You wouldn’t ask your mother about
her day and then walk away before she could answer, would you? If you ask for or accept customer feedback
but don’t do anything with it, you’re doing essentially the same thing.
Customer service isn’t something
you say you have: it’s something you do.
Regularly asking for and receiving suggestions, complaints, criticisms,
and requests are all part of that. How
well you handle communication with your customers, clients, donors or members
can influence how long their names will be on your list and how long your name
will be on their minds.
It’s easy, of course, to respond to
compliments. A thank-you email or letter
acknowledges your receipt of the kind words and lets the sender know you
appreciate him/her taking the time to contact you.
Suggestions and requests are pretty
easy, too, particularly when the request is reasonable. If the request requires resources you simply
don’t have available at the time but think would be worth considering, consider
it. Get more feedback from the
requestor. Solicit input from other
customers, either with a general request to all customers online, in email, or
in direct mail or to specific customers over the phone. Then act of it and make sure the customer who
made the request is both aware of the change and thanked for it.
How do you respond, though, to
complaints? First of all, address the
situation with a gracious and positive attitude. Second, don’t be defensive. Rather, figure out how you can make the
situation right and what your organization can do internally to avoid a repeat
of the situation.
Responses, no matter what kind,
should always be prompt and should always be courteous. That’s what good customer service is all
about.
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