The purpose of this article is to share my thoughts as it relates to the importance of providing exceptional service regardless of what industry one serves in. It is no secret that if any company leads in setting the gold standard for service it is the Ritz-Carlton, whose commitment to quality is not just part of the company’s philosophy, it is a part of the employees’ DNA. My point is, employees should strive for excellence and set the bar on what it means to provide exceptional service, even if it means having to look at other companies that epitomize stellar service.
After a recent outing, I realized nothing bothers me more than poor service... poor attitudes... and a bad atmosphere. All I could think about was how people manage to keep their jobs after providing such poor service. I wanted to tell the staff, “If you don’t like your job or if you have a bad attitude then go home,” but that was not my place to do so since I was a mere patron of the restaurant. Unfortunately, instead of trying to enjoy a nice meal all I could think about throughout the entire evening was the very poor service. All customer service representatives, sales professionals, and employees in every department of an organization interact with customers to provide information in response to inquiries about products and services they would recommend as well as to handle and resolve customer concerns. Great employees help people decide what types of products and services would best fit the needs of their customers and to up-sell additional services, which in turn provides value to the customer and growth for the organization. This creates a win-win opportunity!
Let me digress for a just a moment. Some eye-opening statistics regarding customer service show that customer dissatisfaction costs the average business 10.6% of its annual revenue. Think about that for a second. What does that 10.6% mean to your business? With $26 million in gross profit margin last year, the restaurant I dined at really doesn’t need to worry…yet, unless of course the level of service significantly decreases and people spread the word about it. At that point, their profits will decrease and their customer base will face a sharp decline. Most customers who have had a bad experience will not only tell the CEO of that business, but will also tell on average 10-12 other people. Not only that, imagine for a moment if that one customer posts information about their bad experience on social media. Now what happens to the GP for your business and the foot-traffic for new customers? It decreases.
Retaining a customer costs only 20% as much as adding a new customer. Think about that. Why does it cost more to add new customers to your business vs. retaining your current customers? A business can increase sales by as much as 30% simply by providing excellent customer service. Astonishing, isn’t it? I don’t know about you, but I’d like to see a 30% increase in sales for my business. I am sharing these statistics with you to stress the importance of having employees who are as passionate about the service they receive as they are about the level of service they provide. Having a service oriented culture provides assurance that any organization can surpass the bar set forth by the Ritz Carlton in the level of service they provide. This is significant since disposable income is increasing at only 3% annually and our customer market is significantly decreasing. As a result, it is imperative we take great care of the customers we already have. Any employee who believes exceptional service isn’t a key indicator in success for the organization they work for should be fired. Yes, I said it… FIRED…because they are losing money for your business. Sure, you can teach the basic skills of customer service, put employees on performance plans, coach them, etc., but can you truly teach employees how to have a positive and pro-active attitude that is founded on the principle of providing exceptional customer service? Unfortunately, you cannot teach this. Attitude is an innate attribute of one’s core personality structure. Either it’s positive or it’s not. It is also a behavior that one must chose every single day. Sure, we all have rough days, but we have a choice in how we approach the day, what we bring to the office, and how we treat our clients and customers.
Companies that excel by providing exceptional service have implemented a management policy to match the organization’s service policy. I am stating this because it takes everyone in the organization to ensure exceptional service is achieved. Excellent customer service is imperative in the marketplace today regardless of the industry, and all of us have the responsibility of knowing the importance of keeping a customer satisfied. After all, it is the life line of every business because those satisfied customers will come back to you time and time again and bring more customers with them! I consult with many business owners who work so hard to increase foot traffic and differentiate themselves in the marketplace trying to get customers in the door, while keeping their current customers, but then their employees blow it by not offering first class service. As a result, business owners wonder why their customer base has decreased and why profits are down. It is mind boggling that most businesses haven’t figured out this simple concept of providing exceptional service! Many of us can share our stories of a bad customer service experience. In fact, a bad customer experience is told to more people then a good customer service experience, and on average a person will have five bad customer service experiences per day! You may be thinking this is a negative, but for an organization that has TOP-NOTCH “Ritz Carlton” service, this is guaranteed profits for the organization because consumers will go out of their way to partner, visit, and entertain a company that provides exceptional service like the Ritz Carlton. Think about it. Have you had a bad customer service experience today while, for example, getting a cup of coffee on your way to work? Consumers long for that “WOW Factor” and crave great service, and when they find it they don’t let it go, even if it means having to go out of their way and pay more for that cup of coffee. In a nutshell, to stop the bad mouthing and to get the good word out organizations need an excellent customer service system in place for the business. Plain and simple.
The bottom line is consistency. When there is consistency in excellent customer service you establish a "norm" for your business. Providing excellent customer service is a simple process, and once you put your process in place it will reap many repeat and satisfied customers. Look at it like this, word of mouth is FREE advertising, which is a cost saving, and customers are more willing to buy your products and services because of this “norm.” Moreover, there are a few things in life that must have other things working with them so everything works perfectly together. Great customer service is like this. You cannot have a great customer service team without great attitudes. If you have negative employees with negative attitudes your business will suffer. You can hire all the people you want, train them until they can spout whole passages from the company manual verbatim, and on request sing the company fight song in a booming voice, but you cannot train attitude; you cannot buy attitude, and you cannot force attitude. It is one of those internal self-actualizing things that comes from the employee.
As I reflect on my poor experience, I cannot help but to wonder about what is important to that organization, so I am asking you…. The CEO, COO, CHRO, CFO, CIO, various levels of the management team, and employees, wouldn’t you rather set the bar on what it means to provide exceptional service and generate incredible profits for your organization or would you prefer your customers run to your competitors simply because your organization is lacking in this key area of business? Something to ponder; don’t you think?
