Creating Devoted Customers with Imaginative Service

Imaginative Service: Avoiding Perceptual Anxiety

Why do we put bent cans of vegetables back on the grocery store shelf?  Why do we FedEx or UPS a large check when speed of arrival is not a requirement?  A part of understanding the customer’s experience is that it often involves perceptual features that, if missing, mangled, or in jeopardy, trigger alarm. 

The customer’s perceptions of a bus driver with obvious alcohol breath are not just about the driver’s personal habits.  When passengers lower a serving tray on an airline and notice coffee stains, their negative reaction could trigger an intuitive leap to the condition of the plane’s engine and a concern that the plane might crash. 

Customer perceptions can take them way past what they observe to what they conclude.  And, when those conclusions leave them anxious about the outcome, then the message to a service provider is irrefutable:  be a constant guardian of the details that feed a customer’s perceptions. 

What can you do to protect customers from perceptual anxiety?

Imaginative Service: The Painful Side of Service

“Wear your pain like an oyster wears its grain of sand.”  These words were buried in an editorial by Victoria Hick in a July, 2009 issue of the Dallas Morning News.  The poignant piece was about the death of a close friend.  It could also have been about remarkable service recovery.  “Manage your service hiccups like an oyster…”

Delivering service always carries a potential for customer pain.  Service is generally delivered by people and “to err is human.”  Service providers know that; customers do as well.  What characterizes the superstars is not zero service defects, but rather how they turn a grain of service sand into a pearl.  It requires a sincere understanding of the customer’s pain and the communication of that understanding.  It takes atonement that encases the pain with an appropriate and authentic gesture of sorrow.  And, it involves the demonstration of a commitment to better protect customers from future pain.

How well are you inoculating your customers from service pain?  What lessons are you learning from previous service failures? 

Imaginative Service: Managing the ‘Outcome after the Outcome’

The outcome in grocery shopping is to get groceries desired as conveniently as possible.  But, that’s not the final memory the customer has of the experience.  Ever gotten home and discovered two eggs were cracked?  Or have a bloody cut of meat soil the birthday card you bought for Aunt Molly?  Too often the grocery store is in the mix of negative thoughts associated with the “outcome after the outcome.”

Nordstrom is famous for pursuing the “outcome after the outcome” effect.  “We try to guess what is beyond our customers’ purchase,” says John McClesky of the men’s suits department at their Dallas store.  “If a customer buys a sports jacket, the obvious extension might be a tie.  But if you learn the customer is buying the jacket for a cruise, you might explore an ascot or Panama hat.” 

Play out in your mind the possibilities of what customers will be doing, thinking, and feeling after you have met their presented need.  What small gesture would bring delight to your customers?

Imaginative Service: Longhorn Steakhouse Style

My wife and I were traveling on a recent Sunday evening after watching one of our children play soccer in North Carolina. I suggested we stop for dinner prior to 10:00pm just to make certain we could find a good place after a long day of travel. We saw an Outback sign from the highway which we thought suited us just fine.

We exited Interstate 85 at exit 76 and arrived at the restaurant at 9:30pm. We excitedly walked to the front door. The doors were locked. Their sign stated closing time on Sunday was 9:00pm. The highway sign and all the exterior lights were on. NOT FAIR!

Using my favorite electronic appliance – my iPhone - I located a Longhorn Steakhouse two exits away and my wife called to make sure they were open. She recounted our disappointment at our Outback encounter. The gentleman answering the phone at Longhorn assured her they were open, suggested we take our time and promised her they would be waiting for us even if we arrived a bit after their 10:00pm closing time.

It took us 10 minutes to get to exit 74 and to Longhorn Steakhouse #5349 on Klumac Rd. in Salisbury, NC. We were warmly welcomed to the restaurant. In a friendly yet joking manner we were labeled the “outback people”. We were seated immediately and were one of only two tables occupied at that late hour. Stephen our server approached to welcome us, take our drink order and reinforce their desire to serve us. The food was great and the service outstanding. Stephen was a superb service professional and made sure we had a fantastic experience!

I went on the Longhorn Steakhouse website to provide our feedback about Sunday evening’s experience. Here is the wonderful response I received from Longhorn:

“Dear John:

It's a rare person who takes the time to compliment.  Thank you for being that person!

We consider guest feedback extremely valuable and we appreciate your taking the time to comment about your visit.  Your kind remarks will be forwarded to the team, including Stephen N., at our Salisbury restaurant so they may share in your compliments.  We are glad you let us know.

We know you have a choice when it comes to selecting a restaurant, and we appreciate your having chosen us.  We will always do everything possible to continue to earn your trust and goodwill.

