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ОглавлениеIn Search of Your Unique Advantage
by Keith Lee
The Harvard Business Review reports that if you can prevent 5% of your customers from leaving, you can increase your bottom line profit by 25% to 95%. You’ve seen math throughout this book that bears this out and even suggests greater opportunity just in preventing losses.
A U.S. News and World Report study found that the average American business loses 15% of its customer base each year:
• 68% of customers who stop buying from one business and go to another do so because of poor or indifferent service,
• 14% leave because of an unsatisfactorily resolved dispute or complaint,
• 9% leave because of price,
• 5% go elsewhere based on a recommendation, and
• 1% die.
So 82% go somewhere else because of a customer service issue! This means it is within your power to stem up to 82% of your business’s loss of customers. I am here to emphasize that few business owners invest aggressively enough in this.
With U.S. News and World Report reporting that 82% of customers leave one business and go to another because of a customer service issue, if you are serious about getting retention, getting more business from your current customers, and referrals, you’d better be serious about customer service.
What’s sad for you and me is that most of those customers who leave because of a customer service issue don’t bother to complain. They just leave and don’t come back. Then you’re stuck spending a bunch of time, money, and resources trying to get new customers to replace them. It’s been shown time and time again that getting new customers is one of the most expensive things you can do to grow your business. Once you get a customer, you simply can’t afford to lose them. You can’t wait for complaints. You actually need to go looking for trouble and fix whatever ails your business or disappoints your customers.
Every business category is seeing more and more competition every year. Every category has a version of national chain competition, competition from discount franchises, price competition, and competition from the internet, all making it harder and harder for you to thrive. But the great news is that in this most important area, the reason most customers leave one business and go to another—customer service—you can not only beat the competition—you can crush them.
You probably can’t be “THE Low Price Leader,” so you really can’t live by price advantage. If you’re a retailer, you aren’t going to beat Walmart at this game. If you’re in menswear, can you beat Jos. A. Bank’s “Buy One Suit, Get Three Free” insanity? If you sell products and supplies to the homeowner or B2B, can you beat Amazon’s selection variety? Yet you need and should be urgently searching for something you can make your advantage. You’ll find it inside your business. With customer service.
I own five businesses, and all of them are dependent upon independent businesses for their survival and growth. My businesses can only thrive when my clients’ businesses thrive, so I’m dedicated to seeing that independent businesses not only survive but prosper.
At our American Retail Supply 35th Anniversary Customer Appreciation Conference and Expo, one of the speakers asked all 800 people in attendance if they had a unique product that people couldn’t get anywhere else. In the entire room, only two hands went up, and I’m betting their competitors think there is a substitute product. The other 798 knew they possessed no unique product advantage, and that’s a good thing to admit, if you then act accordingly and find and develop a different advantage.
Almost no one has unique products or services that people can’t get elsewhere, so we need to give them a reason to do business with us rather than someone else. The one area you can do that with, that you have the greatest control over, and that you can get the biggest return for your effort and money is with what I call: Make-You-Happy Customer Service®.
Not just satisfied. Not just satisfied just enough that you don’t leave, for now. Not just not complaining. Genuinely, child on “snow day,” child at Disney who gets hugged by Mickey, moviegoer who loves the film so much they want to stay and see it again, dog that finds a cookie under the couch happy.
I’m not talking about customer service in a box either. This isn’t about the canned, “Thanks for shopping at Mega-Mart, have a nice day” kind of customer service. We’re talking about Make-You-Happy Customer Service® in which, even if you mess up, the customer is going to come back because they like you and believe in you and your staff! INSURANCE. We’re talking about the kind of customer service in which customers are not buying, but loyal. SECURITY AND STABILITY. Customer service in which customers not only come back time and time again, but enthusiastically tell others about you. REFERRALS.
Another great reason to give Make-You-Happy Customer Service® is, it’s fun, for customers and for your entire team. People love getting Make-You-Happy Customer Service®. And team members have a huge amount of pride when they give Make-You-Happy Customer Service®. Make-You-Happy Customer Service® is fun for you! It’s fun for your team! Your customers love it! And the day goes much faster when everyone has fun.
It’s fun to read a letter like this one from Cornel Rasor from Army Surplus in Sand Point, Idaho, in this case, about my management training program: “The system has lived up to its claims. My business has become easier to manage as well as more profitable. The support that I have received for the retail management program from my coach Mark Turner has been superb. I wanted to let you know that I am impressed with the system and especially with the support I receive from Mark. Indeed he has become a friend in the time we have been doing business. I am always willing to be a reference for your company in the event that you need endorsement for your system and your service.”
That’s the way you’d like every customer to feel, and if they stopped to think about it, every business owner would want all of his customers to feel that way, and to go out of their way to tell him about it, to praise his employees to him, and to spread the good word to others. But in the average business, 82% do not feel this way. That’s a very big gap between what owners hope for and what actually occurs. A big gap between what customers would love and what they actually get. Through that gap goes a lot of lost customers—and a lot of lost money.
