Ask customers for input
But even the best service training and implementation strategies would fall flat if you leave out the other half of the equation: the customer. Previously, SS&G employed an outside agency to survey clients every few years. Even when the process switched to the Internet, Shamis realized it was a lot of effort for a few responses.
“What we brainstormed was that instead of every two or three years going to market and asking how we’re doing, why don’t we ask every time we do something?” he says.
The end result is a postcard that is sent out to the customer every time SS&G provides a service.
The more often these postcards or customer surveys go out, the more value customers will think you put on their opinion, the more responses you’ll get and the more efficiently you’ll be able to gauge overall satisfaction. Otherwise, your reaction to mistakes and lost customers might be several years behind.
“Now every piece of information that comes out of our office — if it’s an audit, if it’s a tax return, if it’s a valuation — in every one of them we include a postcard and we provide (an) opportunity for the customer to feedback to us specifically,” Shamis says.
That’s more than 10,000 opportunities a year to get direct feedback, and he says usually about 2,000 of those are returned.
Provide a range of questions on the cards that will measure the client’s entire experience. At SS&G, customers can fill in their name and company or remain anonymous. Then, they rate, on a scale of 1 to 5, their service in terms of timeliness, value and effective communication.
By filling out what service they received, clients route the response directly back to the appropriate department. Copies of the feedback go directly into employees’ mailboxes for affirmation. Or, if it’s negative — which, for Shamis, only amounts to three or four postcards a year — it should go straight to the top for investigation. He usually calls the client to better understand the problem and find a solution.
“We try and not become defensive, but we try and be realistic as to what happened and then address it,” says Shamis, who begins by examining the legitimacy of the responses, determining if it was just a one-time misunderstanding or a more widespread complaint.
The feedback can also be used in employee evaluations, as if clients are reviewing employees based on their service skills. Shamis also uses the postcards to research the changing expectations of customers for his in-house training.
Shamis ties together all these attempts at improved customer service by distributing pamphlets to clients that explain the firm’s efforts. After all, you want customers to know what you’re trying to do for them.
“If somebody wants to buy a Mercedes Benz or a Chevy, there are 10 different places they could buy it, and they’re probably going to be relatively the same price,” Shamis says. “How are you going to differentiate yourself? Usually, that’s going to be on the service side.”
How to reach: SS&G Financial Services Inc., (440) 248-8787 or www.ssandg.com
