3. Classification of Customer Services
Based on the concept of customer service and the stages in the transaction process, customer service can be divided into three categories:
- Before Sale: Includes services such as introduction, advertising, offering, order taking, contract signing, product display, etc. These activities help create a favorable environment for successful transactions.
- During Sale: Includes services such as product introduction, consultation, guidance to help customers choose the right products, payment, packaging, loading, transportation, and delivery. These activities complete the customer’s purchasing process.
- After Sale: Also known as after-sales services, this includes: product usage instructions, addressing customer queries, warranties, repairs, trade-ins, exchanges, customer meetings, etc. These activities help enhance the value customers receive and may increase customer lifetime value.
4. What Defines Good Customer Service?
To date, there is no precise, fixed definition or standard for determining what constitutes good customer service. This is partly because service standards are often not fixed, and they can vary by time, place, and the specific customer. However, some criteria play a key role in defining good customer service:
- Speed: From product delivery to answering customer questions and resolving complaints, everything must be done quickly.
- Professionalism: Factors such as the way of communication, problem-solving skills, understanding of customer psychology, and even having detailed product knowledge all reflect professionalism and are key to delivering excellent customer service.
5. Customer Service Measurement Standards
- Net Promoter Score (NPS): This metric tells you whether your customers would recommend your product or service to others. Based on their score, customers are classified as promoters, passives, or detractors. The score reflects what customers think about the overall customer experience and demonstrates their loyalty.
- Customer Satisfaction Score (CSAT): This score is used to analyze the quality of customer service. The CSAT score indicates how well your customer service department is performing and allows them to gather detailed feedback from customers. A high CSAT score helps improve brand credibility and customer loyalty. On the other hand, a low score means it’s time to rebuild your support strategy for your brand.
6. Standards for Measuring Good Customer Service
Based on the concept and nature of customer service, here are five standards business owners can use to evaluate service quality:
- Speed Standard: “Fast service equals comfort for the customer.” This means speed is a key factor in determining customer satisfaction.
- Accuracy: While fast service is great, it must also ensure accuracy and deliver the right results.
- Transparency: This standard is hard to measure and is mainly based on scale and qualitative assessments. Accuracy standards could be reflected in the customer’s awareness rate.
- Accessibility: Customer service should not be passive but proactive in addressing customer issues.
- Performance: Speed and performance are two opposing forces. While they do not exclude each other, balancing them can be difficult.
7. Why is it necessary to elevate customer service?
Customers are the target and a key factor for the survival and growth of a business. In the era of integration, along with the rapid development of technology and social media, the market and customer base are expanding and diversifying. However, this also leads to increased competition from rivals, making the competitive pressure more intense. In order to survive and grow, businesses must adapt. One of the most effective ways to adapt is by focusing on improving and elevating customer service.
As discussed in Part 1, we can see the crucial importance of customer service to a brand, customer loyalty, competitiveness, and revenue generation for businesses. Research on customer satisfaction by EFQM clearly shows that customer loyalty has a direct impact on a company’s financial performance – it increases the profits generated by the company.
It has been proven that most of the profits come from loyal customers, who forgive the company’s mistakes and do not switch to competitors when circumstances are unfavorable.
A classic example is Sears and its mail-order business in the United States. Research showed that a 5% increase in employee satisfaction led to a 1% increase in customer satisfaction, which in turn led to an additional 0.5% profit.
Customer service in the digital transformation era is not just about meeting customer demands but also understanding and empathizing with them. Digital technology is the most effective tool to help businesses achieve this.
In the process of improving and elevating customer service, people play a key role in creating exemplary customer service. In many businesses, employees are the brand ambassadors. Building a corporate culture and nurturing employees’ love for the company will be key drivers in motivating them to give their best in serving customers.
HRDC compiled and summarized.
Sources:http://www.gemcenter.vn/www.midesk.vn/www.congthuong.vn
