PETER SHANKMAN
| POSTED ON January 25th, 2012 | 36 COMMENTS | + ADD YOUR COMMENT |
I’ve said it before – We don’t currently live in a world that regularly expects excellent customer service. In fact, with each passing generation, the customer service bar is actually lowered a bit more.
Example: In the 50s, you’d drive into a gas station, and four uniformed attendants would rush over, each handling a different chore, from checking your oil, to pumping your gas, to cleaning your windows, and other basic automobile tasks. It was simply what was done. Can you imagine that? Four guys, waiting for you to drive in, and actually running to service you? I was driving to Atlantic City last week to give a speech, and stopped in to get gas. Because New Jersey is one of the few states where it’s illegal for a driver to pump his own gas (anyone know the actual reason why? I don’t…) an attendant came over. While the gas was pumping, she actually squeegeed my front window clean, on her own, proactively! I was so shocked that I gave her a tip! I can’t remember that ever happening to me before. But in the 50s, it was standard. For countless reasons that are irrelevant to this story, standards have lowered. They’ve lowered by a lot. And with them, so have our expectations. Whether it be for a multimillion dollar corporate buy on which we sign off, or for a salad where all we ask is for the dressing to be on the side, our expectations have dropped along with the standards for customer service. The worst part, without question, is that they’ve dropped to levels well below “ok” or “fair” or “average.” Our typical expectation for a customer service transaction starts at “poor,” and if we’re lucky, ends at “fair.”
It’s simply what we’ve become as a society. And yet, wonderfully, that’s actually good news for all of us reading this post!
See, since we have such low expectations of customer service, (and I know I’ve said this before, but it’s worth repeating…) It’s so incredibly easy to blow each and every one of your customers’ minds, and shock them into 100% loyalty, every single time you’re given the chance! All you have to do is simply treat each customer one level above “crap.” Amazingly, you don’t even have to be anywhere near “great, “awesome,” or “outstanding” to be different than the norm. To be thought of as “good,” we just need to treat our customers one level above the normal expectation of crap. That’s it. Anything we do that goes above and beyond “one level above crap,” is so rare, and so unexpected, that if you do that, you can rule the world.
With that said, imagine my surprise tonight when I got an email from John Korff, the President of Korff Enterprises, otherwise know as the guy who runs the company that puts on the wildly popular New York City Triathlon every summer. John’s been producing this race since the very beginning, well over ten years ago, when it was ever so small – Now, it’s one of the yearly crown jewels of the NYC sports world, right up there with the NYC Marathon, and as of this coming August, the NYC Ironman Triathlon.
At first, I assumed it was a form letter, since I’d been accepted into my 8th NYC Triathlon, coming up this July. (Why so many? Because I’m an idiot who never learns, but that’s not the point.)
I double-clicked to find an actual email, from John himself, congratulating me for getting in again this year, and thanking me for doing my eighth one!
I was still pretty sure it was a form letter – CRM software can easily know those things – But I still thought it was a nice touch. Either way, I happened to be sitting in front of my computer when it came in, so I dropped a reply back almost immediately to John, thanking him for the note, and letting him know that I was also doing the NYC Ironman the next month. Didn’t expect a reply, since I still kinda thought it was an auto-email.
Two minutes later – “Wow, Peter – Both! You know, we call those who do the NYC Triathlon then the Ironman the next month “Hudson Doublers!”
So it actually was him. At 6:55pm on a Tuesday night.
What made him email me? Was he looking for repeat “customers,” as it were? Those who’ve done his race more than once? If so, smart – Remember – it’s not cheap to race these races – Perhaps he realized that and wanted to let us know that our continued support of what he built hasn’t gone unnoticed. Perhaps he’s just that nice of a guy – Perhaps it was all planned out on a spreadsheet, and it was just my time to get that email?
It doesn’t matter. I’ve run a TON of races, all over the place, and this is the first time that any race director reached out to thank me, unprovoked, on his own. You can damn well bet I’m going to race his race every year, as long as my body will let me.
