One the first places I worked while saving for college was at an outlet retail store. The main thing that stood out to me during my brief training was that you are the face of the company. If you provide poor service to customers, most of the time they project their bad experience with you onto the company. This applies to anyone who has interactions with customers, whether you are the first point of contact answering the phone or the person responding to an inquiry or issue – which means the way you interact with clients and prospective clients is very important.
Here are some tips to providing a great customer experience:
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- Go above and beyond expectations – what can you offer the customer that they can’t find anywhere else?
- Listen and respond to customer feedback – it’s a great way to improve weak points.
- Seek to resolve the issue and do not be afraid to apologize – don’t pass the blame to someone else.
- Employees are “internal customers” – show appreciation and respect to fellow employees, and they will provide better customer service to others.
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Do you have experience in the customer service industry? How has that experience affected your interactions with PR clients?