Keep customer promises to deliver exceptional service
Customers are not discerning, picky or tricky. Every customer has a legitimate and personal need. They want what they want - and it’s the responsibility of businesses to respond to this. No matter who you are or how much money you have to spend with a business, customers should receive an exceptional standard of service. When businesses make promises to their customers, they should commit to delivering them.
High quality, consistent and caring service with a smile. Is that too much to ask?
A truly bespoke service experience
This summer we had new shelving units designed for a tricky space in our lounge. We chose a bespoke joinery service that came highly recommended by a friend. Following our initial enquiry, the joiner popped over to our house, asked us lots of questions to think about and, once he had our answers, drafted an image of what our new units would look like. He asked us to study the drawings and tell him if we wanted to make any adjustments.
The tradesman was lovely. He seemed to genuinely care about his work and responded quickly to our questions when we emailed him. He was generous with his time and couldn’t do enough to make our customer experience great at every stage. Before he started building the units he popped over again to check the final measurements. Once he had all the information he needed he got on with delivering what we had asked. This gave us high confidence in his ability and that we would get the result we wanted.
Installation was smooth and efficient. Afterwards, the joiner asked us to flag any minor issues and assured us he will return make any adjustments. He genuinely wants his customers to be delighted with the work he does and his attention to detail is impeccable.
Perhaps the biggest factor in us choosing this joiner was his offer of a ‘bespoke service’. So many businesses use this word and don’t deliver its true meaning. We had a few joiners visit who claimed to offer a bespoke service, only to tell us their units only come in two or three standard sizes. This is not bespoke at all. The service we chose and received was truly bespoke and unique to us.
Every customer comes with very specific, individual requirements and if you claim to offer a bespoke service you have to deliver on this. Nobody likes being put in a ‘standard’ box with every other customer. Why should any customer be asked to change what they’ve set their heart on just to fit with someone else’s requirements? Every customer has a right to have their requests heard and met.
Do you keep your customer promises?
Whether you run a small independent business or a large hotel chain, doing as you say you will is so important. Once you’ve set out your service offer, delivering the service you advertise and keeping the promises you make should be second nature. For your business this might look like responding to a new enquiry within 24hours or taking ownership of a complaint and being accountable for resolving it quickly.
Confidence will help you keep your commitments
Never make customer commitments you know you can’t keep - and if you find that you can’t keep a promise, be honest and communicate this to your customer in a timely way. Don’t leave it too late and risk the customer losing faith in you. A good foundation for keeping customer promises is for you and your team to be confident in all that you do.
If building confidence is an area in which you and/or your team would benefit from coaching or training, we would love to help. Book a complementary Tell Me More chat with Sally to find out more.
Enjoyment helps you deliver exceptional customer service
The other foundation for great service is enjoying what you do. When I worked in hotels, someone asked me why I enjoy my job. I explained it was because I like looking after people. When people realise how they can transform other people’s lives by having exceptional, caring and considered interactions with them, it’s like a lightbulb moment. With confidence and enjoyment everything else clicks into place.
As an aside, you can’t be exceptional to other people if you don’t feel exceptional yourself. Remember to look after yourself, get plenty of sleep, drink lots of water and keep moving. More on looking after your health and wellbeing.
The thrill of an outstanding experience
Having a fulfilling customer experience feels awesome! That feeling when you are confident your needs have been considered, listened to and responded to feels great. And it works. I recently spent a small fortune with John Lewis after receiving expert help and guidance without ever feeling pressured to buy. Have you experienced something similar? Think about how it made you feel and the effect this had on future purchasing decisions.
Likewise, delivering exceptional service can give you and your team that same thrilling energy and excitement. I know it gives me great personal delight. Only last week I was delivering a training programme to a group over 3 days in the same week. It’s quite unusual for me to spend such an intense period of time with a group. Our sessions are usually spread out over a few weeks or months because delivering training takes a lot of energy and commitment from both sides of the group. But after the first day with this group I had the most amazing night’s sleep and really felt up for delivering the second day. I told the group how I was feeling the following morning and they replied ‘you were on it yesterday!’ I agreed, however I felt even more ‘on it’ that second morning!
Creating positive impact is a pleasure
It’s an absolute pleasure to know you’ve had such a positive impact on someone else’s day. Don’t you agree? When one of our clients wins an award, receives a 5-star Tripadvisor review, gains Michelin keys or red stars, it gives us the same feeling of achievement as our own successes.