Press Release

Boost Customer Loyalty by Becoming More Proactive

Companies can improve customer retention and satisfaction by being more proactive — and sometimes all it takes is a well-timed explanation.

(Boonton, NJ, August 12, 2010) — Can your company do more to reach out to customers and provide proactive service and support? It might seem like an impossible mission today when many service organizations are short-staffed and being asked to "do more with less."

On the other hand, if your organization wants to stand out from the competition, and boost customer loyalty and retention, becoming more proactive can help.

In the August issue of industry publication Customer Service Newsletter, Holly Zoba, provides insights into how companies can improve customer retention by being more proactive, how social media can help you target your efforts, and what managers can do to support their reps

Zoba, a senior vice president for Signature Worldwide, provides insights and examples from her personal and consulting experience. For example,

"One time, in the middle of January, the water heater — and the backup heater — stopped working, and we had a hotel full of guests with no hot water. As soon as this happened, we prepared letters for all of the guests, saying, 'We're very sorry. This is what has happened.' And we also gave them some ideas on how they could use the microwaves in their rooms to heat water. The general manager was in front of the elevators in the lobby at 6:30 a.m. explaining the problem and apologizing to people as they came down."

"In fact," Zoba says, "we were so proactive in explaining the problem to guests and telling them what was going on, that we never had to deal with an irate guest or even to return a single dollar to a guest as a result of the situation. They knew what was going on, they knew how hard we were working to resolve the situation and to be helpful in the meantime, and we had worked hard to establish that proactive relationship."

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About the Customer Service Group

For more than 20 years, the Customer Service Group has helped customer service, call center and help desk managers increase productivity, improve service quality and boost customer satisfaction, loyalty and retention. The Customer Service Group publishes Customer Service Newsletter and The Customer Communicator.

Website: http://www.CustomerServiceGroup.com