Browsing the Net, I chanced upon this article at the Fast Company site.  Reading this article, rekindled a thought on customer service and how one can make a difference.

http://www.fastcompany.com/1657030/the-happiness-culture-zappos-isn-t-a-company-it-s-a-mission

It also brought memories of a recent trip I had made by Air France to the US and back. During my return journey, I missed the connecting flight because of Air Frances’ delayed arrival.  What I went through made me think of customer service in a completely different light- and how the employees, let go of an excellent opportunity. Given a choice of either delighting a customer OR losing the customer-for life, they unfortunately chose the latter.  I am sure that Air France, as an organization and the top management views their customer service to be one of the best in the Industry. But what companies see in feedback forms OR Customer Satisfaction studies done by Agencies – do not prepare them to create a culture of customer service- that is targeted at DELIGHTING the customer.  In most cases, I think it is just plain corporate speak- rarely delivered on the ground by the customer facing reps. 

Coming back to the article, I was stuck by the corporate ethos of Zappos, the company that was profiled (I confess, I had not heard of them before this)-

1. Deliver Wow Through Service
2. Embrace and Drive Change
3. Create Fun and a Little Weirdness
4. Be Adventurous, Creative and Open-Minded
5. Pursue Growth and Learning
6. Build Open and Honest Relationships with Communication
7. Build a Positive Team and Family Spirit
8. Do More with Less
9. Be Passionate and Determined
10. Be Humble

Cool.  I guess most companies have similar ideals that they promote on their sites and corporate presentations. How many of them actually translate it into value?

It appears that they (Zappos) are going a step ahead of the rest. And it appears that they are actually executing well on their vision.

My top 3 to be the best in customer service- and to me this starts with EVERY employee.  They should –

Be a bundle of Positive Energy–

Be the person who is brimming with Positive energy. Show a lot of enthusiasm. Let the customer feel that the employee is actually enjoying his time helping him.

Be a Problem Solver

Think of your experiences as a customer.  Think of a situation that you particularly remember positively.  Chances are it had to do with someone solving a problem for you WITHOUT you having to chase them.  Someone who went out of the way to help you and left you feeling truly great. Let the customer feel that his voice has been heard. Be a solver of problems and if you are the Management – Reward those who are problem solvers.

Follow through

Call the customer a few day after he has bought! Does your company have the systems to track the customer database- and respond to them within a week of purchase?  Can you imagine the feeling- and the power of CRM will come alive post that!  Customers who are followed through, will remember what happened- and will buy again, and again. More importantly, they will talk about you to their other customers.

Think about it. There is a goldmine out there with millions of customers who are starved for quality customer service.  How are you as an individual or an organization going to deliver what they want?