Photo by Andrea Piacquadio
“Sometimes, it’s the little details that can set service apart from the competition. Thinking about what touches you can add to the customer experience.” – Sara Hedayat
It is true that “God is in the details” even in customer service. Attention to detail in customer service, like other aspects of life, is sure to yield the wanted results and get customers noticing and talking highly of your company. At any point of being a customer, you too would feel agitated if details were ignored and service was poor. The attention to detail is what demonstrates the competence of the company and its representatives. It reflects the company’s attitude of care and a commitment to meet every need a customer puts forth.
When a company pays attention to the little concerns of customers, it’s unlikely that any major concerns will occur. It’s that simple or complicated depending on the attention to detail or lack of it. It is not a matter of perception but a reality and one with which companies should make peace and do. Customer service is crucial to the growth of a company. You can use interactive decision trees to deliver the right information to your customers when they most need it.
Pay Attention To Customer’s Emotions
Irrespective of how logical and practical dealing with the customer might seem, there is always an emotional bit too. Every customer wants to feel special and wanted. They expect that the company keeps in mind both the practical and emotional portions of the dealing. Also, given the human factor, there could be times when a customer is interacting with your company with a range of emotions. They could have had a bad day or could be angry at some event. When your company and its representatives are attuned to paying attention to detail, the negative signals would get picked up and the interaction would be a lot better.
In today’s fast-paced environment which is showing no signs of relenting, time for leisure, peace, and calm is almost non-existent. Everyone is rushing around trying to make deadlines, make money, and profits. Therefore, it is crucial for companies to be on the alert, especially in the realm of customer service. If customers have received a patient and empathetic hearing in a previous interaction, they are likely to call your company again. They will call to see how best to mitigate an issue and would expect the same attention to detail. Keeping a tight hold on the ‘seemingly little things’ can put a company on the road to sustainability and ultimate success.
Attention To Detail Builds Customer Experience
Attention to detail in customer service is not just about resolving problems or answering queries. It is also about how the agents react, speaks, the tone they use, and the body language they portray. It’s about little courtesies like remembering names or greeting with a smile or managing a customer depending on the demographics. All these together build the customer experience. It could be either pleasant or frustrating depending on the management of these ‘minor’ details. Attention to detail in customer service will either urge customers to make a beeline for your company or rush out to your competitor. It would then be the highlight for any company that is doing well or aims to perform well. Make your customers sit up and take notice with your eye for detail and the passion to get things done.
It Improves Customer Interaction
Attention to detail in customer service is about making every interaction with customers better than the first. It is about changing a negative impression to a positive one and a positive one to an outstanding one. These interactions are the customer’s way of determining the quality and culture of the entire organization. Sometimes, customers form an opinion based on other details, like how many times the phone rang before answering, the look and feel of your office premises, the manner in which the staff is stressed and other such details.
Habits To Help Companies Pay Attention To Details
To manage a customer’s perception, it’s essential that the whole of the customer’s journey is pleasant. It should be about attention to detail. Even long-standing customers can leave if they see depreciation in the level of attention. Customer service must not be about ‘familiarity breeding contempt’.
Just because your customer has been with your company does not mean they should be taken for granted. Also, irrespective of how well your company has been delivering or how experienced the customer service staff is, you can never be too sure. Customer needs and expectations change continually. To ensure that there is a constant focus on attention to detail, companies must develop some ‘habits’.
- Learn that ‘learning’ is a continuous process. Aspects that are important for customers will change continually. As a result, there will always be something to learn about and know. Never stop learning and never take knowledge for granted.
- Get continuous feedback from your customers. They are the ones who know what they want. Either by face-to-face interactions or feedback surveys. When you ask them directly they know that you are paying attention to detail.
- Cross-check with your staff that deals with customers directly. They would have pearls of wisdom to share with customers and would greatly add value to your customer service.
- Your company’s processes and strategic plans are bigger and broader aspects. But, they must not ignore details that could very often be the difference between success and failure.
- Carefully plan all projects, promotions, products, and such. Pay attention to what customers might have said a while back. Also, the current trends and customer behavior should ensure that everything reflects attention to detail from the customer’s point of view.
- Of course, pay attention to the details of your own company too, like cash flow. Ensure that you have a steady cash flow if you are to successfully care for your customer’s needs.
How can You Pay Attention To Details In Customer Service?
Be courteous
Being courteous seems obvious, but it’s brutally ignored, especially when the job of a customer service agent becomes demanding or mundane. One mismanaged interaction can lead to a tidal wave of disgruntled customers spreading unkind words and is easily avoidable. Courtesies are not trivial but rather are those points of detail that make customer relationships run seamlessly.
Pay attention to the little details
Don’t let the little things ruin it for you. For example, a dirty banner fluttering outside your office, a dirty lobby floor, stained cups in the pantry, smelly bathrooms, and more. All these aspects clearly depict that your company ignores attention to detail. It will most likely not inspire confidence in customers.
Train and coach customer service employees
Constantly train and coach your front-ending staff and those who send out written communication. Finely tuned and attentive communication puts forth ideas with clarity. It also tells the customers that your company is polished and likely to pay attention to them.
Customer service should be tolerant of routines
Every job in any company will have aspects that are routine and even boring. However, it is this grunge work that continues to be some of the reasons for a company’s success. Everyone, especially the customer service staff should remain tolerant of these routine tasks. They should manage them with as much attention as they warrant.
Everyone should remember people’s names
Everyone in the company should make it a habit to remember people’s names and call them by their names. Start internally. Inculcate a culture that makes people address each other by first names. Steer clear of the bureaucracy that comes with the cold address. Here’s an example, the administration manager at a very large firm knew and addressed each of the staff by name. I am speaking about the janitors, housekeeping staff, vendor staff, guards, and of course everyone in the office too. He was known and admired for this. People would often turn to him to find out about people’s names in the office. He was courteous and smiling. He managed to get work done that others found impossible, simply because he could remember each person’s name.
Maintain Quality
Quality must remain a non-negotiable trait. A drop in quality must be part of the ‘zero tolerance zone’. A quality mindset is not only about great products or services. It’s also about the manner by which work was done and how people were treated. Quality speaks for itself. Customers are ready to hand over competitive advantage to any company that provides excellent quality. They do not only run away because of glaring errors. The lack of attention to detail becomes very apparent and is a major bug or sore point with customers. Make attention to detail a way of life. You will see how your customers hand you return business, referrals, high ratings, and lavish praise.
