Customer Service Excellence Five Tops Tips for Customer Excellence As families move away from traditional home-based dining, fast casual or quick service restaurants need to be on top of their game and striving to hit “customer service home runs.” Quality teams that deliver stellar customer experiences build business success. So what attributes and aspects of the service experience do managers and supervisors need to tout and reinforce in order to satisfy customers and ensure their return? Positive Attitudes Breed Happy Guests – Attitude is everything. When a customer enters your restaurant they want to feel positive energy from your staff. Start out each customer engagement with a warm and caring welcome because regardless of how good the food is or how great the restaurant looks it is an exemplary employee attitude that can position your restaurant as the dining establishment of choice. Simplify your Ordering Process – One way to turn first time customers into raging fans is to simplify the ordering process. Allow customers to quickly place their order, and shorten the time involved in processing an order. A well informed team plus an easy to read menu will also benefit from an operational perspective because customers can be quickly informed about menu selections. Product Quality Must Rate a “10” – The pressure is on! Consumers have become increasingly interested in niche restaurants that specialize in specific foods such as made from scratch pizzas, cupcakes, yogurt, and sushi. An emerging trend is the use of healthy and organic foods with limited trans fats, and less salt. No matter how well you present and manage your restaurant, quality products are the backbone of any fast casual dining experience. Customers become brand loyalists when they can count on a quality meal. Keep Your Restaurant Immaculate – Aside from keeping quality products coming out of your kitchen, maintaining a fresh and clean environment shows customers just how much you care about your restaurant and the proper production of the food you serve. When you keep your restaurant tidy and clean, you’re extending a natural invitation to current and potential customers that is hard for anyone to pass up. When customers know that their food is prepared in proper conditions they feel comfortable and are sure to return. Don’t skimp on any areas of the restaurant: clean the dining area, clean the bathrooms and clean the kitchen. There is great importance in cleaning routines for opening and closing, and make sure you clean as you go throughout the day. Know Your Business! – Customers inevitably ask questions relating to any and all aspects of your restaurant, and employees must be able to answer them with confidence and ease. Nothing can be more frustrating to customers than receiving vague, unclear answers when asking about the preparation process of the food they ordered. When we hire employees, we set up an orientation and training process that will ensure you know the ins and outs of the business. This orientation includes information on the history of the franchise and information about CTFM. We set standards and expectations and take questions. Employees must be knowledgeable about the menu provided— what ingredients are used, how dishes are cooked, possible allergens in each product—in order to properly and confidently answer any questions a customer might have. Vibe meetings are held to inform you whenever a new product or promotion is in the works to prep and make sure you can upsell. To create a dynamite customer experience, we address the criteria listed above. When hiring, we search for confident, cheerful candidates. We will always together keep the store clean and stocked with quality products, and you are contently informed of new products and promotions so that you can answer questions from customers. We keep up with the perception of your business by distributing customer comment slips, and work with a mystery shoppers to ensure that the team is up holding the excellence. Tips to delivering customer service excellence It costs you five times as much to win a new customer than to keep a current one. Connecting to your customers on an emotional level is the key to establishing a lasting relationship. You must go beyond simply delivering your product, and develop strong bonds with your customers. It is essential that you provide a unique customer experience by proactively anticipating your customers’ needs and expectations and exceeding them, every time. Service excellence is an attitude engrained in every department and it begins and ends with your people, from cashier to CEO. It requires more than a streamlined customer service department. Excellence comes from a consistent, premium service at every level. The following are top tips that will help you to focus on the most important elements of customer service excellence: Always Focus on Service before anything else Give the Best experience possible Create a unique customer experience Use the Customer as a marketing vehicle – Good ‘word of mouth’ cannot be bought Always remember that you are Selling “WOW” Always improve on your service Always respect your customer (time and opinion) Measure their satisfaction and engagement Educate, encourage and use incentives on employees to deliver service Differentiate your Brand from competition Know your customer base (segmentation) Integrate your operations processes into your customer marketing strategies Understand that Customer Satisfaction is based on loyalty, identity, values, and relationships Special Interactions keep customers coming back Solve problems quickly and turn complainers into advocates Customer Service agents must have the authority to make decisions Listen to your customers; Change their attitudes, and fix their problems Measure your relationships, and refine your processes, and proactively solve and prevent the same mistakes from happening again. (Continuous improvement) Improve your supplier relationships, and hold them to the same standard as your customers do Exceed expectations and treat customers as if you would treat a guest in your own home. Spread the word – promote your brand promise by empowering your employees to act as ambassadors Hire good employees from the start; study your culture, and find the right fit Always remember what your corporate values and purpose are, and set mission to that goal. Tell the customer the truth, and love what you do Personalize your service to meet your customers’ needs Listen to Customers; Take appropriate action; keep it simple “The most common thing about common sense is so uncommon” Leaderships should stay involved in the business, and respect employees and customers 5 P’s of Customer Service Excellence – Process; Product; Presentation; Price and most importantly People! 21 Tips for excellent Customer Service: 1. Smile when greeting a customer in person and on the phone (and yes, they can tell if you are smiling over the telephone). 2. Use age-appropriate greetings, and avoid referring to older customers and woman as "guys". 3. Be proactive and ask how you may be of service. 4. Stay visible and available, but don't ever hover. 5. Don't turn away, walk away, and start to make a phone call, or duck beneath the counter as a customer approaches. 6. The live customer standing in front of you takes precedence over someone who calls on the on the phone. 7. Never judge a book by its cover- all customers deserve attention regardless of their age or appearance. 8. Staff must not eat in front of the customers. Staff meals must be enjoyed in break times. 9. A customer doesn't want to hear about your upcoming break. 10. Make any personal calls when you're on a break and out of earshot. 11. The correct answer is never "I don't know" unless you add to it, "but I can find out for you". 12. If a customer wants something that isn't in the restaurant, go to the store room and try to find it. 13. If an item isn't in the store room or out of stock, try and go the extra mile and go and by the specific item at another shop. 14. Learn to read body language to see if a customer could use some help. 15. Don't let chatty customers monopolize your time if other customers are waiting. 16. Call for backup support if lines are forming. 17. Be discrete if a customer's credit card is declined by asking if there is another method of payment he/she would like to use. 18. Never discuss customers in front of other customers (they'll wonder what you're saying about them once they leave). 19. Inspect the bill before taking it to the customer, ensuring that everything is rung up correctly and if it is the right bill. 20. Make sure that when there is a group of 10 or more that you note on the bill that 10% service charge was added to the bill as part of company policy. For groups less than 10 never force a tip from the customer. Customers can tip you if they feel like you have deserved a tip. 21. Smile as you are saying goodbye and encourage the customer to come again.