As the author of The Happy Customer Handbook, 59 Secrets to Creating Happy Customers Who Come Back Time and Time Again and Enthusiastically Tell Others About You, I am often asked, “What is the number-one thing business owners can do to improve their customer service?” Another question I get is, “Why is customer service so poor?”
When I speak to live audiences I often ask this question, “What should you be doing when it comes to customer service training in your business?”
A. We tell our staff to deliver good customer service. They should know what that is.
B. We tell our staff to deliver good customer service and give some examples sometimes, but nothing formal.
C. We have meetings about customer service once in a while and tell everyone they should give good customer service.
D. All new staff gets customer service training when they are hired.
E. Everyone has gone through our customer service training and they are consistently and persistently reminded about our customer service expectations. Good results are recognized. Problems are discussed. Statistical measurements of retention and referrals are shared.
With every audience, almost all hands go up for answer E. They know conceptually what customer service training should be. But then if you ask them to confess what they are actually doing about customer service training, they’ll sheepishly raise their hands for A, B, C, or D. If pressed on the issue, they’ll defend the contradiction by saying they are too busy with more urgent matters or can’t get good employees—so what’s the use? or can’t afford it or a myriad of other excuses. My mentor and friend Dan Kennedy bluntly says: “Making excuses and making money are mutually exclusive skills. Somebody good at one never seems to be very good at the other.” He also talks about not being the fat doctor who smokes—meaning, if you know what needs to be done and don’t do it, shame on you.
At www.TheHappyCustomerHandbook.com, we’ve surveyed thousands of business owners before they purchase The Happy Customer Handbook. We ask them: What best describes customer service training in your organization? Only 2% answer E. Why is that? Why is it that everyone knows their team should have consistent customer service training upfront plus consistent reminders, but almost no one does it?
Here’s why: With the best of intentions, the business owner has a “rah rah” meeting about customer service, and the service improves for a few weeks. Then, without reminders, you’re back where you started. And the reason is simple: The reminders don’t come because you’re a busy business owner and you have a lot of other things to do. Without consistent reminders, things are doomed to drift back to the way they were “before,” every time.
But this may even be more amazing. More than 75% of all businesses have no upfront customer service training for new employees—NONE! They give them essential technical training, but do not give them customer service training.
So, the answer to the question, “What can business owners do to improve their customer service?” is: Don’t take any of this for granted.
1. Train your entire team to deliver exceptional customer service.
2. Consistently reinforce your customer service expectations with your team.
To start, your entire team needs to get trained with your exceptional customer service expectations. And beware the “rah, rah” training I talked about above. It shouldn’t be a pep rally. Nido Qubein, a business leader associated with a number of fine companies like The Great Harvest Bread Company and La-Z-Boy Furniture, and President of High Point University says: “Motivation without foundation leads only to frustration.” (Nido’s amazing transformation of High Point University is featured in Dan Kennedy’s book No B.S. Marketing to the Affluent, Second Edition.) It shouldn’t be an aggravated critique, a harangue. It needs to be real why-to-do-it and how-to-do-it training. But it can’t stop there!
You also need to consistently and persistently reinforce those expectations. Zig Ziglar said, “Repetition is the mother of all learning.” But learning something doesn’t necessarily lead to behavior change, so when it comes to customer service in your business, I say, “Repetition is the mother of all learning and constant reinforcement is the father of permanent behavior change.”
Once you have your entire team trained and you’re consistently reminding them about your customer service expectations, what happens when you get a new employee (team member)? You need to make sure every new team member gets exactly the same initial customer service training that your entire team received. No one can be allowed in without getting this training. And, by the way, no one resistant to it, noncompliant with it, or sabotaging it can be permitted to stay.
The best thing you can do to show your commitment to exceptional customer service for every new employee is to train them with your customer service expectations immediately. After your new team member fills out the required government employment forms, what do they do? In most businesses, it’s not customer service training, but it should be. If you want maximum referrals and customer retention, whether you create your own training, or use the training we have available at www.KeithLee.com, the very first training every new employee receives must be customer service training. It can’t wait for another day.
The very best customer service that any customer will ever get in your business is when you’re there, right next to your team member. At that point, if you accept “good,” the service when you’re not around will, without question, be less than good. That’s not good for the health of your business, measured by retention and referrals. This is why you need to raise the bar. Even when you’re committed to exceptional service, your team will fall short sometimes. But when you do, you’ll often still be providing good customer service. In addition, when your customers are used to getting exceptional customer service they’ll be much more likely to forgive you in the rare instance when your customer service falls below good. Or to let you know, and better to be asked to improve than left behind.
