Why Incredible Customer Service is … Unforgettable
Why Incredible Customer Service is … Unforgettable
No matter your sector, no matter whether you’re retail or B2B, you’re probably selling fairly similar products as your competitors. What sets you apart, however, is your customer service. In a world where anyone can get anything from just about anywhere, what will make a consumer choose you? The answer is “great service.” It’s how you build not just customer loyalty but real, enduring relationships with people. We always strive to give our customers something more in addition to our fine lab-grown diamonds. That something more is, of course, the aforementioned great service. To get an idea of what that looks like, here are a few examples from different industries.
True Social Media Engagement
Many businesses are embracing social media as a cheap and easy marketing channel, but it takes more than frequent updates and large follower counts to get anything out of it. What every business is after on social media is engagement. That’s exactly what Morton’s The Steakhouse, a restaurant in Hackensack, NJ, achieved by engaging with a customer tweet. When a frequent customer tweeted, ““Hey @mortons, can you meet me at Newark Airport with a porterhouse when I land in two hours? K, thanks,” he probably wasn’t expecting anything to come of it. But when he got off of the plane in Newark, he found, much to his surprise, a Morton’s employee in a tuxedo waiting for him with that porterhouse steak.
The story went viral, ending up in many popular web publications like Huffpost, Forbes, and Gizmodo [link: https://gizmodo.com/mortons-steakhouse-met-a-man-at-the-airport-with-a-stea-5832514]. The cost of a porterhouse, a few sides, a 30-minute drive from Hackensack, and parking at the airport is nothing compared to this kind of exposure and positive association. And think about the decisiveness on the part of whoever is running that twitter account. They got in touch with the restaurant, got the order placed, and arranged transportation to the airport. They found the man’s flight and his gate, and they made this unforgettable experience happen in under two hours.
Turning a Good Experience into a Great One
What is it worth to you to win a customer for life? Heimdallr [link: https://www.cxservice360.com/heimdallr-customer-service-story/#more-9032] answered that question after they went to unexpected lengths to turn a frustrating but decent customer experience into an unforgettably satisfying one. The customer in question purchased a watch in green, but received the model in black. Within 24 hours of his initial email informing the company of the mix-up, Heimdallr refunded the cost of return shipping and shipped out the watch in the correct color along with a free watchband.
But the story doesn’t end there. The watch he received had a slight flaw, but he was willing to overlook it. A customer service representative reached out to him a few days later to follow up, and he reported the flaw but did not intend to return the watch. Still, Heimdallr refunded the full cost of the watch anyway.
The customer said he had never intended to buy another Heimdallr watch, that it was to be a one-time purchase. “I had planned for Heimdallr to be a one-and-done brand addition to my collection, but now I will be absolutely returning.” He said on a post on the watchuseek.com forum. “They gave me one of the best customer service I’ve had in my life. Not just from a watch company, but from any category of product I’ve ever purchased.” So not only did this experience turn him into a repeat customer, it moved him to post about his positive experience to a forum with half a million members. Positive customer reviews help businesses thrive. This is how you get them.
Putting the Customer First
Jewelry designer Aileen Wong provides a simple example [link: https://jewelrymakingjournal.com/jewelry-business-customer-service/] of what putting the customer first can do for you. After designing a piece for a customer, the customer seemed initially satisfied but later decided that the piece was not quite what she wanted. In a case like that, where you put your heart and soul into designing a work of art for someone, it is easy to take it personally, get your feelings hurt, put your own comfort ahead of the customer’s, and make a decision that could damage your business in the long run. But Aileen stayed cool and referenced her sales policy, which allowed for returns, and took the product back. She then sent the customer a thank you note along with a discount code as a way to say, sorry it didn’t work out this time, but we’d love to have you back.
This story also illuminates the importance of implementing clear policies and following through on them. Both buyer and seller should be on the same page in terms of what to expect from a transaction. It’s no different from laying out the rules of a game before playing. If you suddenly bring up a rule that hadn’t been explained before, the other player is going to feel cheated, unless you’re playing Calvinball. But sales is not Calvinball.
Going the Extra Mile, or Working the Extra Hour
But clear policies will only take you so far. Sometimes you have to break the rules, and when you do, it should be in the customer’s favor, like accepting a return even if it’s not your policy, or meeting with potential customers after hours. That “Closed” sign sets a clear boundary in the buyer-seller relationship, but sometimes you have to break down those boundaries and go the extra mile—or work the extra hour. According to this article from INSTORE Magazine [link: https://instoremag.com/jewelry-store-extreme-customer-service/], 57% of respondents work more than 45 hours per week. Jeweler Eric Ohanian of Eric Ohanian & Sons Co. in Boston talks about meeting with two customers at the end of a 11-hour workday. “Giving that extra level of service is all that sets us apart from the big box stores or the Internet,” he says. And you can’t have a productive conversation that builds a strong relationship after working 11 hours straight unless you truly love making connections and making people happy.
That’s what great customer service comes down to: you have to want to make people happy. No amount of training or policies will get you there unless you and your employees have an innate desire to get to know people, build relationships, and leave them satisfied.