It is often the details that customers recall even more than the product they purchased or the service they received. Details that customers notice – the ones that make them feel good about not only making the purchase, but making the purchase from you – are a significant part of the overall customer experience.
Here are six ways to go above and beyond good customer service and boost loyalty:
1. Attentiveness
New York restaurateur Danny Meyer is a master of detail. His employees are trained to notice, and when appropriate act on, even the tiniest scraps of information they observe or discover about a guest. If you happen to mention when making a reservation that it's a birthday dinner, the manager will make it a point to come to the table and extend Danny's birthday wishes to the appropriate person. If a staff member overhears a conversation in which one of the guests mentions they either like or dislike something, within minutes, everyone who might come into contact with that guest knows about it. And they tailor your food accordingly, too.
For those to whom attentiveness is important, the experience at any of his restaurants is a pleasure that is second to none. It's no wonder that his restaurants regularly battle with each other for top ranking in the “Most Popular” list in the Zagat guide. His book, Setting the Table, is a treasure trove of wonderful business lessons that all businesses could model in one way or another, and it's a great read to boot.
2. Recognition
Greeting your customers by name is a meaningful and treasured detail that adds greatly to the way they experience doing business with you. If your office works by appointment, the receptionist should make sure he knows just who will be walking in the door next, and immediately greet him or her with eye contact, a smile and “Good morning, are you Mr. Morgan?” One of the things a friend of mine always mentions when talking about her plastic surgeon is, “I love going there because they always know who I am and are happy to see me.”
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There is nothing more flattering, there is nothing that makes someone feel more special than receiving a warm, friendly greeting by name when walking into a place of business.
3. Personalization
Don't we all have a story about the coffee shop waitress who doesn't ever need to be told how we like our iced tea, or the diner where the cook starts to make the same thing you always order the minute he sees you walk in the door? The salesperson who sends gifts in pink because she remembers that's your favourite colour. The florist who never puts a particular flower in an arrangement because she remembers it makes you sneeze, or the wine shop that calls you when a certain vintage comes in because they know you're partial to it. These experiences add value, and they also instill an enormous amount of loyalty.
Is there anything you and your staff can do to ensure your customers know that you not only pay attention to their preferences, but remember them and cater to them for each and every transaction?
4. Consideration
Do you or your staff regularly walk customers to the door and open it for them as they're leaving? Do you or your employees regularly help customers carry their purchases to their car, particularly “women of a certain age” or anyone who appears frail or a bit unsteady on their feet? If you have a waiting room and some of your clientele are older, do you have chairs that are a bit higher than usual and have arms on them so they are easier to get in and out of?
