The Secret to Creating Raving Fans: Good Customer Service Isn’t Enough
September 19, 2011
I’m old school. I came up in a time when the customer was always right (even when they weren’t!). In my first job at Dunkin Donuts, I learned quickly what that meant. I was 14, given the job because my mother, who managed another store by the same owner decided I needed something to “keep me out of trouble” and I had an attitude. I was watched, scrutinized, and secret shop
ped and told again and again to watch my “snotty” attitude. Dunkin Donuts was huge on customer service – and so were the jobs I held for the next 10 years; sandwich maker, waitress, customer service rep – they all knocked the snotty right out of me and taught me how to politely smile and say yes ma’am, despite how rudely the customer treated me. Yes, I learned great customer service – and even earned awards for it later in my career.
Times have changed. I certainly don’t think the customer is always right, (See, “When to tell a Client to Take a Hike”) . But I also think that great customer service is becoming a lost art. When I walk into Starbucks and four twenty-somethings are behind the counter doing anything but waiting on me, I know times have changed. My Dunkin Donuts manager would have tapped me on the shoulder, pointed to the line at the counter and patronizingly snarled, “ you have customers” . Then, once they were served, pulled me aside to give me another “the customer always comes first” lecture.
As business owners, we constantly read and hear how we should be “wowing” customers: turning them into raving fans, creating armies of loyal followers, and creating “buzz”. But how do we do that? I haven’t really seen anyone explain how to go from “ok” customer service to “out of the park” customer service. So I wanted to share with you four examples of out-of-the-park service to give you some ideas of what it takes to wow customers and create raving fans.
The situation: I had a few dents and scrapes on my new-ish car that I wanted to get fixed. So, I went to some body shops for estimates.
OK customer service: – They could have looked at the damage and provided me a fair estimate.
What R&D Bodyworx did: While they were looking at my body damage they noticed my tires were in pretty bad shape. They actually told me they wouldn’t give me an estimate until I got new tires – they were “dangerous” they said. The following week I got a flat when one of my bald tires gave out and I had to replace all my tires. Guess who’s going to get all my body work for life!
______________________________________________The situation: I needed some information that had something to do with technology and/or vaguely related to my website. So I sent an email to my web builders at Safehouse Web asking them what they knew about the topic.
OK customer service: They could have told me where to go to get the info I needed and directed me to a few websites; which is really what I expected.
What SafeHouse Web did: Instead, he did the research for me and sent me an email answering all of my questions. I know he did the research for me, because he included the links and said if I wanted to read up on it more, here were his sources… Out of the park service!!!
____________________________________________The situation: I needed a banner – yesterday – and went to Front2Back Designs. I sent them all my artwork but my logo file was corrupted. They asked me to send a new file, I did, it was still corrupted.
OK customer service: They could have told me to go back to my designer and get another file – one they could use, which could have taken days.
What Front2BackDesigns did: Realizing I was in a hurry for the banner and had no time to be going back and forth with my designer, they proactively re-created my logo for me… getting my banner done on time and saving me lots of time and headaches! They “Wowed” me!!!
_____________________________________________The situation: I was setting up an event in Eventbrite and was having trouble with formatting. I emailed customer support and explained the problem.
OK customer service: Customer support could have come back and told me there was a problem in my html code that was creating the problem and told me how to adjust it to solve the formatting issue.
What Eventbrite did: They emailed me back and said the problem was my html code, AND they already made the corrections AND even formatted my event for me!! So by the time they responded to my email (which was very quickly) my event page was perfectly laid out! They created a Raving Fan!!!
___________________________________________________The bottom line is, with prices rising like crazy and consumers having more choices than ever we are looking for those things that set businesses apart (see: “Price Doesn’t Matter”). – And good customer service is NOT something that can set you apart – good service is an expectation – WOWing customers ; giving people something to rant and rave and tell their friends and neighbors about is what creating an amazing customer experience is all about!
Do you have any “Out-of-the-Park” customer service experiences you’d like to share??? Leave your comments here.
By the way, if you liked this post, I’d really appreciate your Retweet!!! Thank you. 
Don’t Feel Guilty – Taking Time Off IS Work!
