Or are your best Customers receiving the very same Customer Service Experience as your least important Customers?
Do you know who your best Customers are? By name?
Stop for a moment. List off your ten best Customers.
Can you list your ten best Customers?
What kind of Customer Service Experience do you deliver to your ten best Customers?
Is it different from all the rest?
Like you (or perhaps not), I tend to be a pretty loyal Customer. I am a member of several rewards programs such as Northwest Airlines Worldperks and Marriott's Rewards Program. No... It is not all about the points I accumulate - although I do love points.
A significant reason I am a loyal Customer is due to the Customer Service Experience I receive.
- On the plane, I typically fly First Class due to my free upgrades.
- In the hotel, I typically am at least recognized for my status as a frequent stayer of Marriott.
Why am I member of Customer-centric programs like these? The answer is really simple. I like to be treated like the Customer I am. I am unique. As a Customer who spends a lot of money with some companies, I expect to be treated differently than people who do not spend as much and/or are not as loyal.
You might say, "Chris... NWA and the entire airline industry are not shining examples of fine Customer Service Experiences."
I tend to agree and disagree. In general, the airline industry does not do a very good job taking care of the Customer.
Yet, I can say with 100 percent confidence that when companies like NWA and Marriott realize who I am and how much I have spent with them over the years, I am treated differently - when they realize who I am. They know who I am. They communicate with me. They thank me for my business days and weeks after I did business with them (mail and email). They remind me that I am a preferred Customer.
I like that. As a Customer, I like being treated differently from all of the rest very, very much.
Most Customers agree with me.
Are you differentiating your Customer Service Experience based on who your Customers are? Or are your high-value Customers being provided the same Customer Service Experiences as your low value Customers?
Key Customer Service Experience Message... If you want my loyalty and my money, you must treat me differently - better than all of the rest.
Last summer I had my deck rebuilt. The huge "home improvement" chain treated me just like everyone else - on the day I purchased $10,000 in materials and every single time I have been there since. This company has lost a powerful opportunity to treat me differently. They have lost a powerful opportunity to capture a long-term relationship that is not based only on price, price, price.
The huge office supply store I frequent treats me like everyone else - everyone gets the little rebate credit - everyone gets treated courteously as they enter the store - everyone gets upsold when they buy electronics.
How can you deliver a better Customer Service Experience to your best Customers?
Acknowledge your best Customers are different from all the rest.
- Tell your best Customers you appreciate them - often.
- Give your best Customers Service that is beyond what everyone else gets.
- Select only employee team members who are capable and willing to deliver your desired Customer Service Experience.
- Do the above four Customer Service Strategies consistently.
Now go Maximize Possibility!
Other blog posts you may be interested in:
- Don't Destroy Customer Value by Assuming You Know What the Customer Wants
- Cultural Change Begins with Personal Accountability
- Five Signs Personal Accountability Isn't a Core Cultural Value
- Creating a Powerful Customer Experience by Exceeding Expectations
Chris Young helps organizations Maximize Possibility through talent management, cultural transformation, and strategic intervention. Bring Chris in today!
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