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Customer
Service
The
Secret of Success by Coach Bud
Over 150 years ago
Benjamin Desraeli gave us a philosophy that is even truer today than it
was then. Disraeli observed, "The Secret of Success is Consistency
of Purpose". This is a sound philosophy for both our personal
and professional life. We will apply Disraeli's wisdom to delivering superior
customer service. As we discussed in last week's article, top management
must 1) truly believe their customers are the company's number one priority
and 2) establish a superior customer service culture that every employee
believes in and delivers to the external customers.
Why
Customers Quit
Once your customer service culture is established, your clear
purpose is to deliver that superior customer service. The challenge then
becomes how to do it consistently over time.
Let's begin by looking
at some staggering statistics that reinforce the importance of consistent
customer service. In Michael LeBoeuf's book, "How To Win Customers
and Keep Them For Life", he highlights a survey on why customers
quit doing business with a company. The survey revealed that...
1% die;
3% move away;
5% develop other friendships;
9% leave for competitive reasons;
14% are dissatisfied with product; and...
68% quit because of an attitude of indifference toward the customer by
the owner, manager, or some employee
WOW! 68% stop doing
business because they "feel" the company does not value them
as a customer. Inexcusable? Yes! Avoidable? Yes! LeBoeuf goes on to point
out that a typical business hears from only 4% of its dissatisfied customers.
The other 96% just go quietly away and 91% of those customers will never
come back. It is human nature for most people to avoid adversarial situations
and since they have a choice, they begin doing business with your competitor
without your knowledge. By the time you find out it's probably too late
to win them back. When you consider that is takes five times the effort
to obtain a new customer as to retain the one you have, it makes good
business sense and economic "cents" to deliver superior customer
service consistently and retain the customers you worked so hard to obtain.
Maximize
Your Assets
Customer "loyalty" is fragile in this highly competitive
marketplace in which we all operate today. The bad news is that it will
become even more competitive as the "global" marketplace continues
to shrink. The good news is that you can insulate your company from this
competitive situation. This is done by maximizing what Gary Tomlinson,
founder and president of his highly successful, Raleigh-based company
MedCovers, defines as the greatest asset in any company...the customer.
He further defines customer as both the internal (employees) and external
customers. Tomlinson emphasizes, "We must recognize that the source
of our income is our customer, not our company".
Moments
of Truth
So, how do you deliver superior customer service on a consistent
basis? Let's examine some real world situation. Jan Carlzon, president
of Scandinavian Airlines, is credited with originating the concept of
moments of truth. (Source: Moments of Truth by Jan Carlzon) Carlzon
took over as president when the airline had lost 30 million dollars in
the two previous years. In his single-minded focus for becoming the best
airline of the frequent business traveler in Europe, he determined that
the first 15-second encounter between a passenger (customer) and his front-line
people (employees) set the tone or image of the entire company in the
mind of that customer. Thus, each encounter with a customer is a moment
of truth. The key is to insure that every moment of truth is
a positive one for the customer. By establishing this culture in SAS,
the airline returned to profitability in one year while the rest of the
international airlines tallied a record two billion-dollar collective
loss. Each encounter you or an employee has with a customer is a moment
of truth. The customer's perception (reality) of your company is formed
by every encounter. To deliver superior customer service, every encounter
must result in a positive experience for your customer. For example, every
time the phone rings at your business, it is a moment of truth. Are your
customers/prospects greeted with a cheerful, professional and efficient
handling of their call? How each call is handled provides one of the most
opportune moments of truth for you to make a positive impact and
help customers "feel" good about doing business with you and
your company.
The most important
person(s) in your company is the person(s) who answers the phone.
Ten
Actions You Can Take
Here is a list of ten actions you can take to deliver superior customer
service:
- Walk Your Talk
- your actions and deeds must support your verbal commitment to delivering
superior customer service.
- Empower all
employees to be proactive in solving customer problems and do what it
takes to meet their needs and exceed their expectations.
- Ask your customer,
"How are we doing for you? What can we do to better serve
your needs?"
- Be a "Solutionist".
Help customers solve challenges and maximize opportunities for their
success.
- Keep in mind that
when you help others succeed, you succeed!
- Insure that every
transaction with your customer is a win-win.
- Constantly examine
your policies and procedures from your customer's perspective. Be "customer
friendly".
- Stay focused on
retaining the customers you have. They will help you obtain new
customers.
- Insure that the
lines of communication with customers (internal and external)
are always open.
- Seek ways to exceed
your customer's expectations.
By your actions,
deeds and words, constantly reinforce the value of external
customers with employees and provide them with learning opportunities
to enhance their customer service skills.
This list is not all-inclusive
by any means. You can build on these fundamentals with creative and innovative
ideas specific to your business and sustain the consistency of your purpose
to deliver superior customer service.
Recommended Reading:
Moments of Truth, Jan Carlzon
How To Win Customers and Keep Them For Life, Michael LeBoeuf
Raving Fans, Ken Blanchard & Sheldon Bowles
NUTS!, Kevin & Jackie Freiberg (Southwest Airlines)
"Coach Bud"
shares 40+ years experience to help his clients Create, Develop and Grow
a Successful Entrepreneurial Business. Please visit www.cogginsmarketing.com.
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Customer
Service
Where
It All Begins
The Secret Of Success
Perpetuating
World-Class Customer Service
Delivering Superior
Customer Service
The Customer is King...or
there is NO Kingdom
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