Customer Service and My Holiday Experiences
I hope you all had a wonderful holiday season, and that you are optimistic about the new year, in spite of what the news continues to report.
I had the opportunity to do some shopping over the holidays and had a handful of great experiences, a handful of lousy experiences, and tons of mediocre/neutral experiences. I’m sure you can relate.
What separated the great experiences from the others wasn’t anything spectacular or heroic. It was more a matter of employees who truly knew what they were doing, were genuinely friendly while doing it, and who seemed happy to help. That’s it – those things made the difference.
I was probably most impressed by Target. I went in to buy a few quick items, expecting a neutral experience. They are a discount retailer, after all, and likely had a lot of temporary workers over the holidays. I was pleasantly surprised by the friendliness and attentiveness of every employee I encountered, and was impressed by the pristine condition of the store even though it was crowded with shoppers. I’ve never been a regular Target customer, but I will be one now.
Here’s how customer service impacts customer loyalty:
- Poor service – It is likely I will not return, unless I feel the experience was an aberration, in which case I might give the organization one more chance. Or I might return if I simply have no other options.
- Neutral service – I might return, but more out of convenience than loyalty.
- Strong service – I will return, but I’ll be expecting the same level of service I first experienced.
In the strong service scenario, it may seem daunting that my expectations are now high. But keep in mind what “high” means in my Target example – friendly, knowledgeable, caring employees. It isn’t that hard to exceed expectations in today’s business world. Since the bulk of customer experiences are either neutral or poor, small touches make a huge difference.
Would your customers describe your employees as friendly, knowledgeable, and caring? Not just some of your employees – all of them?
Dennis,
One of my favorite books, Raving Fans by Ken Blanchard states:
“Your customers are only satisfied because their expectations are so low, and nobody is doing any better.” Wow.
It’s true! And in these trying economic times, I hope that people realize how important good service is – not only as an employee but as a customer you – have to earn good service, IMHO.
I’ve always found that the nicer I am to wait staff, front desk clerks, ticket agents, etc. the better service I receive. It’s a relationship we’re building and it takes two people.
BTW – it always cracks me up when I see someone losing it at the airline ticket counter. Don’t they get it? That person that issues the boarding passes holds ALL the power in your comfort universe. You wanna sit by the big sweaty guy next to the bathroom or the woman traveling alone with twin coughing toddlers – you got it!
Cheers!
Hi Dennis! I read your experience this morning with amusement. I had the same experience at Target during the holidays. I returned just this last Saturday to our local store ( we just have one in Springfield) and commented to the cashier how much quieter it was. She laughed and said something to the effect that business had dropped dramatically. The thing I found amusing was after checking me out, she never thanked me for my business or asked me to come back. She was just done with me. So, I’m probably done with them too.
Denise,
Were both experiences at Target stores?
Dennis
Dennis,
I recently blogged about a horrible experience I had with Target. I don’t blame the people at the store (as you’ll see from my post) but rather “corporate” who clearly does not trust even the manager of the store.
http://denisewymore.wordpress.com/2008/12/04/whos-minding-the-store-at-target-its-the-computer/
Denise,
Thanks for the clarification. I’m hoping my experience at Target wasn’t an exception – I’ll blog about future experiences there.
Dennis