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The Oakville Beaver, Wednesday October 24, 2001 - C3 Ten Customer Service Policies to Take Your Retail Business to the Next Level By Stacy Brice Socially responsible com panies know, on a core level, that they exist to do more than m ake money. W hat that "more" is depends on each company. G enerally speaking, it's about touch ing lives, m aking a difference, and being authentic-- all in alignm ent w ith a particular m ission or vision. And custom ers are eager to w ork w ith and buy from com panies w ho have a more socially responsible view o f their work, com panies who reach out in genuine service. To take your business to the next level, here are the top ten service policies to keep in mind: 1. Know Your Purpose W hy are you in business? W hat have you com e to do? The socially resp o n sib le com pany knows. 2. Know W ho Your C ustom er Is, A nd Know Him Better Than You Know Y ourself You have internal (people w ithim the organiza tion you need to serve so that your external cus tom ers are served w ell) and external custom ers (the end users o f your product or service). All o f these people need to be defined, and there needs to be a clear understanding about who is being served, how they are to be served, and why you are serving them. You cannot serve everyone well. T hat's why it's critical for you to know who you're serving. O rganizations that lose sight o f this flounder. Every single custom er has a need. They com e to you to have it served. That's why it's incredibly im portant for socially responsible com panies to know the custom er, so that they'll know how to address his/her needs-- today, and in the future. 3. Create An Internal C om m unity W ith O ne Voice Every single person in your organization m ust be em pow ered to take care o f your custom ers. Every action o f every person needs to be m eas ured against custom er needs, w ith the goal to exceed expectations. Socially responsible com panies are full o f people w ho take responsibility, and feel free to make things happen in order to better serve cus tom er needs. 4. Create A C om m unity O f C ustom ers W ho Are Partners For Success. There are no lone custom ers. Together, they have a voice. And they'll share it with you, telling you what they need, don't want, love or hate, if you ask them. Socially responsible com panies create cus tom er com m unities and m ake it easy for them to share w hat they w ant to and need to. Sm art custom ers partner with businesses they value. There's a bond created w hen both sides w ant to help each other. There can be a free exchange o f inform ation, a desire to share ideas, they can look forw ard together to a com m on vision, and support each other in accom plishing more. By partnering with your cus tom ers, you break down barriers to com m uni cation, and the company, becom ing perm eated w ith the custom er's voice (a natural result o f w orking w ith partners), allows you to provide greater, and sustainable value. 5. C hoose Service O ver Self-interest We all work very hard to have m ore m oney and more things. Unfortunately, we have to work harder to afford them, and have m uch less time to enjoy them. We run roughshod over others on our w ay to the top. O ur fam ilies see less and less o f us. Yet it w ould seem that "looking out for num ber one," w hether that "one" is an indi vidual or company, is the way o f the world. B ut the way to get past that is to com m it to som ething bigger. Som ething outside yourself. To find a cause to believe in and to support. T hat takes the em phasis off o f the "I," and puts it m ore on the "you," or the "we." And it's there that true service begins to emerge. In business, this could m ean a shift from the focus on profit, to the focus on touching the lives o f your customer. The first can't happen, long term, w ithout the second, and socially responsible com panies know that it happens m ore naturally when the second is the guiding principal. 6. Serve Your Own People To have people engaged in serving your cus tom ers, you need to take great care o f them , and let them know they m atter to the successfulness o f the company. Better benefits, com p time, flex time, are all great, but they may be m ean ingless to your staff. Socially responsible com panies find out what em ployees need to feel really appreciated and an integral part o f the team , give them a voice in defining the culture for them selves, im plem ent w hat's suggested to the best o f their abilities, and watch what hap pens when engaged em ployees interact with internal and external custom ers, from a place of having a deeper com m itm ent to a larger com munity. 