Delivering Amazing Customer Service

As you can probably tell by the tone of some of my recent writings, I’m on a real exploration journey to discover the best customer service ideas I can find. I have read many books and talked to several people in my search to find the best examples of good customer service and GREAT customer service.

Customer service is the real key to successful sales growth. Customer acquisition is so expensive and time-consuming that we all need to do all we can to retain those dear customers once we have gone through the blood, sweat, and tears of attaining them.?

GREAT customer service is the most important element of a company’s success. The better your customer service, the better your customer retention, and the more successful your company will be.

The fascinating thing about GREAT customer service…or poor customer service, is that it crosses all markets, all products, all technologies. If you are building circuit boards, your customer service is not only being measured against your PCB fabricator competitors but also against Disney, Nordstrom, and The Ritz Carlton. Customer service is universal and should be treated as such. There is some pretty stiff competition out there.

One fact I can never get out of my head is that when a customer is treated right, she will tell at least 50 people about it. That’s pretty good, right? However, 250 people will hear poorly about a customer's treatment. Wow! Those are some odds. 5 to 1 in favor of poor customer service. That alone should make us all realize how truly important a factor great customer service is to your company’s success.

I read a book by Shep Hyken called?"AMAZE Every Customer Every Time:?52 tools for delivering the most amazing customer service on the Planet."?This is an excellent resource for finding inspirational ways to amaze your customers.

In one of the most striking chapters in the book, Mr. Hyken talks about internal and external customers, the internal customer being, of course, your own company’s team. He references Herb Kelleher, the founder of Southwest Airlines, whose strongest philosophy was to put his associates first. Even before his customers. He felt that if he could make his associates happy and delighted with the company, they would also delight their customers. He uses this philosophy to show how by amazing your employees, you will empower them to amaze your customers as well. Author Hyken talks about “moments” and different times when your employees have the option to shine by delivering amazing customer service.

From the book:

• A Moment of Magic: This is when the customer receives above-average service.
• A Moment of Truth: This is any time a customer has an opportunity to form an impression.
• A Moment of Misery: This happens when the moment of truth is mishandled.
• Moments of Misery: These can be turned into moments of magic with good recovery.

Let’s talk about that last one for a minute. GREAT customer service companies take advantage of a problem by the way they handle problems. As the saying goes, “Great relationships are forged in adversity.” Look. We are all human, and we all make mistakes. However, how a company deals with a customer problem and how they remedy the situation is the most telling indication of what kind of customer service company it truly is.

If you want to be a truly amazing customer service company, here are the actions you have to take when a customer problem occurs:

1. Don’t look for blame; right now, a problem must be fixed. Solving that problem is a top priority. Don’t waste time (or kill the relationship) by starting by declaring that it’s not your problem but the customer’s problem. The words “it's not our problem” are certain relationship killers. Even if indeed, the customer is at fault, you could win the battle but, in the end, lose the war.
2. Take responsibility for solving the problem as quickly and efficiently as possible. Fix it! And fix it fast!
3. Fix the problem to benefit the customer…even if it costs you money. One of the things a great customer service company does is make sure it knows the lifetime value of each of its customers; once armed with that information, it’ll have the proper perspective on how a small investment on its part will ensure a longer lifetime with that customer.
4. Once the problem is fixed, then do an analysis of what happened. What caused the problem, and what can you do to ensure it does not happen again?
5. And finally, be gracious; if the problem was caused by something your company did, accept responsibility, apologize, and convince the customer that you have put the proper precautions into work so it will not happen again. And if it proves that your customer caused the problem, well, that is a great opportunity to shine. This is your moment of truth and your moment of magic. The more gracious you are, the more you will make that customer, your customer for life.

Making a customer for life is the ultimate goal of any great customer service business. It’s only common sense.