| A clear definition of exceptional Customer service is | | | | Quick and efficient |
| important for any business. When is a Customer | | | | There were no negatives |
| service experience exceptional, when is it BAD and | | | | In a shop, this would be they had the item the |
| when is it good, but NOT exceptional? Everyone | | | | Customer wanted, the shop was clean, the item |
| knows that Customer satisfaction and keeping the | | | | easy to find and the person could pay for it quickly. |
| Customer happy is important. To many people in | | | | On the telephone, the perfect experience might be |
| business, however, these maxims are very vague | | | | that the call was answered quickly, the person got |
| and not clearly defined. A business, large or small, | | | | the right contact easily, the contact understood and |
| that is fuzzy in its approach to Customer Service, will | | | | solved my query very competently. |
| have only a very small chance of achieving success. | | | | On the people side, a perfect experience is - |
| If you know what success is, and why it is | | | | I LIKED the experience of dealing with these people |
| important, then you have a much higher chance of | | | | They were fast and efficient |
| succeeding, and delivering an exceptional Customer | | | | They were professional, courteous and respectful |
| service experience is no different! Your staff will be | | | | people |
| focussed in the right direction, and their efforts to | | | | In the shop example, a perfect experience would be |
| achieve exceptional Customer service will be | | | | polite, attentive but not pushy people, small queues |
| recognised and reinforced. | | | | to pay, warm people who struck the right tone. On |
| Three Types of Customer Service Experience | | | | the telephone, good listening responses, |
| The first step in looking for a definition of exceptional | | | | acknowledging the issue, positive, confident language |
| Customer Service is to identify why this is so | | | | while offering the solution, gaining the caller's |
| important. Frederick Reicheld, in his book The Loyalty | | | | agreement well and a warm close. |
| Effect, first identified the importance of Customer | | | | To deliver a perfect experience the Customer |
| loyalty, saying that this is the ONLY way to achieve | | | | Service person needs a high level of awareness. Too |
| real business success. To succeed in business, you | | | | pushy in the shop, or lack of eye contact, will trigger |
| must retain more Customers than your opposition. He | | | | a negative experience. Aggressive questioning, |
| recognised that the best of the best companies had | | | | negative language or inappropriate use of the Caller's |
| higher Customer retention than their competitors, | | | | name, will trigger a negative on the phone. However, |
| they knew HOW to keep their Customers and they | | | | perfection will NOT keep Customers coming back. |
| worked continuously to improve at building loyalty. | | | | This is EXPECTED and will not be memorable. |
| He identified three types of Customer service | | | | The Exceptional Customer Service Experience |
| experience - | | | | An exceptional Customer Service experience is |
| 1. The negative experience, where expectations | | | | perfection plus 10%. The extra experience must be |
| were not met | | | | unexpected, over and above what would be the |
| 2. The perfect experience, where expectations were | | | | normal experience. On the product or task side, this |
| fully met | | | | might be - |
| 3. The exceptional experience, where expectations | | | | - Two for the price of one |
| were fully met and something special was added | | | | - A relevant free offer with the product |
| In terms of retention, the negative experience will | | | | - Offering extra information that is of value to the |
| send Customers on their way to the opposition. That | | | | Customer |
| was obvious, and not a surprising finding. What was | | | | - Going the extra mile |
| new, however, was that a perfect experience, | | | | On the people side, it is offering an experience that is |
| expectations totally met, would not KEEP Customers | | | | both personal and appropriate. It might be - |
| coming back. Perfection is a very forgettable | | | | - Remembering the person from a previous visit and |
| experience. To have high retention, you need | | | | referring to this |
| perfection plus the exceptional Customer Service | | | | - Making a check-in call to follow up |
| experience, perfection plus the extra 10%. | | | | - Keeping a record of the Customer's likes and needs |
| The Perfect Customer Service Experience | | | | - and using this to anticipate needs |
| To identify the exceptional, we must first clarify the | | | | Opportunities to deliver the extra 10% are very |
| PERFECT Customer service experience. Perfect is | | | | specific to your line of work. If you LOOK for them, |
| expectations totally met. Separate the TASK or | | | | you will find them. They are like rabbits, get the first |
| PRODUCT side from the PEOPLE side of the | | | | two, and pretty soon you will have loads! You are |
| experience. On the task or product side, a perfect | | | | looking for that added extra. Get your Team to |
| experience is - | | | | identify these on a regular basis - |
| They had the right product | | | | 1. What will trigger a negative Customer Experience? |
| It was good quality | | | | 2. What will make up a perfect experience? |
| Good value for money | | | | 3. What is the extra, unexpected experience? |