Tips from Customers for Establishing a Loyal Customer Base
Survey Results Show Insight into Providing Extraordinary Customer Service
In today’s economy, customers are understandably apprehensive before spending their hard earned money on any goods or services. This is making the market place increasingly competitive – the days are gone when the product alone can keep us profitable and ahead of our competition. So, what will? Let’s turn to the experts and ask the customers.
Here at Peter Barron Stark Companies, we recently surveyed over three hundred people and asked them what constitutes great service. This is a summary of the top eight areas they identified:
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Treat customers as real people. When customers do business with us, they have both business and human needs that must be met. Obviously, delivering high quality products and services will meet the customers’ business needs. That alone, though, will not give you a competitive edge. Only when you meet the customers’ human needs will customers then consider they have been given great service. To also meet the customers’ human needs, consider the following:
Acknowledge them. Treat each customer as an important, unique individual, not just as an account number.
Listen to them. Do not assume you know the customer’s problem before he or she has a chance to adequately explain it to you. Taking the time to listen to each customer demonstrates that you value them and their business.
Demonstrate that you care. While you may have hundreds of interactions a day with customers, remember that a customer will most likely have only one interaction with you. Your interaction with the customer should demonstrate that you care, leaving the customer with a positive perception about your company.
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Apologize When You Mess Up. Great leaders who lead organizations that provide great service have the ability to confidently apologize. On July 23rd, 2009, Jeff Bezos, the Founder & CEO of Amazon.com took great service to a new level when he sent out a formal apology to Amazon customers. His apology read:
This is an apology for the way we previously handled illegally sold copies of 1984 and other novels on Kindle. Our “solution” to the problem was stupid, thoughtless, and painfully out of line with our principles. It is wholly self-inflicted, and we deserve the criticism we’ve received. We will use the scar tissue from this painful mistake to help make better decisions going forward, ones that match our mission.
With deep apology to our customers,
Jeff Bezos
Founder & CEO
Amazon.com -
Create customer-friendly systems. Re-examine your latest technological enhancements and ask this question, “Are they making things easier and more efficient for our customers or for us?” Many times we find that the newest system is a great help for us internally, but may actually be perceived by our customers as being “unfriendly.” From a customer’s perspective, nothing is worse than being “bounced” electronically all over your company only to end up with someone’s “Voice Mail.”
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Fix the problem the first time. Customers can acknowledge that occasionally problems occur. But, nothing shakes customer confidence faster than a lingering problem that continues to be unresolved. Remember, the typical dissatisfied customer will tell eight to ten people about his or her problem with your company. A truly unhappy customer makes it really special for you by telling everyone he or she meets about the problem! People will continue to do business with you if you fix their problem because they know they can trust you. Fixing customer problems builds even stronger customer loyalty.
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Be honest. Customers want to trust the people they do business with and will continue to do business with people they feel treat them honestly. Sometimes it costs us something to be honest, but having the courage to say, “You are right. We made a mistake and take the responsibility for fixing it,” will increase the likelihood that your customer will continue to remain loyal to your organization after the problem is resolved.
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Watch your attitude. Everyone has one, and it is our responsibility to make sure that those people serving our customers have the right one! What is the right attitude? Simply put, our customers must be served by people who meet or exceed their expectations. Our customers have the opportunity to form a perception about us every time they have an interaction with us. Their perception is that difference between how they expected to be treated and how they were treated. Making sure that we have a great attitude in respect to customer service will help ensure that our customers will have a great attitude about us! Next time you have the opportunity to deal with a difficult or angry customer, remember, that is exactly why you are there–to provide extraordinary customer service.
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Go the “extra mile.” Companies that win by maintaining customer loyalty are those companies that are willing to do whatever it takes to satisfy a customer’s needs. These are the companies that recognize that customers must perceive that they are valued, and that the solutions to their problems are uniquely appropriate for them. As we remind our clients, “There’s very little traffic in going the extra mile.” Companies that are willing to travel that extra mile will find themselves in a league of their own when it comes to customer loyalty!
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Follow up. Customers not only want their problems solved, but they appreciate follow-up communication–either written or by phone–checking to see if the problem has been resolved to their satisfaction. If the problem has been solved, you have earned points with customers by making the follow-up contact to ensure their satisfaction. If the problem has not been solved, it demonstrates to customers that you intend to keep working with them until the problem has been resolved to their satisfaction.
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Filed Under: Customer Service, Peter's Blog on October 7th, 2009
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