I recently received an invitation to join a webinar hosted by Klout entitled, “Surprise! Customer service doesn’t need to be delightful,” contrarily refuting the common sentiment that you need to go above and beyond for customer service these days.
At first read, it would seem they’ve stumbled upon a relieving discovery, but then I read the summary: Customers aren’t asking to be swept off their feet when they reach out to your service teams. According to recent Forrester research*, all they are want are the basics – single contact, fast, easy, and most importantly, a solution.
But, I would argue that providing the basics in customer service will sweep customers off their feet.
Let me explain.
Not expecting the unexpected from customer service
You see, customers aren’t expecting a single contact, or for their interaction to be fast and easy, nor provide an adequate solution.
I just had to chat with my cable provider about a billing issue and I had to jump through several hoops just to get a single question answered.
Come to find out, I had been charged extra for several months without any sign of that on my bill.
And that’s my expectation when calling. I know at the minute I dial the number for my cable company that I need my bottle of migraine pills in hand and ready to go.
Because tons of companies (the big ones, too) have been falling short for so long that customer sentiment has gone way down and the level of expectation has gone with it.
When expectations are lowered, the delight can come much easier.
Delighting customers is easier than you think
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying you should scale back or ignore the meat for the simple milk you can dish out to your customers.
If you’re already doing more than the minimum, good on you and keep up the good work, soldier.
Don’t let your guard down.
But delighting your customers doesn’t have to
A few ways you can delight your customers
1. Be available. That means being able to answer their calls or questions when they need them answered and being available on every channel that they are. Phone, email, social media. If you’re available, your customers will be happy.
2. Be responsive. If you weren’t available when your customers needed you, make time for them as soon as you can. Give them a cordial and complete response.
3. Offer a smooth process. Your customers should be able to progress through each stage of the process without seeing the man behind the curtain. If you plan it out, train on it, and practice it, your process will be smooth as margarine.
4. Be predictive. Not predictable, predictive means you’re thinking ahead and gauging the battlefield from afar. This helps provide seamless solutions to problems that haven’t even occurred to your customers yet.
5. Be a problem solver. Customers don’t like when things don’t go well, and things don’t always go well. So make sure you are able to provide adequate solutions when something goes wrong.
The sky’s the limit
There’s a myriad (dare I say plethora) of things you can do to delight a customer by just making sure you do your due diligence to them.