Justin

Longhorn Steakhouse Guest Relations"

Obviously, Longhorn “gets it” as we say. What happens to your customers when closing time approaches? Are you sending mixed messages by leaving the outside lights on even when you’re closed? Do you have enough “Stephens” who provide a warm personal touch and a superb service experience? Are your customers advocates for your organization? I am now a big time advocate for Longhorn Steakhouse!

Imaginative Service: The Magic of Transference

Transference is the magician’s tactic called misdirection.  It involves establishing a frame of reference that occupies someone’s attention while something completely different is happening. The magician who gestures to the left or right of the audience is almost always moving the audience’s attention to where the trick is not happening––or to be precise, away from where the effect is subtly being staged.

Transference happens in everyday life. The nurse asks the patient about their weekend while giving a flu shot; the bellman calls the guest’s attention to a beautiful painting opposite the site of new construction; the dentist chitchats about his ski trip while the patient has a mouth full of stainless steel. . . all transference.  

What are the negatives in your customer’s experience that you might be able to remove from their consciousness by channeling the customer’s attention elsewhere?  What are ways a small gesture, token, or action can replace your customer’s adverse emotion with a positive one? 

Imaginative Service: Be a Service Innovator

When Al Hopkins a young boy he watched the other ten-year-olds wait for customers to stop by their sidewalk lemonade stands in the hot summer sun.  Al abandoned the “stand” concept and took his lemonade business door-to-door.  He made enough money in one summer to buy a new Schwinn Flyer bicycle with a siren!

Imaginative service is distinctive, unique, unusual, atypical, unexpected, and all the other words you can think of that insinuate a pleasant surprise.  This brand of service yields in customers the exact same emotional reaction that might be created by witnessing a rainbow you did not expect, or getting a novel gift that communicates the giver knew you better than you realized.  

What would your customer experience be like if you had a magic wand and could change one important aspect of the customer experience?  Or, if you had unlimited resources?  Or, if the new experience was going to carry the name of your child or your parents?  

Imaginative Service: What’s New with You?

The most famous cattle brand in the state of Texas is the “Flying W”.  It is the symbol for the largest ranch in the U.S. — the 875,000 acre King Ranch in Southeast Texas.  Established in 1860, the ranch has produced cattle and horses that have won top honors at competitions around the world.  One King Ranch quarter horse won the Triple Crown in 1946.  But, King Ranch is best known for their significant contributions to the cattle industry.  Experimenting with breeds that could produce high quality beef in a setting of intense heat, King Ranch cross-bred Brahmans from India with Beef Shorthorns from England to create the Santa Gertrudis breed.  The King Ranch example of going beyond image holds an important message for all brand-makers. 

How can you take your service to a place it has never been?  What if you piloted a hybrid form of your service with novel attributes?

Imaginative Service: Juicing Up Your Service

We like words that “juice up” the way service is delivered.  What if your service was delivered faster, slower, longer, smaller, healthier, cheaper, bolder, divided into parts, done with a helper, done anywhere, done with a manual, done randomly, done while you wait, or done in reverse.  Here are few examples of our juicers can work.

• What would a carwash be like if it was done greener?
• What would boarding a plane be like if it was done funnier?
• What would completing a form be like if it was effortless?
• What would contacting a call center be like if it was done more elegantly?
• What would ordering a pizza be like if it was done automatically?
• What would completing a tax return be like if it was done more instructionally?
• What would check-out be like if it was done invisibly? 
• What would the receptionist area be like if it was more entertaining?

 

If Your Service Were an Animal

It was a cool interview question in the 70’s—if you could come back as an animal, which one would you choose.  It was used in team building to help participants peel back the emotional veneer.  I recall one hard-nosed manager revealing he would come back as a duck.  Those who knew him were quite surprised.  “Not just any duck,” he continued.  “You know when they fly in formation and one duck is out front?  That duck!”  Then, it all fit.

What if your customers were asked to select an animal to characterize your service?  Would they pick an aggressive lion, a colorful peacock, sleepy like your dog, or distant like your neighbor’s cat? 

Customers might not give you face-to-face candor but if asked to use a metaphor they might teach you a lot about the service experience you’re creating.  So, if your service were a cartoon character…

Be Your Business Card

Business cards are like a corporate signature.  Some have the flamboyance of John Hancock.  Some are cute, like they were designed by someone’s interior decorator.  Some have cool logos on the front or clever statements on the back.  A few have unique shapes.  Most are colorful.  All are the reflection of someone’s picture of who the organization wanted to project to the marketplace.  Giving someone your business card is an invitation for a future connection.

The service you provide is a kind of a business card.  It telegraphs what you want your customers to remember.  Your service reflects the tone, color, and charm you want customers to recall when they think of you and your organization.  It is your signature statement that says, “This is who I am, will you come back again?"

How can your service be a positively and remarkably memorable invitation?