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In his article “Seven Steps to Remarkable Customer Service,” Joel Spolsky suggests that businesses should “make the customer a fan.”  He tells a story about ordering shirts for a trade show.  When the shirts came in, the colors were off on the logo and they were unacceptable.  The mistake had been his, not the company who made them, but they let him return them for full credit anyway and shipped the order FedEx so it would get there in time for the trade show only two days away.  Spolsky continues on by saying:

When customers have a problem and you fix it, they’re actually going to be even more satisfied than if they never had a problem in the first place.

It has to do with expectations. Most people’s experience with tech support and customer service comes from airlines, telephone companies, cable companies, and ISPs, all of whom provide generally awful customer service. It’s so bad you don’t even bother calling any more, do you? So when someone calls Fog Creek, and immediately gets through to a human, with no voice mail or phone menus, and that person turns out to be nice and friendly and actually solves their problem, they’re apt to think even more highly of us than someone who never had the opportunity to interact with us and just assumes that we’re average.

Now, I wouldn’t go so far as to actually make something go wrong, just so we have a chance to demonstrate our superior customer service. Many customers just won’t call; they’ll fume quietly.

But when someone does call, look at it as a great opportunity to create a fanatically devoted customer, one who will prattle on and on about what a great job you did. (“Seven Steps to Remarkable Customer Service,” Joel Spolsky, Feb. 19, 2007)

“Fanatically devoted”; what a great descriptor of exactly what we are promoting with Consummate Customer Care.  When you succeed in making your customer a fan, then you have gained not only a loyal customer who will continue to purchase your product or service, but you have fostered a relationship with that customer that will make them spread the good word about you.  That positive stamp on your product or service is invaluable; and you haven’t really done anything except provide excellent “care” to the client.

Sports fans are “fanatically devoted.”  There are many sports teams who continue to fill their venues even when they are having horrible seasons.  Sometimes the fans are devoted for many, many years just because they have become such a “fan” of the team that it would be unthinkable to not support them.  I spent my last two years of high school in a suburb of Milwaukee, Wisconsin.  In Wisconsin everything between the months of August and January (really all year!!) revolves around the Green Bay Packers.  When I lived there the glory days of Bart Starr were a recent memory and the team was in a slump.  I will never forget, however, how the fans remained “with” the team.  They were rabid.  I was always amazed at the fervor with which the fans supported a team that was losing all the time.  The Packers have been sold out for well over forty years now; it is almost impossible to even get a ticket to see a game in Green Bay.  The most amazing thing is that they are not always good, in fact they have had some very bad years during their history, but they were able to create such a loyalty in their fan base that they were able to weather out the bad years and continue to sell tickets;  truly incredible.

Not to indicate that professional sports is not a business (we all know full well that it certainly is!) but when you project the above mechanism onto regular run of the mill businesses it provides an astonishing parallel that if accomplished would frankly ensure success.  Just think about the rewards that your company would reap if all of your clients told others about what a great job you are doing. 

Cell phone providers are infamous for bad customer service.  We have all experienced the automated phone systems and the long wait to talk to a human; oftentimes many of us give up before a human can be reached!  My son has been with the same cell phone company for over ten years now, and you could never convince him to change even though their rates and programs are a little more expensive than the others in the marketplace.  The reason is simply that they have superb customer service.  Any time he has had a problem; they have responded quickly and without reservation and taken care of it for him.  He is truly a “fan” of his cell phone provider and he will tell anyone who asks him just why. This is the kind of customer loyalty that businesses must try to accomplish. 

Sam was in Real Estate in Florida part-time for 20 years while raising her family.  As is her very nature, Consummate Customer Care was always her top priority.  She was very successful but limited in her success because she was balancing a husband and children who were necessarily her top priority at the time.  She loved the interaction with her clients and found it extremely fulfilling to match families with homes they could afford and enjoy.  She felt the Real Estate profession demanded the very best one had to offer in customer care at all times whether listing or selling because home purchases and sales are so important and personal to people.  It is usually the highest ticket item most people ever purchase or sell. 

Sam no longer works in Real Estate but recently was faced with a very real problem with the industry.  She owns a home in the northeast and listed it with two different companies, one after the other.   She could not believe the lack of service and care she received.  The listing was put together both times in a slipshod fashion at best, the contact with her was non-existent and nothing happened.  Sam and her husband had been constantly amazed since they moved to this particular area at the lack of work ethic and customer care in all their dealings and this lackluster attitude certainly showed with their house listing.