7. Serve The W orld. Harm nothing. In a w orld that can seem so insane, socially responsible com panies do no harm to the envi ronm ent, to people, to animals. In this way, they play a part in preserving w hat this generation will hand dow n to the next. 8. W alk Your Talk Socially responsible com panies only say and do things that are true, and they say and do them THE CUSTOMERS. ALWAYS WRITE Exploring the world of arts under one roof If you're tired of driving from one studio to the next, from dance lessons to art classes to music lessons,, then you'll understand the void Studio P.A.V.A.S. (Performing And Visual Arts Studio) has filled. Owner Suzanne Zakoor-Norton simply had enough o f spending more time in the car and waiting in various parking lots than enjoying her children's activities. Upon exploring the industry in surrounding towns, Suzanne felt there was no cohesive, coordinated approach to all interests in the arts. As a Gold test dance fig ure skater judge, a former manager and director o f children's services program s within the provincial government for 27 years, and as a parent, she felt the void and was determined to fill it. So she opened Studio P.A.V.A.S. The studio offers ballet, pointe, lyrical, jazz, tap, hip hop, ballroom, swing and latin dancing, acting, musical theatre, instrumental music, painting, drawing and pottery, all under one roof. "We have been very successful at creating a very positive environm ent,"v says ZakoorNorton. "And a positive atmosphere results in better learning. For more information on the programs Studio P.A.V.A.S. offers and registration infor mation, call 403-9435 or visit their studio at 2359 Winston Churchill, units 1, 2, and 3. THE CUSTOMERS ALWAYS WRITE A Trusted Name in Cosmetic Solutions Trillium Laser has been satisfying cus tomers for two and half years with an experi enced and qualified staff of technicians and medical professionals, trillium laser offers the following procedures: · Laser hair Removal · Leg Vein Therapy · Permanent & Corrective Cosmetics · Clinical Peels · Shiatsu Massage · Collagen, Aretcoll, Botox, Hyloform, Restylane, & Perlane Injections · Botox for migraines, back aches and to prevent perspiration Let Trillium Laser find your beautiful solu tion. Call today for more information at 905891-9300 or visit us at 755 Lakeshore Road East (just East o f Cawthra), Mississauga. consistently.in a logical, linear fashion. Yet peo ple don't make buying decision 9. C onnect Head And Heart The traditional paradigm has business conduct ed in a logical, linear fashion. Yet people don't make buying decisions that way. A nd over time, successful socially responsible com panies have learned that they need to connect head and heart-- logic, and em otion-- to best serve their custom ers. 10. M ake Every M om ent Count The Amish know that everything is sacred. That there's no difference, nothing more or less im portant, than anything else. So they pay as m uch attention to sewing on a button as they do to teaching a child to read. Socially responsible com panies know that every m om ent counts, and every m om ent is an opportunity to serve. Stacy Brice is passionate about custom er service. W anting to bring her passion and knowledge to business owners and corpora tions, Stacy team ed up with D avid G oldsm ith, founder o f Custom erEdge, a consulting firm focusing on corporate re-engineering through im proved custom er care. In their work, David and Stacy freely share their ideas about the im pact o f custom er care on the relationship betw een custom er and vendor, and how that relationship affects a com pany's bottom line. D avid is also the publisher o f Daily Service, an e-m ail new sletter w hich is read daily by sub scribers around the world. For more inform a tion about the services pro v id ed by C ustom erE dge, o r to subscribe to D aily S ervice, send e-m ail to: m ailto:info@ custom eredge.com GREAT SAVINGS ON FALL/WINTER CRUISE PACKAGES! Come and experience our New Fall Menu in the enjoyment of a smoke-free dining room. · Private dining area for Christmas functions and special events · We specialize in private dining and corporate catered functions 4 a 5 -s W r n w ttg - j c m s f j ^ H O L m r s t GEORGE STREET NAVY STREET - z 221 Lakeshore Rd. E., Oakville, ONT. L6J 1H7 156B Lakeshore Rd. E. NEW FALL HOURS: Lunch Tues.-Sat., Dinner Mon.-Sun. (905) 337-2228 (905) 339-0888 a m ID p E * m