Create a Customer Service Scorecard
Written by PR Etc., Inc.
Published by Rockford Register Star
Monday, March 3, 2008

According to a recent Newsweek article, over the course of the past several years, customer service satisfaction in the United States has dropped 12.5 percent for airlines, 8.1 percent for banks, 6.5 percent for stores and 4 percent for hotels. Customers complained about inaccurate information, poorly trained or rude personnel and long wait times.

With the advent of call routing software – of which a recent survey found that 90 percent of consumers don’t like using – the climb for improved customer service is becoming even more steep. So, how is your company performing? Here’s a brief scorecard to evaluate your organization.

• Do we provide an accurate picture and understanding of our product/service to our customers? Are our promotional messages accurate? Do we assess the impact to our customers of price/product/service changes?
• Do we communicate effectively with customers? Having a working web site or sending a newsletter has some value, but just as important is how personal interactions with customers are being conducted.
• Do we consider service problems opportunities to impress and further develop our relationship with clients? Do you reward employees to excel in these types of opportunities?
• Is performing the service right the first time a priority? The service could range from how someone answers the phone to responds to an email to fixing a product.

You can’t claim superior service if you don’t know where you currently stand on it, and the scorecard to evaluate how you are handling customers' expectations should be committed to as a standard for judging your service.