Improving Customer Service Through Better Leadership

Sydney based business consultants Nine Pillars has released a short guide for businesses wishing to improve their customer service by providing better leadership.

The link between customer service and leadership is an important one. Great leaders inspire their team and attract positive people that are motivated and happy – this leads directly to the provision of better service and a better experience by your customers. Not only do great leaders get their team to be more engaged, they also inspire their staff to be more involved in the business.

Nine Pillars outlines three simple ways that you can improve your leadership skills and get more team engagement.

1. Have a Vision for the Business
Have a picture where you want to take the business. Once you are clear on this yourself, you can share this with your team. This will get them more positive about the future of the business and their own prospects and this will in turn lead to them being more positive with your customers.

2. Lead by Example
Don’t be one of those business owners that expects one thing but does another. Some areas that you can lead by example are: be positive yourself – this will rub off on your team; be punctual; set high standards and police them; etc. It’s up to you to show the way for your team.

3. Expect High Standards
Many business owners EXPECT high standards but ACCEPT a lower level of work. Don’t fall into this trap – don’t just expect high standards but make sure that you police this and pull your team up if they aren’t delivering. It’s so common for business owners to let standards slip over time.

The video guide can be viewed here

How important is mystery shopping?

How important is your role as the mystery shopper? Extremely Important!

To set the tone of this article, consider this: Your generic job title is "Mystery Shopper" however, what you are doing is something similar to a "Quality Control Auditor." Sounds better right? It is your role to measure and review the aspects of the business you are sent to.

What you report on during your encounter with the business whether it was by phone, online, or in person is generally viewed by those higher up in the hierarchy. Those that make the final decisions.

It is therefore very important that the information you enter is accurate and that you answer all the questions to the best of your ability. There is always a reason why the question was placed there, the business wants it to be reviewed.

Your report will identify both what the business is good at, and also where there is room for improvement. Staff members may be rewarded for doing well in their mystery shopping report, they might also get a warning if they didn't meet the requirements. That's why it's vital that you get the name of the staff member correctly, or provide a very detailed description of them. "Tall male with short hair aged in his mid 20's" probably won't be enough to differentiate that staff member if the organisation has many employees.

Mystery shopping might be fun and you get many perks along the way, but it is still a job, and one that is very important.

In conclusion, it is from your answers and feedback that businesses will learn and improve themselves to meet the customer's needs. At the end of the day, businesses wouldn't be in business if they didn't have customers. Your voice will be representing one major part of the whole customer population.

You can register to become a mystery shopper with Mystery Customer here.