by Shep Hyken
In this chapter, you will find the tools that will help your enterprise to get closer to joining the ranks of the “superstar” service providers!
Competitive Edge Tools
39. Own Your Mile
40. Satisfaction Is a Rating, Loyalty Is an Emotion
41. Be Easy to Do Business With
42. Get Firsthand Experience
43. Show Your Gratitude
44. Don’t Leave Loyalty to Chance
45. Do What Is Not Expected
46. Deliver Amazing Follow-Up
47. Stay in Touch
48. Get Proactive
OWN YOUR MILE
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Do you stand out in your customer community—in an area where you’ve chosen to excel?
“OWNING YOUR MILE” means finding your niche. It comes from a retail concept—the idea that your store, whatever it sells, should have the best service, the strongest customer loyalty, and the most established presence for any store of its kind within a one-mile radius. Your customers should consider you to be the first place to stop whenever they need whatever it is you sell. This “own your mile” concept, though, definitely isn’t just limited to the world of retailing. It is a strategy that works for virtually every type of business!
The mile is more than a distance. Owning your mile means standing out within your customer community, in an area where you’ve chosen to excel. Every company has a “mile” that it should own, a targeted community where it should strive to predominate.
That community may or may not be defined geographically. For Ace, it is the geographical distance around the hardware store itself. And, it may be 1 mile or 10 miles—or more. You can bet that the owner of a successful Ace store knows that mile inside and out!
For you and your company, it might be five miles or a whole city or a global community of people interested in what you sell. For example, my mile is helping companies with their customer service. My geographical area may be the world. My focused community is anyone interested in delivering a better customer experience. I want to own that mile. When you think of customer service, I want you to think of me.
Know what your mile looks like, sounds like, and acts like. Is it a certain region? Is it a particular demographic? Is it a particular subject or topic, as in my case? For an Ace store, owning the mile means embodying helpful for each and every person in that store’s community—specifically, those who have a home improvement project, a maintenance issue, need something for their garden, a repair, etc. If you happen to fall into that category, and you have the good fortune to walk into an Ace Hardware store when you need help, you can find out for yourself just how much the people in that store are willing to do in order to own their mile and amaze you each and every time you show up.
YOUR AMAZEMENT TOOLBOX
“Owning your mile” means standing out in your customer community, in any area where you’ve chosen to excel.
Every company has a “mile” that it should own, a targeted community where it should strive to predominate.
Owning a mile is just a metaphor. It can be geographic or demographic. And it can be more than a mile. It can be the world.
THE DRILL
Define your company’s “mile”—the area where you choose to excel. What do you do to “own” or stand out in this mile?
SATISFACTION IS A RATING, LOYALTY IS AN EMOTION
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A lot of people, and companies, talk about the importance of “customer satisfaction.” They’re aiming too low!
WE NEVER, EVER WANT to settle for satisfied customers. You know why? Because satisfaction is just a rating—and an average rating, at that. Whenever a customer checks off a “Yes” answer to the question, “Were you satisfied with this purchase/experience/whatever?” all that really proves is that we’ve fulfilled the minimum requirement to avoid a complaint. We’ve delivered an average experience, a Moment of Mediocrity—nothing more. We’ve done nothing to create loyalty.
The very best companies recognize that satisfied customers are not loyal customers. Wherever there’s satisfaction, we want to find a way to take that up to the next level, which is an above-average experience. That’s what creates positive emotion. Loyalty is rooted in positive emotion, and that usually requires some person-to-person engagement, the kind of engagement that makes the customer think, “I’ve got to come back here the next time I need so-and-so.” That kind of response comes from being more than just “satisfied.”
Most people think of customer loyalty as a lifetime, but the reality is that loyalty is all about the next time—every time!
Here’s how Bradley, an associate at Bates Ace Hardware in Atlanta, generated the emotion necessary to create loyalty. A local homeowner called on Father’s Day and explained that he’d been mowing his lawn when his lawnmower engine had cut out. He’d changed the oil and checked the filter, but he still couldn’t manage to get it started again. After a detailed discussion of the problem, Bradley told the gentleman to bring the lawnmower in so he could fix it. The customer did just that; Bradley took the mower and promised a call the next day with an update. Just five hours later, however, Bradley called and told the homeowner he had disassembled the mower, found the problem, replaced a damaged part, and fixed the mower. Total cost: a very reasonable 85 dollars. Bradley made a point of wishing his new customer a “Happy Father’s Day” on his way out of the store!
