Make a Difference: Provide Service that is R.A.R.E.™
by Mary Jane
Mapes
"What is the purpose of business?" That's a question I ask
people in my seminars all over the country. Not surprisingly, the most frequent response
is, "To make money!" While it's true that making money is necessary to staying
in business, I remind people that those who put service to the customer first, are the
ones most apt to make money and stay in business. Therefore, the purpose of business is to
get customers and to develop them into long term relationships. Repeat and referral
business is the hallmark of any thriving operation.
The next logical question I ask is, "How do you get and keep
customers?"
The answer is simple, but not always easy. You get and keep customers by
helping them get what they want. And what do they want? According to a survey that was
conducted of over 2000 businesses of all types, people reported that, along with a quality
product, four things will keep people loyal to a business: reliability, assurance,
responsiveness, and empathy. I call it - Service that is R.A.R.E™. Let's take a
closer look at each.
Customers want reliability. They want to get what they expect. When this
doesn't happen, the business stands the risk of losing a good customer. For example, an
elderly friend of mine who has been a paper salesman for over 50 years remembers the day
when he was selling paper to butcher shops. The meat wrapping paper his clientele
purchased could be customized with a message of their choice. One of his clients handed
him a paper with the message he wanted to appear on his wrapping paper. A word had been
misspelled. The person in charge of printing noticed the error, and made the decision to
correct the butcher's spelling. When the butcher received his paper he was furious. Why?
Because he had intentionally misspelled a word so that his customers would come back and
tell him about it...thus giving him another opportunity to build a personal relationship
with the customer. The message was clear. Before assuming customer expectations, it is
important to ask.
Assurance is an equally important aspect of service excellence. People
want to know that you are knowledgeable. One of the first tests of assurance is the way
the person answering the phone responds to the caller. If that person has been well
trained in telephone etiquette, and if they are polite, knowledgeable, and efficient in
helping the customer, the customer often assumes good of the entire organization. People
don't necessarily expect you to know everything, but they do expect you to know who would
know, and then to act quickly to help them get what they want. That's called assurance.
Responsiveness is demonstrated when a customer receives prompt, polite,
professional service. Never have I had it demonstrated so powerfully as I did this past
winter, the night of the last snow storm of the season in Southern Michigan. My husband
wanted pizza for dinner, but didn't want to venture out into the storm. I called the pizza
place, ordered the pizza and asked that it be delivered. As an afterthought, I asked,
"You don't sell milk by any chance, do you?"
"No, ma'am," was the response, "I'm sorry, but we
don't." We exchanged a few more words, said good-bye, and hung up. I had no more than
turned around when the phone rang again. It was the young fellow from the pizza place
calling me back. "What kind of milk do you drink, ma'am, and how much would you like?
It just dawned on me that there's a store down the street from us, and I'd be happy to
pick up some milk for you and bring it along with the pizza?"
What a shock! Service providers have done nice things for me many times,
but this stretch of the road...the "extra mile" on a cold, miserable night…
is not something I can remember ever having experienced.
When that young man pulled up in our drive, fought his way to our door,
with stinging wind and freezing wet snow slapping his face, carrying a pizza, a gallon of
milk, and a smile on his face, you can be sure we showed our appreciation. The extra mile
is the kind of responsiveness that's worth a lot!
And what about empathy? Do your customers receive the individual care and
attention they expect and deserve? When I had advertised in a local magazine and the name
of my business appeared incorrectly, I called to let them know of the error. I was looking
for a simple apology and the assurance that it would not happen again. What I got was,
"Did you check out the way your business is named in the Kalamazoo Network
directory?" I told her that I hadn't. She then proceeded to tell me that if I wanted
my business name to be correct in her publication, then I ought to make sure that it was
correct in other publications. She offered no apology, no empathy, no acknowledgment of
the error that was clearly hers. As a result, they get no more business from me.
Today's service providers face many challenges. Customer consciousness,
effective people skills, and an awareness of how behavior directly impacts company growth
and productivity are all critical to meeting those challenges. No matter how good your
product is, without quality service, most people will go elsewhere. The best way to get
customers and develop the kind of long term relationships that lead to repeat and referral
business is to be knowledgeable and skilled in providing - Service that is R.A.R.E.™.
©Copyright 1999-2006 Mary Jane Mapes All rights reserved.
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