What a Week
I’m a pretty easygoing guy. It takes a lot to rattle me.
But this week, I was rattled. I had one poor customer service experience after another at businesses in my home town. From a sandwich shop to a local office supply store, I was blown away by how little they seemed to care about whether or not I was a satisfied customer.
Honestly, I felt like I was suddenly flying through the Bermuda Triangle of customer service. At times I was hoping that I was on one of those “hidden camera” shows, waiting for someone to pop out from behind a display of chocolate chip cookies to tell me it was all a joke.
But it wasn’t. It was real. Real bad.
I decided to stop buying from a few places where I was a regular customer. Loyal, repeat customers are difficult to come by. And assuming that your product is good – in your case, your handcrafted jewelry – one of the keys to establishing a loyal base of long-term customers is in providing outstanding customer service.
Elite customer service is not necessarily based on common sense. It’s based more on core values, and your own prior experiences with being treated extremely well. So, I wanted to share my own customer service principles to begin a discussion where I hope you'll share yours.
When you’ve established a set that really work for you and your jewelry buyers, you can write a book about it, because there will be no shortage of businesses that need to read up on the subject.
Especially in my neighborhood.
Here are my own:
DAVID WEIMAN’S CUSTOMER SERVICE PRINCIPLES
1. I view it as a privilege to provide my services to others.
2. I want my clients to feel that they received more value than the price they paid.
3. I will communicate as quickly as I can in response to each order or contact I receive.
4. I will learn as much as possible about what my clients want, and what they love.
5. I will be patient and understanding when responding to complaints.
6. I will be honest in dealing with others, even if I lose money because of it.
7. I will seek “Win-Win or No Deal” relationships with clients and vendors.
What are yours? Please reply!
Labels: customer service, marketing jewelry, selling jewelry