Building your brand through Customer Service
There’s been something rattling around in my head for quite a while now. Not quite a full-fledged thesis, but definitely more than a idea. It’s equal parts opportunity, growth and commitment, and it all hinges upon a not so simple question.
What the hell happened to Customer Service?
I trust I don’t need to make my point here. Well before our “current economic conditions” it seemed like good quality customer service, where the individual involved truly cared about you and how they represented their brand (your company!), was on the decline. Wait – we’ve gotten to know each other pretty well here so there’s no need for me to mince words. I think good quality customer service has pretty much disappeared.
Which leads me to that thing that’s rattling around in my head.
I believe honest, caring, helpful, engaged customer service may well be the single biggest opportunity for your company right now. Especially during these tough times. It’s one thing to lower your prices; customers are expecting (demanding?) that. But to deliver your products at a lower cost, while providing great customer service, now that’s a recipe for growth.
A while back I talked about something called the Net Promoter Score. Now while I’m not advocating we all implement this in our organizations, what would your honest answer be to the following question:
On a scale of 1 – 10 (ten being superb), where do you think your customers would rate your service?
If we’re all being honest, I think the answer for many of us might be a sobering realization. Given the fact that none of us are without competition, does providing customer service at a 6 or even 7 level really provide an exit barrier, especially in these days of cost-cutting and special promotions?
I, for one, don’t think so.
Still with me? Take ten minutes for a quick exercise. Pull out a piece of paper and write down every area or role within your company that interacts with your customers, keeping in mind there are probably many non-human interactions. Based your your knowledge of your company, give each of them a quick rating of poor or below average, average, above average and excellent from your customer’s perspective. Don’t over-think this, there are no right answers and we’re not going to compare to industry benchmarks.
Now, answer me three simple questions:
- Are you comfortable with your ratings?
- Did you find any areas that are under-performing that represent critical customer interactions?
- Now, for each of those critical under-performing interactions, put on your thinking cap and come up with some ideas on how you could raise their score with minimal capital expenditures?
I don’t have the answers, and I don’t know your company. But I’d be willing to bet this little roadmap gave you some ideas. You don’t always have to spend money to grow your business.
I’d love to hear your thoughts below, especially if you went through our little exercise. Feel free to share anonymously, but please – share! Also, please use the “Share This” link to send this to friends and colleagues you think have something to say on this topic. My sense is there is a meaningful conversation to be had.
If you enjoyed this post, please consider to leave a comment or subscribe to the feed and get future articles delivered to your feed reader.
Comments
Bob – great points and great examples of where I thought/wanted the conversation to go.
In addition to your comments, I’d point out that sales is not the only relationship you have with the customer, and “customer service” is not just sales. As you mention, any time your company comes in contact with a customer (current or potential), you are providing customer service. Yes, sales are very important, but what about your website? How easy is it to use, find what I want/need, or contact your company? Speaking of contact,
to Bob’s point, have you ever called your own switchboard?
What about your other channels? Your stores, your literature, etc. etc.
And it’s not just retail. Every business has interaction with customers and provides service at some level.
And, in a more philosophical sense, aren’t we all kind of our own company? What is the state of OUR customer service?
Dave, again you have hit on a timely subject. After taking your recommended survey each business owner should turn the tables. How many of their suppliers would each business continue use if your sales person changed companies and went to a competitor. How many times have you followed the sales person because he/she took care of you during a production crunch and you needed the rush order? This is especially true if you are selling or purchasing a commodity item with little difference in price from one supplier to another. I am reminded of two national cell phone suppliers, one has better coverage but their customer service is horrible, lots of prompts, plenty of automated fixes which don’t work and out sourced customer service with American names; the other minimal prompts with a customer service person who tells you their full name and contact information should you need to follow-up or become disconnected, personal note I had one problem in which the CSR volunteered to escalate a problem because it was beyond their ability and continued to stay on the phone until the problem was resolved – yes this person took ownership of my problem.
I could on with this for a while having spent almost twenty years in retail but I will not. I challenge all business owners to look closely their customer service. Sales are mostly a relationship business – do you have a relationship with your customers or are they merely numbers and you are an order taker!!