Engineering the Customer Experience
Impeccable Customer Service Tip #781
When there’s perceived trouble in the customer experience, the very first and most important step — even before jumping into service recovery mode — is to listen. Your customers & clients have a deep human need to feel heard and understood.
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Impeccable Customer Service Tip #780
Are you finding it difficult to engage when someone has placed you on their speakerphone? Just ask, “Can you hear me alright?” 9 times out of 10, they’ll pick up the handset and say, “Is this better?” Oh, and try to avoid ever placing your clients on speakerphone.
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Impeccable Customer Service Tip #779
Sometimes, by asking shorter and somewhat ambiguous questions of your clients, you can elicit rich stories and valuable intel. For example, during employee one-on-ones I like to simply ask, “What works here?”
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Impeccable Customer Service Tip #778
After creating a paper form designed for customers to complete, try to complete it yourself (Or, better yet, have a friend from outside of your industry walk through it as the customer.)
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Impeccable Customer Service Tip #777
“Make your product easier to buy than your competition, or you will find your customers buying from them, not you.”
–Mark Cuban
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Impeccable Customer Service Tip #776
As a leader, it’s important to remember the basics: your people need working phones, comfortable and inviting work spaces, business cards that look & feel professional, back-end support, and whatever else is necessary to perform their jobs in a professional manner. You can’t expect your people to succeed, remain engaged, and feel confident with customers if they’re not consistently being provided with these basic tools. Remarkable employee experiences lead to remarkable customer experiences.
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Impeccable Customer Service Tip #775
When the ball gets dropped (and it will), what is that customer hoping for in that moment? Resolution. Not justification, not finger-pointing, not hesitation, not excuses, not interrogation, not even promises of future betterment. First and foremost, they just want you to make it right.
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Impeccable Customer Service Tip #774
Ever notice and/or hear about the personal interests of your clients? This type of “low-hanging fruit” is all around us. It’s up to us to be aware of these things, take note, and act on them when appropriate. In this noisy world, what are you doing to build relationships and remain top-of-mind with your clients via personalized gifts and thoughtful information sharing? Care cannot be declared … it must be demonstrated, and personalization is a great way to do that.
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Impeccable Customer Service Tip #773
“I got stuck behind a school bus,” “Traffic was crazy this morning,” “You know, your building isn’t so easy to find,” “My dog ate my alarm clock,” “Kid issues made me late,” “Parking was a bear,” “You wouldn’t believe the route my navigation system took me along this afternoon.”
Give yourself extra time for the unforeseen and you’ll be making far fewer excuses with clients. Few things demonstrate care and respect as much as honoring one’s time. (Oh, and bring a book — that client you’re meeting might be running behind … but that’s not your concern.)
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Impeccable Customer Service Tip #772
“Telling frontline reps to exceed customers’ expectations is apt to yield confusion, wasted time and effort, and costly giveaways. Telling them to ‘make it easy’ [for customers] gives them a solid foundation for action.”
–Matthew Dixon, Karen Freeman & Nicholas Toman, Harvard Business Review
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