English writer Samuel Johnson said, “People need to be reminded more often than they need to be instructed.” So, I encourage you to remind your colleagues, people, and yourself of one of the QUI QUOTES for QUI TAKEAWAYS. With that in mind, here is today’s:
QUI TAKEAWAY: To customers, their perception is reality, image is everything, and their feelings are the facts.
It’s not about what you THINK AFTER their experience. It’s about how your customers FEEL DURING their experience.
When it comes to their experience and your service, don’t be just good. Be GREAT out there!
English writer Samuel Johnson said, “People need to be reminded more often than they need to be instructed”. So, I encourage you to remind yourself and your colleagues every day about each one of The Rule of Three QUI TAKEAWAYS to Customer Service and Customer Experience. Because nobody can remember Number Four.
I am here to tell you that if you’re not in the Top Three, you don’t even exist in the minds of your potential customers. Here’s why. Who was the first president of the United States? Of course, George Washington. Who was Number Four? Who was the first person on the moon? Neil Armstrong. But who was Number Four?
Why do we have so much difficulty remembering who is Number Four? It’s because most of us can only easily remember up to three things. In the very beginning, only three TV channels used only three letters: ABC, NBC, and CBS. How many wishes do you get from a genie? When you were in school, what did they teach you if you were ever to catch on fire? Stop, Drop, and Roll. If good things come in threes, what does that make Number Four?
By the way, the answers to who was Number Four were James Madison and Alan Bean.
But I digress. Here are The Rule of Three QUI TAKEAWAYS to Customer Service and Customer Experience:
QUI TAKEAWAY: You are happy because customers were satisfied with their purchase of your product or service. But that’s not good enough. Satisfied customers feel that their experience was good, not better, just average. Nobody raves about average. And satisfied customers will not return as soon as they find a better experience or a less expensive price.
So, don’t just serve to sell your products or services to customers. And don’t just serve to satisfy customers. Instead, serve to WOW them. Serve to CARE.
COMMUNICATE with each customer with a smile, eye contact, and polite interaction. Inform each customer transparently and interactively of the product’s or service’s function, benefits, liabilities, and advantages to them.
ACKNOWLEDGE each customer’s presence and value to you and your company.
RESPOND empathetically to each customer’s questions, concerns, and complaints.
ENRICH the experiences of every customer.
And when you CARE, each customer feels respected, appreciated, and valued. They are WOWED and happy, intent on returning repeatedly, spending more money, and raving to others on social media.
QUI TAKEAWAY: Customers pay for their experience, not your product or service. And it’s THEIR experience, not yours. They buy with emotion and justify their decision with reason. Customers seek the best emotional value in their entire experience, not the minutia of your logically reasonable best prices, products, or services.
The best emotional value to customers is in your personalized interactions with them, not their “cash or credit” sales transactions with you.
The customer’s relationship with you, not their purchase of your product, is the conduit where true customer experience value flows.
To you, relationship capital is the only real currency of value to grow your business. So, when it comes to your customers and you and your business, think RELATIONSHIPS or Go Broke. Literally.
QUI TAKEAWAY: Customer loyalty is not one BIG WOW to a customer. It’s one little wow delivered consistently to every customer. And when you consistently deliver a little wow, you transform an average, satisfactory customer experience into a positively WOW Experience.
So, be Magnificently Boring! Consistently deliver a low-cost, no-cost “a little better than the average experience that customers expect” product or service so repetitively that you feel it is boring, but to the customer, at that moment, you are Magnificent! For retailers, start opening 10 minutes earlier and closing 10 minutes later. For hotels, offer bottled water at arrival and departure. For auto service repair businesses, wash the car before returning the vehicle. For restaurants, personalize the menu with the customers’ names and special occasions, such as birthdays and anniversaries. Customers have an emotional connection with you. The more emotional the connections, the more memorable the experiences, and the more loyal the customers are. Your loyal customers will return repeatedly, spend more money, and rave to others about you on social media. Consistency builds trust. Trust builds relationships. Relationships build loyalty. Loyalty builds your business. Deliver consistency Magnificently!
Every morning, when you prepare your customer CARE people to engage and WOW your customers, I encourage you to remind your people during the daily briefing by reciting one of your favorite QUI TAKEAWAYS. In the end, you say, “Don’t be just good”, and everyone responds loudly in unison. “Be GREAT out there!”
English writer Samuel Johnson said, “People need to be reminded more often than they need to be instructed”. So, this week, I encourage you to remind yourself and your colleagues of this:
Customers pay for their experience, not your product or service. They buy with emotion and justify their decision with reason. Customers seek the best emotional value in their experience, not your logically reasonable best price, product, or service. When they complain, they don’t complain about the price. They complain about the value of their experience for the price that you’re asking them to pay. On the flip side, when customers seek the best value in their experience, they will pay, no matter the price.
QUI TAKEAWAY: It’s not about the good service you render. It’s about the GREAT experience your customers remember. Don’t just be good. Be GREAT out there!
