Re-Engineering (Continued)
Do something out of proportion to the circumstances… take the above scenario and make it “out of proportion” by giving everyone who comes into the restaurant on a Tuesday night a free dinner once a month…everyone! Just suppose that everyone meant 200 customers on that particular evening.
Invite your customer or client to play or be otherwise involved… some businesses have a built-in advantage. Their customers are already “in fun”: when they arrive like at the baseball stadium.
Note: Being in fun means showing up with the mind set that as a customer you can be comfortable and have a great time.
Smart operators of any business look for opportunities to invite their customers to play. It may be as simple as asking your customers for their opinions or to share their feelings or their ideas. It might be involving people in sharing their perceptions via a comment book or framing pictures of groups of clients and hanging them on the wall where service is delivered or in a marketing brochure or using them as actors/actresses in an educational video for your facility.
Note: Being invited to “play” makes customers feel welcome…think about it! Usually asking one customer to “play” will cue another one to join in the fun.
Create customer loyalty (hopefully forever)… this comes from making customers feels at home, like family by remembering their names and something personal about them.
Create compelling word of mouth… by making your service so unusual that your customers will feel compelled to go home and talk about it to at least 4-6 other people. Customers are known to ignore clutter, tolerate less than comfortable surroundings when they receive unusual service.
Note: Remember, both internal and external customers want an experience wherever and whenever they seek service. You can provide that event for them by “going the extra mile.”
Let’s get even more specific. Consider novel solutions to common customer problems, consider things that the customer is likely to wear or display and focus on the unexpected.
Do your customers need help using your service? Is there something novel you could do to assist your customers in using your services? Is there an interesting, perhaps fun way to package your services? Could you make a show out of delivering your services.
How do your customers arrive at your worksite? Is there a novel way to receive your customers? Is there something unique you could do to make your customers waiting time more pleasant? Can you think of something outrageous to do with parking or traffic? Can you make a game out of any aspect of your service?
What could you do that would be considered “out of proportion? ”First, think about what is “normal” and then how you could go overboard. If a restaurant could earn your attention by serving a complimentary dessert, it would be out of proportion to offer an entire meal as a complimentary gesture. What kind of move or action would be comparable in your operation?
What other facilities, businesses, or service organizations share an interest in your organization’s success? Who wants you to succeed? How can they contribute expertise, facilities, services or dollars to your POS plan or approaches? How can you apply this concept in your work area?
What related businesses are good candidates for co-marketing? Who else wants to be involved? Think of those organizations that share your customers, but not your services. These make terrific co-marketing partners and may be found in areas you would never expect. Example: a local hospital approached a local community college to co-promote a health fair with them. The hospital wants the community to come to them for services and the college wants their business too. There is no conflict…both organizations have the same goal.
What local events, charities, or groups are candidates for an outrageous promotion? Discovering ideas for outrageous service to the community means getting involved by sharing your expertise and providing education. Letting the community use your facility conference rooms for monthly meetings is a good way of getting local people involved in your organization…it brings them into your facility where they can get familiar with it. The result is usually a future customer of your services when it is needed. For example:
A hospital allowed a local woman’s investment group to use one of its conference rooms. Since women make the majority of health care decisions including where the family seeks medical care, you can see the logic of such a move by the hospital.
Some other ideas for delivering positively outrageous service to either your internal or external customers are even more detailed and include the following:
Send cards for special occasions such as birthdays, anniversaries, etc.
Have a “service blitz”…one day every three (3) months when everyone gets on the phone and calls a set number of customers to thank them for their business.
Visit the customer in person when it makes sense to do so (for external customers it may mean only when they are somewhere in your facility for some kind of service.
Say thanks orally, in writing or by sending gifts of appreciation (which do not need to be expensive but rather unique).
Ask customers what they expect or want from you.
Hold open houses for customers and make the refreshments memorable.
Make the customer a hero 365 days a year.
Offer free good or samples that will help your customers in some way.
Keep customers informed of changes in policies and rules; give them plenty of notice.
Send congratulations for customer or their extended families’ achievements such as graduations, promotions, etc.
Be easily accessible even if it means giving out home phone numbers for emergencies.
