Wednesday, January 26, 2005
Why Companies Fail ... Or At Least Not Excel
You know what really drives me up the wall? Poor customer service. It doesn't matter where it's coming from. The utilities. The financials. The healthcares. The services. The hospitalities. Name an industry, and I can cite numerous examples of poor service. What saddens me, though, is that our service levels reflect our society: the expectations are getting lower and lower and lower.
Lemme explain. I want to work for a company that is customer-centric. I want the companies I do business with to be customer-centric. Hell, in today's world, I am even willing to pay more for better service. Here's my thing: If I don't get service that at least meets my expectations, I don't come back. Ever. That's right. Unless I have no choice, chances are I will never, ever come back to you for business again. Yeah, I said chances are. If you try hard enough, I might give you another chance, but the odds of me coming back to you are not in your favor. BUT, if you exceed my expecations, I will be come your loyal customer.
Why am I bringing this up now? Because I've had a couple of recent customer experiences that have frustrated me. And because so many companies don't get it. In order to be successful for the long haul, you need your customers to become loyal. You need to wrap yourself around your customer and make your customer feel like there's no need to even consider going anywhere else because you offer the best solution for them. Why is this such a hard concept to grasp? It all goes back to treating others as you'd like to be treated.
You have to spend a ton of money on marketing and sales to get customers excited about your solutions. Once they are your loyal customer, keeping them costs a lot less than getting new ones in. I honestly believe that if a company sincerely takes care of its customers, the customers will take care of the company. Sure, as in every case, there are exceptions. Some people (and some companies) don't want any responsibility with the relationship. Steer far away from them. A potential customer doesn't have poor credit just because. He or she didn't take personal responsibility with their relationship with their finances. A company doesn't steal money from its shareholders just because. The company didn't take personal responsibility with their relationship with their code of business ethics & moral conduct.
It all boils down to relationships. If you've done anything to inconvenience me, offer me a guesture or token of appreciation. Here's a couple of examples.
I was in line at my local Road Ranger Citgo gas station one morning, and I had to stand in line at the cashier longer than normal. The cashier was talking with the customer in front of me for a while. When that customer left, she apologized about the longer-than-normal wait, explained that she was catching up with one of her regular customers, and offered me a gift certificate for a free cup of coffee. I was impressed, and now I am one of her regular customers. It wasn't just the one experience that made me a loyal customer. It was the icing on the cake. They have always been very friendly. They smile all the time. It's a clean store. Their shelves are full of stuff I might want.
I was flying into DFW for a meeting. I used National. I had some delays in returning the car. I was frustrated. I told Emerald Club about it. Their response was canned and insincere. My next trip to DFW, I used Hertz. Once again, I had some delays getting the car returned. I contacted Gold Club, and I received a letter of apology and a gift certificate for $25. I am now a loyal Hertz customer. Was it because of that one exeperience that I became a loyal customer to Hertz? No, it was the icing on the cake. I've had great experiences with them before.
My cable internet connection had been having issues for a couple of days. I called the tech support line, we did some trouble shooting, and they dispatched a tech to come during a window of time I felt was convenient. They came, the problem was resolved. I was happy. The tech was a great guy. Then, a few days later, I get a postcard from my cable company apologizing for letting me down. I wasn't expecting that. They made a difference. Our relationship is stronger now. I'll probably become a loyal customer when they offer a product that I've been wanting. Why don't I leave them because they don't offer the product I want? Because right now no one does in my area. It's available in other areas, so I know it will get to me eventually. If one of their competitors offers it before they do, I'll consider what to do then. But I can tell you, it will take a lot for me to leave this company.
You see, it takes a little effort to create a loyal customer. If you make feeble attempts to keep your customers, you're building a relationship with a defective foundation. If the foundation isn't strong, your relationship with your customer will crumble. But here's the amazing thing: It typically doesn't take a lot to build the genuine customer relationship. Remember, all it's taken for me in these examples are smiles and tokens of appreciation for my business (and my money).
