(1:06) There are commonalities to every customer service experience no matter what the industry, the quality of the product or service, or the medium used to deliver it.(1:01) I often examine the various customer service experiences I have day to day. It might be a meal at a restaurant, a product purchased at a store or online, or a phone or email exchange with my credit card company or bank. It could be my interaction with a marina.
(0:52) If you have followed my Minutes for some time you will probably recall I have used these experiences to help make some of my points - Hertz and Chewy.com come to mind. Chewy hit it out of the park, while Hertz fell miserably short.
(0:45) Take a little time to examine the customer service experiences you encounter each day. A quick mental note as you leave the grocery store or restaurant - on a scale of one to ten how satisfied were you and why? What could they have done better? What did they do right? Did they exceed your expectations in some way or fall short? How?
(0:34) I believe doing an exercise such as this will bring home the essence of good customer service. I also think you might be surprised at how subtle the things can be that distinguish good from mediocre and mediocre from bad customer service.
(0:26) When you do encounter that inevitable bad customer service experience, think through how it could have been done differently. How could the problem have been avoided? How could it have been turned around? How would you have handled the aftermath?
(0:19) It is easy to become numb to the encounters you have day after day in your own industry. I think that by stepping out into other areas, ones that have real meaning to you, you can gain a fresh perspective. It can remind you how you feel when an encounter goes well, or not.r every day.
(0:09) It can also generate fresh ideas as you consider how to bring your positive experiences into your own customer service model. Never lose an opportunity to examine and learn from the customer service experiences you encounter every day.
(0:02) And that's the marina minute.
