World Class Customer Service: The Organizational Success Connection

Charles Parnell, Senior Strategic Partner at HPISolutions, is right on with this week’s Power Idea about World Class Customer Service (WCCS). He brings to our attention what WCCS is and the outcomes that must be achieved to attain it. Enjoy these views and determine if your organization has achieved WCCS!  

As organizations navigate the domestic and global landscape to be and remain competitive, they’re mindful of the challenges. They must have a cognitive perspective of the relationship between the quality of their products and services and the efficiency of their delivery. Executing the core principle of world class customer service (exceeding the needs of your customers each time) will translate into customer satisfaction and loyalty. This will give rise to a direct connection to the following: increased sales, meeting revenue goals, increased market share and internal customer satisfaction. Therefore, there is something in it for everyone in your organization to have a profound focus and commitment to world-class customer service.

We know that if employees are committed to an organization, they are more likely to be more productive. Organizational commitment is the degree to which employees believe in and accept organizational goals. They will be self-encouraged to execute customer service goals. The following are types of organizational commitments:

• Affective commitment– How strongly the individual identifies with and is involved in the organization
• Continuance commitment – The perceived consequences of not adhering to the customer service goals
• Normative commitment – The responsibility the individual feels toward the organization and goals

Organizational commitment and job satisfaction tend to influence each other. They both relate to and drive the customer service principle. The discourse in the country is that delivering high quality customer service affects organizational competitiveness. This must get your attention and you must develop an action plan to achieve it. It’s about organizational effectiveness and competitiveness in the domestic and global marketplace. As we know, service begins with the design and of the product or service. Overall, customer service has declined in the United States and in other countries. Therefore, organizations are working to enhance their competitiveness and service.

It’s worthwhile to explore the dimensions of customer service. They are:

• Reliability – The product and service perform dependably and accurately, as promised
• Responsiveness – The organization provides assistance to customers in a timely manner
• Assurance – Knowledgeable employees create trust and confidence in customers
• Empathy – Individual attention is given to customers, which reflect the organizational care and concern about customer expectations
• Tangibles – Telecommunications and other equipment are easily used, and the appearance of physical facilities and the positive images that employees create

Organizations need a strategy for managing their interactions with customers, clients and sales prospects. This strategy is called Customer Relationship Management (CRM). It involves using technology to organize, automate and synchronize business processes – principally, sales activity, but also those for marketing, customer and technical support. With an effective CRM strategy, organization can increase revenue by:

• Providing services that are exactly what your customers want
• Offering better customer service
• Retaining existing customers and discovering new ones
• Simplifying marketing and sales processes

There is widespread agreement that there is a link and connection between world-class customer service and organizational success. The research indicates that when an organization embraces the principles of this type of customer service and engrains them in their DNA, employees will embrace them as well. THE JOURNEY WILL THEN BEGIN.

Need more information? Don’t hesitate to contact us at info@hpisolutions.com or call us at 623-866-8200. We are ready to help!