Follow Through Drives Excellent Customer Service

Neglecting to follow through with a customer negates otherwise excellent customer service.

So you thoroughly impressed the customer with your professionalism and charm, you quickly solved the customer’s complaint, and you skillfully upsold an additional product.

But there’s one problem, and it’s a glaring one.

Remember how you promised to call the customer to confirm that she received the replacement product on time for her birthday party? You forgot. Not only that, but you also didn’t contact your distribution center to confirm priority delivery of the replacement product. You assumed that the distribution center would read the sticky note that you attached to the order. Unfortunately, the sticky note wasn’t sticky enough to make the journey from the call center to the distribution center.

And now the customer, who only two days before was thoroughly impressed, is now thoroughly annoyed. At you. Personally. Because you didn’t follow through.

Tragically, not following through with a customer will negate otherwise excellent customer service, and that’s because customer service isn’t excellent without following through. It’s as if the follow through, despite occurring during the later phase of the customer transaction, drives the entire customer service experience itself.

Take a moment to think about golf. What separates amateur golfers from professional golfers? A solid follow through. Like golf, customer service requires a strong and consistent follow through in order to make a positive impact.

So how do you ensure a solid follow through? Consider these three strategies.

• First, write down each follow through task to be performed, including the appropriate due date, on a reminder card or in a personal calendar, and do not toss the card or cross through the calendar entry until the follow through task is completed. Consider keeping the pending reminder cards or your personal calendar on your desk at work, just in case you are absent from the office and need a coworker to complete your follow through tasks.

• Second, if the task involves other departments, confirm that each department is on the “same page” with respect to what needs to be completed. Do not necessarily assume that the sticky note or email was received and read by the other department.

• Third, always follow through with the customer personally, preferably in-person or by telephone, to ensure that he or she is happy. In nearly all cases, the customer places more importance on how well you followed through with a complaint rather than the complaint itself.

Yes, an effective customer follow through requires time and effort, but your customer will reward your efforts through repeat business and referrals.

In the meantime, have a “customerific” week!

Mark