Zappos employees having fun

Developing a service culture is a key step to providing exceptional customer service. Everyone in your organization is part of your service culture. From your managers to payroll department and even your janitor should align with the values of your business. This means customer service should be at the forefront of every idea and interaction, whether it be with co-workers or customers.

For example, many of us don’t think that people who handle payroll and employee benefits are not integral to customer service. But think about it. If employees are not paid on time or are unhappy with their benefits, this affects them. Who wants to perform their best or offer great service when their employer doesn’t take care of them?

Perhaps I’m preaching to the choir, but you’d be surprised how many businesses disregard the well-being of their employees. If you study companies like Nordstrom or Zappos, you’ll start to understand why they’ve been so successful. Their owners and executives have established a service culture which consists of values that everyone in the organization supports such as honesty, integrity, and compassion for other people. They live by these values not only in their business life, but in their personal life as well.

Now is the time to reevaluate your customer service initiative. Start with taking care of your employees and everything else should take care of itself.

Many business owners wonder what their social media or internet marketing ROI is and whether or not what people say about them online has an affect on sales and revenue.

Well, wonder no more.

More and more studies are coming out about the impact of social media on business sales. The Hubspot Blog talks about one research study which revealed that an increase in positive reviews on Yelp led to an increase in revenue.

Over the past several years I've spoken with quite a few local businesses in my area and I'm surprised at how many of these business owners don't monitor what is being said about them online.

Sure, there are customers who just want to rant, which could lead to a negative perception of your business, but if you're committed to providing the best possible service, there will be even more customers who will feel inspired and compelled to share positive reviews.

If you're not managing or responding to online reviews of your company, what will you do today to change that?

As we head into the fall season and changes take place (Well, not quite fall in Southern California yet!), I believe it's always good to reevaluate your business to see if there are any changes that you can make to improve customer service. Maybe you can improve communication, improve employee appearance and attitude, or incorporate new systems that allow you to better assess customer needs. Whatever it is, you'll find many tips and ideas to ponder in this edition of the Customer Service Carnivale....

Communication is a key component when interacting with clients. One of the chief complaints that people have when doing business is the lack of communication. Charles Chua shares 12 Effective Ways to Communicate Productively

Are your employees representing your brand or business to the best of their ability? Seth Brink shares his story in Employee Appearance and Attitude Make a Difference

Have you thought about improving customer service through workshifting? Find out 7 Reasons to Embrace Workshifting.

Are you surveying your customers to find out more about them or if they're satisfied with your service? Get a closer look at how survey software can improve your customer service by reading Customer Service Survey Software.

You could have "The Best" product in the world or be "The Best" at what you do, but as you'll learn in this next article, Being Skilled is Not Enough.

That concludes this edition. Submit your blog article to the next edition of customer service carnivale using our carnival submission form. Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.