While it makes sense that customers want to feel treasured and be made to feel like VIPs, there are very few companies that actually deliver the goods.
Very often, customers experience treatment that makes them believe they are just a number or a dollar sign to the companies they buy from.
The problem with this kind of treatment is that there is way too much competition in today’s global and online marketplace for any company to think that customer service can make it as an afterthought. If anything, the current economy where customers are scaling back with their discretionary spending means that playing nice actually needs to become being nice and grateful for their business at all times. Service Expressions
There are many ways that you can express a higher level of service as Customer Service Expert Lisa Ford has noted:
- Service Their Way: Like Burger King, you should deliver service the way the customer likes it – hot, fresh, and unique. There is no way that homogenized service delivery is going to speak to every customer. This means you must use different channels to reach out to people on their terms as well as change your service offering for each demographic in your customer base.
- Service on Time: Being fast yet efficient with a dash of quality should be part of every service recipe. Customers want you to answer them quickly, they want quality service, and they want you to deliver what they asked for rather than what was convenient or on hand for you.
- Service with Style: Nobody wants to do business with a robot – at least not yet! Even if you are an online company or virtual business, all customers want a human and personable touch to their transactions and purchases. Be present in the service delivery by acknowledging customers, picking up the phone once in awhile and talking to them, or sending personal notes that point out something unique about them as your individual customer.
Gratitude Delivery
Gratitude is so much more than just saying “thanks and have a nice day.” And, it goes beyond common courtesy and prompt attention. It is a much deeper and more emotional way of expressing how much you appreciate your customers and their decision to select you for their product or service.
Academic research has concluded that gratitude in service delivery goes a long way to cementing customer loyalty across many purchase decisions. Here are some tips on showing gratitude:
- Be Genuine: Customers are not dumb. They know when and if a company is genuinely thankful for their business, so it doesn’t pay to try to come off as thankful if the messages are not genuine and backed up by actions.
- Be Empathetic: Illustrate to customers that you relate to their ‘pain points’ or their problems by connecting your own experiences to theirs and offering a solution that benefits them in a way to make that pain go away. After all, gratitude is an action where you illustrate just how much you want to help them and appreciate them as individuals.
- Be Consistent: With so much fickle attitudes that customers get hit with on a daily basis, a winning strategy is to ensure that each and every time there is customer interaction that they get the same level of appreciation and interaction. This is especially the case when they may interact but not buy at that particular time. It’s not about showing gratitude that they bought from you. Instead, it means being grateful that they window-shopped or even stopped by to ask a question.
Loyalty Strategy Planning
Delivering these two keys to customer loyalty does not happen overnight and takes a lot of practice. Whether you are a brick-and-mortar operation or an online small business, it is not easy to develop a winning loyalty strategy on your own. Consider working with experts who specialize in customer loyalty techniques or who can help hone your customer interaction actions and attitudes to win over your current and future customers.
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