Win the Customer: 70 Simple Rules for Sensational Service

Introduction

In today’s competitive business world, most businesses inevitably will face the commoditization of their products or services. How, then, can they distinguish themselves from the dozens of nearly identical competitor products and services? In the absence of a reason, it’s often said, customers will choose price. But what if your business can give its customers something special, something that can’t be duplicated, whatever the price? What if you can offer something unique that no other competitor can provide? You can do this by delivering a winning customer service experience.

There are many good reasons why you should have outstanding customer service. You’ve probably already seen that your loyal customers, those who are emotionally attached to your business, will spend more than those who are not connected to you, who think your service is just OK. Offering excellent customer service that consistently delivers results that leave customers more than just satisfied is critical to the long-term growth of your organization. Loyal customers will promote your excellent service by word of mouth to friends, family, colleagues, and coworkers. Loyal customers also tend to spend considerably more than new customers. And keeping existing customers happy costs considerably less than attracting new ones.

Companies recognized for their exceptional customer service know that to achieve effective service success and great customer satisfaction ratings, it’s important that employees understand the customer’s needs and are empowered to make decisions for themselves. Employees need to be imaginative in order to be able to act decisively, yet innovatively, and have the personality required to deliver a unique style of service. Customer service has to be delivered in a welcoming, positive atmosphere; the employees must be approachable, have excellent interaction skills, and be enthusiastic to help customers. This will ensure that they have the ability to offer timely solutions to any given problems.

Organizations and individuals who want to take their customer relationships to the next level need to focus on customer-care effectiveness and develop their customer-care core principles in a way that can be maintained and improved on an ongoing basis. In these difficult economic times, you can take your chances with an average customer service program and eventually fall by the wayside or you can choose to deliver exceptional customer service and reap the rewards of deserved reputation and increased profitability, as well as improved workplace morale. Winning long-term customer loyalty is what this is all about; exceptional, memorable experiences are what bond customers emotionally to your business.

By aligning everyone in your organization around a customer service mission and developing day-to-day actions based on the values of customer service, you can ensure that your people will do and say the right thing to develop the type of relationship with your customers that will turn them into lifelong fans.

Unfortunately, customer service books come in just a few flavors. Some focus on exceptional customer service stories that show the lengths to which some organizations will go for service but that aren’t often applicable in day-to-day service work. Others emphasize overly simplified games or role-playing situations to be performed (almost always awkwardly) in training meetings. Finally, there are books saturated with jargon that dive too deep into statistics and theoretical discussions about the psychology of selling to customers, but leave few practical takeaways for those looking to refresh their approach to working with customers.

The 70 service rules I present in Win the Customer can be used as a top-down resource in organizations looking to develop or enhance a service culture. They can also be used as a resource for individuals who want to transform the way service is handled from the ground up, even when lacking the full commitment and support from organization-wide training and change efforts. The rules are laid out in short sections with inspirational insight that can be applied in corporations, startups, nonprofits, small businesses, educational organizations, and government agencies.

▶ Executives can use the book as inspiration for their future management decisions, as well as to help their organizations catch that special vision of what it means to deliver exceptional service experiences.

▶ Managers in medium-size and large organizations can use it to gauge their effectiveness in getting their frontline employees to create a better customer service experience.

▶ Small-business owners can use it as their go-to manual for how to create a service culture and make what they do stand out against the competition.

▶ Frontline employees can use it as practical advice for the typical customer service circumstances they face, as well as to maintain a great customer service frame of mind.

Every customer is an opportunity. Every single customer counts. Remember this every time you interact with a customer and it will motivate positive action in the service experience. Customers aren’t perfect. They can be unreasonable in their demands and expectations. They lie or leave out important details, they break things and don’t admit it, they don’t take the time to do things right, and they almost never read instructions. They rarely use words and phrases in the best way to assist in the service process. But if you choose to overcome and look past the faults of the customer, continuing to seek opportunities to go above and beyond, you’re more likely to have customers who recognize your efforts and appreciate your willingness to serve them. The customer is not always right, but wrong customers are still customers.

The service rules discussed in this book can be used as a standard by which individuals and organizations can measure the effectiveness of their processes of serving customers and creating a customer-focused culture. The rules can also be used as references for effective, straightforward, results-oriented instructions for engaging with customers on a more personal level and to deliver the type of actions that wins customer loyalty time and time again.

Rule 1

BE PREPARED TO BREAK TRADITIONAL RULES

For a book all about rules to begin by suggesting that the rules should be broken seems somewhat ironic, doesn’t it? The idea of breaking rules isn’t that you literally should break every rule of thumb, but only that you should constantly evaluate every established rule or operating practice for its effectiveness and measure its ultimate result. The rules should become rules only as they are proven through their real effect and final results. No, we’re not talking about doing anything illegal, unethical, or immoral. Some traditional rules are perfectly fine and should remain constants as you do business, but what we’ve come to know as best practices and rules of thumb should be reevaluated to ensure that they really deliver the results you want.

