Going above and beyond is a great way to provide excellent customer service to your loyal followers.
Peter Shankman is an author, consultant and speaker on the topic of customer service. I think it’s a pretty safe bet that his standards are high.
While at an airport, Shankman realized that if he didn’t grab a bite to eat he’d be stuck riding the plane back on an empty stomach. Not a fan of fast food (can you blame him?), Shankman took a shot in the dark and jokingly tweeted to one of his favorite restaurants, Morton’s, asking them if they would deliver him a steak!
Even though he’s a longtime customer of the steakhouse, Shankman admits that he had no expectations when he sent out the tweet. To Shankman’s utter disbelief, one of Morton’s staff members drove 23 miles to the airport to greet him with a full meal.
The Big 7
Stories like Peter’s are not the norm. They are the exceptions. We want to give you 7 very simple and easy things that your customer service can do to wow your customers as well.
- Attentiveness – There is a certain ability to really listen to your customers and be able to provide great service. Always be looking for the little clues your customers might be telling you, without actually saying it.
- Patience – This is important when you deal daily with customers who come to you frustrated and stumped. Customers would rather get competent service then rushed out the door. Great service beats fast service every time.
- Use positive language – There are minor changes you can make in your conversational patterns that will carry you a long way in making your customers happy. Being able to utilize positive language will greatly affect how a customer hears and processes your response. Example: “I will see that your issue gets resolved” VS. “I will definitely make sure this issue gets resolved”.
- Keep your promises – This one is pretty self explanatory. Don’t make promises you don’t intended, or simply can’t keep. Customers can read right through that.
- Be honest – Honesty is and always has been the best policy. It proves to your customers that you really care about their satisfaction and happiness.
- Go the extra mile – Taking the extra step and doing more than a customer expects brings great solutions and the development of a loyal customer base. Zappos is another great example for going above and beyond to satisfy their customers. What Zappos does really well is embody a customer-first culture. The company empowers staff to go the extra mile. Their customer service team doesn’t have key performance indicators around call volume. Instead their performance is graded on delivering amazing customer experiences. If they have a customer that wants to talk for 20 minutes, they’ll build rapport and talk for 20 minutes. If they feel like sending a bouquet of flowers to make a customer’s day, they make it happen! These are the sorts of experiences that go the extra mile.
- Be friendly and compassionate – The tone and attitude in which you display with your customers will set the atmosphere between your encounter. Being friendly and showing compassion from the start promotes a positive atmosphere that will delight your customers time and again. Attitude is everything.
You Might Not Wear a Cape…
If you want to make a big gesture like Morton’s or Zappo’s, all the better. But providing quality customer service on a day to day basis might make your customers think you’re a superhero just as much!
When you’re able to connect with your customers, you make them feel validated and you have the ability to resolve their issues better than what they even expected.
Now you’re providing world class customer service and that’s something worth talking about!