Here's another big aspect of creating a loyal customer. Keep them out of the middle. Remember, I am buying something from you, a company. I am not buying something from a department, or a division, or a single person. If you're having a problem servicing me or providing me with a product because of a problem internally, or with a vendor, I don't care. That's not my problem. Keep me out of the middle. You take care of it. That's what I pay you for.
Hey, and while your at it, ask yourself this question every time you change something - no matter what it is, a product, a service, a process, whatever - How is this change going to benefit my customer?
Ya know what? No company is ever going to advertise bad service or a bad product. I know that. I'm not buying a service or a product. I'm buying a company. I'm buying a relationship. Save yourself some time, money, and effort. Don't bother trying to get me as one of your customers if you aren't centering everything you do around your customer.
Lemme explain. I want to work for a company that is customer-centric. I want the companies I do business with to be customer-centric. Hell, in today's world, I am even willing to pay more for better service. Here's my thing: If I don't get service that at least meets my expectations, I don't come back. Ever. That's right. Unless I have no choice, chances are I will never, ever come back to you for business again. Yeah, I said chances are. If you try hard enough, I might give you another chance, but the odds of me coming back to you are not in your favor. BUT, if you exceed my expecations, I will be come your loyal customer.
Why am I bringing this up now? Because I've had a couple of recent customer experiences that have frustrated me. And because so many companies don't get it. In order to be successful for the long haul, you need your customers to become loyal. You need to wrap yourself around your customer and make your customer feel like there's no need to even consider going anywhere else because you offer the best solution for them. Why is this such a hard concept to grasp? It all goes back to treating others as you'd like to be treated.
You have to spend a ton of money on marketing and sales to get customers excited about your solutions. Once they are your loyal customer, keeping them costs a lot less than getting new ones in. I honestly believe that if a company sincerely takes care of its customers, the customers will take care of the company. Sure, as in every case, there are exceptions. Some people (and some companies) don't want any responsibility with the relationship. Steer far away from them. A potential customer doesn't have poor credit just because. He or she didn't take personal responsibility with their relationship with their finances. A company doesn't steal money from its shareholders just because. The company didn't take personal responsibility with their relationship with their code of business ethics & moral conduct.
It all boils down to relationships. If you've done anything to inconvenience me, offer me a guesture or token of appreciation. Here's a couple of examples.
I was in line at my local Road Ranger Citgo gas station one morning, and I had to stand in line at the cashier longer than normal. The cashier was talking with the customer in front of me for a while. When that customer left, she apologized about the longer-than-normal wait, explained that she was catching up with one of her regular customers, and offered me a gift certificate for a free cup of coffee. I was impressed, and now I am one of her regular customers. It wasn't just the one experience that made me a loyal customer. It was the icing on the cake. They have always been very friendly. They smile all the time. It's a clean store. Their shelves are full of stuff I might want.
I was flying into DFW for a meeting. I used National. I had some delays in returning the car. I was frustrated. I told Emerald Club about it. Their response was canned and insincere. My next trip to DFW, I used Hertz. Once again, I had some delays getting the car returned. I contacted Gold Club, and I received a letter of apology and a gift certificate for $25. I am now a loyal Hertz customer. Was it because of that one exeperience that I became a loyal customer to Hertz? No, it was the icing on the cake. I've had great experiences with them before.
My cable internet connection had been having issues for a couple of days. I called the tech support line, we did some trouble shooting, and they dispatched a tech to come during a window of time I felt was convenient. They came, the problem was resolved. I was happy. The tech was a great guy. Then, a few days later, I get a postcard from my cable company apologizing for letting me down. I wasn't expecting that. They made a difference. Our relationship is stronger now. I'll probably become a loyal customer when they offer a product that I've been wanting. Why don't I leave them because they don't offer the product I want? Because right now no one does in my area. It's available in other areas, so I know it will get to me eventually. If one of their competitors offers it before they do, I'll consider what to do then. But I can tell you, it will take a lot for me to leave this company.
You see, it takes a little effort to create a loyal customer. If you make feeble attempts to keep your customers, you're building a relationship with a defective foundation. If the foundation isn't strong, your relationship with your customer will crumble. But here's the amazing thing: It typically doesn't take a lot to build the genuine customer relationship. Remember, all it's taken for me in these examples are smiles and tokens of appreciation for my business (and my money).
