Good customer service is expected. Customers expect you to get their orders right. They expect a speedy turnaround on service. They expect a transaction without hiccups.
As customers, we expect good customer service but, unfortunately, when we get it, we generally forget it within minutes. The exchange doesn’t even create a blip on our radar because it’s what we have come to expect every single time.
- Get the correct cup of coffee with your name spelled accurately? Forgotten within seconds.
- Receive the correct product within a few days of ordering? Never a second thought given.
- Seamless ordering and dining experience? Never mentioned to friends.
We don’t remember the good because good doesn’t stand out. On the other hand, we always remember the bad experience. It changes — or can even terminate — our relationship with a brand.
Statistics Show Customer Service is a Major Competitive Edge
- 80% of customers say the experience a company provides is as important as its products and services.
- 80% of service decision makers say emerging technology is transforming customers’ expectations of their service organization.
- 82% of service decision makers say their company’s customer service must transform in order to stay competitive.
Ask anyone about their last bad customer service experience and you’ll quickly hear multiple stories.
- “We sat and waited for a server for 30 minutes.”
- “They sent me the wrong product — twice!”
- “I spent 45 minutes on hold, was transferred back and forth between representatives, and none of them could actually help me.”
Each of those stories potentially ends with consequences for the company. Bad customer experiences stand out because they deviate drastically from expectations. And people can’t wait to tell others about anything that isn’t good.
Build Your Reputation on Great Customer Service
This is why the best way to stand out in a competitive marketplace isn’t a shiny new product or a special pricing discount.
Your competitive advantage is to nix the idea of good customer service and commit your entire organization to great customer service. This is the type of exceptional, mind-blowing, did-you-really-just-care-that-much service that customers want to tell other people about. In this situation, customers care more about people knowing how great this company is than about posting complaints on social media about what that other companies didn’t do.
That type of great customer service doesn’t require you to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on new marketing campaigns or product research and development. It requires a commitment by every person at every level in your company to not settle for “good enough.” It takes a caring perspective that sometimes seems forgotten in today’s business world. Finally, it takes a team full of empathetic people who are empowered to add kindness to every interaction with a customer — and each other.
Hospitality industry and keynote speaker Jim Knight frequently shares the importance of exceptional service in standing out. His unforgettable experience at Chick-fil-A involved him standing in line surveying the menu with his legs wide apart and arms folded, and the employee behind the counter said, “Hey there, Peter Pan!”
Jim recalls laughing at the experience and how that simple play with his stance created an experience that he’s told audiences about repeatedly on stages for nearly a decade. “Anywhere else,” he says, “the person would’ve just said ‘next.’” But the employee chose an opportunity to enhance the guest experience with a personalized, friendly comment that took the moment beyond just a quick transaction.
Positive experiences create great customer service.
Your Customer Service Agents are Vital to Your Success
- Because customers now expect personalized, connected, and fast engagement, your agents are charged with more than just closing as many cases in as little time as possible.
- 78% of service professionals say their company views agents as customer advocates.
- 75% view them as brand ambassadors.
- 85% of service decision makers view investment in agents as a vital part of service transformation.
- 71% of service agents believe their role is more strategic than it was two years ago.
- 72% of service agents say their interactions with customer are relationship-oriented.
How Can Your Company Create These Experiences?
Here are four ways to take forgettable customer service interactions and make them memorable ones.
Empower Your Team
Good: “Let me find out what we can do for you.”
Great: “Here’s what I will do.”
The key to creating great experiences starts with training and empowering your team. The heart of your customer service team is with those who interact directly with your customers. They will be the faces of and ambassadors for your brand. Customers will associate their experience with your brand with their interactions with your team.
It’s with these crucial team members that we need to invest resources into training them for every situation. Additionally, business owners need to equip customer service reps with the resources and confidence they need to deviate from their normal responses if a situation dictates the need.
