Know (and we mean: truly know) what you stand for 

But before you get stuck in, let’s put things in perspective. We like to assume that excellent customer service is one of the core values within all businesses, but that's not the case with every company. Some businesses make the strategic choice to not always put the customer first in everything they do. They can be more focused on cost reduction, for example. Whatever the situation, one thing remains true: be honest about your company's values and desires. Only if you know what you stand for can you build a thriving business. 

The building blocks of your business

With that being said, we'll look at the building blocks of your company values: your business strategy and business model. Sit down with (some of) your team members, and try to determine the following: 

• Business strategy 

Ask yourselves: what is our distinctive character? What will be your playfield? And: how important is the customer to us?

• Business model

Determine the following: what are our customer segments? Do we have only one or more value propositions, and what are they and for whom? And which channels do we (wish to) use to connect with our customers? 

After answering the above questions, get the discussion going within your team and see what choices regarding customer service suit your company best.

Intrinsic motivation to deliver the very best customer service

Does your business model claim that your customer is at the core of everything you do? That's great! But, actions speak louder than words. So, before you start building your service business, make sure you realise the following: your success depends on your willingness to do whatever it takes. This means you'll have to implement the customer-first approach within all aspects of the customer journey. You'll have to opt for transformational change in the long haul, which asks for intrinsic motivation to deliver the best customer service. 

Designing your service orientated organisation

While setting the follow-up steps in action in order to become a customer service orientated organisation, you'll have to live up to the answers that came up during the strategic sessions with your team - and the strategy and business model that followed. These answers form the common theme during the (often bold) decisions that need to be made in the adoption process. Yep, there are lots of challenges you'll need to adapt to. For example, some businesses are only used to setting up target-driven KPIs, while customer service success is hard to measure that way. Therefore, it would be more logical to focus on customer retention instead of diehard sales. And let’s not forget your customer reviews, of which comes valuable information to keep track of. 

Value your customer service employees

A business without the right people is just a shell. That’s why it’s incredibly important to attract and retain the right type of employees. When establishing your customer service team, make sure it consists of driven, well-educated people who naturally relate to your company goals and values. Once you've found and trained your customer service team members, go above and beyond to keep them happy and make them feel valued. Because if you value your customers, you should also value the employees who interact with these customers daily. It’s as simple as that. Interact with your customer service team regularly to hear what your customers say and be open to learning and adapting from that. 

We understand that finding the right employees within the current job market can be a hassle. And once you've found them, training your team to become customer service superstars asks for specific expertise. At weWow, we believe it's all about people and culture combined with state-of-the-art tooling and data-driven decision-making. We are a scalable extension to your business. In other words: we're ready to start for you in just a few weeks, and we speak the languages you need. Interested in more? We're just a phone call away. 

Be patient - all good things take time

Last but not least, be aware that good things take time. Building a top-notch service organisation won’t happen overnight. You'll have to invest before true results come into play. But believe us when we say: trust the process, because it will all be worth it.

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