I read an article this week about a study that was done on hotel guest satisfaction. I was surprised to read that 18% of hotel guest reported having a problem. Of that 18% the largest problem, when people were asked, was about noise. But the problem most complained about was internet connection or speed. So the hotels weren’t talking to their customer’s to find out what was the biggest issue.
How do you gauge your customer’s level of satisfaction? Do you call back and talk with them after the service? Send them a questionnaire? Asked them to log into a website and provide you feedback?
I recently had an employee go to a client’s location to perform a service call. The customer is set up on a monthly “check in” system. I call or if I am in the area stop in and see if they have lighting that needs replacement. In this month’s case I was in downtown Charleston to see a potential client and I stopped in to see if they needed service this month. I wanted to stop personally this month since I knew the manager was out on maternity leave since last month when she informed me that was her last week and her assistant that I had met in the past would be at the helm. And she fully expected the monthly “check ins” would continue during her absence! So I stopped by, and was greeted with professionalism and excitement. We agreed there was enough lighting out that service was required.
So that Friday morning I had my technician waiting when they reported for work the next morning and several hours later the lighting issues were resolved. He’s where the customer satisfaction payoff can in to play.
As it happened to work out I had to pick up some parts from my supplier and they had them at their downtown location waiting for me. I decided since I was downtown and we had just serviced the client’s store I would stop in and make sure they were happy.
I wasn’t able to speak with the manager since he was on a conference call at the time, but his staff was eager to help me. When I explained who I was and why I had stopped in they both stumbled on their words, smiling and confirming, “You’re the lighting guys?” Yes, that is who we are, the “Lighting Guy’s”.
The expression on their faces gave me the answer I wanted, the work performed was as expected, but by standing in front of them and checking with them I had just took that “as expected” level to an “OUTSTANDING!” They were both very eager to inform their manager I had stopped by and I think I impressed them. See my client is a high-end retail store. They provide this type of customer service daily because the people coming in their store are spending a great deal of money and they demand that level of service. Receiving that same level of customer service wasn’t expected, at least by the staff members I was dealing with this afternoon. See, the Manager and Assistant Manager have seen me do this previously.
By placing the customer in a position where you match or exceed the level of customer service they provide you begin building a trust in that customer that you are their problem solver. How do you determine the level of customer service that is required? You think you provide the best service around, make sure your customers think that way too! Every customer has to be your number #1 customer. In their minds that is how it is, it better be in your mind as well.
Will those staff members reaction have an immediate impact for me? I can’t say for sure, but what if one of those staff members switches companies of gets promoted to manage a store of their own? Say, that store they are at needs an electrician. What do you think they will do? Or possibly something as simple a friend works at the store next door and that store mentions they are having an electrical problems.
I can’t buy advertising like that. By taking a few moments to place my fingers on the customer’s pulse I have created some of the best sales people I could hope to find.
By letting the customer know that I want to hear if they have had any issues I built a trust. But that is just the beginning. I can’t sit back and expect that moment to be the end of my customer service. It takes constant work to stay number one in your customer’s eyes. But I cover that next week, “keeping the customer after the catch.”
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