10 •
The Lion King
• October - December 2015
Customer Service
16 Sure Ways to Delight
Your Customers in 2016
By Prince Ayewoh
1
Give your Customers a Point of
Contact:
Give customers a specific
person as a point of contact at your
Business Office. CFC serves that pur-
pose at UBA and you can do the
same at the level of your Business
Office or Department.
2
Listen to your customers:
Give your
customers an opportunity to share
information with you. Show them you
have taken the time to learn what is
important to them.
3
Always Be Timely:
In today's business
world, speed is essential and, “time is
money”. Do not give other banks an
opportunity to serve our customer bet-
ter and faster than we can.
4
Have Policies, But Always Be Flexible:
Please stop quoting policies to the
customer. With Customer service, not
every situation is black and white.
Always be open to be flexible to make
the customer happy.
5
Tell Your Customers How You Will
Help Them:
Let the customer know
how you are helping them. Do not
let them assume. Customers like to
know how you are resolving their issue.
Explain to them the steps you are tak-
ing to solve their problems. Your trans-
parency will be appreciated.
6
Celebrate special moments and Give
Gifts:
Celebrate special occasions
with your customers. Show up with a
cake on their birthdays; send them a
card or congratulatory message on
anniversaries.
7
Keep them informed (Provide TAT):
Send your customers a step by step
notification about their transactions or
notify them a day or two when some
systems would be non-functional due
to an upgrade or repairs to enable
them prepare ahead.
8
Greet and Say thank you:
Smile and
greet your customers when they
approach you, and encourage your
staff to do the same. Use age-appro-
priate greetings and avoid relating to
elderly people as you would a cus-
tomer that is in your peer-group.
9
Be Result Oriented:
Be focused on
resolving customer issues. Learn good
time management skills and do not
spend too much time on a single cus-
tomer while others are waiting. Stay
focused on your goals to achieve the
right balance.
10
Personalize service:
Know Your
Customer. Treat them in a way that
shows you know them. Every customer
is different, and some may even seem
to change week-to-week. You should
be able to handle surprises, sense the
customer’s mood and adapt accord-
ingly.
11
Engage your customers:
Small talk
does matter. Engage your custom-
ers in conversations while treating
their transactions. This will endear the
customers to the brand. Also Identify
and share common interests, this
makes conflict easier to overcome by
humanizing the relationship.
12
Reward Loyalty:
Celebrate and
reward your long standing custom-
ers. Create reward systems for mile-
stones in years or transactions. This will
encourage customers to stay loyal.
13
Make it easy for them:
Make your
products easy to use or easy to adopt.
Help your customers where they find it
difficult to install or adopt a product.
Always think of ways to make transac-
tions convenient for the customer.
14
Never judge a book by its cover:
All
customers deserve courteous atten-
tion regardless of their appearance or
account balance. Remember that a
customer is also a business advocate.
15
Give customers the benefit of the
doubt:
Never aim to win an argument
with a customer and lose the business.
Hear the customer out. Avoid using
the phrase ‘Our system can never
be wrong’. Always double check to
ensure that the customer’s fears and
concerns are addressed.
16
Finally, do everything you can to say
YES:
The fact that a customer asked
- is all you need to accommodate his
or her request. It may be an exception
from the bank’s policy, but (if it isn’t
illegal) try to do it. Let it be obvious
that you did all you can to meet his or
her request.
