Here's how you can drive your team to deliver exceptional customer service.

Lead by example, foster open communication, and provide continuous training. Empower your team with the right tools and recognise their achievements. Encourage regular feedback and keep your ego in check to ensure a collaborative environment that inspires commitment to exceptional customer service.

Training is key. If the team is inadequately trained to provide accurate information or other assistance to customers, the result is deficient, unreliable, may drive clients elsewhere, and increases compliance risks. Excellent training enables exceptional professional service.

"Understand the Team Mix" Customer service/experience is an emotion itself. Without the drive to provide exceptional experiences, you'll consistently be chasing the reasons for failures. Empowering your team and leveraging their skills positions you as an exemplary leader. A motivated and trusted team excels in all types of challenging situations because they grasp the importance of teamwork.

Leadership, is a been there, done that, and will always be a student of the leadership role. True Leader's are transparent, open, honest, experienced, and always has the willingness to listen, understand, their staff. Motivating the staff is both action oriented and the willingness to get in the trenches with the staff, to solve issues and learn along the way with the staff both collectively and individually. So, everyone on the team knows, understands & Respect's one another's roles as a team for success.

Empowering your team is key to enhancing customer service. Employees who feel trusted to make decisions are more likely to take ownership of customer interactions. For instance, allow sales associates the autonomy to offer special price support on furniture sets or or resolve minor complaints. This not only speeds up the resolution process but also boosts employee confidence and satisfaction.

Clear expectations provide a roadmap for success. Set specific, measurable goals for different aspects of customer service, such as response times, customer satisfaction scores, or the knowledge depth about product lines like sofa sets or modular chairs. Regularly review these expectations with your team and ensure everyone understands their role in meeting them.

Clearly define what "exceptional customer service" means for your business. Don't settle for just friendly – it's about responsiveness, attentiveness, and proactive problem-solving. Communicate this vision clearly to your team. When everyone understands the bar you've set, they can focus on exceeding it. This fosters a culture of excellence where exceeding expectations becomes the norm.

Clear expectations are absolutely vital to sustainable performance and success. As a leader it's important to be forthright and transparent, and provide actionable paths to success. By providing clear and well-paced goals, my team can visualize and chart their progress and path to success.

In my book this is the most valuable skill. To be able to clearly define expectations and job scope gives the road map to success.

Clearly define what exceptional customer service looks like for your organization. Establishing clear benchmarks and standards ensures that everyone understands their role in delivering outstanding experiences to customers.

A robust feedback loop is crucial for continuous improvement. Implement regular meetings where team members can discuss customer feedback, share successful strategies, and identify areas for improvement. Encourage your team to view negative feedback as an opportunity for growth and not as a setback. This open communication fosters a supportive environment and continuous enhancement of service standards.

Implement regular feedback mechanisms to gather insights from both customers and employees. This enables continuous improvement by addressing issues promptly and recognizing areas of excellence.

Listen attentively to what they say, both praise and critique. It's all valuable intel! By regularly reviewing this feedback with your team, you identify areas for improvement alongside highlighting successes. This fosters a growth mindset, where learning from every interaction fuels a team that consistently strives to deliver exceptional service.

Customer feedback is an essential ingredient to effective coaching. Positive feedback should be used to identify and reinforce best practices, while negative feedback should be used to course-correct before bad habits can be formed. In all cases, customer feedback should always be used to create productive learning opportunities.

Gather Feedback: Regularly collect feedback from customers and share it with your team. Use it as a learning tool to improve service.

Don’t just jump into recognition mode. Not everyone appreciates praise in the same way, and it’s important to learn how your team like to receive feedback. Some might love seeing their name on a slide in a company meeting, others might be incredibly uncomfortable with this. I once had a team member tell me they were afraid of being perceived as egotistical, while another said they preferred equal praise going to those they worked with on a project. So take the time to ask your team is so you ensure they feel seen in a way that’s comfortable to them.

Recognition is a powerful motivator. Regularly acknowledging and rewarding staff for exceptional customer service can inspire continued excellence and loyalty. This could be through formal mechanisms like 'Employee of the Month' awards or informal gestures such as praising a team member during a meeting for their handling of a complex furniture delivery issue.