It’s those little things – What’s an email? It’s not a steak at an airport (not that there’s anything wrong with that, either) – But ironically, I think that’s the problem – That’s where the disconnect lies for the majority of businesses:
We’re tricked into believing that the best customer service can ONLY be achieved by these massive, over-the-top acts of grandeur – The airport steak – the “we’ll replace your car” – The types of customer service events that make the evening news and get blogged about.
THAT IS WRONG!
I offer you this: (shrunk, for your Tweeting ease:) The best acts of customer service are the tiny things that reinforce the customer’s loyalty. They can be done daily, usually without any cost, and can foster customer retention, increase customer satisfaction, and yes, even grow your customer base by increasing word of mouth, through social media and other platforms. In other words: If you focus on the little things, your company will benefit, customers and clients will increase, and most importantly, REVENUE WILL RISE.
Don’t stop trying to create that one “massive” customer service story that goes viral and winds up on CNN. Never stop trying to do that, because you never know when it might happen. BUT – Spend more time focusing on the little things – The “thank you” when the customer walks in. The unexpected “we’re glad you’re still with us” email. The phone call to your favorite customer, letting them know that you were reading some article, and it told you to think of your favorite customer then call them to thank them for being just that. (I LOVE this one, I’ve recommended it countless times.)
An old friend and colleague who used to be a journalist once told me this story. His first editor gave him one piece of advice: “Be brilliant at the basics.” He was right. Let’s focus on the basics first. You’ll be surprised how much of your marketing and PR your customers will do FOR you, once you master the basics, and come out one step above the norm.
As always, I’d love your thoughts below in the comments. Thanks for reading! :)
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Well said, Peter. I often tell folks The difference between half ass and first class is huge, but small. (like your gas/squeegee example – small, but big, right) |
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Hey Peter, This is a great reminder that it is what you do every day that matters, that the big things are made up of a series of small steps, and that every moment is a choice – Do I answer my phone sounding harried because I’m in the middle of something? Or do I take a moment to breathe and remember that there is a person calling me and it could be anyone – a reporter, a parent, a student, an alum or my boss. It is one of my mantras: it is all about the small acts. Happy Wednesday! |
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Peter, I think that if more people realized this simple fact, the issue with customer service would be solved. I always hate calling larger companies because I hate getting disrespected and belittled. It’s rare that I come away from a call actually feeling good about a product or service. I had an experience with great customer service recently at a Verizon store. The customer service rep was able to talk to me on my level (I can speak tech and often have exhausted the first rung of troubleshooting before I seek help). He realized this and spoke to me in terms that didn’t belittle my knowledge. After explaining the problem, not only did he give me his card (with personal number) but he called tech support for me. The issue wasn’t solved that day but when I came in two days later, not only did he recognize me but he expedited the resolution. It was such a relief just getting someone who interacted with me on my level, and that made all the difference. I was thinking about switching providers, but now I am pretty content staying with Verizon. |
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I have one particular experience that has stuck with me. While in Las Vegas visiting friends I went to a salon for a wax. The esthetician (who turned out to be the owner) told me I wasn’t ready yet and should come back in a couple weeks. When I explained that I lived on the East Coast and couldn’t come back, she told me to go to my normal place and even gave me some advice on how to take care of my hair and skin. I actually asked her why she was advising me to leave when she can have me as a customer, and her response was, “I will happily do it for you if you’d like, but I’d rather you take care of your skin than me take your money.” Not only have I made it a point to stop by when I’m in Vegas, I’ve let every girl I know out there to go to this salon. This woman cares about her clients and that’s why she’s been able to open three more salons and watch her success skyrocket. |
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Peter, great advice and so true. It really is the small things. I’d go one step further to even say “thank you” or ” i hear you” on twitter or FB, when you brand is mentioned. I know as a consumer and marketer I become more brand loyal when I know a brand has taken the time to read and respond to an unsolicited mention. Although I think our customer service dept is the best, I’m forwarding this to them, just because it is those little things we forget about sometimes! Thanks again! |
