Career
There are three ways to look at customer service:
1. Listen to the client and give them what they want
2. Listen to the client and give them what they need
3. Before they even ask, give the client what they didn't know they needed, didn't know existed, and now can't live without.
All three are correct when it comes to providing customer/client service. The first proposition of giving clients what they want is correct. However, if you just stop there, you are an order taker. The second position, is a little better as you are building a relationship and actually caring about them after they leave your shop/office. Now the third, well, that's tricky. This premise is for relationship managers who want to provide the first two, but want to been seen in a different light as compared to their competition and take service to a higher level.
Number three is like Apple and their products compared to any other computer makers. Providing this type of innovative service creates an identity for you, your products, and differentiates you from your competition. This comes in handy especially when you work in an industry that is seen as a commodity.
This is where I have placed much of my focus in the last couple of years in my service to my clients. It's difficult in the sense that I provide services for a financial institution that offers many of the same products as other institutions. However, it's been more fun and creative to see how I can do this with my service which is intangible and not like someone who is offering a tangible product.
This method has me doing things that most of my competition doesn't do.
There are three ways to look at customer service:
1. Listen to the client and give them what they want
2. Listen to the client and give them what they need
3. Before they even ask, give the client what they didn't know they needed, didn't know existed, and now can't live without.
All three are correct when it comes to providing customer/client service. The first proposition of giving clients what they want is correct. However, if you just stop there, you are an order taker. The second position, is a little better as you are building a relationship and actually caring about them after they leave your shop/office. Now the third, well, that's tricky. This premise is for relationship managers who want to provide the first two, but want to been seen in a different light as compared to their competition and take service to a higher level.
Number three is like Apple and their products compared to any other computer makers. Providing this type of innovative service creates an identity for you, your products, and differentiates you from your competition. This comes in handy especially when you work in an industry that is seen as a commodity.
This is where I have placed much of my focus in the last couple of years in my service to my clients. It's difficult in the sense that I provide services for a financial institution that offers many of the same products as other institutions. However, it's been more fun and creative to see how I can do this with my service which is intangible and not like someone who is offering a tangible product.
This method has me doing things that most of my competition doesn't do.
- I'm sending out "thank you for your business cards" to my clients on the anniversary of them becoming my client.
- I review my client list to find out whom I haven't spoken to in the last thee months.
- Constantly setting reminders on my Blackberry to follow up with my clients.
- Before I call my client I will usually have an idea of something that will benefit him or her. This happened recently when I checked on a client and asked them about refinancing. He is closing on his loan next month and we were able to save him a couple of grand a year. All of this from a simple phone call to see how he was doing.
- My voice mail at my office is set up to notify me via an email when I have a message thereby allowing me to follow up as soon possible.
- Continue reading and educating myself on trends that affect my clients.
