Exceptional service reaps exceptional rewards, but failing to keep your promises get’s talked about just as much!
Providing exceptional service, those little things that cost very little, can add up to a whole lot of experience and value for your client.
The results of exceptional service go way beyond the satisfaction you engender immediately in your client. They’ll remember those extra touches for some time to come, effectively topping up your credit bank with that client meaning they feel more kindly towards you, making them more inclined to use you again, taking advantage of new or additional services, recommending you to others and even forgiving any little mistakes or glitches that occur in your working relationship.
Being good isn’t enough in many areas of business today. There are lots of good businesses out there, but when the pressure is on it’s the exceptional ones that continue to get repeat business and grow by recommendation.
Here are a handful of service experiences I’ve had over the years which I’d put in the exceptional service bracket. See if you can remember comparable experiences and think about how your business might deliver something similar.
BMW turn bad to good, overnight
Some years ago I had a new BMW provided as a company car. I was doing a lot of miles back then, from home in Wolverhampton to my job in Stoke on Trent and around the whole of Staffordshire. It turns out there was a fault on the radiator of that particular model and the cars were gradually being recalled. Unfortunately I hit the mileage threshold which exposed the problem much earlier than expected at 7pm one Friday evening when I was leaving work for a weekend away. As you can imagine I wasn’t best pleased, especially when I was told it was a known fault.
This is where the BMW service experience started to kick in however. My emergency rescue call was handled very professionally and empathetically by a knowledgeable client services rep. They arranged for collection of the car (and me) and for us to be taken to the weekend destination I’d planned.
They phoned ahead to arrange for the local BMW dealer to repair my car the following morning and in the meantime arranged for a hire car to be delivered to me so I would have transport in the meantime.
The process was seamless. I didn’t have to phone around to get the garage to sort out the repairs. Everything was anticipated for me and as it turned out my car was repaired and back with me (fully valeted I might add) by 10.30am the next day. I didn’t even need to use the hire car they had offered to deliver.
BMW managed to turn a really miserable experience into a memorable one by offering exceptional service to solve a problem.
Does your business do the same?
Conference venues can get it right so easily, yet they mainly get it wrong!
I’ve run many events and conferences over the years and had some truly shocking experiences when it comes to the service received from conference staff at some venues. So it’s great to find a venue where the little extra touches and the attention to detail on the must have elements, work in harmony.
One of my clients uses a local conference centre every two or three months. On the face of it they are a small client for this particular venue and certainly not spending the kind of budgets some of their other customers (like Land Rover and Jaguar) spend. Yet we are always greeted professionally and personally at reception – we’re always expected and they know where we are meeting. The refreshment facilities are well stocked and of high quality, right down to the freshly made biscuits and choice of coffees. Used coffee cups seem to disappear, they certainly don’t hang around as they can do in some conference venues. Lunch is always plentiful and they are very flexible about when they serve it. The equipment is modern and it works and you don’t get connection problems with your laptop and their projector.
You know, they are great because they deliver exactly what a conference centre should – yet it’s exceptional because most venues don’t. I can name probably 30 or 40 venues I’ve used over the years which have failed on some of these very basic hygiene factors.
Are you really good at what you do? Does this make you stand out from the crowd?
Putting personality into service
My final example of exceptional service was experienced on a flight back from America with Virgin Atlantic. The exceptional service here was delivered by one individual – a member of the cabin crew who alone made the experience of a 7 hour flight memorable for all the right reasons.
From the moment we stepped on board the steward, Andrew, went out of his way to make everyone comfortable and relaxed. He seemed to greet everyone with a smile and personal comment: he asked me about the book I was reading and commented to the little girl in front of me on her butterfly shaped hair slide.
You felt as though you were one of a handful of passengers, not one of 300. As the chief steward he was also in charge of all the announcements on the plane, all of which he handled with flair, humour and patience.
He somehow had everyone paying attention to the safety demonstration with his unusual sound accompaniments. And as we touched down in Heathrow after a somewhat bumpy flight and landing he gave his greatest performance as he again went through the safety aspects of landing by being light hearted, yet getting his message across, saying things like “Ladies and gentleman welcome to London where the temperature outside is a blistering 32 degrees; no I’m just kidding – it’s wet and windy so wrap up warm before you leave the plane.
“Do take care when getting your bits and pieces out of the overhead lockers – things are bound to have moved around a bit during that flight.” Even though I couldn’t see him from where I was sitting I could imagine Andrew rolling his eyes as he said this.
And his final moment of comic genius; “As we taxi on the runway to find our stand if anyone should wish to volunteer to clean out the toilets please stand up now.” This was delivered with perfection, just as we approached the stand and eager passengers started to jump out of their seats and reach for the overhead lockers. Needless to say, they all sat down again pretty quickly and waited until we’d stopped and the fasten seatbelt sign was turned off.
Everyone left that 7 hour flight with a smile on their face, and I certainly left it also feeling very positive about Virgin Atlantic.
Do you allow your staff to use their personality to deliver exceptional service and enhance your brand?
Exceptional service brings its own rewards
If you are in a competitive market (aren’t we all?), want repeat custom and recommendations (who doesn’t?) average service just isn’t good enough. You need to find ways to be exceptional.
Exceptional service guarantees repeat business, creates a buzz, engenders favours and gives you credit for when you need to extend a deadline, increase your prices or simply slip up once in a while.
Why not brainstorm some ways you can deliver exceptional service and encourage your employees to take the initiative when it comes to handling client requests, complaints and even the mundane, day-to-day aspects of service. Further Reading:
Written by Teresa Harris, Second Opinion Marketing. Teresa is an independent marketing consultant working with professional practices, small businesses and public sector bodies to develop effective marketing plans which achieve their business objectives.
As a marketing coach Teresa works with new marketing managers and small business owners to enhance their marketing performance. Contact Teresa on 01789 740396 or by email. For more ideas, tips and articles visit www.secondopinionmarketing.co.uk © Second Opinion Marketing 2010. All rights reserved. Second Opinion Marketing 73 Banbury Road Ettington CV37 7SR ©2010 Second Opinion Marketing. All Rights Reserved.
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