There’s little that aggravates a customer more than playing “round-a-bout” with a customer service representative who is stuck on their script dialogue and the customer explaining a situation that doesn’t fit on the script. A customer asks for help, the responses from a script don’t match, and back and forth this seesaw goes until, eventually, the customer hangs up, frustrated.
Each team member should be equipped with the necessary information and trained to a level where they’re confident being off-script and focused on helping the customer out. Empowerment shows trust and confidence in your team and helps resolve customer service needs faster.
Personalize Interactions
Good: “Welcome to our store.”
Great: “Welcome to our store, (customer name).”
Which store would you rather walk into? It’s the one where you’re known by name, of course; it feels personal and warm. We call people we know by name, and we all know the truth that business is done with those we know, like, and trust. Personalizing interactions helps break down the invisible walls people naturally put up between themselves and others they don’t know.
Personalization can be challenging on a large scale, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be done.
When I initially started my business, I sent personalized thank you cards out to every person who placed an order. Once I reached a level of demand that I couldn’t keep pace with, I began using printed cards and signing my name. We’ve since outgrown that, but as we continue to grow, here are activities we still do to personalize experiences and customer service:
- Send out five thank-you cards each week to past customers
- Send a personalized video message to new Instagram followers
- Contact customers as quickly as possible regarding any order issues. If a process continues to escalate, we personally call them to explain the situation and offer resolutions.
None of these tasks have to be done. We could still grow and thrive as a business without these personalized customer service touches. However, I can tell you that it’s these kinds of things that have turned bad situations into great ones, and new customers into brand advocates.
It’s the surprise of a personal touch that creates that great experience. And in our case, the only physical cost to us is five stamps and blank envelopes each week. While you may not be able to greet every customer who enters your store by name, your company can find ways to personalize interactions so each customer feels important.
Take the Steps to Push Your Good Customer Service to Great
- Empower your team.
- Good: “Let me find out what we can do for you.”
- Great: “Here’s what I will do.”
- Personalize interactions.
- Good: “Welcome to our store.”
- Great: “Welcome to our store, (customer name).”
- Ask for and Review Feedback on a Consistent Basis
- Good: Annual surveys
- Great: Regular, actionable feedback
- Follow Up
- Good: Templated feedback requests
- Great: Follow-up conversations
Ask for — and Review — Feedback on a Consistent Basis
Good: Annual surveys
Great: Regular, actionable feedback
Many well-intentioned companies have been guilty of sending a customer survey once a year, reviewing the results, and implementing a small change here and there. When it comes to creating great customer service, however, a company needs an ongoing loop of constant communication with customers.
Send out periodic surveys. Pick up the phone and call your best customers for feedback. Practice active listening on social media to see what’s being said about your brand. Listen, respond, and be proactive.
Eliciting feedback — and then acting on it — is what helps companies go from good to great customer service because customers know you are listening and that you genuinely care about their experience.
Follow Up
Good: Templated feedback requests
Great: Follow-up conversations
Every successful salesperson knows that a great follow-up conversation is crucial to gaining traction on a new prospect. Just the same, a customer service follow-up provides you with the opportunity for feedback on the customer’s experience and helps keep your brand top-of-mind.
Instead of the boring follow-up email “How did we do?” survey, consider stepping outside of the box and creating a more memorable follow-up experience. Template emails often get deleted, but you know what usually doesn’t?
- Personalized phone calls from a real person
- Services like BombBomb to send personalized videos
- Handwritten cards
Be sure to track your conversations in a customer relationship management (CRM) platform so you can reference previous topics you’ve discussed and personalize your follow-up with that customer.
Everyone is fighting for market share and to introduce the “next great thing” to beat their competition. Companies will dump thousands of dollars into advertising campaigns, yet fail to realize the biggest edge they have is with the experience they create with their customers.
In the world of customer service, “good enough” simply isn’t. To stand out, you need to be great. Try these tips to help your customers feel even more important and drive the loyalty you deserve.
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