What I want you to notice is that Bradley did not simply “satisfy” this customer’s expectations. He dramatically exceeded those expectations. That’s what builds positive emotion, loyalty, and evangelism: an above-average experience! The customer posted a glowing, positive review about Bradley’s work and attitude that Father’s Day. It concluded with these words: “Ace Hardware knows they have to compete with Home Depot, Lowe’s, and any other hardware store. Therefore, they go above and beyond in customer service and satisfaction. They are very friendly, understanding, and fast. If you ever have lawnmower problems, call up Bates and you will be taken care of.”
That’s not just meeting, but exceeding, expectations. That’s the kind of service that doesn’t just satisfy a customer; it creates loyalty. And, even better, thanks to social media, this customer became an Ace evangelist when he left his glowing feedback for everyone to see!
YOUR AMAZEMENT TOOLBOX
There’s a big difference between a satisfied customer and a loyal customer. Never settle for “satisfied.”
Satisfaction is just a rating—and an average rating, at that. Loyalty is an emotion that ties you to the customer.
All satisfaction proves is that we’ve fulfilled the minimum requirement to avoid a complaint.
Wherever there’s satisfaction, we want to find a way to take that up to the next level, to an above-average experience.
Loyalty is rooted in how we engage our customers and their positive emotional reaction to it.
Loyalty is not about lifetime, although eventually it can be. It’s about the next time, every time.
THE DRILL
Think of a company to which you are truly loyal—the company you love the most. What specific experiences caused you to become a loyal customer?
Are you aware of any of your current customers who are that loyal to you and your company?
BE EASY TO DO BUSINESS WITH
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If it’s even a little difficult to do business with you, you’d better change the way you do business.
DO YOU HAVE POLICIES, procedures, or rules that get in the way of a customer-first mindset? If you do, it’s time to rethink them.
Do you make it easy for customers to process returns and update their orders? If you don’t, you’d better be ready to make way for a competitor who does.
Do your people understand that everything they do affects the customer, regardless of their position and responsibility? If they don’t, it’s time to educate or train them.
Earlier in the book (Tool #15: Adopt a Customer-First Mindset) I introduced you to Mat
t Dowdell, the Ace retailer in Montana who made a statement about helping “Joe” take care of his to-do list. He referenced tools and machinery, which included computers and any other equipment or technology that could be used to support the customer or streamline the business. The bottom line is that you have to make life easier for “Joe,” otherwise, whatever tool, piece of equipment, or system you have in place means nothing.
So here’s a great question to ask about your organization, a question that the people at the best Ace stores ask themselves every single day: “Are you easy for Joe to do business with?”
That may sound like a simple question, and you may be tempted to say “Yes” immediately. However, I urge you to take a close look at just how easy and helpful you are perceived to be by your customers and your employees. Ace does this through customer feedback and countless “mystery shopper” exchanges, and it is constantly evaluating the feedback it gets from those shoppers to help improve the customer experience.
Certain companies create an image that they are extremely easy to do business with. (Amazon.com and Apple are two others that come to mind.) Their salespeople, virtual or actual, are friendly. They bend over backwards to take care of you. They provide a “hassle-free” experience. Most people love doing business with a place like this, for two reasons:
They really are easy to do business with. They train their people and create systems that actually support the customer. (How soon after you place an order on Amazon do you get an email message saying “thank you”?)
They are customer-centric and recognize that every person in the company, regardless of their responsibility, somehow affects the customer. That’s the customer-first approach. (How “at home” do you feel at the Apple Store?)
As you interact with customers or work on systems, ask yourself this question:
Is what I’m doing making it easier for the customer?
If not, rethink what you’re doing—or getting ready to do.
Look at your business through your customers’ eyes. Have you made it as easy as possible for the customer? Or are some of the procedures in place simply for the convenience of your company? Ask your customers. Listen to their answers. Find out ways to improve. The bottom line is, the easier you are to do business with, the happier your customers will be.
YOUR AMAZEMENT TOOLBOX
If you have policies, procedures, or rules that get in the way of a customer-first mindset, it is time to rethink them.
Use customer feedback and/or some type of mystery shopping program to identify opportunities for improvement.
As you interact with a customer, ask yourself, “Is what I’m doing making it easier for the customer?”
THE DRILL
What are some examples of things that can get in the way of an “easy” buying experience from your company?
GET FIRSTHAND EXPERIENCE
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How much do you know about the products or services your company sells?
IF YOU WANT TO AMAZE Every Customer Every Time, you need to be perceived as an authority on what you sell. In other words, you need to have some kind of firsthand experience with or knowledge about the products or services you offer the customer.
I don’t just mean that you need to be familiar with how much something costs, or what kind of warranty comes with it, or what the outside of the package looks like. That’s a good start, but you could do even better. You could actually have personal experience with what you sell, at least for long enough to demo it in the same way that a customer would!
