Corporate Exiting Strategies for blooming entrepreneurs.
I was visiting my family over the weekend, and we got into a wave of conversation regarding unsatisfactory customer service. It didn’t matter whether we were talking about a software product, a technical support line, a retail issue, a car mechanic or other service issues; a displeased customer is a lost future client.
Many organizations and companies strive for good or excellent customer satisfaction ratings. While those are very good goals, they are low level steps. To leap your customer service to the superior or genius level, a different mindset it required. We need to focus on the Client Experience versus merely customer satisfaction.
So what exactly is the difference between good customer service and a good client experience? Aren’t they the same? Well, the major difference is relational. Looking at the person as a customer leads to the single sale. Providing a great client experience paves the way for repeat business with this client. Focusing on the overall client experience is building a long-term relationship. The results are not only repeat business from this person but referrals into other markets. Once you have the technique for creating consistent great client experiences (independent of the product, service or economic climate), you’re well on your way to Superior and even Genius Level Customer Experiences.
Once you have achieved the Genius Customer Experience Level, your client has now become an advocate or evangelist for your product or services. You have essentially created another salesman or marketer for your team.
There are typically 3 traps that service providers fall into that leads to ‘less than stellar’ performance. They are:
1) Prioritizing procedure above client
2) Defending the provider’s position
3) Ignoring the client’s skill set
In my Superior Client Experience Program, we dismantle all three traps. We also conduct mock client interviews and difficult client situations in order to practice our active (empathetic) listening skills and ‘diffusing difficult situation’ techniques. We share a type of Client Experience Maturity Model (modeled after the software industries CMM levels) as well as many useful tools.
Conclusion:
Before I release you, there are three reminders that will exponentially improve your client experience. Those simple reminders are:
1) Your job (as a service provider) isn’t to make yourself feel good about your decisions …your job is to make them feel good about their decision.
2) Majority of difficult customer situations stems from a communication hiccup.
3) Integrity of service is rarely measured when things go well; but when things go astray.
For a quick chart on the Client Experience Maturity Model (5 levels of client experience growth) or a short video on the topic, please contact [email protected]
