Customers For Life By Carl Sewell Chapter Breakdown

Customers For Life by Carl Sewell **Ten Commandments of Customer Service Part One: Ask your customers what they want...and give it to 'em Chapter 1 - Don't assume anything - "If you give customers a chance to talk, and if you're willing to listen, they'll tell you exactly what's important to them" - Try to identify the three most important thing to ALL YOUR customers (not just one sector) - Sewell has three points of contact o Quick survey at end of service (3 questions long) o Longer service attached with receipt that gets mailed back o A focus group  Focus group = meeting set to check to see how well you're doing based on a group of customers  When inviting people, ensure they're representative of current and future customers Chapter 2 - "If the customer asks if you can do something for him, the answer is always yes, providing the request is somehow related to your business." - Your job is to take care of the customer so that you keep them coming back for the rest of their life. - Sewell's rule of thumb: Is it something a friend would charge for? If not then NO CHARGE Chapter 3 - Customer service is a 24/7 deal - What the customer wants is the only thing that matters - Sewell's Rule: All salespeople and service providers give out their home phone so they can be contacted and if not contacted then a policeman at the store has all their numbers to aid in getting in contact with the right person - "We want people to call us, no matter what time it is. They're our customer, and we want to take care of them. Besides, we would rather do the work than have our customers give it to somebody who might charge more and care less." - No matter what business you're in, customers like to have a number to call after hours - Gives you a chance to maintain a relationship with your customers

Chapter 4 - "One of the worst things you can do is charge a customer more than your estimate. Build in a cushion so you can always charge a little less." - People like doing business with people who keep their word. Part Two: How to give good service every time. Chapter 5 - Customer service is a cake: o Politeness, smiles, and being willing to go the extra mile is the icing o The layers would be the systems that allow you to do a good job  Doing the job right the first time  Having a plan in place to deal with things when they go wrong - It doesn't make a difference to a customer how nice you are if you do not fix the problem immediately - Systems guarantee good service - systems must work together to create a process that is efficient and responsive to a customer's wants Chapter 6 - Inspectors make people sloppy because they take away the necessary accountability each individual has for their own work because they know someone else is going to come in behind them to check their work - No matter what you do, problems are inevitable so its important to reduce those problems as much as you can - IF you fix the system, the problem is eliminated for good Chapter 7 - Customer service is too important to be left to a "customer relations" department - Customers judge the service they receive by how well they're treated by everyone they come I contact with - To everyone in the company: if the customer has a problem, fix it, if you cant find someone who can right then - #1 priority = customer satisfaction Chapter 8 - Nothing more important than keeping the service promise - customers want firms to do what they say they are going to do - " Do what you say you're going to do, and do it right the first time."

Chapter 9 - Have a process/system in place when something goes wrong, because it is inevitable - Sewell's process when something goes wrong includes: o Apologizing o Fix the problem immediately - Typically figure out what wrong via the 3 ways for feedback mentioned in part 1 Chapter 10 - Important to have what the customer wants when they want it -meaning inventory management is vital - Should have a system that analyzes your inventory and lets you know what you should have in stock and what you shouldn't not just a massive random inventory Chapter 11 - Keep giving your customers more reasons to do business with you - always stay improving. ALWAYS. - If you're not getting better, you're getting worse - Numerous ways to improve yourself, but the book talks about: o Shopping your customers o Shop yourself - The most important system you can put in place is one that demands continuous improvements Part Three: People: how to care for customers - and employees Chapter 12 - Customers are important but so is your employees - How can you expect your people to be good to your customers if you treat them poorly? - Thank your customers but also thank your employees for doing a good job as well Chapter 13 - The customer is not always and absolutely right but as a general rule do something to fix their problem if you can - The goal should always be to do whatever it takes to keep the customer coming back, now when someone is trying to take advantage of you then take a step back and evaluate - there is a price cap to some things Chapter 14 - Teach your customers how to get better service (that also helps you) o Provide a list of alternative times (additional times help both you and your customer better schedule their day)