Three key areas crucial to delivering service excellence

Due to these lower satisfaction levels after a consumer's experience, businesses within the service industry need to look to exceed a customer's expectations to peak satisfaction constantly during the process of delivering a service, and this is often achieved through a seamless and positive customer experience.

The recently released Global Customer Service Survey by Interactive Intelligence Group Inc highlights the importance of a positive customer experience. It revealed that 64% of consumers would tell others when they had a positive customer service experience and that 45% of consumers tend to make purchase decisions based solely on customer service.

The professionalism and attitude of a company's employees, especially in the services industry, can have a massive influence on a customer's experience and perception of service and, in turn, how a customer promotes the company to other potential customers. Customer service therefore plays a significant role in a business' bottom line.

Timing is everything

The world of logistics is a key area where customer satisfaction levels need to be managed. When a customer is paying you to deliver something within a specific timeframe, the upside, at first glance, is limited. You can get it there on time, in one piece. However, that is what the customer expects.

Even getting it there earlier might not be welcomed. For example, if the customer is not at home or the warehouse is not yet ready to take receipt of more stock. At the same time, the potential to disappoint is huge - delivering something late, not at all, or in worse condition than when it started the journey is almost guaranteed to create immense dissatisfaction.

People affect service

Add to this the numerous interactions a customer has with diverse interfaces in many service companies and another important dimension comes into play: human relationships. In most businesses, even in today's digital, automated world, there are still numerous people who provide different aspects of service to the customer. From the account manager who makes the pitch, the booking agent who takes an order and the operational employee who delivers the service, right through to the billing department that issues the invoice and follows up on payment - every single person can affect customer service levels. It is for this reason that we see potential to help service companies deliver additional value beyond what a customer is paying for.

Key areas

Three key areas are crucial to delivering service excellence:
• The voice of the customer: Ensuring that the voice of the customer resonates throughout the organisation is essential to great service. Initiatives, such as the Net Promoter Approach (NPA) management tool, which measures promoters and detractors amongst your customer base and proactively sources feedback from them, can have an impact in identifying areas for improvement and enabling the company to make the necessary changes to enhance their offering and continually offer better ways to deliver excellence to customers.

• A customer-centric culture: An employee who simply smiles at a customer influences the customer's perception of the experience. The only way to drive this perception in the service industry is through promoting a culture that is intensely customer centric, with the customer at the forefront of every activity. Service is not just the responsibility of the customer service department. However, the customer service function, given its expertise in this area, can play a key role in focusing the whole organisation on its customers.

• Transparent key performance indicators: While a service culture is largely an intangible thing, the "measurables" are still important. When these are set correctly, they help to focus teams on achieving a common objective, and managers to identify areas for continuous, incremental improvement. Performance indicators should also be built around service quality from the customer's viewpoint, and they should be constantly visible to top management.

The service industry, despite its name, can be one of the most difficult in which to deliver great customer service consistently and to exceed customers' expectations. However, through focusing relentlessly on the little details that drive quality, listening intently to what your customers are telling you, and making sure that every individual in your business understands the impact they can have on the customer experience, businesses can deliver value beyond the "transaction" level and ensure long-term success.