When the second listing was close to expiration, Sam was befuddled as to how to find an agent with excellent customer care and work ethics who would do their best to sell their home.   Just as the listing expired, Sam received three mailings from real estate companies soliciting the listing.  She thought it over and decided to “interview” all three of the companies that at least had the fortitude to solicit her business.  So, she made up a list of questions on her computer and made three copies. The questions were as follows:

·         How long have you been an active realtor?

 

·         How many properties have you listed this past year?

 

·         How many of your own listings have you sold this past year and how many of your listings were sold by another agent this year?

 

·         How many of your company listings have you sold this past year?

 

·         How many total properties have you sold this past year?

 

·         What is the average time on the market of your company’s listings?

 

·         Where and when do you advertise?

 

·         How often do you do an open house and where do you advertise it?

 

·         What is your percentage rate and term of contract and are they negotiable?

 

·         What will you do to get this house sold that we have not discussed?

This completed, Sam got her home freshly scrubbed and ready to show and called all three companies who had contacted her.  She told each one that she was interviewing realtors that day and if they were interested in coming to see the house and visit with her she had an opening at so and so time.  Sam also told them that she would have some questions for them as well.  Each of the three accepted the invitation and each arrived promptly at their set time.  She showed the house, sat with them at the table having a comfortable discussion and then pulled out her form and asked them the questions above.  All three representatives were surprised at the distinct questions but were very forthcoming with answers.  Sam was impressed with all three of these representatives because of their promptness, willingness to come for an appointment with such short notice, their straight forward answers to her questions and their professionalism.

Of course, a decision on one of the three had to be made.  She told each of them she would call them one way or another with her decision the following Monday and thanked them for coming.   Sam then weighed each interview carefully and the answers to her questions played a very large part in her decision. The realtor with whom she chose to list her home was very prepared when she and her partner arrived and they were properly equipped with the particulars on the property from their research.  The answers to the questions were immediate and positive.  The advertising was on a set schedule and copies of the ad would be sent to Sam in the mail each time an ad was placed, the team assured her that they would make contact with her regularly, they would do a complete virtual tour of the home, yard and lakefront, and they agreed to a 3 month initial term so that she could feel sure they would do what they professed they would do.  They also negotiated some on the commission percentage but were still higher than the other two.  Sam felt they were definitely worth the extra.  They also complemented her on her professionalism of interviewing them and said they had never experienced that before. They said usually the main thing people want to know is the amount of the commission.

As of this writing, Sam is still in the process of selling her home but so far her chosen realtors have kept all promises and she is happy with the decision and a fan of the company she chose because Consummate Customer Care is what she wanted and this company is providing just that.  If the home does not sell because of the market that is one thing, but to have a complete bust because people do not give proper care to their clients is ridiculous.  There are good people and companies who care and work hard and others who really don’t care, but as a customer, Sam had a choice, made that choice and she can also opt to void that choice.  Because of her experience with her realtor of choice, she will not only patronize that company but will spread the good word about them with zest and vigor.  No one could ask for a better advertisement for their business.

The above example should be a “heads up” to all business owners and managers.  Treat your clients with Consummate Customer Care and make them a “fan” because of the excellent service you provide!  There are tons of companies for customers to choose from and to lose a viable client because of lack of customer care when it is usually your “only edge” is disastrous and expensive!  You certainly can’t win them all but you will undoubtedly gain a great deal more clients with “constant” care and attention.

I hesitate to even tell the next story because it is one of my most astonishing failures and hurts even to this day to tell it, but what’s life all about if we can’t learn from our failures.

 

Several years ago, my wife and I had a photography studio.  We specialized in family photography.  We had opened the studio after we had stopped taking and selling photo campaigns for a company that did church directories.  We were small and really knew nothing about running a business, but we were doing fairly well and making ends meet.  As we specialized in family photography, the word had spread about what a great product we delivered and we were starting to make a reputation for ourselves.  

I got a call from a lady who was referred to us by a happy customer and she said that they were having a family reunion in a couple of weeks and they wanted family photos while everyone was together.  She said they would have nineteen people for the main picture and asked if our studio could handle that many people.  I assured her that we could and booked the shoot.  The day before the shoot, I was buying film for our studio when the man at the photography store said he had a used camera that he would sell us at a discount.  It was one of the best cameras on the market and the price was amazing.  I told him that I would have to try it out first and so on that Friday I took the camera back to the studio with me.  I used that camera to shoot the family gathering that I had booked for that Saturday.

