I was reminded this morning that it doesn’t take much for a service provider to stand out from the crowd. There is a lot of focus on enhancing the customer experience and creating strong relationships that clearly differentiate you from your competition. My experience with my mobile service provider was a perfect case in point.
I woke up this morning to a problem. I could not send or receive emails from my smart phone. It seems that they were wiped out over the weekend when I was dealing with a completely unrelated problem. To set them up, I needed to know my user name and password. The ones I thought were correct turned out to be incorrect. Each time I tried it, the counter on my smartphone told me that I had only 6 tries left, then 5 tries, then 4.
On a normal day, this would be an inconvenience but this morning it was catastrophic (at least for me). It was 4:45 am and I was rushing to get to the airport for an early morning flight. We had a snowstorm overnight leaving the roads a mess and easily doubling the travel time. I would be away for a few days and my cell phone was my only link to my business during the day. I had to get this problem fixed quickly. I could feel the stress.
I called the carrier without much hope of getting anyone live at that time in the morning and, to my relief, I got through to a customer service representative. I explained the problem I was experiencing and he pointed out that I did not have an account and I would need to set one up. He explained how to go about it, gave me some helpful advice on selecting a User I.D., and waited on the phone while I completed the instructions. He then happily continued to stay on the line while I set up my emails, although he certainly did not have to. When I told him I appreciated his support he replied that he knew I was anxious about the situation and he wanted to ensure that everything went smoothly and should there be a glitch, he would be there to help me out.
Now, in the scheme of things, I guess you could say that the customer service representative was just doing his job. And maybe, he had nothing better to do at that time in the morning – I don’t suppose he would have been run off his feet. However, the willingness to stay on the line and guide me through the steps until everything was working the way I needed it was the best thing he could have done for me this morning. It showed that he was sensitive to my situation (please read this prior blog post on empathy) and he provided the level of support he felt would suit my needs in the circumstances.
It seems to me that this is something exceptional field service technicians do as a matter of course. They stay around a few extra minutes to ensure that the problem that was repaired was done so correctly. They follow-up on recent work to make certain the customer is happy. They understand and show empathy for the customer’s situation by acting in a way that best suits the customer’s needs given the circumstances. This isn’t much, but technicians who practice these small extra steps, certainly stand out from their peers. And, so do the companies they represent.
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Jim
“Service to others is the rent you pay for your room here on earth.”
– Muhammad Ali
“Money isn’t everything, … but it’s way ahead of whatever is in second place!” is a quote that is connected to some of the happiest times of my life. Little did I know at the time that, with a slight modification of a single word, it could hold an important message for service companies.
I received an important reminder about giving customers our hearts as well and our heads. I was having lunch with a good friend and client last week and we got onto the topic of the benefits and pitfalls of engaging technicians in business development activities. In particularly we were talking about how sales people can use the proactive promotion of services by their technicians to differentiate themselves when selling contract services. I mentioned that while most companies give their customers their hands (i.e. do good work), proactive service companies provide customers with their heads as well. By looking out for their customers and making helpful suggestions to allow them to be more effective at operating their facilities, they are providing the highest level of service.
It was a rude awakening to a valuable reminder. Bang! I was in Calgary to present a seminar on communicating value. I squinted at the hotel alarm clock. Not quite five. Bang! There it was again. Another insensitive guest on their way to an early start I surmised and closed my eyes.
I tried to make an appointment last Monday to take my motorcycle in for the end of season oil change and instead I learned the 6 steps on how to use the telephone to turn away business. I thought it might be helpful to share it with you.
Recently, I had the opportunity to observe a manager of a large, electronics store deal with emotional customers to a positive result. My daughter and I were the emotional customers.
At one of our Proactive Service® workshops, one of the techs – let’s call him John – told me, “They don’t pay me to look good, they pay me to fix things!”. We were discussing the importance of how we personally present ourselves at the customer’s facilities. John, who looked like he hadn’t shaved in a few days and was wearing a well-worn company T shirt, was obviously not convinced about the importance of appearance in service delivery. It wasn’t the first time I had heard this.
We’ve all experienced it. You need to get something done and the customer service person you are relying on says, “I can’t help”. The solution requires a little bit of empathy, perhaps some creativity and a lot of common sense. Although the clerk may be smart, efficient and good at their job, they fail to show any of the three requirements. There is no empathy, little creatively and certainly no evidence of common sense.
In step 5 of 
The 5th step in creating a Proactive Service® culture within your service team is to follow-up on opportunities. Following up on opportunities may seem like a self-evident step, but it is often not accomplished.