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Right on! i often tell the story to my staff about the time I was dining at one of those chain places with the stuff all over the walls. A couple at the next table was placing an order and the lady saw a picture of a chicken breast covered in cheese and was so excited about it she ordered her based on the picture. When her food arrived the cheese was not on top of the chicken, but under it. Now we all know it really shouldn’t matter what side the cheese is on so long as it is on the chicken, but to her the expectation was chicken with cheese on top. Instead of doing the smart thing and taking the plate and flipping over the chicken so that the cheese was on top the waiter try to explain why the woman was wrong. The waiter spend 10 minutes arguing with the woman about the cheese, then my waiter joined in, and finally the manager who once again confirmed that the woman was wrong but he would put the cheese on top of the chicken. by the time the woman received her entree her date was finished with her food and she was finished with that establishment. I use that story so that my staff knows not to get bogged down with the details. The details shouldn’t get in the way of great customer service. I think that is one of the best basics that I can teach my team- don’t let a silly detail get in the way of a great customer experience. |
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Peter, Great story of customer service. I love these stories because they remind us how easy it is to please our customers. I had a great customer experience lately where a hotel went around and scraped all of the ice from the car windows in the parking lot in the morning. I was so blown away that I wrote an article about it. http://staying.afloat.ca/2012/.....eally.html It is the small things that really wow people. |
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This is so true in my business. I am a PGA Golf Professional and run a little 9 hole course that is just getting by. We are a small course a little out of the way so we don’t get much play. What I try to do is meet the players in the parking lot with a cart and get them all set up or a least get their clubs to the first tee. This is unheard of in SE Idaho and just blows people away…..takes 2 min. to make a huge difference!!!I also try to give everyone a tip on the first hole on their grip or swing or some other insane thing they are doing, gets me some extra lesson money down the road. |
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I agree with this blog post 100% (and even more if something over 100% was even possible). In my job, I often answer customer emails in the middle of the night. Granted, if i didn’t have small kids who occasionally wake me up or an arthritic hip which doesn’t always allow me to sleep thru the night the answer may wait until the morning. I do always wonder if the customer thinks I am nuts or if I am actually a sophisticated CRM system auto answering teir inquiry. Because of that, I am always tempted to purposely include a typo or add something very quirky that a CRM system just would never include! Usually, though, I just force myself to stay up a bit to see if there is a response so that I can have the last word and prove i am human! |
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Small is the new big, definitely (to borrow from Seth Godin). I live in Bartlesville, OK, headquarters for the old Phillips Petroleum Company and loved seeing the picture of the Phillips 66 attendants of days gone by. One thing small that I like to do for my customers or prospects is to send a hand-written note about some past interaction we’ve had. I realize my hand-written note may be the only one they receive all year. Cost? 44 cents, note card, envelope and a few minutes to write a 2 or 3 sentence message. Thanks for reminding me that this is small act is a huge win for me and my customer. |
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Re: service I have a slightly different slant on the meaning of improving “service” due to my remote location… I live and work at the southern tip of the Baja peninsula in Mexico, that being said, we still have a number of large and small monopolies here, the gasoline stations, the phone company, grocery stores and a whole bunch of smaller businesses. When I first moved here twenty years ago, this was a very small community and “service” was an almost nonexistent entity. Sure, there were a few people who did what they said that they would do and even stood behind their work, but very few. Most of the people who we would consider being in the “service industry” didn’t give a damn about their quality of work or backing up their service or products, they were the only game in town… now deal with it! For the first couple of years that I was here, I was seriously mistaken to think it was just a “Mexican” thing, lazy people not even trying to provide any type of true service. I was wrong and I actually knew better, but I couldn’t see the reason for the generalized lack of service. I should note that I was fortunate to be born and raised next door to a very fine Hispanic family in central California, professional people who knew what service was and taught their children accordingly. My experience is that Mexican families are generally hardworking, fiercely loyal and wonderfully caring people. I finally realized that the problem here was unique due to the local culture and environment, not the general race of Hispanics. As children growing up in the United States, we experienced