| Consultant and advisor to the pet industry |
| The Business of Caring Begins with You Great customer service is the backbone of every successful business and every successful person, no matter what industry we talk about. Regardless of the company, it won’t survive without enough clients or customers coming in and using the services to support it. In essence, our paycheck comes not from the boss or bookkeeper, but from each client who pays for services rendered. Henry Ford recognized this fact years ago when he comments "It is not the employer who pays the wages. Employers only handle the money. It is the customer who pays the wages."" Who is your customer? A client is traditionally thought of as the person who walks through the front door, then writes a check to the company. More than that, though, a customer is anyone with whom you have dealings. It means keeping those people happy whom can affect your job future. Using this definition, your coworkers, manager and boss are all your clients. Without your help and service, they cannot get their job done; nor you can not do your satisfactorily with out their help either. Your boss is your customer. You are providing a job function and taking payment for it. Stop and take a look around the business you work for. View all the staff as customers – do they take on a different appearance now? Do you see them differently, and can you treat them as a customer of your services? Customer service begins with you – with your attitudes and beliefs about yourself and the view you hold of others around you. Who are you? How do you see yourself? How do your clients see you? Do you go out of your way to help and guide them, to provide a valuable service, or do you provide just the bare necessities to meet their minimum requirements? Do you love your job? It shows when you do. And it shows when you don’t. The enthusiasm you portray not only makes you a more pleasant person to be around, but also ultimately makes you provide the best care for the pets in your business. You will have a better relationship with your clients. They will ask for you specifically when they need advice. They really appreciate it when their pet likes coming in to see you. When you love your job, you will be giving your clients the best service you are capable of. And they will realize it. Nothing else can be as important as giving a client the time they need when they need it. Based on Perceptions Clients judge you by what they see and how they feel; a customer oriented facility values a clients first impressions and the physical appearance of the building. This is why it is critical to make good first impressions. Either on the phone or in person, you only have a few seconds to create a positive impression. Within a couple minutes the client decides whether or not to ever use your services again in the future. The ultimate goal in creating exceptional customer service is not to just meet the expectations of the client, but to exceed them. Most clients today do not expect much service from the businesses they visit. As long as their minimum needs are met, they remain "satisfied". In reality, they are just not yet dissatisfied. In other words, as soon as their needs are overlooked, they’ll be going some where else. Remember that there are two kinds of customers 1) External customers, the traditional client 2) Internal customers, whom we exchange services with Sometimes we are buying services from others. Sometimes they are buying our services. Your internal customers are just as important as the traditional client is. Each internal interaction between workers as customers and providers affects the bottom line of customer service for the external customer. All internal actions are linked together, and they affect the service your business is able to provide an individual client. Clients can certainly see when staff works together as a team and when there is animosity between staff. Which kind of office do you feel better visiting? Even when you don’t own the business, those external customers coming through the front door are your personal clients as well. Remember, they pay your paycheck. Without their continued support, the business would not survive. You would not be selling your services to the boss. Exceed expectations Creating great good will, and exceed the clients a minimum standard is easy. Just envision how you would like to be treated. Most of these things cost little or nothing, yet are greatly appreciated.
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