Celebrate those who go the extra mile for a customer – a shout-out in a team meeting, a personalized thank you note, or even a small reward. This simple act does double duty: it boosts team morale and reinforces the exceptional service behaviors you want to see. When employees feel appreciated, they're more likely to keep exceeding customer expectations, creating a positive cycle of motivation and exceptional service that sets your business apart.

GOOD JOB! A pat on the back can go a long way. I don't mean actually slapping someone on the back but telling someone that they did well goes a long way. As the saying goes... "You catch more flies with sugar than with vinegar." Setting aside some time during a meeting to recognize your employees for a job well done is a good way to boost morale and giving the employees a slot in that meeting to give recognition to others in the team gives them a sense of pride.

Celebrate and reward exceptional customer service efforts to motivate your team. Recognizing and appreciating their hard work fosters a positive work culture and encourages consistent delivery of outstanding service.

Equip your team with the necessary tools and resources to succeed. This includes access to up-to-date product information on the latest trends in furniture design, like eco-friendly materials or innovative sofa technologies. Investing in CRM systems can also help staff manage customer relationships more effectively by providing detailed insights into customer preferences and purchase histories.

Ensure everyone is properly trained on these tools and understands how they contribute to a smoother customer experience. When your team has everything they need at their fingertips, they can focus on what truly matters – exceeding customer expectations and building lasting relationships.

Provide your team with the necessary tools and resources to effectively serve customers. Whether it's advanced CRM systems or customer service training materials, equipping your staff with the right resources enhances their ability to meet customer needs.

Invest in Tools and Resources: I would ensure that my team has the necessary tools and resources to serve customers efficiently.

While it is very important to provide the tools for your team to use to take great care of your clients, it is equally as important to make sure they are comfortable with using these tools and role playing can really help them feel at ease when the situation arises that they need each of these tools! We only use what we practice not what we know.

As a trainer it is very important to keep the workforce well trained and informed. Processes can change over time and new tools and equipment are put into use, so keeping your employees up to speed on this is not only beneficial for productivity but it is crucial for the safety of the employee performing the work. As an employer the last thing we want is for one of our team to suffer an injury because they were not trained properly on a piece of equipment or because someone cut corners on a process. Continuous training will ensure a safe and comfortable work environment for all.

In the ever-evolving furniture market, continuous training is vital. This includes not only product training but also sessions on communication skills, conflict resolution, and technology use in the workplace. Regular training ensures that your team is competent and confident in their roles, from advising customers on the best sofa sets for their lifestyle to handling post-purchase service requests.

Continuous training is extremely important not only to reinforce existing skills and best practices, but also to ensure updated processes, redefined goals, and newly-discovered best practices are integrated. I continuously train my team to stay up to date on the ever-changing work environment and prevent bad habits from forming with new processes.

Invest in ongoing training and development programs to sharpen your team's skills and keep them updated on best practices in customer service. Continuous learning ensures that your team stays agile and adaptable in meeting evolving customer expectations.

Continuous Improvement: Always look for ways to improve customer service and encourage your team to come up with innovative solutions.

Drive as with motivation comes from within! As leaders, we at best may influence team members. This said, it starts with leading by example. When team members see that you deliver exceptional customer service to both internal and external customers, they’re more apt to follow suit. Also, Instill in the team to put themselves in the place of the customer. Then advocate that greater than treating them the way you wished to be treated, treat them the way they wished to be treated. Then encourage them to listen not to respond but to understand and support their understanding with empathy. All of which makes for exceptional customer service and an exceptional customer experience. And the experience, the experience is what keeps them!

Consistency Matters Consistency is key, especially in customer service. Even top performers can struggle with this challenge. That's why it's crucial to educate your team on the importance of delivering consistent customer service.

In our business, every client and system has overlaps and huge differences. When they ask for things we cannot just execute their exact request. We research, we learn more, we find out why they made that ask. This allows us to offer solutions in addition or in place of what they originally requested. This often provides our clients better outcomes and we see their success as ours.

Transparency and support are my specific areas of focus. My team needs to know that I am here to enable them to be successful, and I can best do that by clearly defining goals, providing needed support, and encouraging them to grow and improve continuously. I make sure I am as accessible as possible to provide guidance and clarity to my team, and demonstrate my dedication to their success.

In addition, you need to trust them to do their jobs well. If you are constantly watching over their shoulders, they will be intimidated, overly conscious and worst, their self-esteem will suffer. Supervise them but give them space and even allowance for mistakes.