How Second Mile Service Will Lead To Unexpected Customer Solutions

Peter Drucker wrote that "The purpose of business is to create a customer." CEO Shiv Singh revised that statement by saying that "The purpose of business is to a create customer who creates customers." In fact, businesses do not exist until they create customers. However, a better statement might be that the purpose of business is to create a solution for customers to share with other customers. Business is not about customers, but rather it is about solving customers problems.

Second-mile service is the best tool for finding solutions for customers. Second-mile service is not satisfied with just giving a customer a good experience, but it is driven by finding unexpected solutions for customers that leave the customer amazed and surprised.

Going the second mile in service allows those that serve the customer to uncover real needs and find creative ways to solve problems that can lead to future business and the development of new products and processes.

Why Unexpected Solutions Provide The Best Customer Experience

1. Customer Service Begins After Expectations Have Been Met.

Every customer comes to a business with expectations of service. When a product is ordered, a delivery is expected. When a service is purchased, a level of delivery is expected. Real customer service begins after the customer's level of expectation has been met. This fact is why it is essential that companies and organizations consider what are the levels of expectations that customers expect pertaining to their business.

• Quadrant 1 - Good Reception in the purchasing of products. Great customer service happens before the customer purchases a product. Businesses would be wise to remember that customer service starts at the door and not at the cash register.
• Quadrant 2 - Good Delivery of Products and Service. Customers expect a period of time in which a product or service will be delivered or how it will be delivered. When expectations fall below the level of expectation of the customers, a problem occurs.
• Quadrant 3 - Good Reliability of Products and Service. Customers expect a product or service that they buy to be what they expected. The customer has in their mind an expected experience with a product that they are purchasing.
• Quadrant 4 - Good Response to Customer Issues and Concerns. Customer service starts after listening to the customer to figure out what issue the customer is having and what the customer needs to solve their problems.

Customer service happens after customer expectations have been met. The first step to creating second-mile service is to understand what our customers expect.

Experience Question: Have you deeply considered the expectations of your customers and the first step in how to exceed those expectations?

2. Customer Solutions Begin After Empathy Has Been Given.

When a customer encounters a problem, a business has an opportunity to create a meaningful customer experience. The first step to creating customer solutions happens in listening to the needs of the customer. Too many businesses have stopped listening to their customers. Businesses who have empathy seek to not only understand the problems of their customer but to walk alongside their customer to solve their problems creatively.

Experience Question: How does your company teach and reward having empathy?

3. Customer Satisfaction Begins After Empowerment Has Been Exercised.

Customers are not satisfied until their solution to their problem has been sought. Many businesses make a critical error in dealing with customers at this junction. Many companies develop policy and procedures on how customer problems can be solved. Unfortunately, it does not work that way. Most customers are not satisfied with a standard solution, but rather are seeking a specific solution for them. Great companies empower their employees to find unique solutions that solve the individual issues of a customer.

Experience Question: Do your employees know the ultimate mission of the company and know how to operate in a way to elevate the purpose by being empowered to serve customers?

4. Customer Suprise Begins After Entrepreneurial Thinking Has Been Employed.

Entrepreneurial thinking is finding out of the box solutions for our customers. This includes helping our employees think like business owners. It means to find creative and innovative solutions that leave the customer not only satisfied but amazed that the company cared.

Help Scout Inc reported a story about Zappos on their website. "Zappos customer service is the stuff of legends. Here’s an example that has some interesting lessons to teach about the dangers of red tape.

A customer was shopping for shoes for her elderly mother. Due to a medical condition, her mother had very sensitive feet and was often in pain when wearing hard-soled shoes. The customer bought six pairs of shoes from Zappos, and her mother tried them on and found two that she could bear to wear for long periods of time.

When it was time for her mother to return the other four pairs, she called Zappos, and in talking with the employee, this woman discovered that the person on the other end of the line could relate to her plight; the employee’s father had suffered from similar foot problems due to diabetes.

The employee ended the conversation by saying that she would pray for the woman to feel better, but the story doesn’t end there:

"My mom called me to relay the news, and I could hear the smile on her face from 600 miles away. She said that the lovely Zappos person had sent her an enormous bouquet of lilies and roses to let her know she was thinking of her. My sister emailed the company to thank Zappos for taking such good care of my Mom. Two days later, my mom, sister, and I were contacted and told we are now “Zappos VIP Members,” which entitles us to free expedited shipping on all our orders. My sister vows to buy every pair of shoes, from now on, from Zappos."

Experience Question: Would your team feel empowered to send flowers to one of your customers?

Second-mile service is the best way to serve your customers. On the second-mile companies find creative solutions for their customers. These creative solutions solve problems, inspire customer loyalty, and become referral stories that customers can share with others.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: 

Ken Gosnell is CEO and Servant Leader of CXP (CEO Experience). He serves leaders by helping them to have great experiences that both transform them and their organizations that enable to go further faster. He has worked with hundreds of CEOS and their leadership teams to enhance their strategic, operational and people accomplishments. He is an author, coach, and strategic partner with CEOs. He is married to Shonda, and they have four children. You can connect with him at https://www.dhirubhai.net/in/kengosnell/

He has also created the CEO Experience Impact Assessment. This assessment helps leaders learn the areas of their leader that they must improve to go forward. Get your score by taking the assessment here.

Ken is the creator and facilitator of the Christian CEO Linkedin Group. Click here to find out more and to join this group.