The Sunday Mail
“There is always room at the top.” -Daniel Webster
Today’s customers are no longer intrigued by a service that meets their expectations only, their demands for a greater service are growing each day.
This has resulted in many organisations losing customers due to ignorance when it comes to providing delightful customer service. They take it for granted when it is the greatest resource they can use when it comes to sustainable competitive advantage. Customers will hardly leave an organisation where they get royalty treatment.
Some well-known brands have been thrown into oblivion because of their lack in delighting customers. No matter how strong the brand is, if it fails to offer great customer service chances are likely that all its reputation will go down the drain.
Organisations must know that when they serve bad customer service, it weakens the roots of their bottom line and dry up their survival. On the other hand, unrivaled delightful customer service boosts the business position in the industry. It props organisations to market leaders and leave competitors reeling with envy while relegating them to market followers.
Meeting customer expectations is awesome but it is not all that will guarantee business success. In fact, customers are always looking to do business with organisations that offer more exciting services. They want to deal with firms that give them value, engages them and treats them as an important asset.
But is delightful customer service the same as customer satisfaction?
Customer satisfaction is delivering the expected and nothing more whereas customer delight is when an organisation deliver more than what is expected to such an extent that it gives the “wow” factor to the customer receiving it. Customer delight is going the extra mile by the service provider.
The organisation actually out performs itself by providing exceptional customer service that is way beyond its usual service delivery. Delighted customers are emotionally touched and can make some drop a tear whereas customer satisfaction is practical and no emotions are involved.
Who then should be giving this delightful service to customers?
Every internal employee, that is from the least staff member to the top manager has a fiduciary duty to offer great exceptional service that is meant to touch the customers emotionally and content them.
However, it must not be costly for organisations to delight its customers. Here are some principles that an organisation can use in its quest to offer delightful customer service.
- Go the extra mile unexpectedly – Surprise and delight
As customers we love to be surprised by our service providers once in a while. It is a good feeling when the mundane is turned into a unique gesture. For instance, you have a favourite restaurant where you go there for your meals and one day you decide to take your family for a meal there and when it is time to settle the bill would you not be surprised if the staff tells you not to pay but rather the bill is on the house! This would be definitely be a pleasant surprise. The idea is to turn a customer experience into a delight reaction.
- Differentiate between customer satisfaction and customer delight
According to the author of Delight Your Customer, Steve Curtan, “80 percent of businesses believe they provide excellent customer service, but only 8 percent of customers think so”.
When customers receive a service that matches their expectation, that is what service should be and they go home satisfied. On the other side when customers get more than they expected they go home with a smile and that is customer delight.
An organisation’s action towards its customers will let customers determine that their service provider can go beyond the call of their duty to serve them. For example, if a customer gets an emergency requirement and calls your organisation well after the normal working hours for assistance. You satisfy the customer when you immediately open to serve them. However, you delight them when you offer to deliver the product or service at the point of their need and help them fix their problem at no cost at all but rather offer them a discount on their next purchase of another of your product or service.
- Create unforgettable experiences
Organisations that have mastered the great poet Maya Angelou quote have always struck the right code…. “People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but they will never forget how you made them feel”.
Customers will never forget positive customer experience, rather they will use it as a point of reference to come for repeat purchases and become loyal while referring others. Businesses that give their customers such customer experience will have bagged free marketing advocates that will use the powerful word of mouth tool to lure other potential customers to its customer database.
- Train your internal staff
Customers believe their service provider has all the answers to challenges they may face with their products and service. When faced with a challenge, customers find delight when they get attended to by a competent customer service representative who has all the answers right on their finger tips and can resolve the problem as soon as yesterday.
For instance, a certain mobile company in Zimbabwe, has the worst customer service. If one calls on their customer representatives lines, they are always busy and one is put in a queue for even an hour while playing their various company adverts. Sometimes the line gets cut without being helped and if you are lucky to get connected to the representatives they usually do not have enough knowledge to deal with issues and your requests may be forwarded to the technical support, who always promise to call you back which they rarely do. Such internal staff lack the competence to delight customers.
Nonetheless, organisations must also invest in systems that enable their staff to discharge delightful customer service duties. This is because sometimes the staff might be willing to provide the “wow” service but they will be incapacitated to perform to that level due to lack of management support services.
Cresencia Marjorie Chiremba is a marketing enthusiast with a strong passion for customer service. For comments and suggestions, she can be reached on [email protected] or on 0712 979 461
