English writer Samuel Johnson said, “People need to be reminded more often than they need to be instructed”. So, I encourage you to remind yourself and your colleagues every day about each one of The Rule of Three QUI TAKEAWAYS to Customer Service and Customer Experience. Because nobody can remember Number Four.
I am here to tell you that if you’re not in the Top Three, you don’t even exist in the minds of your potential customers. Here’s why. Who was the first president of the United States? Of course, George Washington. Who was Number Four? Who was the first person on the moon? Neil Armstrong. But who was Number Four?
Why do we have so much difficulty remembering who is Number Four? It’s because most of us can only easily remember up to three things. In the very beginning, only three TV channels used only three letters: ABC, NBC, and CBS. How many wishes do you get from a genie? When you were in school, what did they teach you if you were ever to catch on fire? Stop, Drop, and Roll. If good things come in threes, what does that make Number Four?
By the way, the answers to who was Number Four were James Madison and Alan Bean.
But I digress. Here are The Rule of Three QUI TAKEAWAYS to Customer Service and Customer Experience:
QUI TAKEAWAY: You are happy because customers were satisfied with their purchase of your product or service. But that’s not good enough. Satisfied customers feel that their experience was good, not better, just average. Nobody raves about average. And satisfied customers will not return as soon as they find a better experience or a less expensive price.
So, don’t just serve to sell your products or services to customers. And don’t just serve to satisfy customers. Instead, serve to WOW them. Serve to CARE.
- COMMUNICATE with each customer with a smile, eye contact, and polite interaction. Inform each customer transparently and interactively of the product’s or service’s function, benefits, liabilities, and advantages to them.
- ACKNOWLEDGE each customer’s presence and value to you and your company.
- RESPOND empathetically to each customer’s questions, concerns, and complaints.
- ENRICH the experiences of every customer.
And when you CARE, each customer feels respected, appreciated, and valued. They are WOWED and happy, intent on returning repeatedly, spending more money, and raving to others on social media.
QUI TAKEAWAY: Customers pay for their experience, not your product or service. And it’s THEIR experience, not yours. They buy with emotion and justify their decision with reason. Customers seek the best emotional value in their entire experience, not the minutia of your logically reasonable best prices, products, or services.
The best emotional value to customers is in your personalized interactions with them, not their “cash or credit” sales transactions with you.
The customer’s relationship with you, not their purchase of your product, is the conduit where true customer experience value flows.
To you, relationship capital is the only real currency of value to grow your business. So, when it comes to your customers and you and your business, think RELATIONSHIPS or Go Broke. Literally.
QUI TAKEAWAY: Customer loyalty is not one BIG WOW to a customer. It’s one little wow delivered consistently to every customer. And when you consistently deliver a little wow, you transform an average, satisfactory customer experience into a positively WOW Experience.
So, be Magnificently Boring! Consistently deliver a low-cost, no-cost “a little better than the average experience that customers expect” product or service so repetitively that you feel it is boring, but to the customer, at that moment, you are Magnificent! For retailers, start opening 10 minutes earlier and closing 10 minutes later. For hotels, offer bottled water at arrival and departure. For auto service repair businesses, wash the car before returning the vehicle. For restaurants, personalize the menu with the customers’ names and special occasions, such as birthdays and anniversaries. Customers have an emotional connection with you. The more emotional the connections, the more memorable the experiences, and the more loyal the customers are. Your loyal customers will return repeatedly, spend more money, and rave to others about you on social media. Consistency builds trust. Trust builds relationships. Relationships build loyalty. Loyalty builds your business. Deliver consistency Magnificently!
Every morning, when you prepare your customer CARE people to engage and WOW your customers, I encourage you to remind your people during the daily briefing by reciting one of your favorite QUI TAKEAWAYS. In the end, you say, “Don’t be just good”, and everyone responds loudly in unison. “Be GREAT out there!”
#customerservice #customerexperience #custserv #custexp #cx
