Customer Care is a vital part of any business, as it directly impacts customer satisfaction, loyalty, and the overall reputation and longevity of a company.

Creating a Customer Care Culture starts with understanding the basic Principles of Customer Care which are:

• Care
• Listen
• Respond
• Patience
• Courtesy
• Team Accountability

Care:

Customer Care naturally starts with the Céad Míle Fáilte of care: providing a genuine welcome and a professional, efficient and proactive response to all the customer’s needs.

Demonstrating genuine care creates positive experiences throughout the customer’s journey with your business.

One of the impacts of caring for the customer is that it creates a personal bond, one of the key features of creating customer loyalty.

Listen:

Listening to the customer is a measure of respect, so make sure your body language is giving a positive message.

Not alone do you listen with your ears, but you can also listen with your eyes.

In normal communication 54% of the message comes through body language and 38% from tone of voice, so a lot of the message being communicated to you comes through the body language of the customer.

Listening often involves understanding what is going on in the other person’s head.

In turn, as you listen to the customer make sure your body language is giving a positive message to the customer.

 

Respond:

One of the key communications skills in customer care is how we respond to customers.

Staff respond not alone by listening and speaking but also using body language. As 55% of the message we transmit is through body language, this remains the primary form of response to customers.

The initial response is vital, as staff only get one opportunity to make a good first impression, and this can dictate the attitude of the customer for future interactions.

The ideal way to respond is to build on a good first impression and then make a great last impression as the customer leaves the premises.

 

Patience:

In a busy operation patience is sometimes in short supply and can fall victim to circumstances.

Customers don’t always understand the system or may need to get clarification of particular issues, and staff must give the time to interact patiently with customers.

Patience is a crucial skill in customer care, allowing staff to remain calm, understanding, and solution-oriented when dealing with challenging situations.

It involves good care, listening and empathy skills, and a commitment to resolving issues effectively, ultimately building trust and loyalty.

 

 

Courtesy:

In a competitive marketplace where costs are constantly rising there is still no cost for courtesy.

Courtesy is about treating customers as you would like to be treated yourself.

It’s about treating customers with human respect and honesty, and this in turn strengthens the opportunity to create customer loyalty.

 

Team Accountability:

While each of us is an individual, there is no ‘’i’’ in team, and staff all form part of a wider collective operating as a team under the company brand.

TEAM can mean – Together – Each –  Achieves –  More

Your brand is our promise to our customers and all staff are accountable for maintaining that promise.

Good teamwork is an essential part of effective customer care.

At Customer Care Insights we can help you nurture a culture of Customer Care within you organisation – call Frank on 087 206 1934 05 frank@customer.ie