by Karen Allen
Everyone knows that sales people, service technicians, and receptionists must provide good customer service if the company wants to stay in business. But to create true customer loyalty, you must provide excellent customer service from every role in the company. Even collections.
I interface with customers on an almost daily basis in regard to accounts receivable, invoices, and collections. Our customers are not always glad to hear from me. In fact, you’d be amazed at some of the excuses I hear when someone doesn’t want to pay their bill: “My boss broke his glasses and can’t see to sign the check,” “It’s too early in the morning for me to mess with check numbers!”
How your people handle these situations, as well as the mundane tasks of preparing and sending invoices, will set good customer service apart from great customer service. Do these four things to convert invoicing and painful collections calls into loyal customers:
- Get invoices right, every single time. Invoicing errors look bad, cause hassles for the customer, and lead to losses in customer confidence. Check and double check numbers, spell check, and be clear and unambiguous. Develop systems to ensure the job is done right, consistently.
- When speaking with customers who are past due, be honest, respectful, and courteous. Remember that your company does not exist without its customers. Be firm without being rude.
- Be persistent, and talk to the right people. Write down names and numbers, and keep a clear record of interactions.
- Put yourself in the customer’s place. Things get done at the people level, not the technical level, so keep track of people and treat them as individuals.
At South Sales, we have the best customers you could ask for. To keep them, we work hard to let them know we value them. Even when we’re collecting payment.
Karen Allen handles billing, collections, and A/P for South Sales Communications. She joined the company in 2002 after working in the legal field for 17 years.