Does this mean that everybody in your organization has to have really deep experience with every single product or service on the list? No. But it does mean that, as one of the people on your team, you should have a broad level of personal exposure to the most popular products and services you sell, and you should be able to truthfully answer, from personal experience, the most common questions customers have.
Admittedly, it may be impossible to know everything, but you do need to know where or from whom to get the answers. And, once you have those answers, you need to know how to communicate the information back to the customer. Knowledge creates credibility and confidence, which are crucial to your success.
The other day I was having dinner at a restaurant and asked the server, “What’s the best thing on the menu?” (That’s a question a server should be able to answer.)
She paused for a moment, and said, “Oh, the London Broil!”
I saw that she’d hesitated a little before she answered. Curious, I asked, “You’re a big fan of the London Broil?”
She grinned sheepishly, and then admitted, “Actually, I haven’t eaten anything on the menu yet. I just started yesterday.”
The credibility of that server and that restaurant just took a major hit! Now, contrast that experience with the one you would receive at a restaurant where the training includes trying out the most popular menu items on a regular basis—like, say, every night—so that every single member of the staff can get a sense of what customers like, and why they like it. That’s a whole different level of commitment to amazement!
I had an Ace store owner ask me, “You know why people in my neighborhood buy a Big Green Egg from me?” (By the way, a Big Green Egg is a very fancy—and expensive—barbecue pit.)
I said, “No, why?”
He said, “Because I’m the Big Green Egg Guru! I don’t just sell the Big Green Egg; I don’t just show you how to put it together; and I don’t just tie it down in the back of your pickup truck once it’s assembled. I also make sure you get the very best recipes, and before you drive off, I give you a taste of some of the steak I just cooked with it!” He wasn’t kidding. He knows his stuff!
If you go to an Ace store, I bet you are going to run into someone who knows his or her stuff. Most of the associates will have a certain area of specialty, and some of them will have deep professional experience in a given area. Maybe the guy in the electrical department used to be an electrician. The place is full of people with personal experience and expertise in particular areas of interest to customers.
The very best companies will either hire the right people who already know how to use a certain product or service that they sell, or they will give them the training they need to have that knowledge and experience. They make sure the right people are able to be helpful to customers who have questions. If your company isn’t doing that, it should!
Remember: Not everybody needs to be trained in everything. You can be an expert in one area and not another. If you don’t know the answers to your customers’ questions, you should know who to go to or call to get those answers. Customers love to do business with people who know what they’re talking about. It gives them confidence, and customer confidence can lead to loyalty.
You may not be the person with all the answers about the Big Green Egg, but you should know who is, and you should be able to tell a customer how and when to connect with that person.
YOUR AMAZEMENT TOOLBOX
Making good recommendations to customers, based on personal experience, gives you and your company credibility.
People with relevant product/service experience should get the opportunity to help customers who have questions.
You may not know all of the answers about a given product, but you should know where or who to go to to get the answers.
THE DRILL
When was the last time you helped a customer by using your own personal knowledge of, and experience with, the product or service you sell?
How often do you get to take your company’s products or services “out for a test drive”?
SHOW YOUR GRATITUDE
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Show your best customers how grateful you are for their continued business by delivering a superb “thank you” experience!
A CONSULTANT FRIEND OF MINE makes a point of sending his “top-tier” clients a special gift of baked goods just to thank them for choosing to do repeat business with him. The pastries, whic
h are homemade from a special family recipe, serve as a thoughtful reminder of the consultant’s long-term gratitude for the client’s choice to work with him on an ongoing basis. The positive buying experience he delivers is one thing; the positive service experience he delivers is another thing. And this special “gratitude after-experience” takes it to a whole new level, by letting his key clients know that he really, truly appreciates their business. Because he does!
There are many ways to say thank you to a customer: a verbal acknowledgment at the end of the interaction, an email, a follow-up phone call, and even a handwritten note—or by going above and beyond, as demonstrated in this next example.
In Seattle there’s an Ace Hardware store with a particularly happy customer named Bonnie who’s like family to the store associates. She has been buying from the store for quite a long time. One day, Bonnie asked for some help in selecting the perfect paint color for her bathroom. The Ace associate she asked for help happened to have a college background in art and knew a lot about color selection. So, she spent a significant amount of time with Bonnie, walking her through all the possible color selections and helping her to plot out the very best design choices for her room.
The two of them spent a lot of time on this seemingly simple painting project. Before long, it actually started to look more like a major consulting assignment! Bonnie thanked her salesperson, but it was the salesperson who was emphatic about expressing appreciation for the opportunity to serve. Of course, that’s what Ace people do. They provide the most helpful service on the planet, taking the time necessary to make sure that their customers get what they want and need.