Without happy customers a business can't survive. But how do you make them happy? How do you keep them happy? This film visits the Dickens World theme park and the upmarket MacDonald hotel chain to find out.
FIRST IMPRESSIONS: A friendly smile and open body language are vital to customer service -- but it's also important to realise that every customer is different and have different needs. First impressions are critical.
THE WEBSITE: But these days customers often get their first impressions from a company's website. The key to a good website is make it accessible and easy to use. The hotel's website adds extra value by providing visuals of the building and its rooms.
COMPLAINTS: Handling complaints is an essential part of customer service. It's important to apologise - even if it isn't the company's fault. You need to stay calm - even if the customer isn't. You have to listen to the customer - so you can understand what they're complaining about. And you must take responsibility for the problem and deal with it.
DIFFICULT CUSTOMERS: In theory the customer is always right - but what about difficult customers or people who complain in the hope of getting something free? Hotel concierge Neil sees difficult customers as a challenge: "If you can change a bad situation into a good situation you're doing your job properly."
INTERNAL CUSTOMERS: Customers can be inside the company, too - in other words, members of staff. Happy customers inside the company will mean happy customers outside the company. Staff will provide better service if they feel valued and their morale is high.
KNOW THE PRODUCT: You can have the best smile in the world, but if you don't know what you're talking about it, it won't help you. Whether it's a hotel or a theme park, staff have to know their product to give customers good service.
COMPLAINTS ARE OPPORTUNITIES: A complaint may be less a problem, more an opportunity - to turn unhappy customers into happy ones. But companies can also learn from complaints. You can pick up trends in the things going wrong and anticipate problems in the future.
STANDARDS: To maintain levels of customer service businesses set standards and then monitor how well they meet those standards. This means questioning their customers and using mystery shoppers - people who pose as customers and go undercover to test out how well the organisation is performing.
THE WOW FACTOR: But it's not enough to have happy customers - businesses want to do things to surprise and delight customers: the "wow" factor. Health and safety and data security are integral to good customer service, too.
TEAMWORKING & TRAINING: Underpinning customer service in both McDonald hotels and Dickens World theme park is a system of close-knit team-working. Everyone has an important part to play. Training is essential - not just in dealing with customers but in all aspects of the business. In the hotel mentoring plays an important part in training new staff.
WORD OF MOUTH: Good customer service is all about people telling their friends, which in turn creates new customers. This can often mean the difference between the success and failure of a business.
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