I run a small business. I have for 16 years and the single most important thing to me is making sure my customers have a good experience at every interaction. Not all interactions in business are good but when they are not I see it as an opportunity to tighten the screws a little more in my company so that every experience after is better. Bad experiences are an opportunity for me and my team to shine because we get to fix the issue. We get to be the people that make our customers look like a hero! I have interactions with many businesses -as a consumer and a business – that are just missing the mark. I always wonder if business owners know or care that they lose me with the smallest issue that could have been easily fixed. The basic ideas I layout below are what I want every business owner to know and the things I need to remind myself the next time I want to not go out of my way for a customer.
1. It’s’ how you respond.
Problems will happen in a business. They always do. Customers will get upset for no reason or no fault of yours and sometimes it is your fault. Or at least you could have gotten in front of the issue. Someone once told me life is easier if you are prepared with responses and solutions to worst-case scenarios and bad outcomes. Not that you expect bad things but it keeps you on your feet. I notice that by being ready I keep everybody calm. My customers and my staff. It makes my business look prepared and ready for anything. Something good can always come from what started out to be bad. Recently with a printer, some samples were misplaced by the carrier. There was some confusion about whether or not they were delivered to my business. The printer made the comment to me “Well, I just don’t know what to do in this situation. I mean…do you need to see the proofs in order to finalize your order?” My rep, who at this point I had spoken with at least 2 times a day for a week and a half, understood the whole reason for the proofs was to confirm the colors printed correctly in real life. And really isn’t your issue with the carrier. This was his opportunity to shine and take this problem off my plate. He was waiting for me to fix this for him by lowering my standards. And this is not the first time it will happen or the last. A few weeks later after the mix up was resolved and I happily got the final prints I received a call from the customer service department asking for feedback. After I explained that I was very happy except for the incident above the customer service rep begin to give me suggestions on how to choose my own carrier in the future. You can feel my disappointment.
2. Start with a great experience and the profits will come.
Customer Experience. A great one that is above average is an opportunity to create a competitive advantage. I run a small cosmetics company and from time to time I answer the phones and help customers. Whether booking an appointment, helping with products or resolving a shipping issue. My focus is to deliver an unexpected over-the-top experience to help them. I am looking for the same response every time whether they by or not. and It’s to hear them say “Wow. I’ve never been treated this way. Or, Wow, you excellent customer service. I am in it to hear them say that we are better than anyone else at treating them wonderfully. I am expecting that reaction because I care. My customers know that I care. And in a world of franchises and front line staff that was born in the year 2000 or later, great customer service and great experiences are fleeting and no longer the norm. I stand out. I am an outlier. My companies and brands stand-out. And it’s not easy to deliver. You have to teach it. I have to hire for it first above all other skills. To me, none of the other skills really matter. Because most experiences are flat or mediocre, I am betting, in the end, we will keep the customer. Of course, I make it my business to deliver superior quality products and services but in all honesty, anybody can if they want to. But service wins in the end. It’s why customers return to your brand. I can hire any printer to print the labels for my brands. It’s a commodity. It’s the relationship that will win. The relationship that educates me more. It helps me in a bind. If I put a name to face each time I spend my money I think that job matters to that company. That my money matters to that person, so I want to spend it there. My money is more valuable because on the next series of orders I don’t require any hand-holding. I go right in. Place my order. Bam! They make money with less effort. I don’t give my money to the company that will only speak to me through the web because I didn’t have an experience with them. Good or bad. So they don’t get the profits. Experience and great relationships make money. So do your best not to screw them up. It’s expensive.
3. The current experiences are so bad the world is your oyster
The Printer. Businesses interact with you as if they are not thinking down the road to the next transaction. Every comment or step determines if the next sale happens. When employees are left feeling they cannot make the best decision to create a frictionless experience they chipping away at future sales. When a package with missing that was necessary for us to finalize packaging for my brand the account rep was stumbled with what to do. I was disappointed because I was sure that in 20 years of doing business this is not the first time a carrier misplaced a package. Still, my rep seemed at a loss on how to move forward, make sure I was taken care of to get replacement items shipped and make the error a non-issue for me. That’s not what he did. Instead, he as me if I had any ideas. Up until I would have rated my experience with their company at 9.75. That questions brought it down to a 7 and I hadn’t even seen the packaging yet.
The Content Company. For my brands I have a team of people that provide content and marketing services. In one of my businesses we have a monthly subscription to a content database. It’s not the cheapest service but it is certainly worth it if you are a small company and don’t have a team of content writers. This company does not let more than two months go by before they are either sending me a survey to fill out (with an incentive) or asking me to jump on a call with one of their team member, including the CEO from time to time to get my feedback on their product. It’s a tech product so you know that it has issues all the time. Blogs don’t post. There are not enough WOC in the blog images. There was always something for me to tag as an issue. But there they were. Askin me what I thought. I could tell it was important to the CEO that I understand how hard they are working to make it great. I gave them a 7 on a review once (which was not bad, but truly how I felt about the product at the time) and I think they were crushed I felt that way. At least that is how I felt. I wanted them to know what I needed but I did love their product. I never mind taking the time to share what I think good and bad. I post and re-tweet anything that helps promote their business. I absolutely don’t need their service anymore but I hate to part ways with them. That is the feeling every company needs their customer to have. When they have outgrown your product but are looking to see what else you have for them just to keep the relationship going. They are constant addressing concerns I had about their product
The featured photo for this post is the beautiful Nyvan Pier in Copenhagen. When I look at it I feel calm and serene. I can take a deep breath and feel the cold fresh air every time I see it. Enjoy.