That is an interesting statement coming from a guy that lives, breathes and shares with the world ideas and strategies on customer service.
Okay, maybe it is semantics. However, what do we really want with customer service? Is what we want an organization that is nicer and responsive to the needs of others – both inside and outside customers? Sounds nice, doesn’t it. But where does it get us?
Here’s the bottom line. What most businesses want is more business. That means they want more sales, which comes from two places: new customers and existing customers.
Customer service is simply a means to that end. So when the client calls me and says they need help with their customer service, I ask him or her if that is what they really want. I then follow up by asking them that if we were to get together a year from now, what would have to have happened for them to feel that the customer service or experience program we did together was a success?
The answer usually isn’t nicer employees. That may be important, but what they really want is top and bottom line success; more loyalty, more referrals and more business from existing customers. And customer service can help drive exactly that!
– If more business and retaining your best employees is important to you, then my new book, “The Amazement Revolution: Seven Customer Service Strategies to Create an Amazing Customer (and Employee) Experience” needs to be on your reading list. You can get a sneak preview at http://www.amazementrevolution.com/preview.
Hey, Shep!
It looks like you’ve helped the client to apply the “So What?” test –
A great way to determine the value of doing anything…
Company X: “Our employees deliver great customer service.”
Consultant: “So what?”
Company X: “Our customers like us more.”
Consultant: “So what?”
Company X: “If they like us more, they’re more likely to come back.”
Consultant: “So what?”
Company X: “If they come back to us, we have customer loyalty.”
Consultant: “Oh, so you want to improve service to improve loyalty.”
Company X: “Exactly!”
Consultant: “Worthy objective – Let’s get started!”
I’ve always found the So What Test to be an easy way to test the validity/value of any business objective. You’ve provided a great example – Thanks Shep!
Jim Watson
http://jlwatsonconsulting.typepad.com/my-blog/