Page 69 - Exceptional Service, Exceptional Profit: The Secrets of Building a Five-Star Customer Service Organization

50 Exceptional Service, Exceptional Profit

chirpy greetings from other staff members (‘‘Are you enjoying your
time with us so far?’’), requiring the customer to educate the staff over
and over (‘‘Actually, it’s been problematic’’) in response.

? Product/service preferences, whether stated by the cus-
tomer or observed, which you should try to accommodate
without being asked.

? Anything your customer filled out earlier on a comment
card or electronic survey. These forms contain not just statistical data
but feelings expressed by a real, live customer. In addition to responding
to such feedback personally and promptly (see Chapter 6), include this
information in the customer’s tracking file so that you can keep it in
mind when working with the customer in the future.

? Any personal ties to your establishment, such as a shared
history, friends the customer has who work at your establish-
ment, etc. Some of your customers will perceive your business in es-
pecially emotional, personal terms. Encourage this. For example, if a
customer explains that she first visited your drugstore with her dad as a
child thirty years ago, be enthusiastic about that. Then write it down.
As another example, some of your customers may express special at-
tachment to a particularly charismatic member of your team. Record
those feelings, and cue that employee to be sure to make contact with
the customer. The employee’s personal contact will enhance loyalty far
more than a discount.

? The number of projects/purchases/visits. Make sure your
tracking system identifies unusually valuable customers clearly.

? Especially challenging customers. Never write notes about
challenging customers except in a tactful code. Any such warning must
be reviewed by someone in an ownership position before being shared,
even in your internal, password-protected computer system. Among
the reasons for this caution: Many ‘‘intractably’’ difficult customers are
actually misunderstood customers responding to a specific situation; the
next time you encounter them they may be as easy as the day is long.