What is extraordinary service? First of all, extraordinary is two words: extra and ordinary. Your company may claim to offer extraordinary service but in most experiences extraordinary service is simply ordinary service times two.
Tom Peters, management consultant, recently said that customer service is like hygiene for business: in the same way that you would expect to brush your teeth, you serve customers. It's just something that's come to be expected. He went on to say that the point of service is to not just be better than the worst, but to in fact be far better than anything that currently exists. But how do you measure "better?" In order for you to claim to be better you have had to experience something worse. Without the comparison point, the exercise is futile.
So, back to extraordinary service. Service everywhere is ordinary. All service is based on the same ordinary service model, some with sheer moments of brilliance and some with incredibly disappointing results. There is no extraordinary service. Why? Because there are no extraordinary service trainers. Everyone's service models are based on everyone else's service models with a few tweaks and adjustments. That is what makes extra-ordinary service twice as ordinary.
Seth Godin, author of the book The Purple Cow, uses the word "remarkable" when he speaks of service. His definition of the word remarkable is offering something so out of the ordinary, that people are willing to remark on it.
I mean, how simple it would it really be to stop saying, "thank you and have a nice day" when you know that clerk behind the counter really doesn't mean it when he or she says it anyway. They have been told by management that that's how they must speak to the customer. Instead, why not say, "thank you and enjoy your sandwich." Or, "thank you, I hope we see you again tomorrow."
Why is it so hard to make the service experience personal? I mean, all you have to do is to look in the bag of what you're handing the customer and remark on what they purchased. Yes you're right, that means no more going about the job mindlessly. You have to be present in order to offer this sort of service. You actually have to have your mind on your work and be engaged with the customer in order to offer this type of service.
There are websites, books, seminars, white papers, videos and webinars offering suggestions in helping employees engage better on the job. When really, all that needs to be done is to encourage employees to be present in their work. That means, giving them work that means something. And the employee has to mean something before the work can mean something. That means training employees in the art of soft-skills before they are trained in customer service skills. But that's a whole other discussion.
Attitude Adjustment: In training people in the art of customer service, the service model has got to be able to be understood by every single person -- from genius to moron. You can't break your staff training sessions into two groups: those who are intelligent and those who are idiots. Your customer service model has got to be able to be carried out by all employees regardless of their intelligence. So, the service model gets dumbed down to the lowest common denominator so that everyone is capable of grasping the basic concepts.
The reason customer service will never change is because the customer doesn't change. Customers will always need to buy things. Customers have accepted that this is how they buy things. Customers have accepted that service is ordinary. Customers are still willing to part with their money even though the service is merely ordinary. So, until the demand for service increases, the service itself will not increase. It will still be extraordinary. Sorry, I mean extra-ordinary (ordinary with a side-order of more ordinary).
That is, of course, unless you're willing to do something outrageous with your service.
1 comment:
Interesting!!
Thanks for sharing.
Management consultant in Netherlands!!
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