Shifting into the millennium what service gear are you in?
Shift is the operative word for maintaining your winning edge and staying one step ahead of the competition in the 21st century. There are fundamental business, sales, customer service and personal shifts that you can make in order to achieve success. Presented here are the customer service shifts:
Shift from satisfied customers to loyal customers. Customer satisfaction surveys are a joke. The real measurement of customer retention is not satisfaction it's loyalty. Clue 1: Value your customer's time. Serve your customer faster. Call any big company's service department and you will hear the typical "Hello, can you hold?" You spend 10 minutes waiting for airline reservations while you listen to messages telling you the airline loves you and please hold longer. Who do they think they're kidding? Push one if you want them to crawl into a hole and die. Big and small companies had better stop doing and saying stupid things that make customers mad. Clue 2: List the top 100 things never to say and do to a customer and put that in your policy book. Eliminate the automated attendant. Trash your company policy and turn it into a customer empowerment manual. Loyal customers are the only insurance of long term success. Satisfied customers will go anywhere to buy again. Loyal customers will buy from you and sell for you.
Shift from matter-of-fact to friendly. When a prospect or customer calls, your first words set the tone for the transaction. The person who answers your phone represents the entire company. Most companies tell you that it's their people that set them apart. And that's almost true. It's their friendly people that set them apart.
Shift from reactive service to proactive service. Beat customers to the punch and be there for them before they need you. Anticipate their needs. Call before the supplies run out. Call in advance of special pricing or new products. Offer special services. Make customers feel that you care about them personally.
Shift from starting with "no" to starting with "yes". Customers and prospects call you because they need help. Tell them how you can help them and not why you can't, otherwise they'll call your competition and tell all their friends and associates the story.
Shift from excellent to memorable. Excellence is your measurement; memorable is the customer's. Positive memorable experiences will create the most powerful method of advertising: word of mouth.
Shift from the way you perceive you to the way the customer perceives you. You may think you're great, but that doesn't matter if the customer thinks you're not. Meet with customers weekly to get the real pulse and direction of your business. Customer perception is reality.
Shift from conventional phrases to sincere phrases. Sincere words give the customer the comfort to return. Even though you're saying something for the 10,000th time, your customer may be hearing it for the first time. When you say "sorry about that," does the customer feel that you're really apologetic? No. Be original and sincere.
Shift from heartless technology to technology with a heart. Have a human being and not a computer answer your phone. An automated attendant may save you pennies, but will cost you a fortune in the long run. No one wants to talk to a computer, especially if it's the first thing they hear when they call for help. Get back to the human or you will lose to someone who is.
The ultimate business/sales/service shift is a shift from solicited referrals to unsolicited referrals. Your business success is measured by your ability to get unsolicited referrals. Unsolicited referrals mean prospects calling and wanting to do business with you because other customers told them to. Let others sell for you; it's 100 times more powerful. Testimonials and referrals will sell better for you than your best sales pitch to your best customer on your best day.
Well, there are the customer service shifts. How do you rate? Need to make a few shifts? I'll bet. Now, I'm not telling you to make all of these shifts. What I am saying is that others are making them. It's your choice.
Next week: Personal Shifts stay tuned...
Jeffrey Gitomer is the author of "The Sales Bible," and "Customer Satisfaction is Worthless, Customer Loyalty is Priceless." President of Charlotte-based Buy Gitomer, he gives seminars, runs annual sales meetings, and conducts training programs on selling and customer service. Inquiries should be faxed to the Warsaw Business Journal at (48-22) 646-0576 or e-mailed to salesman@gitomer.com
