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 CoachSimilar Posts:

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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?

Ah – there’s the rub.  Customer service is actually in the eye of the beholder.  The simplest answer is that Customer Service means different things to different people and it depends on the business at hand. If you’re walking into a fast food restaurant your expectations for Customer Service are not the same as when you walk into a 5 Star steak house.

What does customer service look like to your clients?

As a business owner, the important thing is to think about what do your customers expect?  What does customer service look like to your clients and customers you interact with on a daily basis? What’s expected in your industry?  In your marketplace?

Do all the people in your organization understand and share the same beliefs you have about Customer Service? Have you established boundaries with them? Do they have the authority to effectively handle a potentially combative situation that means making a decision that doesn’t follow the company’s guidelines 100%?

These are important conversations you should have with your employees. A company can easily spend years of time and money building a solid business relationship with a customer or a client base and literally destroy it over something that may have cost the company a fraction of profit in the short run.

Let me give you a quick example:  A few years ago, I was at a local business on a busy Saturday, a gentleman walks in and wants to return an item he had purchased and did not perform as he felt it was represented. The person behind the counter was adamant that the store policy was they could not take that particular item back if it had been used. The customer proceeded to try and explain his case politely, but he was not being heard. The person behind the counter deferred the issue to another person behind the counter, who had the same answer. The customer starts to get a little irate and then grew more agitated. All this time, there is a line of people waiting to pay and observing this great demonstration of “Customer Service”. Eventually the customer lays the item on the counter and walks out of the store.

On top of the poor perception, the employees behind the counter are relieved this “crazy customer” finally left and they feel good that they held their ground with the return policy.  WIthout another word they continued their business of providing “Customer Service” to the rest of the people in line.

What was the impact? To start with you had 4-6 customers standing in line witnessing a spectacle that should be happening in private. What’s the likely outcome for those customers?  How has this influenced their opinion of the store and this company’s “Customer Service”?

The irate customer who left will NEVER spend a penny in that store again and he will tell at least 10 people personally about his horrible experience in that store.  Today in the age of the internet, it’s quite likely he could share his story with hundreds of people. To emphasize the issue even further, the return in question had a retail price of under $20. The average sale per customer at this store is substantially more than $20.  The employees may have won this battle, but they certainly went the wrong direction when it came to winning the larger war.

It’s a fact – negative stories make for more interesting stories

Everyone has several stories of poor customer service they can tell at the drop of a hat. Why? Because those are the stories we remember and tell our friends about.  Think about the last time you had a bad encounter with a business…you’re a lot more likely to go out of your way to talk about than then you are to talk about a pleasant encounter that met or even exceeded your expectations.

The take away?  Effective Customer Service is critical and it can have a huge impact on your bottom line. As a consumer of goods and services, you know there are a LOT of businesses out there who don’t have good Customer Service…it’s hard to do it the right way. 

Make sure everyone in the organization understands what customer service needs to mean to your clients and your markets. Don’t be afraid to empower your employees to make a decision if you aren’t there. Most employees want to do what right – direct them and let them. Discuss situations in advance, so if your employees are ever in a difficult situation with a client a reasonable solution can be reached without the risk of losing them to a competitor.

Good Customer Service has to be just that, it can’t be “Lip Service”, it has to be “Real Service”. I will end with this thought…If asked, what would your customers & clients say about your businesses level of customer service? Please share your thoughts in the comments below.

Chris Steinlage  Kansas City Business Coach

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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… 

One of the other parents who was listening said “Yeah – I know what you mean, but that’s how all of the the furniture companies are…I’ve gotten to the point where I just expect them to screw up and I’m relieved when it’s only a minor issue.”

Business is hard to come by these days and entire industries have decided that the way they’ll survive is by cutting service, customer focus and attention to detail to the bone (and then some)!  I don’t think it’s possible to save your way to prosperity, but I can guarantee there are a lot of companies trying to do just that!

Here’s the good news!

As a small business owner, you have the ability to be different!  You should constantly be looking for your competitive advantage – something that you’re doing that your competition is unwilling or unable to do for themselves that’s meaningful to the customer. 

For a lot of businesses, that competitive advantage could be as simple as ‘we get the little things right!’.  Think about the stores that everyone loves to shop at…the big ticket example is Nordstrom.  Customer service is part of their demonstrated core values and they have stories and stories about how their staff will go out of their way to make it right if there’s a problem.

