In Cyprus in 2019 (and beyond), CONSISTENCY is the key to a successful business!
Businesses should turn their words into action, ensuring a consistent performance on the promises they have made to the market and consumers. Simply put, what we have promised, we should do.
And someone may ask me: Is it so difficult to do what you say?
I’ll answer with an example: How many of you have made an appointment with plumbers, builders, gardeners or even bigger companies and they simply NEVER showed up….and they DID NOT even bother to pick up a phone call? These are the same people who at the first opportunity will complain that business is not going well!
The secret to providing great customer service is to deliver on your promises, not once, not twice, but EVERY time a customer walks through the door of your business.
The good news is that there are obviously your customers who still want to work with you.
The bad news is that your customers will go elsewhere if you fail to consistently deliver on your quality and service promises.
The key to repeat sales is consistency in both what you offer and how you deliver it.
For example, we will be there tomorrow at 4:00 p.m…. And the customer should not have to call us at 6:00 p.m. listening to excuses that undermine his intelligence!
Customers will be loyal to you and return again and again when they have confidence in your products and services. They will return when they trust that they will have a repeatable and consistent experience every time they do business with you. The strength of customer trust is directly related to the confidence they feel about how well you will consistently deliver on your service promise.
The only way to ensure consistency in the delivery of your products and services every time is by having processes, policies, standards and practices in place for all staff to perform their duties to the desired level.
Take a hotel for example! If every housekeeper uses her own method for cleaning a room, there will never be any consistency in how you offer this particular service and of course in how the hotel customer experiences it.
Standards, policies, procedures, practices and systems are created as a means of replicating the specific performance and experiences customers expect. If employees do not follow these guidelines, it is impossible to ensure that there will be consistency in the outcome. Consistent application of established procedures is the key to consistent service.
Everyone in the company must realize the importance of consistently performing their duties according to the company’s standards and promises and must commit to doing so every time. In order to do this, training is necessary. You should teach your employees how to consistently perform their duties according to your standards.
The provision of high quality services comes through:
- accuracy,
- the curation
- coordination
skills and characteristics inextricably linked.
In a highly competitive environment, meeting customer expectations is not enough. Compromising with the average of other businesses is no longer an option. Successful businesses strive not only to meet, but also to exceed customer needs and expectations. Nothing impresses a customer more than a company or employee that goes “above and beyond the call of duty” to ensure complete customer satisfaction.
When you exceed expectations, you create loyal customers who spend more money, buy more often, and become living advertisements for your company themselves.
Customer expectations are changing and CONSISTENCY is one of the best strategies to maintain and grow your customer base.
Do you need help with your quality of service? Email me at panmoyseos@mspbusinesscoaching.com or call me at +357 22 253485 to See you soon.