Long term business success requires a lot of things done right, but one of the most critical things you can do and fully within your control is to live and breathe great customer service.

Why do some companies become an Amazon?

Hopefully the following will cause you to reflect. Maybe it will spark an opportunity for empowerment in your business.

A tale of two businesses….What company is your business modeling?

Amazon…

This past week I placed an order on Amazon and it was supposed to have Free Shipping. Somehow, I selected the wrong box during checkout and the order was processed with 2 day Shipping Charges. The shipping was almost as much as the order!

However, the Amazon solution was painless, simple, and efficient. I simply went to their website, connected to a live chat person and had two short posts explaining the situation. The reply was simple. “Mr. Steinlage your credit card will be credited the charges. Is there anything else we can help you with today?”

I didn’t have to explain my position over and over. The customer service representative didn’t have to check with a supervisor. It was over. Just like that; two simple posts and it was resolved.

Did Amazon gain a raving fan? Am I likely to be a return customer?  Would I recommend them to someone else?

Amazon has created a culture of customer service.

Local Restaurant Chain…

One of my brothers was in town recently and our families went out for dinner. One of the teenagers with my brother’s family ordered an item that was supposed to be for “kids only”, simply because that is what looked good on the menu. However, the restaurant employee was adamant that this teenager could not order this because she over the age limit. There was no reasoning, no option to pay extra, no logic, simply a policy that was drilled into this employee. The employee’s stern position even created commotion among other dining customers. It was truly bewildering to witness! In the end, we let it go and did not get the “kids only” food item.

Did this local restaurant gain a raving fan? Am I likely to be a return customer?  Will my brother (or anyone else that saw this happen) every return or recommend them to someone?

I can’t emphasize enough how important it is to make sure your team, your employees, your staff, and you keep common sense in your business. You need to trust and empower your employees to make simple decisions when the opportunities present themselves.  Create a simple checklist or set of rules for what they’re allowed to manage and when they need to bring in someone else.  Hire the right people and give them room to shine.

Trust me, your employees want to make decisions that are in the best interest of your company. They want You to be pleased with their performance and more importantly, they want the customer to be happy. If you honestly don’t think they do, they shouldn’t be part of your team.

Amazon ‘Gets It’. Do you?

We would love to hear how you address this in your business. Feel free to share in the comments below.

Chris Steinlage    Kansas City Business Coach

  photo by Phil Dowsing

Customer service is critical to long term success…everyone says so, which is why you have great customer service – right?

Think about it though…what company doesn’t think they don’t have good customer service? Go into any establishment and there’s at least one sign in every business promoting customer service, even if it is only a sign the says “Customer Service”. I am sure the owners of the businesses send out at memos, hold a meeting, or maybe even dedicated an entire section in their employee manual to “Customer Service”.  If you ask anyone if customer service is a priority – they’re going to tell you that it is.

Clearly Customer Service is important…but what is it really?

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Presentation.

Attention to detail.

Serving the customer.

I was at my daughter’s soccer game this morning and one of the other parents had recently purchased furniture for their daughter and although they liked the product, the overall experience was very bad.  What was promised in no later than 8 weeks delivery took over 10 weeks.  When they did deliver, they left out a mirror…it had been ordered and paid for, but didn’t get shipped and they made the family jump through hoops to finally get it done right!  On top of that, the store and the installers all acted like this was business as usual and didn’t offer a single apology!

But here’s the really sad and frustrating part… 

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  photo by Striatic 

I came across a great video (thanks to My Venture Pad) by Jeff Bezos (founder of Amazon) that has some really impactful and timeless advice.  It’s only a short 8 minute video, but there are a lot of really important ideas that come out of this.

The first thing that stands out to me is the confidence and the credibility that someone like Jeff Bezos has.  The purpose of the video is to give some background on why the recent purchase of Zappos by Amazon makes sense – primarily based on a shared culture and values of customer service and creativity.  This is a guy that launched one of the biggest success stories of our time 15 years ago (it’s amazing that it’s been that long) and he comfortably admits that they made mistakes along the way.

That’s how real life and business work – you learn from your mistakes and you get better.

However even bigger than that is his clear belief that everything stems from giving the customers what they want!  It’s not a revolutionary idea, but I can think of only a handful of companies (Amazon and Zappos among them) that have really put the idea into tangible practice. 

See the rest of the post for a summary and the actual video:

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  photo by Per  Ola Wiberg 

Although it’s starting to get too hot, it’s still gardening season and my wife has been doing a lot of work on our yard and flowers.  Some of it’s clean-up and the stuff you have to do every year, but a lot of it is finding new plants and flowers and figuring out what’s going to live and what’s not (and why).

We’re within a 5 mile drive of at least 1/2 dozen places that sell plants – several big box type of stores and a few local nursery operations.

The big corporate stores compete almost entirely on price – although they’re not necessarily the cheapest across the board, they are generally going to have lower prices.  However the overall quality is pretty suspect (unless you get there the day of a new shipment) and you are unlikely to get any real help or service.

It’s tough competition for the local stores…or is it?

Read More…