customers hate hearing the words , “ Our policy is . . .”. They understand policy was created to protect the organization from being taken advantage of by the customer .
Take an objective look at your rules of customer engagement and stop punishing 98 % of customers for what only 2 % do . Instead , train your employees to have a charitable assumption , which means giving customers the benefit of the doubt . In addition to being the right thing to do , it is a fantastic business strategy for building customer loyalty and enhancing customer lifetime .
A BRILLIANT COMEBACK : PROVEN MARKETING STRATEGY FOR GROWTH AND CUSTOMER RETENTION
When a problem arises with a customer , it gives us the opportunity to own that customer for life .
Brand loyalty often results from screw-ups , i . e ., how well a company handled a situation that initially went wrong . It is a fact that a high percentage of customers will do more business with a brand after a positive resolution was made to a problem . This is known as the Service Recovery Paradox , which is where the customer actually becomes more loyal to the brand than if the initial mistake had never occurred . It may sound counterintuitive , but the handling of problems can and should be part of your customer retention strategy . An unhappy customer quickly moves on . A happy customer is a loyal customer . And with acquisition five times more costly than merely keeping customers around , a healthy customer retention rate is very good for your bottom line .
It ’ s a proven fact that customers can often be more loyal to your business after they have experienced a service failure than if it had never happened in the first place . If your business deals with it well , you will clearly see the positive effect of customer satisfaction on loyalty growth .
In fact , new research from Stella Connect supports this . It was discovered that 97 % of consumers across the United States and United Kingdom say that if a brand turned a poor customer service experience into a positive one by solving their problems immediately , they would do business with that brand again .
LEGENDARY EXAMPLES OF BUSINESSES EXPERIENCING HIGH CUSTOMER SATISFACTION worked with the Ritz-Carlton hotels and have heard numerous epic tales such as this : When a guest tried to check in upon arrival and their room wasn ’ t available and the hotel was fully booked , a Ritz-Carlton team member booked and paid for that guest ’ s hotel room at their nearest competitor .
This clearly went far beyond the average customer experience . No company can make customers happy 100 % of the time — there is no mobile app for that . But greatly exceeding customer expectations can be part of every company ’ s marketing strategy and business model . Putting guests ’ needs first , always , is a sure way to not only build a strong customer base but also to greatly reduce churn rates .
Another great example of brilliant service recovery is found in the Starbucks customer service experience , which allows baristas to go the extra mile . Baristas are trained to provide a card to inconvenienced current customers that says :
We apologize if your Starbucks experience was anything but wonderful . The next time we see you , please enjoy a beverage on us .
With every complimentary beverage , customer relationships are strengthened in real time . Such personalized experience — a reflection of the company ’ s customer service vision statement — leads to the right kind of customer feedback and enriches the customer life cycle .
TAKE THESE STEPS FOR BUILDING A ZERO RISK BRAND WITH STRONG CUSTOMER LIFETIME
To build a Zero Risk brand , you need to realize where you drop the ball the most , implement systems that reduce occurrences of those service defects , and create corrective protocols . Then , train your employees on these protocols to make things right .
Organizations can achieve greatness when their employees are allowed to do unexpected things — to show initiative and creativity , to step outside the scripted path . That is when the most delightful , interesting , and amazing results occur .
John DiJulius , best-selling author of five customer service books , is the chief revolution officer of The DiJulius Group and works with the top brands in the world on customer and employee experience .
Being Zero Risk also tends to create heroic , legendary stories about your business that get shared amongst employees , with customers , and on social media . For example , I have
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