Beyond Being Satisfied

In this blog and this book in progress we are advocating from a very strong point of view of customer service - clearly, that the outcome you must create for your customers is a very positive and very memorable experience. It's the "Wow!" factor. It's "wowing" your customers! And the "wow" is always positive and memorable, and to be positive and memorable it must be a positive, memorable and emotional experience. That's a lot of wows, positives and memorables - and it's the only outcome that makes a difference in terms of your business results.

Satisfying customers is not enough - it never has been. In some organizations that have made great strides in measuring customer satisfaction there is a growing dilemma: Survey says our satisfaction index is improving; but our rate of churn or defection is increasing as well. How can this be? Why do customers who appear to be satisfied, or tell us they're satisfied, defect to the competition?

There is a growing body of research on customer decision making and loyalty that supports our very strong point of view.

In Human Sigma published by Gallop Press, John Fleming and Jim Asplund present the results of several fascinating studies that illuminate customer behaviour. They have analyzed customer satisfaction ratings and found that those customers who are extremely satisfied can be classified into two distinct groups - rationally satisfied and emotionally satisfied. They report that the rationally satisfied customers, although extremely satisfied, lack a strong emotional attachment to the company. And just as we might all predict, emotionally satisfied customers outperform rationally satisfied customers on all dimensions - average spend, frequency, loyalty, rate of defection, etc. One of the most fascinating findings however, is that, (and please read this slowly), rationally satisfied customers behave no differently than dissatisfied customers! Wow! Interesting findings.

In a study of "advocating" the authors report similar results. Rational advocates, who report that they are extremely likely to recommend a company to others, ultimately behave very similar to non-advocates. And course, passionate (emotional) advocates deliver far superior performance on all dimensions. Wow! Human Sigma is an excellent book if you need more data to develop a strong point of view about service.

So, the only outcome you should strive to create for your customers is the 'WOW", the positive and memorable experience - the emotional experience.

Nothing else really matters!

Serving Each Customer Uniquely

An excellent story from Rebecca Morgan

She stood at the entrance in her crisp uniform, greeting every arrival. The guests filed past into the hotel meeting room for the local radio and TV broadcasters annual awards banquets. She looked each person in the eye as they passed and said, “I hope you have a great time tonight.”

I watched her, noting this out-of-the-norm behavior, even for 5-star hotels, which this was not. After we were seated, she visited each of her tables and asked if there was anything we needed. She chatted with those who wanted to chat and moved silently to pour wine for those otherwise engaged.

I complimented her on her impeccable attention to the guests and asked what motivated her to treat everyone with such care. She said she’d been working in hospitality for over 40 years and loved her job. But the next thing she said stood out for me.

“These people have given me so much joy every day, I’m thrilled to be able to help them make their special night memorable.”

This server had a clear vision of who her customers were that evening and how she could give each something from her heart.

Did she do this with every group? What about those who she had no personal connection to? I didn’t think to ask her, but now I’m guessing she found something to celebrate about each group.

Do your employees find ways to relate to each of their customers? Do they think about how to make each interaction special? Do you notice exemplars and compliment them? Or better yet, reward them?

Rebecca Morgan works with organizations that know the secret to their current and future success is developing key talent long-term. Visit http://growyourkeytalent.wordpress.com/ for more of her work.

Have a Conversation and Care

I often visit a local branch of TD Canada Trust to look after my mother's banking, as she no longer can get out on her own. I have been very impressed with the service and care they consistently display and I can now understand why my mother always insisted on bringing the staff chocolates at Christmas.

It's Saturday morning and there are four young smiling faces at work at the tellers, two others working with clients in offices, and one smiling face at reception. There's a couple waiting for an appointment with an advisor and their young daughter is busy colouring at a child-sized desk and chair. The ATMs are also being used. All of the tellers and receptionist are serving customers. There's an air of efficiency and everyone is busy. There are a lot of smiling faces and conversations abound. I'm second in line and the wait is about 15 seconds.

"Hi Rick, what can I do for you today?" I clarify what I need and Sean goes right into action. "Any plans for the weekend?" "I might head up to the cottage to make sure it's still standing," I say. "Where's the cottage?" "Near Midland." "Nice spot, great beaches, been there many times." "And you?" And our conversation continues as he very efficiently handles everything. Then Agnes walks by and says "Hi and how is your mother?" I fill her in and we talk and she tells me what a wonderfully kind customer she has been over the years. I will give my mother her regards.

Five minutes and I'm done and all went efficiently and I reflect that this branch has a most memorable group of efficient and caring people. Somebody is getting it right - in terms of service, conversations and caring. There was no customer service script - with canned questions and feigned interest. These people just seem to enjoy having conversations, and want to engage and connect personally with their customers as real people. And as far as I'm concerned, they really care.

Is this a one-off branch perhaps led by a most service-oriented manager, or a have they had more than their fair share of good recruits? I think there's more to it. I get the sense that there something more cultural involved, that there are significant investments being made in service orientation, and development, and that customer service has become strategic to the long term plans for TD Canada Trust.

Can customer service be strategic and create a sustainable competitive advantage? Yes I think so and know so. Based on my experiences of the people that work at this branch I am very seriously contemplating moving all of my business to them - and they haven't even asked me to. If getting people to switch is a challenge for business development at the banks, I'm already teed up to do it - just because of the positive and memorable experience.

And I think there's more to it.

Consider this:

• TD Canada Trust has won the top award in seven of the eleven categories of Synovate's Customer Service Index this year, and has been the top bank three years running.
• J.D. Power has ranked TD Canada Trust highest in Canadian retail banking customer satisfaction for the second consecutive year.
• They have announced more convenient banking hours at all branches across Canada - to serve customers 62 hours a week, and opening at 8:00 am including Saturdays.
• Their most recent quarterly results reported earnings of $1.1 billion, compared to $886 million in the prior year.
• They have recently completed an $8.5 billion acquisition of a major regional US bank and will be one of the largest banks in North America.

Hmmm …

I think I "get it."