What about those non-chain stores that people rave about?  I haven’t been to Nell Hills, but wife loves to go despite it being a drive of over an hour to get there.  Based on what she’s told me, they do an amazing job of selecting seasonal merchandise that their customers enjoy, helping them plan out how pieces might look in their homes and generally making it an overall shopping experience not just going to a store.

Walt Disney realized that the longevity of the Disney theme parks was going to require more than just some rides and a theme…the whole experience needed to be filled with all of those little details that people may not notice at first but really appreciate in the long run.  In an interview Walt once said:

"Give people everything you can give them. Keep the place as clean as you can keep it. Keep it friendly, you know. Make it a real fun place to be…"

At Disney you’re not just an employee, you’re a cast member and when you walk out on the park, you are on stage and performing…even if that performance is pushing a broom.  If you’ve been to a Disney park, you can easily see and feel the difference there versus any other park I’ve ever been to.

What details can you over deliver on?

What do people typically hate about your line of work?  Is there a stereotype of inefficiency?  The cable guy will show up sometime between 8 and 12:00…!

Whatever the little things are that your competitors typically get wrong because they don’t care or can’t be bothered with…that’s where you can step things up and really stand out.  And the beautiful thing about developing a competitive advantage is that you are no longer competing on price.  You will succeed at a premium price with people that appreciate the importance of presentation, everything in it’s place, everything working the way it’s supposed to (or being handled if it’s not).

What are some things you could start doing in your business today that would upgrade the experience you deliver?  I’d love to hear your thoughts on companies that are doing it right – or maybe ideas on things that a lot of companies should be doing?  Share your thoughts in the comments below.

Shawn Kinkade   Kansas City Business Coach

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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:

4 Points on how to succeed in business

Looking back at the 15 years of a hugely successful business like Amazon, Jeff Bezos boils down his keys to success to 4 simple points.

1.  Obsess over the customers

It’s not obsessing over the competition, or technology, or things that are in your way, it’s a constant reminder that if you make the customers happy, then you are on the right path.

2.  Invent…on  behalf of your customers

Innovation is critical, but only if you’re doing it to improve the customer experience or to address something the customer wants.  How many businesses are inventing things they think are interesting, but ultimately not what the customers want?

3.  Think long term!

This is one that most publicly traded companies fail at – they are looking at what they’re going to tell Wall Street at the end of the quarter, and if the plans or products don’t help that story immediately then it’s probably not getting done.

4.  It’s always Day 1

You can’t rest on your laurels – the world is changing and you need to keep changing with it if you want to stay successful.

Here’s the video – you can also find it directly here if it doesn’t show up below:

That’s a pretty strong list – are you applying these ideas to your business?  What do this mean to you?  I’d love to hear your thoughts – share them in the comments below.

Shawn Kinkade  Kansas City Business Coach

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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?

Earning the business

We were joking last night that the local nursery has become a daily stop, but the truth is that we have gone there a lot lately – partly because it’s that time of year, but mostly because they’ve really earned the business.

On a typical visit, my wife will locate one of the several wandering employees and ask several questions (“The Coleus we planted 2 weeks ago is getting shredded by something, what’s doing it and what can we do?”, “We’ve got a dry shady corner – what’s likely to do well there?” – etc.).

Not only are the employees happy to answer her questions (even sometimes spending 15 to 20 minutes going into details) but they’ve all been very knowledgeable – clearly they enjoy what they do, they take it seriously and they like to help people.

So the prices might be slightly higher (although not always) but the service, the expertise and the selection make it a really easy choice to pay a bit of a premium.  And…not only are we loyal customers, but my wife has probably shared her experience with a dozen people (all of them interested and looking for a better place to shop for plants) in the last 4 weeks – I have to believe that’s helped their business.

What are you doing in your business?

When you look at how you interact with your customers, are you generating loyalty and stories they’ll tell to other people?  Are you training and incenting your employees to go out of their way and really deliver value and good will with every interaction they have?

I’d love to hear other examples or ideas of companies that are getting it right – share  you thoughts in the comments below!

By the way – in case your interested, it turns out that caterpillars love Coleus and about the only thing you can do about it is pick them off.

Shawn Kinkade  Kansas City Business Coach

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