No Pain, No Gain! Customer Service So Good, It Hurts.
A first-class customer experience can completely redefine how someone feels about a brand. It’s those ‘delighted’ customers who said or thought, “Wow!” who will become loyal brand ambassadors and evangelists for your business and will come back again and again – and bring others. Those are the kind of customers you want to create.
Of course providing killer customer services is not easy, as it requires consistently going above and beyond all that your customers expect from you (and trust me, they do expect A LOT). I believe the only way to ensure customer success is by instilling the following beliefs in your teams, even if it hurts:
1. Everyone Can Dazzle a Customer
A few years ago I was staying in a hotel on business in California, and up early for a meeting only to find that the hotel’s cafe wasn’t open yet. As I was trying to decide on an alternate course of action, a maintenance employee from the hotel came out of the kitchen, saw my plight and before I knew it, was preparing a bagel and orange juice for me –– even though the cafe was still closed.
The point? Dazzling customers is about identifying the key moments on the customer journey, where you can make a real emotional impact – and make the customer feel special. Great customer care isn’t just about having a well-trained customer care team. It’s about empowering everyone in your company to use their discretion to go above and beyond, and this mentality should be ingrained into your employees: Everyone, across your entire organization, is empowered to do what’s necessary to wow the customer.
2. The Customer is God
I once found myself in Tokyo trying to convince a gathering of skeptical Japanese travel agents to send their customers halfway around the globe to Walt Disney World. As I tried to impress upon them Disney’s commitment to customer service I told them: in America, the customer is always right; in Germany, the customer is king; but at Disney World okyaku-sama wa kami-sama desu. The silent crowd erupted with applause with the words I had spoken in Japanese…the customer is god. Indeed, in Japanese culture the customer is treated and revered like a god.
And so it should be at any company. The very existence of the business is ultimately derived from the company's ability to exceed the customers' expectation.
3. Swans Only Need to Look Good Above Water
I’ve mentioned this notion in my previous posts about customer service - it’s invaluable in helping your employees understand and adopt the “do all that you can and more” mentality.
While it takes a great deal of stress, training, process, attentiveness and hard work to provide great service, it’s vital that your customers never sense that effort. A customer should view their experience like a swan on the water: You might be paddling like a madman, but all the customers see appears seamless and serene. This is what genuinely separates a good support experience from a great one that you tell your friends about.
If you really want your business to prosper and grow, purely meeting expectations is not acceptable, you need to be constantly wowing your customers during the key moments of truth. And if you do, you’ll start to see your reviews (and your bottom line) reflect your efforts.