The one-size-fits-all theory of customer service is futile in today’s world. Achieving consistently excellent customer service nowadays requires you to learn to tell your own story; step back and ask yourself what you have to offer and what you want to achieve; learn to say no to the traditional expectations of service; and learn that you have the courage to take the first step toward change and the resilience to stick with what your gut tells you is the right approach, even when others may say it’s foolishness. Instead of constantly struggling to keep business and customer interests in balance, give up this eternal struggle and forge a new path by uniting your organization around interests that are good for your business and your customers.

Customer service in the modern age has become stale due to too many copy and paste service strategies. It’s too much doing what others have done, and not enough boldly finding your own way to serve customers. Customers are fed up and frustrated. Except on rare occasions, customer service is just one disappointment after another. Too many businesses today run around copying each other, thinking they are doing things a bit better, when in fact there seems to be a disconnect between customer service policies and the customers a business serves. Don’t think you’re guilty of this? In today’s competitive business landscape, organizations are falling all over themselves to try to attract and keep customers. They’re using advertising, promotions, gifts, word of mouth, coupons, social media, and pretty much any avenue available in an effort to build a larger customer base.

For all of their efforts, however well-meaning and done with the best of intentions, too many organizations today ultimately miss the goal of engaging with customers in a positive and meaningful way that actually matters to them. No matter how enticing your offer may be, the truly great brands and organizations with massive customer loyalty know that something more is needed in order to really matter in the eyes of the customer. Without that level of connection, your organization will ultimately be stuck in the perpetual downward spiral of offering lower prices, while gaining equally lower customer loyalty and immensely larger customer acquisition costs.

Ask yourself, does your business route phone calls through a machine? Do you even include a phone number on your website? Is your contact information buried on some obscure page on your web-site? Do you force people to register online before they’re able to connect with another human being? Do you have strict policies that seem to put your company goal above the needs of the customer when push comes to shove? Any of these practices—and more—are standard in many businesses. If you want to move beyond the stagnation of the average business, then it’s time to break the rules of customer service.

FOCUS ON MAKING IT RIGHT

The reality is that customer service is hardly black-and-white. You have protocols, and those are good to have, but what do you do when a prospect or customer doesn’t quite fit into a category? What happens when a problem isn’t ordinary? What most businesses do, rather than shift their approach to helping the customer, is cram the customer into a predetermined category, hoping that what they’ve done will resolve the customer’s issue to some degree.

On top of this, if customers aren’t happy with how things were handled, they’re usually fed cheap lines like, We’re sorry, sir, but there’s nothing we can do, or, "It’s company policy to not X, Y, or Z." The customer is not always right, but a customer is always a customer. Sometimes customer requests are unreasonable, but positioning your business in a way that will rise to the challenge and meet the customer’s needs as best as you possibly can will determine whether you’re a flourishing business or just another stopping point on the way to finding the next service provider.

BREAKING THE MOLD

So, what kind of experience do you ultimately want? Are you another We apologize, but . . . operation? Or are you a paragon of customer service excellence that handles your customers with respect, dignity, and generosity? The choice is entirely up to you. If you’re in this for the long term, then actually start thinking long-term. Yes, some people are difficult, some customers are rude, and sometimes nothing will make the truly unreasonable customers happy. This doesn’t mean you should justify handling customers like so many of the other companies out there do. Most people can be helped, so try to help them. It’s time to be different, because you can impress and surprise your customers by going the extra mile for them. If it means brightening your customer’s day, break the rules sometimes.

If you’re ready to really engage with customers and change them from thinking of your organization as little more than an afterthought, serving customers and crafting an exceptional experience are the blueprints to getting there. Taking service to the next level means tapping into the secret source of value that comes from truly listening, comprehending, and delivering the physical, emotional, and digital needs of customers today. Professionals who know how to engage and effectively serve customers outperform their peers. Organizations that know how to engage and effectively serve the needs of their customers outperform their competition.

Staying ahead today means reevaluating every rule, every process, every metric, and every decision to ensure that it’s directly contributing toward your vision of connecting with and serving customers. Otherwise, you’re stuck giving the same mediocre service that everyone else gives and you’ll have to be content dealing with the constant plague of unloyal customers that everyone else does.

