We all say that our business is different from other businesses. We say we offer better prices, quality, variety or service. However, we all know that, for most markets, this often isn’t the truth and we are all really trying to sell and market similar products. That’s what competition is all about, isn’t it?
Dancing easily.
Typically for small to medium sized businesses, the advantage we have is that we are not elephants so we can dance easily. We are lean and flexible and we can make changes without a lot of bureaucracy.
What will often differentiate a business is the customer service they offer. By customer service, I don’t mean responding better to complaints. I’m talking about taking the initiative in offering better customer service at all the touch points we have with the customer.
What we need to do.
Being proactive – that’s what we need to do in order to present something meaningful and different.
Providing customers with excellent care is so important – this is whether they are issuing a complaint, requesting a warranty, making an inquiry or looking for generic support. Every time we connect with someone, we need to provide the best possible service so we can differentiate. This is the only way to make us stand out amongst the rest – not through products or pricing – just the service we offer.
You may wonder why. Products and pricing can easily be copied, that’s why – service cannot. Customer service is unique and special – most importantly, it speaks volumes.
An Australian example.
A good example is iiNet in Australia. After you become a customer with iiNet, you typically would utilise their Technical Support team. This team goes through a rigorous 12-week training program in order to ensure they know how to handle proactive and reactive customer service. For this reason and others, they rate on the top of the country for customer service.
The company, top-down and bottom-up, believes as a core philosophy that anyone who deals with customers has to have a commitment for customer service and understands the company’s commitment to that philosophy. This is why they spend this much time and money on the program.
An American example.
Zappos in the US is another example. There is a book called, Delivering Happiness by Tony Hsieh that talks about Zappos customer service training. There are multiple stages that employees need to pass through.
Apparently after the first stage of training and its completion, employees are offered a sum of money to not return to Zappos. What the company is obviously trying to do here is assess their commitment to the company’s values. They want to ensure that they keep people who are committed to the work ethic and values Zappos stands for
There are stories in the organization where employees have had a 5-hour call with a customer. Unlike many other service organizations focused on quantity over quality, Zappos does not institute cut-off times or quotas for calls, as their customers are important to them and they deserve to be heard – however long it takes.
They spend a lot more time relating to the customer than many other companies do in their sector. They assist people who are lost while driving or met with an accident. They are willing to talk to customers. The value here is that when you start liking a company, you buy for them. What do you get out of that? Well you could just get a customer for life.
So, what does it take to achieve an environment like that? You need a leader who buys into this and practices what they preach. Senior management is the most important stakeholder in implementing premium customer service. The senior leader of the business has to believe that customer service will be the differentiating factor in growing the business.
If you are that type of leader, take the time and money in investing in the right customer service training for your customer care unit so that they can ‘wow’ customers all the time.
