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A sales trainer colleague of mine from South Carolina,
Al Walker, asks audiences this question: What have you done recently
to astound your customers? ASTOUND. To be astonishing to our customers
is not just a noble goal, it's a necessary objective for retailers
who plan to thrive into the next century.
Customer service programs are like diets: (1) There
are many books and proposals for how to make them work. (2) Everyone
who has successfully implemented a program thinks his or her way
is best. (3) The erroneous assumption is made that there is a start
and end time to the program.
I love the old adage "How many diets does it take
to lose weight?" Answer: "Only one, if you stick to it." Likewise,
you need only one customer service program if you believe in it
and stick with it. Diets and customer service programs should result
in a permanent change in behavior, not a temporary reaction to a
problem.I can't tell you what customer service program will work
for you, but I can tell you that the longevity of your commitment
is the most crucial element.
When my colleague talks about astonishing customers,
he's talking about a permanent change in how you view customer service.
My term has been "customer specialness"-what are you going to do
to make your customers feel special?
No longer can we simply provide customer service and
"get by" with our customers. We can't send them a box of candy at
Christmas and hope they'll forgive all the delivery problems the
previous 11 months. The days of customer sustenance are over. There's
too much domestic and international competition.
Even customer satisfaction is not good enough. Customers
expect to be satisfied. They can have their needs adequately met
by literally hundreds of your competitors. You need to move further
and further toward delivering customer specialness, toward astonishing
those who buy from you.
Specialness does not mean price cutting. Price is
often secondary to service, quality, and time. When I was in the
mattress-manufacturing business, we had a large order to get out
and one of our suppliers shipped us the wrong parts. I called him
at home and he personally went to the warehouse, saw that the truck
was loaded correctly, and had a driver spend the night getting them
to us by the next morning. Did we remember that? Of course. Did
we mind paying a nickel more for the part than his competitor's
price? Never.
My rule for years has been: Promise your customers
what they want and then deliver more. Does this keep customers?
Every time. Buck Rogers' statement continues to ring true today:
"Turning over inventory is exciting. Turning over customers is frightening."
I challenge you to think about what your company is doing right
now to have your customers feel special. Don't stop thinking until
you've hit upon an idea you're already using or will implement.
Maybe it's something one of your competitors is already doing and
your customers will soon be expecting everyone to do.
Now keep thinking until you've come up with another
idea. Make it a novel idea this time, something no one else is doing.
Then let your customers know! You will gain a competitive edge in
your retail industry that yields high regard and higher profits.
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