Here's another big aspect of creating a loyal customer. Keep them out of the middle. Remember, I am buying something from you, a company. I am not buying something from a department, or a division, or a single person. If you're having a problem servicing me or providing me with a product because of a problem internally, or with a vendor, I don't care. That's not my problem. Keep me out of the middle. You take care of it. That's what I pay you for.
Hey, and while your at it, ask yourself this question every time you change something - no matter what it is, a product, a service, a process, whatever - How is this change going to benefit my customer?
Ya know what? No company is ever going to advertise bad service or a bad product. I know that. I'm not buying a service or a product. I'm buying a company. I'm buying a relationship. Save yourself some time, money, and effort. Don't bother trying to get me as one of your customers if you aren't centering everything you do around your customer.
Kicknit 1/26/2005
1 Comments:
I don't agree with your statement,
"What saddens me, though, is that our service levels reflect our society: the expectations are getting lower and lower and lower."
I actually think that our expectations are much higher than ever before. How many times have you seen someone at a store that is really giving a clerk a hard time about something service related? I see it all the time and the customer tends to set their expectations way too high. I have seen customers ask for twice the value of the item or service in dispute! There is also a lack of respect from both sides of the issue at hand. It really is the responsibility for both the customer and the establishment to treat each other with respect when handling a customer service issue. (This is almost never the case though)
I also don't expect high levels of customer service from companies that pay their employees slightly above minimum wage and don’t give them hardly any benefits. In these cases, I don’t put the blame on the clerk because how would I feel if I were trying to support myself or more than that with a job like this.
Of course there is always that anomaly, that overly happy teller at the bank that must be hopped up on speed to display her unusually high level of excitement for her job. (I experience this as you can tell!) I can’t expect this though. In fact, it can almost be annoying.
Sometimes I like low levels of customer service. There is a dinner on Park Street called the Curve. I have been eating there for years on weekends and they have poor service. I sometimes even need to clean off my spot on the counter myself! I like it because I don’t get bothered when I am eating. Sometimes I just can’t stand a waiter or waitress hovering over me every 3 minutes while I am trying to eat. Sometimes little or no customer service can be a good thing, at least for me.
I will always give a place a second chance if I feel that the customer service was bad. People have bad days and there are some places I like to go to that one bad customer service experience won’t ruin. Maybe I am just too easy going, but I am sure that I never have high blood pressure like most of America!
-Casey
"What saddens me, though, is that our service levels reflect our society: the expectations are getting lower and lower and lower."
I actually think that our expectations are much higher than ever before. How many times have you seen someone at a store that is really giving a clerk a hard time about something service related? I see it all the time and the customer tends to set their expectations way too high. I have seen customers ask for twice the value of the item or service in dispute! There is also a lack of respect from both sides of the issue at hand. It really is the responsibility for both the customer and the establishment to treat each other with respect when handling a customer service issue. (This is almost never the case though)
I also don't expect high levels of customer service from companies that pay their employees slightly above minimum wage and don’t give them hardly any benefits. In these cases, I don’t put the blame on the clerk because how would I feel if I were trying to support myself or more than that with a job like this.
Of course there is always that anomaly, that overly happy teller at the bank that must be hopped up on speed to display her unusually high level of excitement for her job. (I experience this as you can tell!) I can’t expect this though. In fact, it can almost be annoying.
Sometimes I like low levels of customer service. There is a dinner on Park Street called the Curve. I have been eating there for years on weekends and they have poor service. I sometimes even need to clean off my spot on the counter myself! I like it because I don’t get bothered when I am eating. Sometimes I just can’t stand a waiter or waitress hovering over me every 3 minutes while I am trying to eat. Sometimes little or no customer service can be a good thing, at least for me.
I will always give a place a second chance if I feel that the customer service was bad. People have bad days and there are some places I like to go to that one bad customer service experience won’t ruin. Maybe I am just too easy going, but I am sure that I never have high blood pressure like most of America!
-Casey
