Mr. T – Photo from Wikipedia
“I pity the fool“…who doesn’t meet customer service expectations!
Okay, so Mr. T probably never said that. But I figure he pretty well could have because it totally makes sense. It’s so ridiculously easy to exceed customer service expectations, I can’t imagine not at least meeting them.
Let’s put this into perspective a bit.
A Parking Lot of Customer Service
As I sit here at Panera Bread, I find that it’s a fairly nice place to hang out. It’s pretty quiet, decent service and has Wifi. But I think how much nicer things could be. Here’s the scan of the place.
As I pull in, the parking lot is pretty empty, mostly because it’s a weekday and very early. When I come into the restaurant I notice it’s well kept and I get my choice of seat aside from the few regulars. The inside is pretty typical, but what gets me is the exterior.
The parking lot is actually pretty junky looking. It definitely could stand to be swept or blown off. It’s clearly in need of a good pressure wash. But, at the very least, they could pick up the trash floating around in the breeze. For such an upscale place inside, the presentation outside has been totally forgotten. The worse part is that I didn’t even really care. And that’s where customer service is these days.
How To Get That “Top of Mind” Position
We, customers, have forgotten to hold the company accountable for everything pertaining to the business. We classify customer service as how the staff is or how decent the food is. We’ve become so stagnant in our daily lives and encounter so much crap (for lack of a better word) that we just really want things to be decent.
And that is a major disconnect. It’s no wonder that we’re so desensitized to so many things is this culture. As consumers it’s our job to move things forward. But, as business owners, it’s even more so our job to exceed customer service expectations and set a new bar. You will not be forgotten if you do this. You will very quickly gain that ‘top of mind’ position you’re looking for with this one simple idea.
Exceeding customer expectations is easy, we just have to be intentional about it. – Click to Tweet
To Get “Top of Mind” We Must:
- Reset the bar
- Change the status quo
- Never fall into a pattern of mediocre
- Converse with customers
- Get passionate again
- Do that ‘little bit extra’
- Pay attention to the details
Exceeding like Mr. T
In the video I linked to above, Mr. T doesn’t want to take a back seat for something he essentially created. We shouldn’t want to take a backseat either. We created our businesses to serve our clients and better their results. Don’t forget that.
Never forget that your customers are your business. Where would you be without them? – Click to Tweet
There’s virtually no reason we should not be able to blow customer service expectations out of the water. Let’s face it. Our society has lost the desire to be better and to serve. I’m in the service industry and I realize it’s my job to serve my clients. If they aren’t getting some serious benefit from what I’m doing, it’s in vain.
So my challenge for you is this.
Exceed today. Make your customer service beyond forgettable. Deliver WOW. Deliver AWESOME. Heck, just deliver. You’ll be surprised how quickly your customers will compliment you and you’ll be all they can talk about.
Have you had any run-ins with great customer service recently? What about terrible service? Comment below and let us know!