Transform the Service Experience through Responsiveness

In this blog, we will consider what we can do to transform the service experience by demonstrating our responsiveness.  Responsiveness shows our competence and this creates Assurance. Responsiveness shows that we are Reliable and demonstrates that we have Empathy for our customers.

Recall that the name RATER[1] is an acronym with each letter representing the first letter of one of the five key dimensions of service quality.  They are:

R eliability: Our ability to provide what is promised, dependably and accurately

A ssurance: Our knowledge and courtesy, and our ability to convey trust and confidence

T angibles:  Our physical facilities and equipment, and our appearance

E mpathy:    The degree of caring and individual attention we provide to customers

Responsiveness:  Our willingness to help customers and provide prompt service

To demonstrate responsiveness, consider what your team can do to demonstrate responsiveness through every customer touch point.  For example, does everyone on your team know that responsiveness means being accessible?  Do they understand the importance of getting back to the customer in a reasonable amount of time?  Are they aware of what accounts for “reasonable” when getting back to customers, colleagues and suppliers?

Think about the other aspects of your business that signals your level of responsiveness.  For example, does your team keep their voice mail greetings current?  It’s pretty hard to be responsive if we are on vacation but our voice mail greeting says that we will get back to the caller “as soon as we can”.  Does your website clearly indicate the various ways that the customer can contact you and set the expectation of when they can expect a response if they don’t connect directly to a real person?  Does your voice mail system allow the caller to “zero out” to a live receptionist who can provide accurate information and transfer the call appropriately if needed?  Does the equipment you service provide clear information on how to contact you in an emergency?  When responding to requests, does your team use phrases like “I would be happy to do that” and thank the requestor for calling?  Does your after-hours service communicate interest and compassion?

As indicated throughout these recent blogs on the RATER model, the concept of transforming the service experience to one that is valued and creates a sustainable competitive advantage is surprisingly simple.  The difficulty, as in most things, is actually doing it.  This will prove challenging and will take time, effort and patience from everyone in the organization.  However, it will be worth the effort.  By helping our customers experience our Reliability, by acting in ways that creates Assurance, by supporting our professionalism through our Tangibles, by demonstrating our Empathy, and by establishing our Responsiveness to our customers, we create a service experience that is valued and that drives higher levels of customer loyalty and retention.  We will deliver a service experience that will differentiate us from our competitors.  We will ensure a service experience that is a win/win/win – higher level of service for our customers, a more interesting place for our employees to work and higher revenues and profitability for our company.

How responsive is your organization?  I’d love your feedback! And as always, please feel free to leave a link back to your own blog if you have one via the commentluv feature here on the site. If you are reading this blog post via email, you will need to locate this post on my website by clicking here. Scroll down to the bottom of the page where you will find the comment section.

Jim

It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change.

– Charles Darwin