Don't let the sun set on Customer Care

I’ve seen a few posts lately regarding the decline in customer service - and it’s true. We are being molded into a transactional society where everyone is empowered to "do it yourself." The problem with this approach is that people are forgetting how to help others, what it's like to receive help, and how to create a culture of care and thoughtfulness.

The topic reminded me of a recent experience that caught my attention and I thought it was worth sharing.

My family is fortunate enough to take an annual summer trip (now known as our pilgrimage) to South Padre Island for some “Vitamin Sea.”?This year we took a sunset dolphin watch tour.?It’s a simple activity - load 100'ish people on a boat, drive out into the bay, look for dolphins.?There are lots of options when choosing your boat operator and nature pretty much does the rest, BUT how do you differentiate the experience and get people to not only talk about you but perhaps leave a nice tip and review at the end of your adventure??Honestly, it isn't too hard as the bar is quite low these days (as are our expectations), but hats off to the gentlemen running our boat because they had it nailed down.

1. Talk to your customers - after the safety announcements, general introductions, and with the initial trip underway, the deck hands went around to every little group on the boat and asked, “Is there anything I can do for you??Do you have any questions??Can I help you with anything?”?They asked these same three questions over and over again to each and every party on the boat (and there were dozens of families on board.?This really set the tone that they were truly there to help.?And it wasn’t just done in passing. They stopped, made eye contact, and then waited for our response.?It was far from the typical “let me know if you need…….” that often happens in a busy setting.
2. Capturing the moment - again, after the initial excitement of our first few dolphin sightings, when everyone was on their feet and excited, they again took the time to go around to each party and ask, “Would you like me to take your picture?”?No, they weren’t selling the pictures.?They would carefully take the person’s phone, take several photos, and then hand it back to them.?No pressure.?No charge.?No expectations.?Simply helping them capture the moment that they will see and use to tell about their adventure.
3. Unexpected Experiences - when making memories, it is all worth it when you see your kids smiling ear to ear.?During one stretch, the captain invited each of the kids to come up and sit in the captain’s chair and “drive the boat” while their parents snapped a quick picture.?The kids poured in from all over and lined up.?Parents took ample pictures of their little captains while the crew answered questions and made sure each of the kids had a chance at the helm.?My boys liked the dolphins (a lot), but if you ask them about their favorite part of the dolphin trip, it was driving the boat.
4. Survey your Customers - when the sun had set, pictures were taken, and we were close to wrapping things up, the crew again went around and asked each party if they needed anything, had any questions, and if they liked the adventure.?They engaged, answered questions, and made sure everyone was smiling as we headed back to the dock. ?

None of these items cost the company anything more than time and effort.?The activity would have been just fine without them, but with them it was truly a joyful experience.?These aren’t fancy, luxurious boats and our time together was brief, but in the end, everyone was smiling, we all left with great memories and pictures of our excursion, and the tip jar, sitting unattended at the exit, was filled.

It reminded me to take a step back and look at the little things we can do at BL.INK that lift up the experience for our own customers to bring an unexpected smile.?In the world of automation and endless data points, it is easy to overlook the importance of the human interaction, but when someone has that exchange that is out of the ordinary, (perhaps even extraordinary), that is what they tend to talk about and use as a filter for the future.

If you have any little nuggets of service you weave into your own organization (or have experienced elsewhere), I’d love to hear about them in the comments. ?If you know of someone who offers an incredible customer experience, please tag them so I can follow them as well.

Special thanks to The Original Dolphin Watch in S. Padre for the reminder of the criticality of customer care in the world.