Customer service specialists for L.L. Bean, Inc., an outdoor retailer widely recognized for their exceptional customer service, led
an educational session on the subject of customer service during RCI’s Fall
Regional Conference in Portland, Maine in 2015. Liza Gerry and Valerie
Marshall, who each have nearly thirty years of experience leading customer service initiatives at L.L. Bean, shared five tips to make customer
satisfaction a cultural attribute of your business.
Top Five Customer Service Tips
- Empower
employees to do the right thing
– Develop a service culture where your employees feel they are brand
ambassadors, who have as much confidence in your brand as your most loyal customers.How do I apply this to my business? To create your own brand personality, think about what cultural attributes are most important to you and your business. Offer 3-5 characteristics for your staff to focus on and share examples of how these attributes can help them address customer service in a way that best reflects your brand.Print reminder cards, like the one below, and post them in visible areas such as the
break room, in the restroom and near the cash register. Provide extra copies for staff to place in their private workspaces.
- Invest
in training and communications
– Never assume your team shares the same viewpoints on
customer service as you do. Each member of your team brings their own
unique personality and experience, which are like puzzle pieces that make
up your company culture.
How do I apply this to my business? Clear expectations for customer service should be a key element of your employee training, just as important as dress codes and safety policies.
Additionally, ongoing communication is vital to remind staff of the company’s customer service policy. Share tips on how to achieve customer satisfaction through regular team huddles, a private Facebook group for staff or by printing newsletter-style handouts.
- Let customers define “good service” – According to L.L. Bean’s President and CEO, Chris McCormick, “you can’t tell customers, ‘you will be satisfied’ – they need to arrive at that conclusion on their own through the service experience itself.”
How do I apply this to my business? Provide opportunities for customers to share
their feedback on your service through a social media site or an email survey.
Even if the feedback is negative, it gives you the opportunity to make
improvements and lets your customers know you value them.
- Offer a consistent, high-quality experience before, during and after their purchase across all channels to show you’re engaged with them throughout their journey.
How do I apply this to my business? To ensure you are consistently offering the best
customer experience, play the role of a consumer regularly, both in-store and
online. This will help you identify areas where improvements are needed.
- Guarantee 100% customer satisfaction – Satisfied customers make repeat customers.
L.L. Bean’s 100% Satisfaction Guarantee is the
pinnacle of their customer service efforts and appears on their website, in
their catalogs, in their stores and on every single receipt. While this
guarantee serves their customers very well, according to Liza it serves L.L.
Bean very well by making their customers the best “vocal champions” of their
customer service. Clearly, making this worth standing behind.
How do I apply this to my business? What guarantee could you offer that would
ensure your customers are 100% satisfied with your product or service. Consider
offering a freshness guarantee. Clearly define what it means to be “fresh” and
include a made-by date on each package. This gives customers the confidence
that they are getting fresh products with every purchase and it gives you the
opportunity to talk about it a lot.
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you build your sweet business.
