Ignite customer service with a spark
One morning on the way home after my regular walk at the park, I stopped as I regularly do, at the nearest branch of a supermarket chain. The store had just opened its doors for the day and unsurprisingly there were more employees running around doing this and that, than customers. One of the items on the list given to me by my wife was for the purchase of a pack of cotton ear buds. After a few minutes of searching, I approached an employee for help. At this point, I waited with anticipation to see how this ‘moment of truth in customer service’ will be played out by this employee. Will his response lead to more frustration? Will it be a ‘follow-me- lets- look- for- it’ kinda treasure hunt, leading to both of us getting frustrated? Or will it move in the right direction to a feeling of appreciation or best of all – will it result in leaving me truly impressed?
The ‘moment of truth’ in customer service - an article with the abovementioned title, authored by Marc Beaujean, Jonathan Davidson, and Stacey Madge – all employees of McKinsey & Company, pinpoints with great accuracy where most service-related and hospitality businesses miss out, when it states… “What's regularly missing, in our experience, is the spark between the customer and frontline staff members—the spark that helps transform wary or skeptical people into strong and committed brand followers. That spark and the emotionally driven behavior that creates it, explain how great customer service companies earn trust and loyalty during "moments of truth": those few interactions; (for instance, a lost credit card, a canceled flight, a damaged piece of clothing, or investment advice), when customers invest a high amount of emotional energy in the outcome. Superb handling of these moments requires an instinctive frontline response that puts the customer's emotional needs ahead of the company's and the employee's agendas”.
Let’s shift back to how the supermarket employee responded in my case. Sweeping his right hand in a vaguely arc-like direction, he asked me to go to my left towards the second aisle from the last and that I should find it somewhere there! He then quickly vanished, leaving me to continue the search I had already been on. There are moments when the long-term relationship between a business and its customers can change significantly—for better or for worse. In this instance the relationship simply disintegrated! The action of this employee demonstrated that my needs as a customer was low down on his daily ‘to do’ list. Sadly, this is the scenario, most customers have come to frustratingly expect. There is then the other slightly better customer service encounter where the employee will mumble ‘I’m pretty sure it is over there’, whilst beckoning you to follow him/her. Most of us have been in the position of following a shop employee up and down aisles we’ve already searched, until ultimately spotting the item or abandoning the search in exasperation. Very seldom, although it does occasionally occur between one full moon day and the next, will an employee say ‘The ear buds are in the personal care section, let me show you’ and the employee then walks you directly to the item. When that happens I feel appreciated as a customer. What I really want to see though, is a response that brings a spark to my shopping experience. It is here that I dream the employee asking me if I had more shopping to do, to which I would reply I did, and be then told, “You go ahead and keep shopping and I’ll find it and bring it to you”. Wow… now that does more to preventing me shifting my loyalty to the competition than all the special offers and seemingly benevolent celebrity endorsements.
Ilzaf Keefahs
|
|
|
|
