How to give excellent service

Giving an excellent service to your customers can be the factor that makes you stand head and shoulders above your competitors. So how do you do it?

Andrew Brown in Customer Care Management asks us to imagine the following scenario:

You book your car in for a repair and some routine maintenance. The local garage handles the booking over the phone very well, and agrees to take the car in at 9 am. When you arrive, there's a short wait, but not very long, since the garage has the paperwork ready prepared. They agree to have the car fixed by 5 pm.

During the day, they phone you to let you know what needs fixing and at 5 pm the car is ready as promised, with the bill made out - and no nasty shocks! The interior of the car is clean and the floor and seat covers have been removed. You can tell that it has been well serviced because of the feel of the pedals and the sound of the engine. The repairs that you asked for have all been carried out.

So, asks Andrew Brown, how many marks out of ten do you award the garage for service?

Says Andrew: "I would like to suggest that they are awarded zero. They have, after all, simply done what they promised to do. They have fulfilled their obligations to the minimum degree. The only reason why we might be tempted to give them high marks is because most garages don't even reach this minimum level. As a result, our expectations are rock bottom and we are thrilled to receive any sort of service at all."

Are you giving your customers only the level of service that they expect to receive. If so, why not look for ways in which you can surprise and delight them. That is one sure way that you can continue to "build a chain of customers" as Richard Schonberger entitles his excellent book. And it's a sure way of keeping competitors away from your valued customers.

We like to think that our clients all give that little bit extra to their customers. That's what we teach them!

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