We all look forward to going on a foreign holiday. Loads of sun, plenty of food and the odd drink or three. Yet we all put ourselves through the misery of foreign travel. Queuing at the airport to check in or just to drop off your bags. Long queues at security when many of the lanes are not staffed. Queueing at passport control when half the booths are empty, queuing to collect your bags at the other end and if you have the joy of hiring a car at your destination of choice, long queues again. And that’s after your flight has been delayed. Do you feel you are just a commodity and not a customer?
Then you have the trepidation of arriving at your hotel. You’ve dropped off other travellers at their hotels on the way and are constantly thinking, “I’m glad I’m not staying there”, or “That looks good, have we booked the wrong one?” Finally, when you open the room in your hotel you either breathe a massive sigh of relief or think well, we’ll manage for the next seven days. Then you go and sit round the pool, glad for some peace and quiet and the music starts to blare out. You’ve come away for a holiday, not an all-day rave! (Personal request: Hotels – please ban music from around the pool. Most people own headphones)
So do you treat your customers the same way or do you treat them the way you would like to be treated? Do you know what they want from you, rather than what you think they want? Have you ever talked to your customers, if you do, they will tell you everything you need to know. They will give you the information you need to be able to provide the best customer service possible. Do you ask your customers what they want and the way they want it? Do you offer feedback forms to be able to identify where you are going wrong so you can improve it? Just doing the simple stuff can make a massive difference to your customer service. You have to make it as simple as possible for people to do business with you and also make it a very pleasant experience.
It doesn’t take much to improve and these marginal improvements make all the difference. Visitors to our offices are supplied with a welcome pack, which shows them how to get here, where to park and even what drink they would like once they arrive. If our car park is full, we’ll pay for their parking and have some change at reception for them. Little things make a difference. What can you do to improve your customer service?
If you want to chat through anything about your business, we offer a free one-hour initial discussion. Feel free to get in touch for more information.
