Customer Service - A Cautionary Tale

In light of all the recent economic woes, consumers have a very good reason to be cautious, to cut their non essential spending, save their money and in short wait and see how it all continues to unfold. For many businesses this could be the forerunner to eventual failure.



Businesses everywhere will now be looking for every competitive edge available to them. There is no doubt that one available to all businesses remains differentiating themselves on the basis of unparalleled levels of customer service.

Service that carries tangible benefits and a level of emotional engagement that helps to convert uncommitted customers to staunch advocates.

In recent days against all logic and against this backdrop, I have personally witnessed several unbelievably poor examples of customer service.



In one case a lady was letting the sales clerk at an optometrist know that the lens in her new glasses were making her feel dizzy and needed to be adjusted. A reasonable request I would have thought. The clerk on the other hand obviously did not agree. She rolled her eyes and moaned “surely you can put up with that?”



The next day I was again present at a supermarket and watched in disbelief as a customer waited patiently to be served at a deli counter as two servers talked to each other happily ignoring him. After a minute or two, he politely asked for one of the two if he could be served. One eventually asked for his order while the other annoyed that he had the audacity to interrupt such a witty dialogue, (yes you guessed it) rolled her eyes as she sighed her disapproval.



The tragedy of this is that these types of anecdotes are becoming so common today that many reading this would be thinking “yeah it happens all the time”.

No doubting this truth, but what it really is, is a great opportunity for your business to stand out from the crowd and differentiate itself by offering customer service that is equally remarkable. Remarkably good that is.



So what does this customer service look like and where does it start. Clearly for any high level of customer service to exist it needs to reside firstly in the culture of the firm. A belief that is unequivocal, that customers are the lifeblood of the business and must be respected each and every time.





What does your business do to make its customers feel extraordinary? Quickly list three things. If you can’t, be scared. Be very, very scared.

Then again you do have the opportunity to make yourself indispensable after coming up with some innovative customer service strategy to make your customers experience unforgettable.



Simply put, your aim is create a set of customer service protocols, as part of you total product offering, that is so noteworthy that your target market will actively seek you out.



Smart marketers will work to create value added dimensions of customer service all designed to increase customer satisfaction and ultimately, customer loyalty.

Here are a few aspects you may want to consider adapting for your business.



• Personalising your product or service

o Sport shoe retailer Active Feet have special tread mills and video cameras set up to be able to analyse the gait of every person buying shoes to ensure that they are being sold a shoe that is perfectly suited to their specific needs. AS well the process is overseen by a podiatrist with additional insight into foot related problems and solutions. In short, meaningful differentiation.



• Making your delivery of service quicker

o Aussie Home Loans added real value when they offered their customers a one hour turnaround time on home loan approval time. This had traditionally been several days.



• Adding additional, sought after services

o From the large to the small. My own gardener Mark recently did my garden and noticed some leaves in the gutters and my lemon tree which was badly in need of pruning. When I can out to pay him, I noticed firstly that he had done his usual first rate job, but also that he had also cleaned the gutters and pruned the tree.

He smiled warmly and said “My pleasure Dan, no charge”.

Bottom line, he is my gardener for life.

Exactly how do you make your customers feel this way? This type of value adding customer service is available to all small business in particular. No budget needed only a desire to serve.



• Offering customers greater flexibility and convenience in how they

can buy from you and deal with your business

o The key to this point is that you need to better understand what how you can make it easier for your market to deal with you with key implications for your: trading hours, location, staff training & availability and effective use of the internet.



• Make more robust, easier training and ongoing support available for longer which allows customers to:

o Better utilise the features and benefits your product has, leading to greater levels of satisfaction

o Act as an advocate to others as to why they too should use this product.



• Peace of mind guarantees

o Most customers have a high level of risk aversion therefore you need to incorporate ways that remove the worry.

o Mont Blanc pens offer lifetime guarantees for example. They are not cheap but continue to sell well. Why? Because people now that they are covered should anything ever go wrong. How safe do your customers feel about your products or doing business with you? How can you make them feel safer?



• Loyalty programs focused around rewards that are genuinely sought after not routinely applied to all.

o Perhaps more than any other this is an aspect of customer service that is the most under utilised. The potential to form joint ventures and be able to apply creative solutions here is unlimited. In the end, people want more than just frequent flyer points. How do you reward your key customers for their ongoing loyalty?



By creatively adapting customer service elements such as these discussed here as part of your marketing mix, any business has the potential to occupy that most revered of market space. The customer service leader. The business that is known universally to always make a positive first impression with new customers, to be generous in how they deal with all customers ensuring a positive experience with all who deal with them, and a commitment to offering superior solutions, that ultimately better meet the customers unmet needs.

This includes the perennial need of being treated with respect, dignity and in a professional manner.



At the end of the day, there is no value dwelling on the fact that there may still be some difficult times ahead. Some businesses may in fact not survive, while many others will not only survive but thrive through this same period.



Perhaps these businesses will have one simple common denominator that distinguishes them from other less successful businesses and that is unwavering and extraordinary customer service.

Customer service that will prove to be a panacea for some but at this time,

let this also serve as a cautionary tale for many others.



Thanks  for reading and please share with others who may be interested.  Many thanks.

Daniele Lima