RESOURCE
Secret Number 3 in my book The Happy Customer Handbook, 59 Secrets to Creating Happy Customers Who Come Back Time and Time Again and Enthusiastically Tell Others About You is, “Your customer service expectations need to be extraordinary.” As a reader of this book, you can get The Happy Customer Handbook AS A FREE GIFT at www.TheHappyCustomerHandbook.com.
Under the best conditions, with the best training, with the best people, things often slip when the cat’s away. This requires enforcement married to training. The most candid, toughest-minded book of practical advice on this is Dan Kennedy’s No B.S. Ruthless Management of People and Profits, Second Edition.
Expectations and Possibilities
You’ll never achieve a high level of customer service unless your expectations for customer service are extraordinary. Great customer service that supports the maximum possible retention and referrals will never occur above or beyond the expectations you put in place for it and communicate about it, through training and ongoing, consistent reminders.
Your Customers Need to Know Your Customer Service Expectations
This may strike you as dangerous. If it does, you’ve just told yourself that you urgently need work on exceptional customer service!
In my businesses, we share the same customer service expectations conveyed to the employees with the customers. Our customers know how we define and aim for Make-You-Happy Customer Service®. We put ourselves on the spot! My American Retail Supply business sells to about 10,000 customers each year, and all of those customers have my direct, personal phone number to call if we’re not taking care of them. Each year I get about a half dozen phone calls from customers who think they did not receive Make-You-Happy Customer Service® from us. Almost all of these calls start with, “I read in your newsletter that customer service is important to you, and I just wanted you to know . . .” or “A few months ago when I was on hold I heard that you wanted me to call if I had a problem that wasn’t being taken care of . . .” or “I really didn’t want to bother you, but in your Retail Tip of the Week, you said you want to be notified if I’m not happy.”
Again . . . I LOVE COMPLAINTS!
What’s the alternative? For most businesses, the customer doesn’t want the hassle of complaining. She just doesn’t care enough about you or your staff to say anything. She’s the customer who goes to the competition, and not only doesn’t recommend you to others but may also badmouth you. Sure, I don’t like getting these calls, but I love customers who give us the opportunity to MAKE THEM HAPPY, teach us how to be better, and sound an alarm about a problem before it costs us a fortune.
Find as many ways as you can to tell your customers that you want to know if they are not happy. Tell them with signs when they are at your place of business. Tell them in your advertising. Tell them when you communicate via email. Tell them on your website. Tell them every way you can.
Your team members aren’t likely to forget your customer service expectations when they know that your customers know your expectations and that you want your customers to tell you directly when they don’t get Make-You-Happy Customer Service®.
I used to think we were in the business of selling price guns to retailers. Then I thought we were in the business of selling price guns and packaging to retailers. Then I decided we were in the business of selling retailers everything they needed to operate their business.
Now I know what business we are really in.
In their first hour of employment each new team member at American Retail Supply receives Make-You-Happy Customer Service® Training. The system includes our training DVD that discusses first-day training at Disney World. Where the trainer at Disney asks, “What business are we in? We know that GMC makes cars, and Whirlpool makes refrigerators. What do we make here at Disney? We Make People Happy.” That’s when it occurred to me, “That’s what we do at American Retail Supply! We make people happy.” Frankly, I think that’s the business every company should be in.
If you are in the business of Making People Happy, it becomes clear to every team member in your business that their job is to Make Customers Happy.
We understand that after customers call us, they’re not going to be singing “Zippity Doo Dah,” but the reality is, our job is to make them happy, and if we don’t make them happy, they won’t, and they shouldn’t, come back!
I carry this idea over to all five of my businesses, including my training and coaching businesses, that you can tap into at www.KeithLee.com. These are B2B businesses, not a Disney-like business on their faces. American Retail Supply could be judged a mundane business mostly selling necessary supplies. There’s nothing inherently, organically “happy” about these businesses. We’re not putting inflatable bouncy-houses in backyards at kids’ birthday parties. But that’s the point. With any business, no matter B2C or B2B, no matter if seemingly as ordinary as dry toast, customers want to be happy.
Should YOU be in the Business of Making Customers Happy?
If you really want to get maximum referrals and customer retention, making customers happy is the place to start.
If you, and your entire team, show your customers that you really care about them, they will be happy customers, not just satisfied customers. Happy customers come back, even if you’re a little higher priced. Happy customers will come back even if someone else is more convenient. Happy customers, and this is incredibly important, will allow you to make mistakes and they’ll still come back. Happy customers tell others about you.
KEITH LEE owns five businesses, including American Retail Supply. When Keith shared his secrets to his exceptional customer service with his customers via his Retail Tip of the Week, they clamored for more and asked him if he could put them all together. The result is his book The Happy Customer Handbook, 59 Secrets to Creating Happy Customers Who Come Back Time and Time Again and Enthusiastically Tell Others About You. The book is a quick and easy read with secrets any business can use to improve their customer service. For more information, visit www.TheHappyCustomerHandbook.com.
