Customer Service - Exceeding Expectations

Jaime P. Bongiorno, Business Development Coordinator  

Good customer service rarely will elicit a reaction.  It’s expected.  The only time we really take notice and react is if the level of customer service falls below a stellar performance, and usually tell everyone we know about the encounter.  If someone exceeds ones expectations a little, we may smile and thank them with genuine sincerity.  We are satisfied, and we walk away.   But if someone goes above and beyond what we expected, clearly made us the number one priority – we also will tell everyone we know about the encounter.  It is the ‘Wow!’ factor.  We become loyal customers, returning time after time, offering positive and negative feedback.  It’s taking a satisfied customer and turning them into a “raving fan.”  

Going above and beyond -- exceeding expectations -- is what will get our valued clients raving.  Whether it is a brief encounter or a relationship built and developed over time, doing more than what is expected is what will keep them returning, promoting – and growing the company.  This concept is well described in Raving Fans, by Ken Blanchard, author of The One Minute Manager, and Sheldon Bowles.  It is required reading for many organizations.  It explains how to define a service vision and make stunning customer service a competitive advantage. 

Ken Blanchard tells a great story about Ritz Carlton employees.  Solving a customer's problem is paramount to the Ritz's operation.  Any employee can immediately spend up to $2,000 to solve a problem without getting anyone’s approval.  One account goes like this.  A businessman checked out of the Ritz Carlton and traveled to Hawaii to make an important scheduled presentation.  Upon arriving in Hawaii he discovers he had left his laptop, complete with the presentation, back at the Ritz.  He called the hotel.  A housekeeper had found the computer.  The businessman needed the computer absolutely the next day.  She took the computer to the airport, and she and the computer took off to Hawaii.  She didn't turn it into a vacation.  She returned on the next flight back.  When her boss asked her why she flew the laptop to Hawaii rather than shipping it, she simply stated that there was less margin for error if she took it there herself.

Stunning customer service a little extreme but certainly it makes a point.  Going that extra step that is unexpected and memorable isn’t just a positive for the client; it fuels momentum and energy in oneself.  Always ask yourself, “What else can I do?”.   And do it.  Creating a loyal and profitable customer base is every business’ secret to success.  It’s the difference between retaining raving customers and sending them running to the competitor.

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These materials have been prepared for educational and information purposes only. They are not consulting advice or opinions on any specific matters. Transmission of the information is not intended to create, and receipt does not constitute, a consultant-client relationship between The Hill Group, Inc. and any recipient of this material. Readers should not act upon this information without seeking professional advice.