“A satisfied customer is the best business strategy of all.” – Michael LeBoeuf
How would you feel about paying a premium price for a below average service?
This is exactly what happened to my wife and I recently, and it left a bitter taste in my mouth. What’s more, this service caused a great amount of stress to my wife and 1 year old son. Here’s what happened.
While my wife was outside hanging the washing out, our son managed to lock himself inside by pushing the lock into place. Now, imagine what kinds of things a one and a half year can get up to alone in a house. Think glassware, chemicals and jumping off furniture with nobody there to stop them. A potentially very dangerous situation.
When I couldn’t be reached, as my phone was off, an emergency locksmith was called. He promised my very distressed wife to be there in twenty minutes. Twenty minutes passed, half an hour, an hour and still no locksmith. You can imagine that by now, our son was hysterical as he couldn’t reach his mother (he could see her through the glass doors) and my wife was starting to look for an object with which she would break a window. Over an hour passed and I was finally contacted and was racing home. I ended up arriving at the exact same time as the locksmith so I used my own key to unlock the front door.
How much so you think we were charged for this “emergency service”? $500. We paid and he left.
If the locksmith had treated this situation with the urgency it required, and which he had promised, my wife would have probably given him a tip and raved to everyone she knew about how he saved her son from potential harm. Instead, his disregard for them has left us with only negative things to say about him and his business.
People often ask me about marketing strategies. Marketing is important, however, you need to ask yourself if you are serving the customers you already have in an amazing way. Are you putting the cart before the horse focussing on new clients when you are not serving your current clients to the best of your ability? Ask yourself the question ‘Am I making my customer feel like the most important person in the world?’
What a difference that would have made to our experience with the locksmith.
I spoke to a company owner the other day and he informed me that he had increased conversions from his free trial by 40%. I asked him what his secret was… ‘Treat them like a guest in your own home’. He said he doubled his follow up calls, posted handwritten thank you notes, introduced them individually to each community member and sent daily texts of encouragement.
I’ve had to ask some questions recently as I know we could be doing an even better job of service delivery. These questions include:
- Are we providing the best possible customer service experience?
- Where are the opportunities for improvement?
- Why haven’t we been delivering world class service?
- When are implementing the changes identified?
Creating the most memorable customer experience should your first and foremost priority. This is more powerful than any ‘Facebook Ad or Fancy website’. Your business will reap the rewards of referrals, long term customer loyalty and excellent reputation. More importantly, you will impact more people in a positive and meaningful way.
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