Most businesses are not new or novel and operate in a known and contested market. Therefore, it is imperative for any clone business to separate itself from the competition by offering an exceptional customer experience. I recently found an article written by a former SCORE colleague, Tuck Aikin, several decades ago that addresses this very issue. The message remains as true today as it was when Tuck wrote it. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.
Responding to a call from a home fixtures store that our order was in, my wife found a parking space, entered the store, and dutifully stood at the sales counter. On entering the store, she was aware that three salespeople helping other customers had noticed her, but no one broke off what they were doing. They ignored her.
After a few minutes of this, my wife wandered around the store looking for someone else who might be able to help her. Not a soul in sight. Another 15 minutes later the meter had run out so she left.
This ever happen to you? Undoubtedly. This level of service (if it can be called that) is pervasive these days, and most of us just put up with it, until that is, we can take our business elsewhere.
Does it have to be this way? Managers tell us that it’s almost impossible to deliver a satisfactory level of customer service and they cite a number of causes:
Can’t find good people
It’s simple work so the pay is modest
There’s no employee loyalty so turnover in service personnel is high
Can’t risk offending a customer presently being served by interrupting to serve another
Can’t afford to staff for only occasional peaks in customer traffic
Etc.
If this were universally true, then why is it that every so often we encounter that rare service experience that’s superlative:
Our presence is acknowledged by a salesperson who is helping someone else
We are assured help is on the way and it actually happens
Apologies are offered for delays and inconvenience
We feel that service personnel truly care
That they’re not just parroting what they’ve been told to say
The answer, of course, is that these uncommon businesses have figured out that to succeed they have to distinguish their company from their competitors whose products aren’t fundamentally all that different.
When I expressed appreciation for the prompt and attentive service we received to the owner of a west-side standard-fare breakfast restaurant, he told me about the wise advice he’d been given by his parents when he took over the operation:
“Gene, anyone can serve eggs, bacon, and coffee for breakfast, so you’ve got to bring in customers with outstanding service.”
Clearly, he heeded their advice.
How do these high-performing businesses do it?
They realize that serving customers is not simple, and they hire, train, and compensate accordingly.
They imbue their customer contact people with the principle of responsive service.
They teach techniques in how to deal with more than one person at a time, how to temporarily suspend working with one customer to acknowledge another without ruffling any feathers, and how to be of service without having to be subservient (employees need their dignity too).
Systems are put in place too to handle overflow, such as cross-training a repairs department employee to handle initial customer sales or installing buzzers to signal other store areas that extra help is needed.
Probably most importantly, high service companies are very selective about who they hire and retain – remember, these jobs are given the serious attention they deserve and good compensation attracts applicants. The key characteristics sought in service personnel are a genuine liking of other people, an ability to do simple mental math, an ability to “multi-task” (handle several things at once), and an affinity for attention to detail. And probably the most important of all, a good work ethic and a desire by the individual to perform at their highest level.
Too bad we don’t know how to test for some of these before an applicant is hired.
So, make your business different – focus on outstanding service. Your competitors aren’t, or are they?
Tuck Aikin was a former SCORE colleague of mine for many years until his retirement. Tuck is a prolific writer and wrote small business-themed articles for the Colorado Springs Gazette for many years. As a co-mentor, Tuck was my inspiration for me starting this blog. The preceding post is reproduced with permission from the author.