good service through the actions of our parents, who dealt with varied businesses and multiple providers on a daily basis. If the level of performance, service or quality was not acceptable, they called somebody else to do the job, they went to a different hardware store or gas station, or in the case of my father, learned what to do and did the job himself. If we went to a restaurant that had bad food or bad waiters, we just never went back. Simple actually, but not universal, not hereditary, not genetic. I have discovered that true service hadn’t existed here at the southern portion of the Baja Peninsula for several generations, if ever at all, due to the extreme remote location and transportation issues that plagued delivery of supplies to our quaint little community. The people who seem to have suffered most were the children, they had no basic idea of what service was supposed to be and absolutely no idea of what good service was. How could they possibly provide exceptional service when they never had been exposed to it? It actually took companies like McDonalds to come in and start teaching the kids that if a customer comes back to the counter with an open hamburger, that they should deal with the problem immediately, even at the expense (time wise) of the customer that they are currently dealing with. These kids were being shown what good service was for the first time in their lives, and I for one noticed the difference almost immediately. So now, when walking into a business and receiving a smile and a “Buenos dias, Señor” or a “Good Morning” to the gringo population goes a long way to proving that the level of service is actually headed in the right direction. Thank you for taking the time to read my little missive… and to care about improving service everywhere. Jim Clay |
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Good stuff Peter. |
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Once again, you hit the nail on the head. I find more and more often I expect less and less. I feel the need always to double check my order. It doesn’t take much to exceed my service expectations, unfortunately. With each new customer order we receive, we always include a hand written thank you card and a small gift. We never take a re-order for granted either. There are so many products and so little shelf space; being invited back into a store is an honor and we always let our customers know how much we appreciate their loyalty. |
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A message we need to hear often, but your personal stories made it more meaningful. People are so grateful when you personally respond or take an interest in them, their work or their dreams! |
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Well said Peter! I recently was in Target, looking for a piece of furniture that was on sale. After I waited for the “team member” to respond to the page, she looked at the empty shelf I looked at and abruptly told me they didn’t have anymore and walked away. Annoyed, I sat down on the displayed and used my smartphone to look up other stores in the area. As I’m doing this, she walks by me again and THEN decides to offer to look it up for me and see if other stores had it. I thanked her and told her I already did that, and walked out of the store. As for pumping your own gas… probably not going to happen EVER in this state. Reasons range from “saving attendant’s jobs” to “safety”. Seems people in this state just don’t want to get out of their cars. Gas prices here tend to be less than other states anyway (state taxes are not as high on this, yet). Politicians raise the issue every few years, there’s a big discussion, then it goes away again. |
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On the same day I read this post, I saw another one on my favorite South African blog called “CherryFlava”. Their post celebrates an example of good customer service. Enjoy: http://www.cherryflava.com/che.....ssion.html |
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Totally agree! Awesome article. I bought a small independent full service hotel 3 years ago. It was void of enthusiasm and very run down but full of history and in wonderful historic downtown Nacogdoches, Texas. Its bones and stories are amazing! Since June 2008 there have been many challenges and rewards from cleaning, painting and revamping the hotel, to building a new reputation of real customer service as well as outstanding food in our restaurant, bars and banquet and convention center spaces. It does take everyone doing there best here and when I realized early on that many of our team members had not been exposed to any sort of customer service, we had to back up and teach service and manners. We are seeing the fruits of our labors as employees are staying and/or returning when they realize the skills they are able to learn here are helping them develop as caring individuals with manners to prepare them for growth with our company or growth in the field they are studying for and will be applying for in the future. Seeing the smiles on our employees’ faces and watching them provide unexpected, yet deserved courtesies and service to our guests is the ultimate reward! Knowing deep down inside that one has done something nice for their fellow human being is the business we are in. It makes for an awesome work experience also as our employees use their customer service and manners on each other. I do believe Hotel Fredonia is hanging in there as a new business and growing in such tough economic times because we continue to strive to provide outstanding customer service, food and cleanliness. It is our hope that our guests at Hotel Fredonia feel like they are away from all the hustle, bustle and pressures… and on a mini vacation being served by a team of caring individuals. |