September 6, 2011
I realized something over the past few weeks…. I’m kind of insane. I suppose in some ways all of us self employed entrepreneur types are a little insane. After all we risked everything, threw caution to the wind , gave up the steady paycheck, paid vacation, sick days, healthcare, and 401k matches to follow our dreams; many of us struggling and barely scraping by the first couple of years to build something we passionately and whole-heartedly believe in.
My latest “I’m insane” epiphany came after undergoing major surgery 4 weeks ago: I don’t know how to take time off.
Sure, the surgery wasn’t life-threatening (I had my uterus removed) and it went smoothly and was a huge success. But I had allowed myself 2 weeks off to recover and yet there I was in my hospital bed doped up on Morphine and Percocets just hours after leaving the O.R reading and responding to work emails (and I was surprisingly lucid and effective…). - And I was home the next day at my computer writing blogs, catching up on Fortune Marketing Company Social Media Marketing, brainstorming titles for and writing chapters of my book, and organizing future workshops and webinars. Basically, I was doing anything but actually taking time off.
I am such a hypocrite!
I consult small business owners all the time about the importance of taking time to themselves – and even how an effective marketing strategy can help you do that. What I realized through my own experience is that you have to WANT to take time off – and maybe just like selling or marketing or accounting or networking it’s a learned skill for we crazy entrepreneur-types! So, even after major surgery, I guess I just didn’t know how to want to take time off…
But then on my 10th post-op day something happened…. My morning started with coffee with my friends, and then I decided to go on hike rather than go back to my home office, after the hike I decided to enjoy the beautiful summer day and splurge on a leisurely outdoor lunch at a little country café near the park. While enjoying my turkey, bacon and avocado sandwich and fries, I thought that my dusty tennis-shoed feet could probably use a pedicure. After my pedi I took a meandering midweek Sunday-drive in the country and made a couple of serendipitous stops at local produce stands where I sampled local nectarines and tomatoes and talked to my neighbors. I ended up with bags of ripe fresh produce and went home and cooked myself a nice dinner… before I knew it, I had gone a whole entire day without turning on my laptop or reading a single email. Not a single drop of work – that is unless you count the thinking I did – and that’s what hit me: I realized I was thinking clearly! During my day away from emails, research, blogs, Facebook, and Twitter thoughts and ideas and plans and dreams were flooding my brain like crazy! I felt refreshed and clear-headed and alert and alive!
So, I took the next day off, and then the day after that – and before I knew it, I had strung together 3 work-free days – just in time to “officially” go back to work. I was soon lamenting the fact that I had to go back so soon and was wishing I’d learned to let work go on Day One!
See the problem is as a small business owner, and especially as a small business owner who is still very much in start-up mode, there is always stuff to do. – ALWAYS. My mental to-do list has no end. So doing nothing, or reading a fun book instead of a work book, or lounging by the pool, or taking a hike, or a drive, or just watching Netflix without the heat from my laptop burning the skin of my lap, I feel guilty. I always feel like I should be doing more.
But surgery (finally) taught me that taking time off is crucial to success. When I came back I was refreshed and invigorated with new ideas. I talk a lot about the difference between working on our businesses and in them and that time “off” where I could clear my head and not be bogged down by the tactical details of working “in” my business allowed me the brain-space to strategize and plan the future direction of my business – and my life!
And the Moral is….
Taking time of work is work because it allows our minds to clear of all of the fires and the “stuff” of running a business and allows us to get out from under ourselves so we can see the big picture again; to strategize, to think… to dream, to plan – to actually be business owners and entrepreneurs rather than overworked and underpaid employees of our own companies! (Or is this just some reverse psychology ploy the right side of my brain is using to trick the left side into succumbing to this theory? ). So go ahead – take the day off – and don’t feel guilty, you’re still working!!!
I’d love to hear your story about life lessons you’ve learned as a small business owner. Please feel free to leave your comments!!! Leave your comments here.
By the way, if you liked this post, I’d really appreciate your Retweet!!! Thank you.
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+Carolyn Higgins, President of Fortune Marketing Company
- Carolyn Higgins, President of Fortune Marketing Company specializes in helping small to medium sized businesses get the customers they need to sell more, increase profits and achieve all of their business and personal goals. We do this by implementing and managing marketing systems based on data and strategy - there is no guess work. For more information visit us at: FortuneMarketingCompany.com. We'd be glad to help!
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