Can explain what exceptional customer service looks like in your business?

If this isn’t an easy question for you to answer, then I would argue that you need to do some work on defining your service standards.

If you want your team to deliver a high standard of customer service consistently, you need to able to simply explain “What does your exceptional service look like?”

When we start working with a new client, over half don’t have their service standards defined, so it’s not unusual but I can guarantee you, any organisation who is awesome at customer service starts here.

And by the way, it doesn’t count if it’s in your head and buried away in some dusty old procedure manual or filed away in some online folder that no can access. They need to be accessible!

So how do you define “exceptional service”? Just get yourself in front of a white board with your key people and map out it out:
• What are the key customer touch points?
• What does your team need to do every time they serve someone?

When you record it keep it simple, specific and objective. Simple makes it achievable. Specific means it’s clear what you want. Objective means you can measure it and improve if needs be.

Let me give you an example. You might say your service standard is to “acknowledge all customers” Yes, this is simple but it’s not specific or objective. How could you make it simple, specific and objective? An example could be “We smile and make eye contact within 30 seconds of a customer crossing the lease line / entering the venue.”

So if you want to kick off 2023 by improving your service offering, before you do anything else, start by defining what exceptional service should look like in your business.

Nic McClanachan, January 2023