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2025 Issue 3 | GearedUp
56
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Customer Service Continued from page 55
Even if this first sale might be less than it would have been had you simply sold them what they asked for, you’ re likely to get that back and then a lot more over the lifetime of doing business with them once they’ ve learned they can trust you to really solve their problem.
Here’ s what you can do in your business: During your customer service training, teach your team to ask,“ What are you actually trying to accomplish?” before recommending anything.
Consistency that leads to Predictable Delight
Consistency. This is where most businesses completely fall apart.
Good service means you’ re solid … most of the time. But the experience can vary based on what shift you’ re dealing with or which employee.
Excellent service? Every single service experience feels like magic. Every time. No exceptions.
Think about it: Disney, Chick-fil-A, Dutch Bros Coffee. You know EXACTLY what you’ re getting before you walk through the door. And it’ s because of that predictability that people will go out of their way and spend way more than they should and why they have legions of happy customers. Here’ s what you can do in your business: Learn every possible customer touchpoint. Create standards for what excellent service should look like at each point. Measure them. Obsess over them. Reap the rewards of ongoing customer loyalty.
Turn Courtesy into Genuine Connection
When my daughter was 4 years old, she asked what I do for work. Thinking about how to explain customer service to a 4-year-old, I said,“ We teach people to be nice to other people.” She just stared back at me and said,“ Shouldn’ t they already know how to do that?”
It was so cute and true. Everyone should know how to do that; that’ s something we learn at a young age. But it also goes deeper than that because being nice is needed but there’ s a lot more to it. It’ s the genuine connection that has become so rare today.
I’ m talking about eye contact that says,“ I see you.” Compliments that aren’ t scripted. Seeking out customer contact
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rather than avoiding it unless absolutely needed. Questions about your day that they actually want to hear the answer to. That’ s the kind of memorable customer service that can’ t be faked. And when you feel that true genuine connection? It creates customers who would rather pay more for you than go anywhere else.
Here’ s what you can do in your business: This is one that messes up a lot of companies. Hire for personality. Train for skill. Always. Almost anyone can learn the technical aspects of a job, it’ s next to impossible to train someone to be caring and empathetic when they haven’ t been that way for the majority of their lives. You’ ll save yourself a lot of time, money and heartache by following that piece of advice.
Identify Problems and Create Recovery Moments
Here’ s where excellent service companies make their money.
Good customer service fixes problems. Excellent service turns screw-ups into loyalty goldmines. Your food’ s late? Good service remakes it. Excellent service? They comp the meal, throw in dessert, give you a gift card and have the manager personally apologize with a handwritten note. That customer just became your biggest advocate.
Take it a step further, identify the problems or issues your customers consistently have. If you’ re not sure where to start, ask those that work on the front lines. Because they hear it every day. Then bring a group of team members together to brainstorm ways to either eliminate those issues or identify ways that you can at least alleviate them when they do happen.
Here’ s what you can do in your business: Create a“ service recovery” playbook. When things go wrong, go OVERBOARD to make it right. Share customer service stories regularly in your meetings. When something works well, make sure everyone knows about it.
Follow-Up and Take Ownership Always, always, always follow-up. Most businesses think this means sending a“ How did we do?” email or a customer satisfaction survey. That’ s not follow-up. That’ s lazy.
Real ownership means calling back to make sure the solution worked. Checking in a week later. Taking responsibility for the entire experience from start to finish. Don’ t be one of those companies that
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stops contact after the sale has been made. Excellent customer service means you’ re always there for them.
Here’ s what you can do in your business: Assign ownership of every customer issue to ONE person. They own it until the customer is thrilled.
Personalization Using my name? That’ s good. Knowing exactly how I like my experience? That’ s excellent. Your barista knows your drink. Your mechanic knows your car’ s quirks. Your accountant knows your business inside and out. This isn’ t just service. It’ s relationship currency. And it’ s worth more than any discount you could ever offer.
Here’ s what you can do in your business: Track customer information like preferences, habits and history. Use technology to remember what humans forget.
Communication and Experience Design
Last one, and this is a big one. Good service keeps you informed.
Excellent service designs a seamless customer experience, so you never feel confused, frustrated or lost in the first place.
Every step is smooth. It feels effortless, but it’ s actually the result of obsessive planning.
Here’ s what you can do in your business: Map every step of your customer journey. Eliminate friction. Add wow moments and exceed customer expectations.
So here’ s the million-dollar question for your business:
Are you settling for“ good enough,” or are you ready to dominate your market with excellent service?
Because here’ s the truth: Your competitors are probably stuck in“ good” mode, which means there’ s a massive opportunity sitting right in front of you.
Remember: Good service keeps you in business. Excellent service makes you rich. G
Danny Snow is the director of marketing at Snow & Associates and a keynote speaker. Snow can be reached at danny @ snowassociates. com. For more information on Snow & Associates Inc., visit www. snowassociates. com.
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