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¡Bravo! I love this and try to live this every day with customers, family and friends! It’s nice to have the reminder amigo Peter – as always – thank you! |
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I think it goes both ways. Some sales reps are so used to (or expect to) get shit upon that being treated nicely comes as a surprise. Back in the late 90s, I was at Sterns at the Green Acres Mall buying a dress for a holiday party. It’s usually my luck that the dress I find will be on a rack that shows take x percent off but it will be on the wrong rack. It wasn’t terrible busy that night and I asked the sales associate if the sale from that particular rack applies to the dress that I picked up. I tried on the dress & it fit so I went to the register to pay for it; not only did she give me the sale price, she knocked off an additional percentage because I was “so nice” to her. |
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I’ll add a note about sincerity. When you can tell that someone is doing it just because it’s “good business” it leaves me cold. I had a PR agency who once sent me an email that they were pulling together some basic information on their clients “so we can show our appreciation during the year.” then asked me to send them my and our CEO’s birthdays. Forget the fact that we talked about my birthday just three months prior on one of our status calls, or that I share this information publicly on Facebook. I was just really turned off by the approach. Now, when my next birthday comes around… if they acknowledge it, I’ll know it’s only because a higher-up told them to, and if they don’t, well, that’s even worse. There’s no win-win. Better to have surprised me by doing some simple research and letting me think you really cared about me. |
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Could not agree more with this post, Peter. Completely, 100%. My Mom would always write letters, and so from that I got the major snail-mail gene.. I absolutely love sending mail, and in turn, thank you notes. They don’t take long but they speak volumes about how much we care. That thought always gets me excited to write them too. Awesome, thank you again for your writing, this one and all the others too. |
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Great topic Peter. Providing what I have called ‘every day above and beyond the call’ customer service is the #1 priority at my business. Without customers coming in repeatedly and giving us great word of mouth advertising to their friends, we’d be out of business. I and the staff know this and treat our customers like gold. One of our regulars called our service ‘Legendary’. |
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The little things can make the biggest difference. One word: LAGNIAPPE. Mark Twain said it was a word worth traveling to New Orleans to get. |
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Peter, I’ll address your message’s internal question. I’m old enough (my late 50′s) to remember getting my gas pumped in the mid-to-late 60s when I started to drive (yes there were still several stations with attendants then) and it was heaven, especially for females. Don’t get me wrong…I’m very independent and even knew how to change my car’s tires (fathers made daughters learn how to do that back then whether you had AAA or not). But gas smells and dirty tires didn’t go well with high heels and dresses or business suits so we were happy to have the help. I digress – the trend toward self-pumping began as a cost savings. Stations without attendants popped up as a way to save on gas and the gas prices at those stations were indeed lower…initially. Soon the stations with attendants had to drop their employees to compete and every station began installing self-pump. As you can see, the cost savings were soon lost. I pumped my first tank of gas at the age of 16 for 26 cents/gallon. In my location it hovers around $3.50/gallon now. Now you know. |
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Amen and keep on preaching… We all love to feel valued and the little things make every difference no matter what the field. I am sharing your post and wish many in the medical field would steep in this concept. I heard a story about an “old school” doctor who said “I do not have customers, I have patients.” Ahhh. Much to learn about people, Dr. We can choose someone else. |
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Very nice touch indeed. It reminds me of the Marathon des Sables that I did in 2011. At the end of the race, the founder and director fo the race welcomes personnally to give them their finishers medal EVERY SINGLE competitor! That’s 800 of sweaty, stinky, emotional, tired and elated men and women. Well, he personnally congratulates you, exchanges a word, gives you your medal and a hug/”bises”! And you can see in his eyes that when he tells you “well done”, he means it 100%! He could let his assistant or other volunteers to help and distribute the medals, but no, he is the creator of the race, a man very respected in the field and he feels like it’s his duty to do it; and that is great as it makes the arrival that touch even more special! |
