Sunday, August 19, 2012

OVER-RATED! .... OVER-RATED


Customer service is sometimes overstated.  It get's watered down with tricks and gimmicks, but if you understand some basic principle or as I like to say some fundamentals, of customer service you can create long term relationships, as my old mentor Spencer Bartley use to say, " it’s all about relationships". Let’s take a look at  2 quotes that speak to the fundamentals.  First up, Jeffrey Gitomer, who is a guru on customer service and sales,  and is brutally honest says,  

"Customer satisfaction is worthless. Customer loyalty is priceless." Jeffrey Gitomer

 What Jeffery is saying is that, as a business you should not be happy with average.  Being “ok” is not enough.  A satisfied customer does not have the same impact as a loyal customer, or as I like to say as Fanatic customer does. 

Bestselling author and speaker Shep Heyken puts it this way  “Don’t just try to satisfy your customers – satisfaction is not enough. Loyalty is what you need Think about the word “satisfactory” – what does it mean? It means “okay” or “average.” If you are a restaurant owner, would it please you to know that the diners rated your food as “satisfactory”? Wouldn’t you rather have them raving that their meals were amazing or fantastic, planning to return again, and telling their friends the same? That’s more than satisfaction. That’s customer loyalty.”
 
Sam Walton states 

"There is only one boss. The customer. And he can fire everybody in the company from the chairman on down simply by spending his money somewhere else." Sam Walton

Sam Walton understood the fundamentals. Either you service your customer and build that relationship, or they will go elsewhere and spend their money.

 So in order to build loyalty, don’t try to make them satisfied, create loyal Fanatics for your business and get back to the fundamentals of customer service, which is the Customer first.


by,
Mark Wiggins
CEO Xtreme Effort Speaking and Consulting,
Creator of "Customer Service is as easy as, delivering news papers, making cookies, and selling t-shirts" 

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