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One common factor that all businesses share is customer service – whether you’re B2B or B2C, you have to manage your clients and the way you communicate with them.
The great news is that no matter how diverse or niche your services or products are, there will always be a customer service award that you’ll be eligible to enter. The downside to this is that competition can be fierce – so if you fancy having a crack, preparation is key. Here’s what we suggest if you’ve got your eye on a customer service award.
Be strategic about your services
To ensure you have the right credentials for customer service awards, you have to start with the basics. Review your service values and develop a strong delivery strategy – this will prove to the award panel and your clients that you care, and will encourage great feedback, an improved reputation and support should you need it for a vote-driven.
Why not arrange for some mystery shopping? This can be as simple as getting friends and family to send an email or make a call, or you could use a dedicated mystery shopping agency.
Be strategic about your stats
They say if you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it. As you roll out your all-new customer service standards, keep an eye on the numbers. Collate data on customer engagement and satisfaction – you’ll probably need a way to collect this from your customers – track call handling, response times, query resolution and anything else that you can measure. These statistics will start to show where your real strengths are, how much improvement you’ve made and what you need to work harder on. Above all, they can be used as supporting evidence for your submission.
Internal incentives
It’s even worth considering some in-house incentives to motivate your team. You could run an internal customer service competition, or offer some vouchers or other rewards for excellence. Boosting morale and showing your staff that you recognise and value their contribution increases productivity and will make them more likely to pay this positivity forward to your clients – which in turn will lead to evidence for an external award submission!
If you’d like to have an informal chat about how you can tailor your processes to help you win customer service awards, give us a call on 07921 543898.
