service. After all, what is a good product if the service is not up to par? Service is that one thing that compliments a product/service. It may improve the customer experience (if the product/service is that good) and keep customers coming back.
Customer service is not just the provision of services during the purchase, but before and after as well. Business such as spas, salons and the like, which mostly rely on their services (e.g. cutting hair, grooming, selling of grooming products etc…) need good customer service for all phases (before, during and even after the purchase). Customer service is a series of activities that are supposed to enhance the level of satisfaction a customer experiences.
Success of such activities solely relies on the interactions and rapport that employees are able to establish with their customers. Having an employee who is able to adjust and adapt themselves to the personality of the customer is a skill, and so many of them get it wrong. How the employee interacts with the customer affects how the customer perceives the business - which may or may not have them coming back, even support the business and spreading through the word of mouth (good or otherwise).
A business is all about sales, the more the merrier. Customer service plays a big part in generating that income and revenue when in the hands of a capable employee. It is not just about regurgitation of details and information, but how to make that connection with the customer to generate more sales.
Food establishments such as restaurants and eateries, besides good food and ambience, the disposition and efficiency of the staff (e.g. servers, cooks etc…) are the ones that determine the level of customer satisfaction. How the staff perform (e.g. promptly noticing customers and taking down their orders all the way to the serving of food until bill payment) affect the customers perception of the place.
On the other hand, for salons, spas and grooming parlors (and the like) customer service entails something much more then just selling of a service (or package) and payment. There is that little thing called after service: making a ‘connection’ with the customer and replying back in a way that would keep the customer coming back for more. If employees just regurgitate what they were told to, without the initiative, it might sound a little rude (even mocking) – more so when it is a message then over the phone when the intention of the employee doing the replying cannot be ascertained.
While it isn’t my first time patronizing this business, the turn-over rate is pretty high and all the good capable staff have left, leaving the ever changing newbies to handle the job interacting with the customers. So while I’ll still patronize the place (and endure for now) since I like the concept and products, I might not be so forgiving to the ‘new’ service staff for the lack of ingenuity (even sincerity?). A high turn-over rate makes it all the more challenging for any regular customer to make any sort or rapport or connection with the business.
But if you just regurgitate the facts with no ‘heart’ or ingenuity and you got me on a bad day… well… too bad for you…
Inflexibility, inconsistency and just overall poor customer (after) service (insensitivity and lack of ingenuity) are the Achilles heel(s) of any business. There were so many ways this could have been handled better: from actually sending out a couple of ‘gentle’ reminders, offerings of extra services/products/packages to ‘extend’ the package (hence, earning more money since the customer actually spends more) to actually replying in a ‘nicer’ manner. Bleh...
Customer service is not just the provision of services during the purchase, but before and after as well. Business such as spas, salons and the like, which mostly rely on their services (e.g. cutting hair, grooming, selling of grooming products etc…) need good customer service for all phases (before, during and even after the purchase). Customer service is a series of activities that are supposed to enhance the level of satisfaction a customer experiences.
Success of such activities solely relies on the interactions and rapport that employees are able to establish with their customers. Having an employee who is able to adjust and adapt themselves to the personality of the customer is a skill, and so many of them get it wrong. How the employee interacts with the customer affects how the customer perceives the business - which may or may not have them coming back, even support the business and spreading through the word of mouth (good or otherwise).
A business is all about sales, the more the merrier. Customer service plays a big part in generating that income and revenue when in the hands of a capable employee. It is not just about regurgitation of details and information, but how to make that connection with the customer to generate more sales.
Food establishments such as restaurants and eateries, besides good food and ambience, the disposition and efficiency of the staff (e.g. servers, cooks etc…) are the ones that determine the level of customer satisfaction. How the staff perform (e.g. promptly noticing customers and taking down their orders all the way to the serving of food until bill payment) affect the customers perception of the place.
On the other hand, for salons, spas and grooming parlors (and the like) customer service entails something much more then just selling of a service (or package) and payment. There is that little thing called after service: making a ‘connection’ with the customer and replying back in a way that would keep the customer coming back for more. If employees just regurgitate what they were told to, without the initiative, it might sound a little rude (even mocking) – more so when it is a message then over the phone when the intention of the employee doing the replying cannot be ascertained.
While it isn’t my first time patronizing this business, the turn-over rate is pretty high and all the good capable staff have left, leaving the ever changing newbies to handle the job interacting with the customers. So while I’ll still patronize the place (and endure for now) since I like the concept and products, I might not be so forgiving to the ‘new’ service staff for the lack of ingenuity (even sincerity?). A high turn-over rate makes it all the more challenging for any regular customer to make any sort or rapport or connection with the business.
But if you just regurgitate the facts with no ‘heart’ or ingenuity and you got me on a bad day… well… too bad for you…
Inflexibility, inconsistency and just overall poor customer (after) service (insensitivity and lack of ingenuity) are the Achilles heel(s) of any business. There were so many ways this could have been handled better: from actually sending out a couple of ‘gentle’ reminders, offerings of extra services/products/packages to ‘extend’ the package (hence, earning more money since the customer actually spends more) to actually replying in a ‘nicer’ manner. Bleh...
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