When times are tough, focus on Customer Service

On a recent Southwest Airlines flight, crew members gave a passenger celebrating his birthday that day a special birthday “cake”. It was a toilet paper roll standing on end, complete with Happy Birthday from SWA written on the side, candles fashioned from stir sticks stuck on top of the roll, and several bags of peanuts in the center.

 As the crew presented the cake to the birthday passenger, they led the entire plane in a rousing chorus of Happy Birthday. What impression of Southwest Airlines do you think those passengers left the plane with that day? I would guess it was very favorable, and the experience brightened their day. 

These days, airlines are suffering (high fuel prices, lingering public health concerns, competition). Colleen Barrett, President Emerita of Southwest Airlines, famously encouraged her employees almost 20 years ago to live by the following mantra: We are not an airline with great customer service, we are a great customer service organization that just happens to be in the airline business.

The following coaching tip encapsulates the lesson that business owners like you can learn from this anecdote:

Become known as a great customer service organization

        that just happens to be in your line of business.

Today, we are bombarded constantly with news of the difficulties faced by businesses. For example, inflation at 40-year highs, a stock market struggling to recover, falling industrial investment, more bureaucracy, credit worries, and high-street spending on the decline. 

Is it all bad news? Certainly not! However, here's another question: Is there anything a businessperson can do to overcome these pressures? Absolutely, but success in these challenging times is never easy. As always, it demands commitment, hard work, and an obsession with customer service.

In difficult economic times, many businesses focus on cutting costs, which is understandable and generally prudent. But some try to trim costs by cutting corners on customer service. This is exactly the wrong thing to do. Right now, service matters more than ever.

Customer service gems

Here's why customer service is critical:

 * When people buy during an economic downturn, they are extremely conscious of the hard-earned money they spend. Customers want more attention, appreciation, and recognition for their purchases, not less.

 * Customers want to be sure they get maximum value for the money they choose to spend. They want assistance, education, training, installation, modifications, and support. The basic product might remain the same, but they want more service.

 * Customers want stronger guarantees that their purchase was the right thing to do. You can overlook or forget a bad purchase in good times, but in tough times, you scrutinize every expense. Provide the assurance your customers seek with generous service guarantees, regular follow-up, and speedy follow-through on any queries or complaints.

 * In tough times, people spend less time traveling, wining, and dining and more time carefully shopping for each and every purchase. Giving good service enhances the customer's shopping experience and boosts your own business' image.

 * When times are good, people make decisions quickly and sometimes don't notice your efforts. In tighter times, people move more cautiously and notice every extra effort you make.

 * When money is tight, many people experience a sense of lower self-esteem. When they get good service from your business, it boosts their self-image. When they feel good about themselves, they feel good about you. And when they feel good about you, they buy.

 * In tough times, people talk more with each other about saving money and getting good value. Positive word-of-mouth is a powerful force at any time. In difficult times, even more ears are listening, so be sure the words spoken about your business are good ones.

Achieve customer service success

So, giving great service in tough times makes good business sense. But how do you actually achieve it? Apply the following principles:

1. Understand how your customers' expectations rise and change over time. Efforts that were good enough last year might not be good enough now. Use customer surveys, interviews, and focus groups to really understand what your customers want and what they value. Think about what they are getting (or not getting) from your business.

2. Use quality service to differentiate your business from your competition. Your products must be reliable and up to date, but your competitors are refining their products, too. Sure, your delivery systems are fast and user-friendly, but so are your competitors! Make a real difference by providing personalized, responsive, and extra-mile service that stands out in a unique way that customers appreciate and remember.

3. Set and achieve high service standards. Go beyond basic and expected service levels to provide your customers with desired and surprising interactions. Determine the norm for service in your industry, and then find a way to go beyond it. Give more choice than usual, be more flexible than normal, be faster than the average, and extend a better warranty than all the others. Your customers will notice your higher standards. However, competitors can copy even the highest standards, so don't slow down. Keep on improving.

4. Learn to manage your customer's expectations. You can't always give customers everything their hearts desire. Sometimes you must bring their expectations into line with what you know you can deliver. One way to do this is to start by building a reputation for making clear promises and keeping them. After establishing a base of trust and a good reputation, you can just ask your customers for their patience in the rare circumstances when you cannot meet their first requests. Nine times out of ten, they happily extend the understanding and leeway you need. 

The second way to manage customers' expectations (indeed, to exceed them) is with the following tactic: Under promise and over deliver. It works like this: Your customer wants something done fast. You know it will take one hour to complete. Don't tell your customer. Let them know you will rush the project and promise 90 minutes. Then, when you wrap in just an hour (as you knew you would all along), your customer will be delighted that you finished the job so quickly.

5. Bounce back with effective service recovery. Sometimes, things do go wrong. When it happens to your customers, do everything you can to make things right again as soon as possible. Fix the problem. Show sincere concern for any discomfort, frustration, or inconvenience. Then do a little bit more by giving your customers something positive to remember­–a token of goodwill, a small gift of appreciation, a discount on future orders, or an upgrade to a higher product class. This is not the time to lay blame for what went wrong or calculate repair costs. Restoring customer goodwill is worth the price in future orders and new business.

6. Appreciate your complaining customers. Customers with complaints can be your best allies in building and improving your business. They point out where your system is faulty and where procedures are weak or problematic. They show you where your products are below expectations, or your service doesn't measure up. They point out areas where your competitors are getting ahead, or your team is falling behind. These are the same insights and conclusions people pay consultants to provide, but a customer complaint provides them for free. And remember, for every person who complains, many more won't even bother to tell you, simply taking their business elsewhere. At least the complainer gives you a chance to reply and set things right.

7. Take personal responsibility. In many organizations, people are quick to blame others for problems or difficulties at work: managers blame staff, staff blames managers, engineering blames sales, sales blames marketing, and everyone blames finance. None of that helps. In fact, with all the finger-pointing going on, it tends to make things worse. Blaming yourself doesn't work either. No matter how many mistakes you might have made, tomorrow is another chance to do better. You need high self-esteem to give good service. Feeling ashamed doesn't help. It also doesn't make sense to blame the computers, the system, or the budget. This justification only prolongs the pain before the necessary changes occur. 

The most reliable way to bring about constructive change in your organization is to take personal responsibility to help make good things happen. Make recommendations, propose new ideas, give suggestions, and volunteer to help with problem-solving, teams, and projects. See the world from your customers' point of view. We often get so caught up in our own world that we lose sight of what our customers actually experience.

8. Make time to stand on the other side of the counter or listen on the other end of the phone. Be a mystery shopper at your own place of business. Or be a customer for your competition. You'll notice things your customers experience every day!

Conclusion

Remember that service is the currency that keeps our economy moving: I serve you in one business, you serve me in another.

When either of us improves, the economy gets a little better. When both of us improve, people are sure to take notice. When everyone improves, the whole economy grows stronger, and there is no longer any reason for the depressing headlines to which we've become so accustomed.

So, let's start looking after our customers and let the economy look after itself. 

Focus on becoming known as a stellar customer service organization that just happens to be in your line of business!

Only Action gets you closer to your dreams - do something today that your future self will thank you for."

- COACH 

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