The family arrived and there were indeed nineteen of them.  There were five generations and the matriarch of the family was terminally ill so this would be the last time that they would likely be able to take a complete family photo.  The shoot went smooth as silk.  I was able to set up some remarkable shots and did a whole series with the entire family and with the subsets that were involved.  It really went great.  This was not only a great opportunity for them to get the family photo done; it was a great opportunity for our little studio as there were so many different families involved.  I took probably one hundred and twenty pictures and they took their leave.  I was excited and anxious for the film to come back from the developers and couldn’t wait to see how the shoot came out.  Family photography is tricky and to have a shoot with that many people aged eight months to over eighty is remarkable in itself.

To my shock, when the proofs arrived, I realized, in horror, that the mask on the camera was not centered.  I could not have known this unless I had done some test shots and had them developed before the shoot.  I was using that new camera and I mistakenly assumed that the guy at the camera shop had given me a piece of merchandise that was tooled properly.  Big mistake!!  Most of the smaller family shots were salvageable, but the shots of the entire family together had shifted so far to the left that two of the family members heads were cut off.  I was sick!!  I tried everything to get them in the shot, but there was no viable way to make it work.  Remember, this was in the olden days before digital cameras and the ability to work magic with Photoshop so basically I had completely failed to create the family photo that these people would probably never get a chance to have again.  Not only that, but I would get zero sales out of the shoot and as I had not charged a sitting fee because of the size of the group, I was screwed.

Presenting the proofs to the family representatives was the hardest thing I have ever done.  As the family had traveled literally from all over the world for their reunion, there was no way to do any kind of re-takes.  I ended up giving the proof set and the negatives to the family and didn’t charge them anything for the shoot.  I gave them the name of a photo developer who might be able to salvage the photos from the negatives, but as I had already contacted several, I wasn’t optimistic.  Needless to say, the customer was extremely unhappy with the results.

I use this example because it exemplifies the absolute antithesis of what we are trying to teach with Consummate Customer Care.  I certainly did not make a fan out of that customer; in fact quite the opposite occurred.  I have always regretted this situation.  If only I had had the foresight to run a test roll of film, I would have discovered the problem and have used my regular camera for this all important shoot.  In retrospect, the mistake was pivotal.  Not only did I destroy what should have been a great family occasion for my customers, I also destroyed the reputation of my studio.  As it turns out, the main instigator of the family photos seemed to know everyone in town and I began to find it very difficult to get new paying customers.  I know the reality is that no one could spread that much negativity, but the occasional turn down combined with my tremendous sense of failure eventually resulted in folding the business altogether.  Disastrous circumstances indeed.

All of the above could have been avoided had my focus been fully on making that customer a fan.  What a dunderheaded decision to use an unknown camera in a shoot that was so very important.  Had I been truly focused on my customers, I would have made a test run, discovered the glitch, and everything would have turned out great.  My focus, instead, was on the future possibilities and in thinking that the new camera would be better without really taking into account the tremendous importance of this event to the customer.  I know this may be an extreme example but I believe it genuinely gets the point across.

Employees must be trained to create fans out of customers.  Earlier I used a quote from Jeff Bezos of Amazon.com when he stated, “If you make customers unhappy in the physical world, they might each tell 6 friends. If you make customers unhappy on the Internet, they can each tell 6,000 friends.”  This quote is worth repeating in the context of making your customer a fan of your business.  Now that we have the internet and instant communication in our mainstream society, it is so vitally important for that customer to have good things to say about you.  I can’t count the amount of times that I have steered away from a given business because of a bad comment I heard either personally or on the internet about that company.  Customers want to be able to trust the company they do business with.  Customers want to be able to talk positively about what you did for them.  The unfortunate problem all businesses have, however, is that it is human nature to more readily share the bad experiences rather than the good ones.  This is crazy but the nature of the beast.

Create customers that are fans of your business.  Create customers that are loyal no matter how hard the times are.  When the economy is bad or when things are going south for whatever reason, to have a loyal customer base willing to stick with you because of how they have been treated in the past is a commodity so valuable that it can hardly be expressed.  Sports teams remain in business because of their fans.  Sports teams fold if the fans do not support them.  Businesses are exactly the same.  Perpetuate success for your business by creating an environment and an atmosphere that will create fans out of your customers.

 

At the risk of becoming repetitive, I must reiterate here that it is impossible to make “fans” out of your customers if your representatives are not constant in their Consummate Customer Care.  Many businesses hire people who have a nice personality over all, but are moody at times and show their behinds to whoever happens to cross their path that day!  If you are hiring and putting up with “part-timers” in your Consummate Customer Care program, you can rest “un-assured” that your “fans” are quickly switching teams!!

About the Author:

Barry Andrews had been successful in many different areas of business and education. His expertise in customer care is extensive and encompasses many areas of business. For a complete bio please visit www.cc-care.com .

Article Source: ArticlesBase.com - Make Your Customer a Fan