Customer Service:
The Formula?
Robert M. Gignac
Taynac & Associates
54 Crawford Rose Drive
Aurora, Ontario
L4G 4R4
(905) 841-0837
My recent Small Business Canada Magazine article
“Customer Service: An Oxymoron?” struck a nerve with many readers based on the
e-mail feedback I received. While I offered only three examples of lack of
service in the article, I received dozens of examples in response, ranging from
ones that would be mildly annoying, to those which would be downright
appalling.
As business owners a critical question is this: How
can we make sure that we do not fail in our efforts to provide a quality
customer service experience for those who do business with us?
Many of the e-mails I received asked for a formula,
something tangible that they could use to raise the service level of their
organizations. Given that request, I would offer the following as a key to
providing quality customer service:
P - E = VAT
Where P equals “perception”, E equals “expectation”
and VAT equals “value-added transaction”. In short, we can be confident that we
are delivering quality customer service when the customer perception of the
service exceeds their expectations leaving a positive value-added transaction.
If you want to provide quality customer service,
ensure your customers leave with their expectations not only met, but also
exceeded. That is the only way to achieve a positive outcome. Perceptions must exceed expectations. That
means doing more than expected. There is a Cajun word called
"lagniappe" (pronounced ‘lan-yap’) which means “a little bit extra
for the same price”. Others might refer to it as under-promising and over-delivering.
In either case you obtain the goal of a positive “value-added transaction”.
But what happens when you can’t raise their
perceptions? You are left with only one alternative - lower their expectations.
From the feedback I received, it seems far too many organizations across Canada
are doing this.
How does this work in the real world? Let me ask
you a question. Have you ever purchased coffee from a vending machine? Sure, we
all have. But why? Why? We knew what was going to come out. The makers of
coffee vending machines the world over have lowered our expectations to the
point that we are ecstatic when the cup shows up before the coffee starts
pouring. There are always buttons on the machine - extra cream, extra sugar -
do they work? I don’t know. But it gives us something to push, something to do,
as if we actually had input to the process.
Too many organizations have lowered the
expectations of their customers, and by doing so have conditioned them to
expect less than quality service. Their customers don’t expect too much, and
guess what - they don’t get it. They have fallen prey to the idea that “paying
ones dues” is a one-time affair, when in today’s business environment, what you
gain by paying your dues is the right to move to the back of the line and pay and
pay again. It is the commitment to quality service and to raising perceptions
that separates the ‘winners’ from the ‘runners-up’ in the customer service
arena.
The winners are easy to spot, they always have a
friendly smile (whether in person or on the phone), they stay until the job is
complete even though the store closed five minutes ago, and they provide the
feeling that your request is the most important thing to focus on right now -
not merely an interruption of something else they’d rather be doing.
The runners-up are also easy to spot, the annoyed
frown, a strict adherence to the clock compounded by lackadaisical, emotionless
service. When you can engage them in conversation it is often punctuated by
comments such as, “I just work here…”, and “you know, this would be a great
place to work if it weren’t for our customers…”
Think about the formula (P-E=VAT) and make the
conscious decision to raise the perceptions of your customers instead of
lowering their expectations. This will not only benefit your customers, it will
raise your profile in an environment that seems dedicated to lowering
expectations. This simple shift in thinking can make your organization a winner
in the customer service game.
Bio:
Robert
Gignac is the owner of Taynac & Associates, providing keynote speeches,
seminars and workshops on personal development, motivation, and leadership. To
book Robert to speak at your next event, please contact him at: rgignac@taynac.com or check their website
at www.taynac.com.
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2002 - Taynac & Associates