We all know that the gap between a customer’s expectations and the service they receive is huge. Customers are increasingly knowledgeable about products, and demand value-added, personalized service. Businesses struggle with understanding what initiatives to invest in which will move the needle in a positive direction. Here is my second tip of my 10 part blog series on how to master the service experience.
Step 2 – Is your customer service aligned with your company brand?
Meeting the of your customers are important. However, it’s as important to stay true to your brand, and design a service experience that supports your value proposition. Customers need to know what your company represents, which is especially important in the message-cluttered social media world that we live in, and have this brand reinforced every time they interact with you during the sales process, and for every interaction after the initial sale.
These companies have aligned their service offering to help reinforce their brand with their customers:
- Apple – Their products are high-style and priced at a premium. Their customer service is very much in-line with their brand. They deliver customer service on the customer’s terms – where you can arrange a phone call with an Apple Expert who specializes in your exact question. You can talk with them now or later at your convenience. They’ll even call you. You can email them, or browse their extensive knowledgebase.
- IKEA – Their products are high-style but do it-yourself. IKEA shoppers are comfortable with serving themselves – from pulling products off shelves, to self-checkout to assembling them yourself. IKEA’s service to mirrors their brand. They have exhaustive web self service in a multitude of languages, a chat bot, some email support and limited phone support. You are not disappointed with their lack of white-glove service because you would never expect it from IKEA as it is not their business model.
One type of service offering is not better than the other – they are both good because they are aligned with, and reinforce the company brand.
Have you asked yourself what is your company’s value proposition? Do your service operations reinforce your brand? If not, why? What could you be doing better?