Rule 2

CREATE THE RIGHT CULTURE FOR SERVICE

Every organization has a culture, but not all cultures are effective at driving the positive results that the organization ultimately wants. Corporations, nonprofits, government entities, schools, and religious institutions have cultures. Even gangs have cultures. Some cultures are more positive than others. Employees and customers experience your customer service culture in different ways, and it’s the complex nature of culture that actually drives its power in transforming and inspiring people. One reason organizational culture does not make the priority list of most leaders is that it is hard to define. But developing the internal culture of your organization will have a critical impact on the way people carry out the overall vision of your customer service.

Culture isn’t sushi. Culture isn’t ping-pong tables. It’s not team lunches or team activities. It’s the vision, values, and behaviors that the individuals in organizations share that are the governing standard by which the organization will judge its members.

It’s really the people that make Google the kind of company it is. We hire people who are smart and determined, and we favor ability over experience. Although Googlers share common goals and visions for the company, we hail from all walks of life and speak dozens of languages, reflecting the global audience that we serve.

—GOOGLE CORPORATE CULTURE ¹

Culture is squishy. It’s complex. Sometimes culture is even contradictory. With all the other challenges your business faces, it’s easy to see why culture takes a backseat. However, success today is often directly dependent on the people within the organization. It’s their passion, dedication, skill, talents, and commitment to their cause that ultimately carry them through the challenges that every organization faces and allow them to capitalize on opportunities and achieve success.

In his service e-book, Culture That Works: How Getting Serious About Culture Unlocks New Performance, Jamie Notter sheds light on the often-misunderstood nature of culture. Notter says, Organizational culture is the collection of words, actions, thoughts, and ‘stuff’ that clarifies and reinforces what a company truly values. ² Look at those organizations that seem to get culture right. Culture is the behaviors, norms, thoughts, and actions expected of the members of your organization. It’s what you hope people will aspire to be and the way they carry out those aspirations.

CAN YOU RECOGNIZE A CUSTOMER SERVICE CULTURE? DO YOU HAVE ONE?

Many companies have a lengthy mission statement, but little of it is translated into everyday thoughts, words, and actions exhibited by the individuals in the organization. Most organizations claim to deliver good customer service or at least aspire to wow customers with their customer experience, but then go about doing the same thing that has been done in the past or that everyone else in the industry is doing, things that customers have expressed time and time again are not what they want. Having aspirations is not enough. Making declarations is meaningless. Going through the motions without the direction is wasteful.

Creating a customer service culture requires much more than simply saying that you have one. You have to connect thoughts, words, and deeds. Building a service culture requires clearly defining, developing, and delivering on that vision. It’s in the actual doing of these things that your organization’s culture will be established. A customer service culture isn’t what you claim to be; it’s what you are.

So, now I’ll ask you to think about your culture. Take time out for a customer service culture assessment. Think about the words, thoughts, processes, rules, actions, and all of your organization’s decisions and practices. Then evaluate them against what you truly want it to be. Does your customer service culture training cover the right material needed to clearly establish your culture to your organization? Would your customers agree that your customer service culture and mission are carried out in your words, thoughts, and actions? Can you clearly identify the right patterns and behaviors that individuals should follow to fit that ideal culture? Are you hiring based on people’s ability to connect with and fit that mold? Does your culture clearly define the right outcomes to be expected from the actions performed by the people in your organization? Does your culture focus on the innate strengths of your people? Does your culture fit and support your vision for what you ultimately want your people and your customers to think and feel after interacting with your organization?

DEFINING THE RIGHT CULTURE

Creating the right culture is more than just selecting your office space, the type of computers you use, where you eat, or how often you have parties and social gatherings. Your culture largely depends on the type of people you enlist and the connection they create with others to support your cause.

The Right Culture Inspires

Culture isn’t a mission statement; it’s a statement of action. Culture isn’t just an ideal you want to strive for, but the shared values, behaviors, and the proof that your actions support your ideals.

The Right Culture Fosters

When united in a common goal, people contribute to an environment where everybody willingly comes to work each day and pours their best efforts into doing what they believe will make the greatest difference.

The Right Culture Transforms

When working toward a higher purpose, the right culture has a real, positive effect on the work that is performed. It’s expressed in the work with customers, the interaction between colleagues, the relationships that are established, and the connection to the ultimate purpose of the group.

Customers today crave that sense of connectedness to the people with whom they do business. In previous generations, it was easier to know who you were dealing with because you did business with the owner in your local community. Too many corporations today hide behind a faceless corporate image. Are you crafting a sterile and soulless corporate voice to communicate with customers because it seems like the professional thing to do given your company size?

STALE IS EASY; BLAND IS CHEAP

Customers today are smarter than that. They see right through it. They may not tell you, but the more stale the interaction, the less connection customers have with your organization the next time they have to make a product decision. A customer service culture is more than answering phones and replying to emails. It’s