By MICHAEL HEPPELL. Brilliant customer service is all about the little details. These don't have to cost the Earth, so they are a perfect way for start-ups and small businesses to differentiate from bigger - faceless - rivals.
Think for a moment about your best ever customer service experience. Consider that time when you were so wowed that you wanted tell the world. Now ask yourself - how much did it cost?
I’ve asked that question hundreds of times to thousands of people in live audiences around the world. The answer is normally measured in pennies, a few pounds at most but usually nothing. It’s true - the very best customer service can be provided on a one star budget. And it’s simple – but not easy. If it were easy everyone would be doing it. Let’s see if I can give you a few tips that may make the turning your customers into loyal raving fans a little easier.
Use names – there is no sweeter sound than the sound of somebody using your own name.
The person who thinks you can over-use someone’s name is normally the one who is useless at remembering names in the first place, so just doesn’t bother. This Wee Wow is one of the simplest ways to put a deposit into your customer’s emotional bank account.
Solve the unexpressed problem
Fixing a problem your customer has is great. Fixing a problem they didn’t even know they had is brilliant! A couple of years ago we stayed at The Rubens Hotel next door to Buckingham Palace. Before we arrived they asked us to fill in a ‘pre stay’ form. My wife is lactose intolerant so I mentioned it on the form and didn’t think much of it.
We’re used to telling waiters about the condition, explaining what she can and can’t eat then keeping our fingers crossed that the kitchen won’t add a ‘splash of cream’ just for luck.
When we checked in we noticed that the room service menu had a small note attached. It was from the chef explaining that he’d marked up everything on the menu that was dairy-free and made a note of the dishes they would be happy to modify. We were going to eat out that evening but we stayed in.
Always say please and thank you – Along with ‘Doing what you say you will do’ and ‘Being on time’, it’s one of the top three referability habits. It’s amazing how many people think they do this and then don’t even acknowledge a waiter when a cup of coffee is delivered.
Send cards – The average person receives 3-4 birthday cards and around 12 Christmas cards. They don’t receive any ‘Thank you for our meeting’ cards or ‘We really appreciate your loyalty’ cards. You could be different.
Take notes – Even if you have a perfect photographic memory (which you don’t), take notes. It demonstrates respect and when you say, ‘Let me write that down’ it shows your customer that you’re listening and you think what they have to say is important.
Hand write something – anything! Is there anything less sincere than typing ‘Yours sincerely’? Yours sincerely should be handwritten along with ‘Dear xxxx’ and any P.S’s. Because we live in the world of email, there’s a real novelty in receiving anything hand-written through the post.
Speed it up – Doing anything just a little faster creates a Wee Wow for your customer; yet service providers are notorious for over-promising and under-delivering. The excuse of ‘the email failed to send’ or ‘I didn’t have a chance to call you back’ is ridiculous. Now flip that and send it early, make the call, do the unexpected.
And here’s a shocker…
Talk to your customers – This is the ultimate win/win. Your customers feel valued and they tell you what they want – what they really, really want.
Denny Flanagan is a Captain with United Airlines. He’s a senior pilot so he could clock on, do his pre-flight safety drill then sit up front and fly the plane (or get his co-pilot to do it). But he doesn’t! He gets to work early and he’s keen to do the pre-flight safety check as soon as possible so he can go to the gate and meet his passengers.
And I’m not saying he stands at the end of the air bridge; Captain Denny goes into the terminal and spends time with his passengers - while they are waiting to board.
Captain Denny told me, ‘Michael, you can find out more by spending twenty minutes with your passengers than by any online survey.’
The best customer service really does cost very little financially but having a desire to serve and the emotional intelligence to think about the lifetime value of a customer is worth a fortune.
