2016 Issue 2 | GearedUp
Wow Your Customers Continued from page 41
the business’ s job to see through the customer’ s lens and show an understanding for the customer’ s frustration.
Next time you are working with a customer, stop and ask yourself:“ Am I seeing this experience through the customer’ s lens?”
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When it comes to a company’ s environment, recognize that“ everything speaks”
Imagine visiting a fine dining restaurant for a special occasion. You’ ve been looking forward to the meal and you’ ve heard good things about the restaurant. Then imagine noticing something crusty dried to your silverware and old lipstick marks on your water glass. Wouldn’ t you begin worrying about the cleanliness and quality of everything else in the restaurant? Everything speaks!
Now imagine a customer entering your place of business. She notices trash in the parking lot. When she enters the reception area, she sees delivery boxes stacked by the receptionist’ s desk. She sees employees standing around eating and having personal conversations. All this detracts from your business’ s image. It either consciously or unconsciously raises the customer’ s antennae and makes them question,“ Do I really want to spend my money here?”
The“ everything speaks” philosophy means that all employees understand that even the“ little things” count. So pay attention to everything, including whether the physical environment is neat and clean, whether all necessary supplies are available, and whether the employees are dressed appropriately. Anything that sticks out as“ wrong” becomes an intrusion on the customer experience. These intrusions add up and result in customer concern. On the other hand, when customers sense an atmosphere of professionalism, care and order, they feel a sense of confidence.
How many times have you seen employees in a business walk right by trash on the floor or a display that has been bumped out of alignment? Employees who understand that everything speaks will take a moment to pick up some wadded paper and straighten the display because they know that such behaviors have a direct impact on the customer experience.
Take a moment to think about your company’ s environment. Since everything speaks, what are the details saying about your organization?
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Create customer“ wows”
Small gestures can create customer wows. Walt Disney World housekeepers have a tough job. Cleaning up after people on vacation is a challenge. Even in such a challenging job, housekeepers will do little things that make Disney guests say,“ Wow.” For example, while spending a day in the Magic Kingdom, children will often leave their stuffed Disney characters in their hotel room. Housekeepers have been known to position the characters with playing cards in their hands or tuck the characters into the children’ s bed to create a moment of magic.
Employees can do many things to create wows. Remembering a customer’ s name is a huge wow, as it creates a feeling of family. Letting a customer know that another product may better meet their needs is another wow. Sending a goody basket with a handwritten note to that young couple who just took out their first mortgage is a wow. Some wows are small and some are large, but make no mistake about it – wows add up.
One of the most powerful ways to create wows is to share best practices with fellow employees. Hold a company meeting so employees can share things that they have done that dazzled customers. Just talking about these behaviors increases the likelihood that others will adopt some of the practices or create new ones of their own. It is also likely that some wows can become standard procedure, whether it’ s a grocery store bakery handing out freshbaked cookies to children, or a vendor buying lunch once a month for salespeople. Next time you’ re helping a customer, ask yourself,“ Will my behavior make this customer say or think,‘ wow?’”
Take Action Now
Excellent service is not about policy manuals. Excellent service is about excellent behaviors. When employees focus on excellent service, the results can be magical. Customers are happy, employees are happy, and shareholders are happy. Everyone wins. The key is to make service excellence a habit. Encourage every employee to internalize the above steps so they become habits. When employees focus on these principles, your company will achieve the most powerful result of all – intense customer loyalty. G
Dennis Snow is the president of Snow & Associates, Inc.
Dennis worked with the Walt Disney World Company for 20 years and now consults with organizations around the world, helping them achieve their customer service goals. He is the author of“ Unleashing Excellence: The Complete Guide to Ultimate Customer Service” and“ Lessons From the Mouse: A Guide for Applying Disney World’ s Secrets of Success to Your Organization, Your Career, and Your Life.” You can reach Dennis at 407-294- 1855 or visit his website at www. snowassociates. com.
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