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YES! The power of the phone call. I make it a point (mainly because I really like my clients) to call at least two past clients each week, just to say hello and let them know I’m thinking of them. Great stuff as always Peter -thank you! |
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So true. These small touch points are critical and so many times overlooked. As a consumer, we get beat up by the brands we support all the time. And, most times, we’re pretty forgiving. Before we totally dump a brand, we’ve generally given them a number of chances to redeem themselves, which I refer to as an “offboarding” process. Some brands have stopgaps in place to help catch those poor customer service moments. The good ones enable their reps and front line people with the knowledge and power to not only do the small things, but to make it right. Yet, many don’t. And, they wonder why they continue to lose customers. Understanding customer loyalty isn’t really all that hard. We just want to be treated well, with respect and given what is promised. Thanks for sharing this great post. Cheers! Zack |
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Very true. It’s clichey but true “The little things count.” Sometimes the grand gesture has a touch of superficiality while the small but sincere actually gets the message across–with awesome results. |
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So perfectly said, Peter. This is something that I drive my company on, but I’m going to strive to work even harder at it with personal notes of thanks. In this world people have choices about where to spend their earned dollars. If they choose to spend it with you, then you should be so thankful they did. Thanks for the additional nudge I needed. Now, off to thank some customers! |
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My salon recently toughed out a “snow day”. As I was closing early I client called for a last minute haircut. 30 minutes later he came in with one of my loyal and all accommodating stylists. The client noticed we were closing early and asked me why I didn’t tell him to come in another day? In response I said “because I’m glad you called and I appreciate your business”. I went on to share my thoughts on customer service. Which are on target with yours. Thanks Peter! Keri |
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How fortunate are companies to have the technology to interact with their customers? It’s invaluable. Even big companies (if they leverage social media and data analytics to learn who their customers are) now have the ability to connect on a more personal level. Wheter it’s going above and beyond for a loyal customer – like a steak at the airport (full disclosure: I am social media and marketing manager at Morton’s Restaurant Group) or the ‘little things’ like acknowledging a birthday or just plain listening, transactions can become interactions with long lasting relationships. When a company’s mission is to exceed expectations, these personal moments with customers are second nature and a part of the busines mix. I can truly attest to this philosophy and am fortunate to do this on a daily basis. |
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A few weeks ago I was having the interior and exterior of my SUV cleaned. A team of guys and gals swarm it at the end and make sure it’s all polished up and looking good. The last guy usually hops in the vehicle and drives it out to the waiting customer. The guy who brought my vehicle this time was hopping out to give me my vehicle, when a smudge on the inside of my window caught his eye. This particular smudge had been there since my last wash, and had been driving me nuts. He hops back in and spends another 10-15 seconds to make sure the window was spotless. I ended up driving around the corner to a cash machine, and returned with $20 for the guy. It was something so basic and simple, but I appreciated the second effort and attention to detail…..big time. |
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How fortunate are companies to have a direct connection with their customers? It’s invaluable. Even big companies now have the technology (if they leverage social media and data analytics) to interact with their customers. Whether its going above and beyond for a loyal customer like a steak at the airport (full disclosure: I’m social media and marketing manager for Morton’s Restaurant Group) or the ‘little things’ like celebrating a birthday or acknowledging a customer concern, businesses can turn transactions into interactions and long lasting relationships with their customers (aka drive revenue). When a company’s mission is to exceed expectations, these customer service moments translate into every facet of the business mix. I can attest to this philosophy – and to the results. |
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This is such a great post, Peter! As a society, we’ve gotten lazy. We need to do a better job of practicing both planned and random acts of kindness for our customers, prospective customers, and other businesses. Raise the bar. Give and expect excellence. Of course, I’m now going to expect the dancing and singing Texaco guys every time I get gas, but at least it will remind me to take your words to heart. |
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