The “World’s Best” experience is not as “the world” sees it, but as one customer personally FEELS it.
Customers pay for their experience. And they seek the best value in their experience for the price you are asking them to pay. So, a person living in Detroit, MI who has a five-figure salary feels the best value isn’t a luxury plane to the Alps, but rather a four-hour drive UpNorth to Boyne Mountain. Instead of skiing through mountainous terrain for the week, sipping on Malbec wine from Argentina, and savoring Swiss cheese fondue, he skis up and down, again and again, on Boyne Mountain, every weekend day, gulping beer bottles of Milwaukee Light, and chomps on Wisconsin brats with his friends every weekend night. To him, that’s the World’s Best!
Once you understand the World’s Best experience for each customer, then you need to consistently deliver that experience to every customer with the Rule of Three QUI TAKEAWAYS to deliver the World’s Best customer experience. Why only three? Because nobody can remember Number Four.
Here are the three:
QUI TAKEAWAY: Customer service is what you do for your customers. Customer experience is how your customers feel before, during, and after what you do. Customer experience management is what you do before, during, and after discovering how customers feel about what you did. Customer loyalty is how your customers feel about what you proactively do repeatedly.
QUI TAKEAWAY: Customers pay for their experience, not your product or service. They buy with emotion and justify their decision with reason. Customers seek the best emotional value in their experience, not your logically reasonable best price, product, or service. When they complain, they don’t complain about the price. They complain about the value of their experience for the price that you’re asking them to pay. On the flip side, when customers seek the best value in their experience, they will pay, no matter the price.
QUI TAKEAWAY: The best emotional value in your customers’ experience is in your personalized interactions with them, not their business transactions with you. When it comes to customer loyalty, don’t get inside their heads. Get inside their hearts. Create an emotional connection. Don’t serve to satisfy your customers. Satisfied customers feel that their experience was good, not better, just average. Nobody raves about average. And satisfied customers will not return as soon as they find an experience that is better or a less expensive price.
Serve to WOW them! Serve to CARE.
COMMUNICATE with every customer with a smile, eye contact, and polite interaction. Inform each customer transparently and interactively of the product’s or service’s function, liabilities, and advantages to them.
ACKNOWLEDGE each customer’s presence and value to you and your business.
RESPOND promptly and empathetically to each customer’s questions, concerns, and complaints.
ENRICH the experiences and, ultimately, the lives of every customer.
The more emotional the connections, the more memorable the experiences, and the more loyal your customers are. Your loyal customers will return repeatedly, spend more money, and rave to others on social media.
When you understand the Rule of Three, don’t just think and talk about it. Do it! Don’t just serve to satisfy your customers. CARE for your customers and be GREAT out there! To them, that’s the World’s Best!
The Rule of Three Steps for CX Success: Select for passion. Educate with CARE. Empower for excellence.
Select for passion. Serving customers because you HAVE TO is a job. Serving customers because you WANT TO is a passion. Find that passion. Don’t hire an employee. Soon, employees will see for themselves and tell each other that their “profits over people” bosses care about topline revenue, bottom-line profits, stock price, market share, and even their competitors more than they do the people, their subservient employees. Bosses don’t care much about their employees and their employees could care less about the bosses or customers and will soon leave. Instead, select people for passion. Then …
Educate with CARE. Don’t train your employees. Training is finite (usually one to four days), one way, “I know everything, you know nothing,” instruction. Instead, educate your people interactively, frequently, and continuously with customer CARE, like telephone etiquette, service recovery, and prompt, polite, and personalized interactions. Then …
Empower for excellence. Whatever your title or position, be a servant leader who will CARE for your people.
COMMUNICATE openly, transparently, interactively, frequently, and continuously any information your people need and want to know. Listen empathetically to the people’s concerns, questions, and complaints. Express compassion with your recommendations and encouragement.
APPRECIATE the important roles and responsibilities of your people.
RECOGNIZE and offer accolades for team and individual accomplishments and acts of
service.
ENRICH the experiences and ultimately the lives of your people.
When you select for passion, educate with CARE, and CARE for your people, your people will feel respected, appreciated, and valued. With your support and encouragement, inspire and empower them to develop themselves and engage customers. When you create a GREAT experience for your people, they will do the same for your customers, and you will earn the loyalty of both. The experiences and lives of everyone, your people and your customers, you and your business, will be enriched.
QUI TAKEAWAY: Don’t hire employees and train them on good customer service. Instead, select people for passion and educate them with customer CARE. Don’t let them be just good. Empower them to be GREAT out there!
Mission statements don’t enthuse people to engage and WOW customers. Passion statements do. In the spirit of paying it forward, I offer you this
OUR PASSION STATEMENT
First, we will be best for our customers. Then we will be first among our competitors.
Let’s not serve to satisfy our customers. Satisfied customers feel that their experience is good, not better, just average. Nobody raves about average. And satisfied customers will not return when they find something better or less expensive.
