ACTIONS FROM YOUR HEART
We are living in a highly competitive world today. There is a proliferation of brands in every industry – consumer or industrial. In the 1950s there were 17 brands of cigarettes in USA . In the 1980s there were over 175 brands. Super market shelves are overflowing with products and variety The average supermarket tends to keep about 40000 SKUs – stocking units. The average family needs 150 SKUs. Detroit makes more that 290 models of automobiles. Even in India , make the mistake of calling up a car dealer casually enquiring about a car and you are assured of phone calls on your land line or mobile from 8 a.m. to 8.p.m to fix a demo, take a test ride, arrange for an exchange for your current vehicle and so on. Every other day, if not every day, one gets a call from some bank or finance or credit card company telling you that they are pleased to inform you of a pre sanctioned loan and when should they send the demand draft. Banks are beating themselves half to death trying to corner your business. Rate plan changes in mobile phone companies have almost become a daily affair.
Satisfaction is a given
Look at the basic products and services themselves . They are almost identical in terms of specifications , features and performance. Most of them also have good pedigree. Can we say that a Honda car is far inferior or superior to say a Toyota or Ford or GM ? Is a Nokia cell phone very much different to a Samsung or Sony or Siemens ? Is a Citibank far ahead of Standard Chartered or an ICICI Bank or any of the other leading banks in terms of the basic banking services they offer? The answer is an unambiguous NO . Televisions , washing machines , audio systems , two wheelers , machine tools ….the story is the same.
So where does this leave organizations and the customer ? The customer is supposedly in the driver’s seat and has choice. He can dictate terms to suppliers and can demand. Today, satisfying a customer is almost taken for granted.
Today , what do customers look for from a bank ? ATM’s, internet banking, computerized operations, longer hours of working. Are customers ecstatic with this ? No - this is the minimum that customers expect from their bank. Banks need all this just to ensure they are in business. But all this calls for heavy investment in infrastructure, equipment, technology, facilities and the like..
You go to an up market hotel or restaurant. You get clean surroundings, pleasant ambience, clean crockery and cutlery, good furniture and so on. Are you delighted? No. You probably don’t give it much thought since this is what was expected in any case. Yet the hotel has to spend a lot to provide what customers believe are the basics.
The air conditioning in your car works , the door does not rattle . Are you thrilled? Most probably- no. Because that is what all cars offer in any case. And car companies spend billions on research and development just to ensure their vehicles work properly.
Companies are spending millions of rupees in technology, research and development, equipment , infrastructure , facilities to ensure that their products and services match those of their competitors. All this money is spent to keep customers barely satisfied. We all know that companies have to go beyond mere satisfaction to hook customers and keep them hooked. So companies have moved from customer satisfaction to the new mantras of the business world - customer delight , customer excitement and so on.
Everyone talks of customer delight. What does this really mean to companies and how can they delight customers ? What is the path to customer delight? What is the secret of this customer delight which holds the key to building customer loyalty and success? How does one delight customers? These are questions that companies need to ask . The answer is , paradoxically , very simple and yet very difficult and that is the challenge for organisations.
Think back to any memorable experiences as a customer. Events that remain in your mind – after many years. Incidents that make you want to go back to the same shop or hotel or bank or dealer and often seek the same person – counter clerk, sales person, waiter or whatever. Such incidents would typically reflect times when you were delighted as a customer . Here are some situations shared by people who believe they received outstanding service and were delighted as customers.
- We went to a restaurant with a small child who was sleeping. The waiter immediately laid out a sheet on an adjoining sofa, gave a cushion for the child to sleep and I could sit comfortably . The care and concern shown by the waiter is what I would call outstanding service. I was delighted. We are now regulars at the restaurant.
- I had a problem with my credit card statement – they had debited late fees wrongly. I spoke to a customer care rep who promised that she would reverse the entries . She called back the next day and confirmed that action had been taken and this would be reflected in the next month’s statement . it was really good of her to call me back and confirm. I was really delighted.
- I bought a book from a small shop. I found some pages missing. I didn’t have a receipt and I thought I’d have to explain to the owner. I had already worked myself into a mental argument with the owner. Imagine my surprise when the owner didn’t ask a question – not about when I bought it , did I have a receipt or anything. She just got me another book and apologised for the inconvenience . I thought that was excellent – she trusted me and I was not even a regular customer then . I am one now !
Delight involves a personal initiative on the part of the sales / service provider. Responses that create delight cannot be put down in company policy and in standard operating procedures.
Delight does not involve approvals from the head office or from the manager. Delight happens when the response is spontaneous – straight from the heart.
Delight involves genuine responses to customers. The service provider must WANT to serve customers and not look at the job as HAVE to serve customers. Despite all the Missions Statements and Quality Policies, Customer delight cannot be mandated. THOU SHALT DELIGHT will not work.
Delight involves doing that little bit more that what one might normally expect. The difference between ordinary service and extra ordinary service is the “ little Extra.
Hire for attitude - train for skills
How can companies achieve this? How can they translate their “Customer Delight” intentions into action. Amongst many things, organizations need the right people - people with the right attitude . People in customer facing activities must want to serve customers. They must enjoy dealing with people and see their central role as being here to serve. They must not see customers as irritants and interruptions in their work. People who don’t have this quality should not be in the customer service business. Organisations will do harm to themselves and to the individuals by not having people with the right attitude.
Organisations spend a lot of time checking out on competence , knowledge and so on. In today’s context , it is relevant to HIRE FOR ATTITUDES and TRAIN FOR SKILLS. There are enough and more people with adequate knowledge in all spheres of work. If required , knowledge can also be imparted . But do they have the right attitude to deal with customers – that is a moot point.
It is not enough to have the right people. The next question is do we have the right environment to allow the people to be effective. Does the organization WALK THE TALK from top to bottom? Do you encourage employees to work in the interest of the customer keeping the organization’s interest also in mind? Do they have the necessary skills, knowledge, competence and freedom to serve the customer? In short are the employees empowered? Or are the customer delight statements meant for corporate brochures and laminated boards that hang in many offices ? Senior managements need to look closely at the messages they send across the organisation – implicitly , subtly – that communicates to the people whether in fact the customer is king or not.
To sum up, in today’s world , satisfaction is costly .Companies needs to make heavy investments in infrastructure , equipment, technology … just to stay in the race. Satisfaction involves corporate policy, senior management decisions and so on.
Delight on the other hand is in your hands. It’s the personal touch, the care and concern for the customer, the trust, positive regard … the many little things one does which adds up to the big thing – DELIGHT. This is what brings back customers – the loyalty factor. The implications are substantial. Studies show that the chances of repurchase from customers go up from about 55 % to up to 85 % when the rating goes up from Good to Excellent. Good implies satisfaction while excellent implies delight. Thus , in today’s world, companies need to understand that being Good is not Good enough !
