Customer service refers to the ability of knowledgeable, capable, and enthusiatic employees to deliver products and services to their internal and external customers in a manner that satisfies identified and unidentified needs and ultimately results in positive word-of-mouth publicity and return business.
What are the customer service approaches adopted by Robinsons?
The company total approach to developing staff for service excellence is innovative. It recognises that service excellence is not just about training. It has a comprehensive approach that comprises:
- the establishment of clear service performance standards for staff
- a well-integrated and structured programme for developing people to provide excellent service
- monitoring service quality through fortnightly service audits
- systematic service briefings at the start of the day, five times a week covering product knowledge, customer service and sales promotion
A set of clear performance standards has been established for all service staff under the Service Standards Index. It comprises five basic non-negotiables for customer service. These are: greeting the customer, up-selling, promoting the use of the Robinsons card, encouraging customers to complete the feedback form and thanking the customer. These basics are communicated to staff to ensure that they are clear about what is expected of them. The Index provides the basis for service excellence training as well as measuring the performance of both the individual and the organisation. It is used to conduct service audits and derive a fortnightly score for tracking service quality.
The Robinsons Group believes it is important to develop all staff for service excellence. Hence, the service excellence mindset is deployed to all levels of staff in all functions. It involves both new and existing staff, sales and non-sales functions and managers. It is even extended to sales promoters who are not in the organisation's payroll.
The impact of Robinsons people development is significant. It has contributed to a 9% increase in total sales turnover, a 2% increase in sales turnover per staff, as well as a 20% increase in sales generated from new product lines. There was also a three-fold increase in the number of customer compliments received between 2000 and 2001.