The Costco Connection, January/February 2012, Volume 25, Number 1
Jeff Mowatt is an award-winning speaker and the author of Becoming a Service Icon in 90 Minutes a Month. For more business-building ideas visit jeffmowatt.com.
You have no doubt noticed that technology is changing the face of customer service. Traditional ways businesses used to interact with customers, win their trust and keep them coming back are becoming irrelevant. Here are three of the most significant trends in customer service, and how you can position your business to capitalize rather than capsize in response.
Self-serve slavery
What apparently started with self-serve gas stations has now become the norm. Customers are now booking their own travel, doing their own banking and even scanning their own groceries at self-serve checkouts.
Your move? Shift from order taker to trusted adviser. Companies now need employees to assist with more complex purchases. The role of staff here is not to provide customers with lots of information. Information is free on the internet -- and free is perceived as worthless. When it comes to complex purchases, the role of staff is to analyze the options that are available. Then staff members interpret which options might be the most suited to that customer's needs and advise the customer on up to three options that will solve his or her unique problem.
Driven to distraction
It used to be that good customer service would generate positive word-of-mouth advertising. I believe that's no longer the case. Today's customers are too busy at work, in traffic, working out and chauffeuring kids to pay attention to service. What that means is that good customer service is no longer talked about -- it isn't even noticed. Good customer service has become wallpaper.
Your move? Become "remark-ably" different. Rather than trying to beat your competition, try to change your service so that you become "remark-able". In most cases, this means equipping employees with a few customer communication tips and strategies that get noticed. For example, when a customer asks an employee to do something, the average response might be "Sure" or "OK". Suggest that instead employees respond with "I'll take care of it." That response indicates that not only will the employee get it done, but they'll do it with care.
The amplification of anger
Now, through social media and sites dedicated to customer reviews, disgruntled customers have a public platform to amplify their outrage. Keep in mind that a comment that's spoken may be forgotten, but a remark written in cyberspace may last forever.
Your move? Become a recovery master. On top of an exchange or refund, give customers something for their inconvenience. Any gesture or token of appreciation that addresses a customer's hassle factor can transform an upset customer into a tweeting trumpeter of your virtues. That's the kind of viral marketing we'd all love.
Jeff Mowatt is an award-winning speaker and the author of Becoming a Service Icon in 90 Minutes a Month. For more business-building ideas visit jeffmowatt.com.
You have no doubt noticed that technology is changing the face of customer service. Traditional ways businesses used to interact with customers, win their trust and keep them coming back are becoming irrelevant. Here are three of the most significant trends in customer service, and how you can position your business to capitalize rather than capsize in response.
Self-serve slavery
What apparently started with self-serve gas stations has now become the norm. Customers are now booking their own travel, doing their own banking and even scanning their own groceries at self-serve checkouts.
Your move? Shift from order taker to trusted adviser. Companies now need employees to assist with more complex purchases. The role of staff here is not to provide customers with lots of information. Information is free on the internet -- and free is perceived as worthless. When it comes to complex purchases, the role of staff is to analyze the options that are available. Then staff members interpret which options might be the most suited to that customer's needs and advise the customer on up to three options that will solve his or her unique problem.
Driven to distraction
It used to be that good customer service would generate positive word-of-mouth advertising. I believe that's no longer the case. Today's customers are too busy at work, in traffic, working out and chauffeuring kids to pay attention to service. What that means is that good customer service is no longer talked about -- it isn't even noticed. Good customer service has become wallpaper.
Your move? Become "remark-ably" different. Rather than trying to beat your competition, try to change your service so that you become "remark-able". In most cases, this means equipping employees with a few customer communication tips and strategies that get noticed. For example, when a customer asks an employee to do something, the average response might be "Sure" or "OK". Suggest that instead employees respond with "I'll take care of it." That response indicates that not only will the employee get it done, but they'll do it with care.
The amplification of anger
Now, through social media and sites dedicated to customer reviews, disgruntled customers have a public platform to amplify their outrage. Keep in mind that a comment that's spoken may be forgotten, but a remark written in cyberspace may last forever.
Your move? Become a recovery master. On top of an exchange or refund, give customers something for their inconvenience. Any gesture or token of appreciation that addresses a customer's hassle factor can transform an upset customer into a tweeting trumpeter of your virtues. That's the kind of viral marketing we'd all love.
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