Instead, let’s serve to WOW our customers! Let’s serve to CARE.
COMMUNICATE with every customer with a smile, eye contact, and polite interaction. Inform each customer transparently and interactively of the product’s or service’s function, liabilities, and advantages to them.
ACKNOWLEDGE each customer’s presence and value to us and our business.
RESPOND promptly and empathetically to each customer’s questions, concerns, and complaints.
ENRICH the experiences and, ultimately, the lives of every customer.
When we CARE, our customers are WOWED and happy, intent on returning repeatedly, spending more money, and raving about us to others on social media.
Let’s not be just good to satisfy our customers. Let’s WOW them! Let’s CARE for them. And let’s be GREAT out there!
Corporate executives and CX influencers have traditionally advocated their business jargon, and their employees and customers have subserviently understood and followed them. For example, business leaders have defined contact centers when customers “contact” them to ask a question or have a problem with a product or service. The leaders then analyze their agents’ FCR metrics for First Contact Resolution.
Concurrently, business leaders and CX influencers dub customer service representatives as the frontline. But frontline? Really? They may logically say that customer service is the frontline because they are front and center with customers. However, as customers, we emotionally feel we are doing battle with the customer service frontline.
Well, no more. As customers, NOW is the time for our customer CARE Revolution!
We pay for our experience, not your product or service. And we pay for our entire experience, not yours. It’s ALL about us, NEVER about you. We seek the best emotional value in our entire experience, not the minutiae of your logically reasonable best prices, products, or services of yours. For instance, when we have a problem or complaint, the best emotional value for us is not a first-contact response with contact center agents. The best value in our experience is in the agents’ personalized interactions, not their business transactions.
While business leaders are happy because their customers are satisfied with the purchase of their product or service, that’s not good enough for us. Satisfied customers feel that their experience is good, not better, just average. Nobody raves about average. And satisfied customers will not return as soon as they find a better experience or a less expensive price.
Accordingly, contact centers and businesses must do better.
Doctors and nurses don’t serve their ailing patients. They care. So shouldn’t customer service be customer care? Even better, as customers, we deem contact center and customer service representatives to be the customer CARE team. Their service mantra should be:
“We CARE for each customer:
COMMUNICATE with polite interaction. We inform each customer with transparency of the product’s or service’s function, liabilities, and advantages. Listen to understand the customer’s questions.
ACKNOWLEDGE each customer’s presence and value.
RESPOND empathetically to each customer’s concerns, and complaints.
ENRICH the experiences and lives of every customer.
When we CARE, each customer has an emotional connection. The more emotional the connections, the more memorable the moments, and the more loyal our customers are. Our loyal customers are WOWED and happy, intent on returning, and raving to others on social media.”
So, as customers, let’s be revolutionary in improving our customer experience with Customer CARE. NOW is our time! Let’s be loud and proud! Let’s be revolutionary! And let’s have our experience be GREAT out there!
Your brand is not a result of your marketing actions. Your brand is the result of customers’ perceptions of your customer service actions.
On social media, customers are talking about you whether you like it or not know it or not. World-class or no class. And if they’re not talking world-class or no class, they’re simply not talking about it all. So, when it comes to your customers and customer service, don’t be just good. Be GREAT out there!
The customer is not always right. But the customer is ALWAYS YOUR customer. Listen intently, respond empathetically, apologize, and do whatever it takes to resolve the problem, even if it means having to go with your customer to your competitor.
Contrary to popular customer service mantras, when all alternatives don’t work, DON’T fire the customer. Simply ask him to resign. “I’m sorry but I’m not able to resolve your problems. Could I recommend Company X for your experience? I could contact them if you like.” Both the customer and your competitor are happy. The customer will remember you and might be loyal to you. The competitor is happy because you recommended them. They may refer you later when they cannot resolve another customer’s complaint. A Mutual Admiration Society of sorts.
QUI QUOTE: Instead of giving incentives to your customers who fill out your surveys, offer rewards and recognition to your people who deliver service so GREAT customers rave about them on your surveys and social media.
Customers pay for their experience, not your product or service. And it’s THEIR experience, not yours. Customers seek the best emotional value in their experience. And their best emotional value is in your people’s personalized interactions, not your “cash or credit” business transactions. So, when customers rave about your people, then you should do the same. When you recognize and reward your people, they will feel respected, appreciated, and valued. When you create a GREAT experience for your people, they will do the same for your customers, and everyone’s lives will be enriched, financially and emotionally. Soon, you will earn the loyalty of both. A win-win-win situation: Your customers, your people, and you.
"People need to be reminded more often than they need to be instructed."
Samuel Johnson
This blog, along with my Facebook, Instagram and Twitter pages, offer practical tips, insight and inspiration to serve as reminders on how to improve your personal delivery of customer service.
BILL QUISENG | Deliver the World's Best Customer Experience 