True Service Excellence Management

Implementing Service Excellence Management is a challenge for any organization, service provider or not, large or small. Like any great challenge, the rewards are immense for anyone who overcomes obstacles on the way! And here you will find essential information to get there and make your company a management model for success!

One of the biggest problems of companies in their attempts to implement an effective management of services and customer service has been the lack of a truly strategic view of the subject.

"Is providing quality services and providing good customer service important for the company's business?"

When we ask any executive or entrepreneur, anywhere in the world, the answer is always something like: "Of course", "Obviously" or "For sure".

So far, so good. After all, we have all heard that Services and Customer Service are essential factors for the success of any company.

We have also read this type of thing in several publications, specialized or not. In addition, it is not uncommon to see TV ads, newspapers or billboards promoting their companies over the jargon “We have great service”.

Now, answer that question:

- In general, what is your level of satisfaction (from 1 to 10) with the services and care you encounter out there?

Was your grade 10 by any chance? Was it 9? Or, who knows, 8?

Well, know that over 90% of the people who answer this question give a score between 3 and 5 for their level of satisfaction with the services they get ...

And the main question becomes: - If almost every executive or entrepreneur knows the importance of good service and customer care, why do we experience poor service so often?

Perhaps because it is not very clear what good service is. Or perhaps because Customer Service remains just as a department that receives calls from customers. Or perhaps because there is only one person in the company, called the “ombudsman”, with real authority to solve customers' problems. Perhaps because the training in customer service is carried out without clear objectives and without monitoring results.

Perhaps because it seems so obvious to everyone that no one thinks that anyone should do anything about it.

For longer than I can remember, people have used the famous saying:

"Genius is the one who sees the obvious."

I consider this sentence incomplete, when applied to the present day, where the practical result is what makes all the difference in the competitive day to day. And I took the liberty of changing the old sentence, leaving it like this:

Genius is not the one who sees the obvious. Today, genius is the one who does the obvious.

Neglecting the obvious has been costly for hundreds of thousands of companies throughout business history.

Think of companies that always advertise that they offer great service, but fail to deliver on that promise consistently…

What credibility do such companies have with you? Do you believe in the advertisements of those companies again? Each disappointed customer represents advertising money thrown away.

Such companies probably believe that it is enough to advertise, and all employees will see the advertisement, receive a divine light, and start providing excellent service: at the bank, at the dealership, at department stores... But, unfortunately, it does not work that way. It is not that simple.

A truly strategic vision of Service Excellence is essential for the organization to stop throwing money away with isolated training or advertising actions, and finally start working to win and retain truly loyal customers!

Consider some factors that can influence a company's market share:

• Price
• Advertising
• Distribution
• Productive capacity
• Technology

?Price is important. But if a company decides to give a 50% discount, how fast can its competitors copy this strategy, if they want to?

Advertising is the soul of the business, but how fast can one copy an ad or counterattack a marketing campaign? (e.g.: internet service providers, automakers, beer industries, etc).

Distribution is the channel, but is it a very complex thing that cannot be copied as well? Undoubtedly, effective distribution systems make the product reach the consumers. But is that enough to guarantee their satisfaction and make them loyal?

Productive capacity is a strength. If your company fails to meet customer orders, it loses business. So, this is also an important element, no doubt. But anyone with money can buy more machines or hire more people, right?

Technology is fundamental, more and more. And it is getting cheaper and easier to acquire, both for your company and for your competitors as well. Isn’t that true?

All factors mentioned above are important in conquering the market. The point is that such factors are considered basic and are seen by customers as an obligation for companies to merely be in the market. These are not factors that, alone, impress customers to the point of making them loyal to any company.

What really matters to customers?

There are two very important studies for analyzing customer behavior. The first, conducted by the American Marketing Association, shows that in 80% of cases, customers stop buying from a certain company because they feel they have been served with indifference or because they have not had their complaint answered promptly.

Another study shows that what influences the customer to change supplier is related in 49% of the cases to Rude Service and in 21% of the cases with a feeling of personal neglect.

Only in 30% of all cases did customers change their supplier for a better price or for a better product.

An interesting factor: the less money customers have, the more they value good service and personal attention.

It would be natural to think that, in times of difficulties, the consumer gives more importance to the price. This is true, when all the rest of the factors are very similar.

If two companies have the same product, the same technology, the same delivery time, and the same level of customer service, it is clear that the price will speak louder. But it is observed that, when we find a place where we are served in a totally special way, where we feel valued and “less poor”, we buy more and more often, and the price has its importance significantly reduced.

You don't want to spend your money with someone who will make you feel insignificant, taken advantage of, or cause you more problems.

Ultimately, we know that the price can attract customers once, but it does not guarantee that these customers will return. And the only type of business that survives in this routine is the nomadic company, but not for long.

There is one more factor that can dramatically influence a company's market share. What is it?

SERVICE EXCELLENCE

And where is it? In some department?

In a box on the company's organization chart?

This is the problem when we talk about Strategic Management of Service Excellence. We either forget Service Excellence, or we don't know what it is, or we don't know where it is, or how to make it a reality.

To begin with, we must be aware that

“Either Service Excellence is in all PEOPLE in the organization, or it does not exist”.

SERVICE EXCELLENCE is the only factor influencing the market that is entirely based on exclusive and unique resources: Human Resources!

That's right: PEOPLE, who are the only exclusive element of competitiveness that a company has, at least while they are working there. No, no, no. Do not even start thinking that this is a matter for the HR department. This is a mistake that is too old.

Service Excellence is everyone's business, especially the president, the CEO, the marketing director, the person responsible for the company's Strategic Planning.

Countless studies have already proven the crucial importance of PEOPLE in the process of implementing a Successful Marketing Strategy. It is time to finally position this issue as the locomotive of companies. It is becoming boring to speak of Disney, or Apple, or Amazon, or Federal Express, as examples of companies that have been doing this for years.

What is exciting is the idea of leaving our places in the audience and start being part of the Excellence Show, becoming role-models ourselves, inspiring many others with our success stories!

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