Articles
Awesome customer service for urban agriculture
Article number
1356_10
Pages
65 – 68
Language
English
Abstract
Urban farms struggle with the same challenges as other farm direct marketers in retail agriculture.
One of the biggest challenges includes the adoption and implementation of an effective customer service plan.
An effective plan includes the manager and employees valuing long-term relationships with each customer as a way of building a profitable brand.
Each and every contact with a customer defines the farm brand and affects the future of the business.
This presentation will share an innovative approach to develop an improved customer service plan in the context of urban agriculture.
To tackle the challenges of today’s customer service environment, we worked with businesses to develop a system to help urban farm managers focus on customer engagement and deliver high-quality customer service.
This focus within a plan enables the farm team to deliver consistent service that improves the customer experience.
Effective implementation of the plan includes the development of common customer interactions, delegating the ability to deal with and fix customer service challenges, and demonstrating key aspects of the farm brand when interacting with customers.
This awesome customer service is delivered in person or online with the same level of engagement and focus on the farm’s brand and values.
This approach includes four steps to providing awesome customer service.
These steps are: 1) prepare examine current expectations and stereotypes of the operation, develop a plan including all possible interaction; 2) respond empower all employees to assist, provide trainings and incentives, align performance assessment with customer experience; 3) recover things will go wrong, have a plan for potential customer service fails.
Designate who is in charge.
Communicate, understand it is a long-term relationship, not just about the issue at hand.
Fix things with the relationship mind; 4) improve practices update the plan.
Prepare for next time.
Anticipate future customer service issues.
One of the biggest challenges includes the adoption and implementation of an effective customer service plan.
An effective plan includes the manager and employees valuing long-term relationships with each customer as a way of building a profitable brand.
Each and every contact with a customer defines the farm brand and affects the future of the business.
This presentation will share an innovative approach to develop an improved customer service plan in the context of urban agriculture.
To tackle the challenges of today’s customer service environment, we worked with businesses to develop a system to help urban farm managers focus on customer engagement and deliver high-quality customer service.
This focus within a plan enables the farm team to deliver consistent service that improves the customer experience.
Effective implementation of the plan includes the development of common customer interactions, delegating the ability to deal with and fix customer service challenges, and demonstrating key aspects of the farm brand when interacting with customers.
This awesome customer service is delivered in person or online with the same level of engagement and focus on the farm’s brand and values.
This approach includes four steps to providing awesome customer service.
These steps are: 1) prepare examine current expectations and stereotypes of the operation, develop a plan including all possible interaction; 2) respond empower all employees to assist, provide trainings and incentives, align performance assessment with customer experience; 3) recover things will go wrong, have a plan for potential customer service fails.
Designate who is in charge.
Communicate, understand it is a long-term relationship, not just about the issue at hand.
Fix things with the relationship mind; 4) improve practices update the plan.
Prepare for next time.
Anticipate future customer service issues.
Authors
E. Barrett, R. Leeds
Keywords
customer service, marketing, urban agriculture
Groups involved
- Division Landscape and Urban Horticulture
- Division Horticulture for Human Health
- Division Greenhouse and Indoor Production Horticulture
- Division Horticulture for Development
- Division Precision Horticulture and Engineering
- Division Vegetables, Roots and Tubers
- Commission Agroecology and Organic Farming Systems
- Working Group Urban Horticulture
- Working Group Landscape Horticulture
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