Have a hot line for “hot” customers.
Refer business to your customers who are in business.
Have a monthly “give away” lunch or dinner raffle…put customer names in a fishbowl.
Verbally and within earshot of others, compliment your customers.
Offer no charge favors of service if possible.
Develop a newsletter for customers and offer them an option to contribute where indicated (client corner).
Send customers articles of interest to them.
Ask often, “What is the most I can do for you today?”
Return phone calls promptly…within 4 hours (maximum) of the received call.
Play the game of “guess how many jelly beans or M&Ms are in the jar” and give the jar to the winner. This is a great idea to use in a waiting room. Customers get to know each other by passing around the jar and estimating the number inside. It goes over well at holidays. You can use candy corn for Halloween, red and green M&Ms for Christmas and so on.
One doctor’s office had a produce “give away table” in their waiting room. Staff brought in vegetables and flowers from their gardens and encouraged clients to take some home for free. This was well received especially by elderly clients on a fixed income. What a healthy unexpected treat!
Conduct monthly customer satisfaction surveys.
Some would say that doing the above things overextends an organization so that they cannot do their regular work, but to me it is a way of doing your job so well that customers keep coming back sometimes for the rest of their lives.
Consider the twenty-five (25) service actions ranked in order of importance by customers as yet another Source of ideas of how to deliver positively outrageous service. They are:
1. Being called back when promised.
2. Receiving an explanation of how a problem happened.
3. Providing information so they know what number(s) to call.
4. Being contacted promptly when a problem is resolved.
5. Being able to talk to someone in authority.
6. Being told approximately how long it will take to solve a problem.
7. Being given useful alternatives if a problem can’t be solved.
8. Being treated like a person, not an account number.
9. Being told about ways to prevent a problem in the future.
10. Being given progress reports if a problem can’t be solved immediately.
11. Ability to talk without being interrupted.
12. Not being “put on hold” without being asked permission.
13. Being treated with appreciation for their business.
14. Having an actual person answer calls.
15. Being told responsible staff member’s names and phone numbers.
16. Getting through on the first call.
17. Offered suggestions on how to keep costs down.
18. Ability to speak with someone on the first call who can can solve the problem.
19. Receiving an apology when an error has been made.
20. Being helped without having to be put “on hold.”
21. Having the phone answered by the 3rd ring.
22. Being greeted with “Hello” or “Good Morning.”
23. Being able to reach the organization after 4 pm.
24. Being addressed by name.
25. Being able to reach the organization before 9:00 a.m..
It’s your turn now! Take some time and think about your internal and external customers. What specific things could you do that would demonstrate that you are trying to go the “extra mile?” What could you do that would make your customer tell 4-6 other people about that experience?
Remember, any service transaction can be evaluated in terms of quality, accuracy, speed and show. Give anyone a quality service, delivered to their liking, do it quickly, and you’ve got a perfect picture of a well-oiled, efficient organization.
But, involve them in the process and make the service an experience and you’ve got the “touch of showmanship” that will make you more than outstanding… you’ll stand out!!! I’d like to conclude this part of the program with an anonymous poem that seems to put in a few words everything I have been trying to say about delivering positively outrageous service.
The best kind of service ever given
Is random, unexpected.
If you’re kind of crazy, you’re just right.
In fact, you’ve been elected.
Positively Outrageous Service is the kind of Thing
That once started gets contagious
And that’s the part that makes work fun
When service gets outrageous
And how about these statements?
The things that impresses you and causes you to do more business with an organization are the same things that will impress your customers and encourage their return.
If you promise a lot and deliver more, you will always have satisfied customers!
If you exceed your customers’ expectations, you will always have satisfied customers!
What this all means everyone is that you are really going to have to work at delivering exceptional customer service. A recent survey in Sale and Marketing Management magazine concluded that:
25% of people are in a Comfort Zone at work…maybe (don’t laugh) in a parking zone.
57% are on the fence, and 18% really test their potential.
I encourage you to: Blast Out of Your Comfort Zone when it comes to your customer service and try some of the suggestions for delivering “knock your socks off “ service. Good luck!!!
