Creating Devoted Customers with Imaginative Service

Imaginative Service: Service Fantastic 2

It was too early to pick up our teenager so we decided to grab a quick dinner at Prime Restaurant in the mall. Our service antenna registered we were in for a great experience as we met James as our server. We knew we were in for a treat when we questioned James about our initial choice of wine. He rapidly shook his head and stated emphatically our choice was not a wise one. He brought us two glasses to taste – wines 1 & 2. We chose wine 1 which James had predicted and began asking James about the menu. When it was time to order James did not approve of my first choice and while he stated he could not be negative he “could be silent”. Obviously I moved on to another choice which James approved of and naturally proved to be delicious. He obviously had been empowered by the General Manager of the restaurant to provide customers with his experienced insight to ensure a fantastic experience. So went our entire meal including of course James’ favorite desert which was absolutely exquisite.

Do you have a “James” in your organization empowered to consistently take your customers breath away? Service fantastic 2!

Imaginative Service: Service Fantastic!

Too often today all we hear about or read about are incidents where customer organizations fall short in the customer service they provide. But there are those times we do encounter outstanding customer service. Here are a few of my recent fantastic service encounters.

Late Friday afternoon I called the Dell Computer 800 number to replace my failed power adapter that left me with a dead computer battery on my last business trip. I spoke to their VRU and my call was quickly routed to “Gold Service” where Peter answered. After a warm greeting and rapidly validating that I was indeed eligible for Gold Service, Peter asked me about my issue, walked me through the process as he replaced the faulty part and explained how to return the used part after receiving the new one. He made sure I understood each step along the way and let me know how much longer it would take. When Peter was finished he asked if there was anything else he could assist me with and let me know how to reach him if I needed to. My new power adapyer arrived the next Monday. Service Fantastic!

That same Friday evening my wife and I visited the genius bar at our local apple store. My wife had upgraded her iPhone to the 4 and wanted to switch the 4 to our eighteen year old daughter and take over her 3. She had trouble getting the phone numbers switched to the correct instrument and after several calls to ATT was told she could only get the problem resolved at an Apple store. When we arrived at the Apple store our genius patiently explained that actually Apple could not perform the necessary task only ATT could! He asked if we could wait a minute and disappeared into the back of the store. In about 5 minutes our genius returned with another genius named Sam. Our genius explained that Sam would walk us to the ATT Store in the mall and ensure that they resolved our issue expeditiously. We were stunned but set off on an amazing adventure with Sam. The ATT store is a good 7-8 minute walk and we chatted amiably with Sam on our walk. Sam led us into the store and as you would expect garnered a great deal of attention! He graciously explained what needed to be done and a very polite ATT technician quickly greeted us and started to work. Sam stayed with us until the 10-15 minute operation was completed. He requested that we test the two iPhones and thanked the ATT Technician for his assistance. We joined in and shook hands with the ATT Technician and happily set off with Sam to return to the Apple store where Sam showed us one more amazing feature of an Apple computer and we parted ways with Sam’s business card carefully tucked away! Service fantastic!

How are you managing your customers’ experience to consistently create “Service Fantastic”?

Imaginative Service: The Super Bowl of Service

There is always something about those “best in class” or “top 10” lists that attract us.  Unless selection is determined by some objective score, we argue with the results.  “I had lousy service from Acme Pyrotechnics!  How come they are on this big deal list?”  But, there is a feature we often miss about those lists that makes it a bit like the Super Bowl.  The Packers and Steelers did not get their ticket to the Cowboys Stadium in Texas because they beat another team by some huge margin.  They got there because they consistently won football games.

Amazon.com, Ritz-Carlton Hotels, Enterprise Rental, Zappos.com are the darlings of the “best lists” in service.  Might you have a bad experience with a superstar service provider?  You probably have.  The Steelers and the Packers both lost games in the 2010 season leading up to the Super Bowl.  The key is consistency.  Go to school on the best service providing companies and you will discover they push hard for consistency.  That means having a common service vision, universal standards and norms, a clear set of metrics to gauge variation from the standards, and leadership with the determination to stay the course and continue to improve. 

Consistency comes from a culture that demonstrates a commitment to great service and treats every customer encounter at every touch point like pushing to gain a “must win” yard on a fourth down.  What steps are you taking to promote great service that is consistent, not just an occasional occurrence?  How can you make great service a way of life in your sphere of influence?