What do you think when you think of customer service and the value it provides to customers? Jeff Bezos, an American investor, founder and CEO of Amazon.com, explains the concept well when he said; “We see our customers as invited guests to a party, and we are the hosts. It’s our job every day to make every important aspect of the customer experience a little bit better”.
The history of customer service dates back to the 18/1900s and the three business leaders Harry Gordon Selfridge, John Wanamaker and Marshall, who advocated for customers to be treated with more respect and value. This still holds the test of time with most modern businesses having an established customer service strategy. With the move towards modern technology, the provision of customer service has been made ever easier and personalised.
However, what does this mean to us?
How do we make sure that we provide great customer service to our customers? We spoke to Robbie, who is our Customer Service Executive, to find out what makes his role interesting and what skills he has mastered to make our customers think “wow” after they have interacted with us.
His first thoughts were patience. If a customer comes to us who is initially frustrated, we need to spend time with them to better understand their problems and how we can work with them on solving their issues. The ability to really listen to customers is also key, as you need to take into consideration the feedback they are giving you.
For example, customer complaints, issues and returns are a major part of his role. This means that his duty is to ensure the communication between all parties is kept up to date and the arrangement of collections dealt with in a timely manner.
As Elon Musk, the former CEO of PayPal, SpaceX Founder and current CEO of Tesla says: “I think it’s very important to have a feedback loop, where you’re constantly thinking about what you’ve done and how you could be doing better”.
When you think about how successful Tesla are as a company, and the new direction they have recently taken on customer service, it shows it is good business to invest in Customer Service. At Quin Global we really value our customers and always want to hear where our services and products can be improving.
Robbie also felt clear communication is another skill that is key to customer service. This ensures any query or issue is solved quickly and efficiently. He also felt you should never leave anything in doubt. If you keep things clear and simple the customer will know what is happening at any given time. One good experience can change the entire perception that a customer has of you as a company.
For example, another responsibility of Robbie’s role is dealing with amendments to orders that a customer would like to make. This then needs to be communicated with warehouse to ensure the order can be met. Clear communication here ensures customers receive their orders on time and correct.
At Quin, Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS) and Technical Data Sheets (TDS) requests are common. - This is to meet the health & safety regulations and information that our customers need to know about our products. The requests for MSDS come through our website which automatically sends an email to notify us of the request. The downloaded pdf is then sent back to our customer. This means our customers always have access to up to date data and any regulations that apply to our products.
Robbie’s closing remarks were, as the job is a reactive role you can go from quiet one moment to hectic the next. Customer orders can come in very quickly, especially at the beginning of the month, so to ensure we are always looking after the needs of our customers Robbie has to manage his time very effectively. The quicker he prioritises and processes the orders the better chance of the warehouse getting the order out on time, and customer receiving goods on the required date.
At Quin, we focus on the relationship we have with our customers. Always remembering that not only are they our customers, but they are also people too and should be treated with loyalty, honesty and integrity. Our customer service is more than just solving a problem. It embodies a great work ethic, where we strive for the kind of customer service people want to talk about. Where we not only know our customers’ expectations inside out, but go out of our way to exceed their expectations.
Want to find out more about Quin Global UK? Why not have a look at our website or social channels for further information.
