Three Fundamentals You Need to Excel at Customer Service
There is a common piece of advice in marketing today that probably leaves you feeling uncertain — even though it’s an obvious suggestion. It’s advice known to help with client retention, improving your reputation and being profitable over the lifetime of your business.
The advice is to offer great customer service and great customer experiences. You hear suggestions, such as “blow customers away” with your service levels. The phrase “exceeds expectations” is used all the time in this context.
So why are you uncertain? Why do you have an empty feeling?
Probably because this advice — motivated by good intentions — is often too vague and general to really help you. It’s dulled by cliches and buzzwords.
We hear business mottos, like “Customer Service is Our #1 Priority!” and “Your Success is Our Success.” Bu,t how do you take the motto and turn it into practical action that actually elevates your customer service?
Let’s cut through the cliches and move beyond the obvious by analyzing three fundamental elements that result in excellent customer service.
Note that these elements are not sleight-of-hand tricks or band-aid fixes. They are foundational to your business. Without these three elements in place, real customer service that helps your business stand apart will never be possible.
#1. Believe in the value of your offer
True customer service is impossible to consistently fake. You can have moments when you make people believe you care, but if you don’t, it will eventually come through.
Excellent customer service can only be ingrained into a business that believes in the value they deliver to customers. Everyone at your business needs to genuinely believe that your product or service helps people and that your offer is worth what people pay for it.
If you or your staff have even the slightest inkling that your offer is a ripoff, that its features are subpar or that there is a better option everyone should consider, it will come out in your customer service.
You may have gaps where you’re uncertain, and of course, no business is perfect. But, you can’t have problems that undermine the value of your offer and expect your staff to be exuberant about working with your customers.
If you don’t fundamentally believe that what you ship is worth the price customers pay, your service will never be what it could be.
#2. Derive enjoyment from helping others
Customers shouldn’t be the only people who love great customer service.
The businesses that do the best enjoy serving other people. They derive pleasure when they see that the service they offered made their customer happy.
When a chef talks about how much it pleases her to see people eating her dish with gusto — eyes rolling at how satisfying it is — we know we have a customer service specialist.
When an optician revels in hearing how the frames he helped his client select are getting tons of compliments, we know we have a customer service specialist.
When a chiropractor feels deeply satisfied because he alleviated chronic back pain in his patient, we know we have a customer service specialist.
One of the healthiest things you can engender in your business is the belief that serving others is rewarding. Whether it’s luxury concierge service or bagging groceries, seek people who know their day is made when they make someone else’s.
Ross Shafer illustrates this value with the story of Maria Garcia, who is a customer service specialist.
Also, be wary of the opposite. Employees that speak ill of your customers, lamenting what a “pain” it is to serve them, are a customer service cancer. Avoid hiring this type of person in customer-facing positions.
#3. True grit
There is a really important point to delve into here.
You can do the first two steps well. Believe in what you’re doing and hire people with an aptitude for customer service.
But, that doesn’t mean customer service is easy. In fact, for many businesses, dealing with mercurial customers is their single biggest challenge.
This is where the cliches get frustrating. You get advice about how you should be passionate about customer service. In job interviews, people tell you about how passionate they are about their work.
But, when it comes to hiring for customer service, don’t look for people who are just passionate about it. They tend to burn out when they learn that customers don’t care about their passion. Customers care about getting what they want.
Let’s face it. Customers are selfish and hard-headed. They get angry when they think they’re wasting their money.
The best customer service professionals are thick-skinned. They keep their cool and don’t take things personally. They can take negative feedback and diffuse hostile situations.
They have grit.
The cliches and bromides talk of being “passionate” about customer service. They do so with good intentions, but being passionate about customer service falls short of what it takes to actually deliver it.
Businesses that excel at customer service have pros that are not easily rattled and who can handle the uncertainties of dealing with the public. These people often have a heightened sense of empathy,and recognize when a customer is feeling uncomfortable or dissatisfied before the customer actually says anything.
Even brilliant companies with stellar offerings hit customer service snags and setbacks. The ultimate test of your customer service is how you handle heated situations with obstinate people.
Grit is defined by strength, courage and resolve. That’s what you need to offer the best in customer service.
Customer experience (CX) as a marketing strategy
It’s for good reason that there’s so much advice about being better at customer service. It’s becoming one of the most important aspects of digital marketing strategies.
Digital marketing evens the playing field with respect to reach. You can get your message out there, and even smaller businesses can execute branding strategies.
There is also a lot of parity with product quality and value. We live in a wonderful time where there is an abundance of innovative, high-quality products available. local businesses have more resources than ever to deliver high value.
Increasingly, the marketing difference maker is customer experience and service. Businesses that ingrain the fundamentals we’ve discussed earn a reputation that spreads, often through online reviews and recommendations.
Today, consumers want an elevated experience. It doesn’t matter if they’re visiting a luxury hotel or just shopping for socks. Their experience is what they remember, and it’s what they tell their friends about.
Maya Angelou sums this up with her famous quote:
“I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”
Having outstanding customer service motivated by authentic value and genuine concern for others is not really a choice. The idea that you’ll just be adequate at customer service is a poor marketing strategy.
Take these foundational ideas and apply them to your business with specific policies and actions. Make excellent customer experience one of your primary goals.
You’ll find everybody involved — from staff to clients — will be happier.
The difference maker today is how you make people feel. It helps you sell new leads and retain your best clients.
And as Ross Shafer points out, it creates brand ambassadors. When people talk to their friends and write 5-star reviews about the great experience your business provided, it’s marketing gold.
