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module menu icon The seven golden rules of great customer service

  1. Commit to a quality service. Does everyone in your pharmacy understand the importance you place on great customer service and always try to go above and beyond customer expectations?
  2. Know your products. Do your staff have the right knowledge about the products and services you offer and can they convey it to customers in a confident manner? Do you have a robust induction programme that introduces the importance of customer service from an early stage? If the answer is no to these questions, then this is something basic to put right. Invest time and energy in training and coaching and ensure you put the right staff in front of customers.
  3. Know your customers. Learn everything you can about your customers in order to tailor your service and your offer. Talk to them about their experience with your pharmacy and encourage your people to do the same. Discuss what you find out at your staff meetings. Listen to customers' complaints and areas of dissatisfaction and address them promptly.
  4. Treat people with courtesy and respect. Remember that every time you deal with a customer €“ face to face, by telephone, by email or by letter €“ the interaction leaves an impression. Use conciliatory phrases €“ 'Sorry to have kept you waiting' or 'You're welcome' isn't cheesy if you sound like you mean it and it demonstrates not only your dedication to great customer service, but also to general courtesy.
  5. Never argue with a customer. You know very well that the customer is not always right. However, you gain nothing by having an argument with a customer. Instead, focus on how to fix the issue. Research shows that seven out of ten customers will do business with a company again if that company resolves problems well.
  6. Make things easy. We all get frustrated when we can't find something or things are tricky to understand. Focus on making things easy €“ make it easy to contact your pharmacy, be easy to buy from, easy to understand and ensure it is easy to find products and access services.
  7. Focus on lifetime value. Most businesses think short-term, but you need to think about the long-term. Customers have long memories and almost everyone remembers poor service and will usually tell a lot of people about it. If you provide good service, then customers will return over and over again, so think about their long-term value to your business.
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