This is an excerpt from my book: Customer Satisfaction is Worthless, Customer Loyalty is Priceless.
Who’s most important, and how do you treat them?
When you’re speaking with a customer, who’s the most important person in the world?
“THE CUSTOMER!” you all say.
Oh really? Let’s look at it a different way suppose. There were two people left on the face of the earth, you and your customer. One of you had to die. Who do you want to see drop dead?
“THE CUSTOMER!” you all say.
So we now have established that YOU are the most important person in the world. The problem is when you’re speaking with a customer, they think that THEY are the most important person in the world and your job is to treat them that way but you don’t.
You say…
I’m either on my phone or away from my desk.
The person who takes care of that is on vacation for a week.
We’re out of stock, and I don’t know when we’ll have more.
I’m sorry, this is the best we can do.
That’s not my job.
I don’t care how you got it before this is the way we do it now.
I don’t have to take this.
(computer voice) Your call will be answered in the order in which it was received.
Our policy says…
You hate it when it happens to you, don’t you? Well, this may come as a shock, but you (or someone in your company) may be saying these very same things to your customers.
Big Question: Why not make your customer feel like you want to feel when you’re the customer?
Big Answer: Failure to understand what the customer wants and train people to serve in that perspective.
Bigger Question: Why do customers call us? What do they want?
Bigger Answer: Customers call for one reason: they want…help!
“Help, I need an answer!”
“Help, I need information on my order!”
“Help, I need service!”
“Help, I have a question!”
“Help, I want to place an order!”
“Help, something’s wrong or broken!”
“Help, I need to speak to someone!”
“Help!, Help!, Help!”
Do we give them help? No. What do we give them?
Well, we almost give them help …
We give them H e l … l Hell
They want help. We give hell.
“Our policy says…”
“She’s not here today.”
“I’m doing the best I can.”
“There’s a lot of other people in front of you.”
“There’s a lot of other people with the same…”
“I’m either on my phone or away from my desk.”
Any computer that answers the phone; Anyone unfriendly; Anyone passing the buck; Anyone giving an excuse; Anyone arguing…is giving HELL to the customer. What are you giving?
What else would customers like?
Here are the answers in their words:
Value: “I want to know that what I’m buying is at a fair price, and will be supported throughout the length of my ownership.”
Communication: “Let me know what I need to know, when I need to know it.”
Attitude: “Be happy, eager, willing……prepared to meet my needs.”
Reliability: “Be consistent…be there when I need you.”
Tangibility: “Quality of product and performance…professional image.”
Assurance: “Deliver when you promised…total product knowledge.”
Empathy: “Understand me and my needs. Give me your commitment.”
Exceptional Service: “I vote with my money, and an election is held every time I want to reorder or tell a friend.”
Quick Review: Know me, Understand me, Lead me, Help me, Serve me the way I expect to be served… Now!
Biggest Question: Isn’t it really called “Customer Helping” rather than customer service? AND wouldn’t you deliver better service if you thought of it that way?
The biggest question is also the biggest answer.
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