I am always skeptical when I hear a business owner say that they are going to differentiate themselves by providing “great customer service”. Yes, there are plenty of companies with bad customer service, whose customers are aching for better treatment. At the same time, you do not see those customers leaving the company that treats them poorly for one with “great customer service”, do you?
Example – How many times have you or a friend complained about AT&T’s incredibly poor customer service? Yet, have you given up your iPhone or switched to Comcast Business Class? Nope. And, that’s because “great customer service” alone is not going to attract new customers – it will just help you keep the ones that you have, and improve the quality of your word of mouth marketing.
So, the strategy isn’t in attracting clients through “great customer service”; it’s keeping your clients and slowly building a great reputation of value through service.
A store with consistently “great customer service” is Whole Foods. Every time I am in that place, there is someone on the lookout for a face that resembles sheer overwhelmed hysteria. The moment I look like I am searching for something, or have no clue what Taboule is, there is a happy attendant in hemp clothing ready to show me the way to healthy eating. I have literally seen the grocers there look depressed when they are not able to find what I need.
Here are two great examples of Whole Foods ability to delight their clients and improve their word of mouth marketing.
One day I was looking for non-dairy cheese. I found the guy in the gourmet cheese section, asked him about the cheese that I wanted, and he looked through all of the gourmet cheese to find me what I needed. He was so helpful, I almost had to pry him off of me like a girlfriend that I just broken up with. He left crushed when he realized that he didn’t have what I needed.
I walked away feeling satisfied that the grocery store attendant did everything that he could to find me the non-dairy cheese. With the rap music thumping through my blackberry headphones, I went to the other side of the store to pick up some bread for soy burgers. Not more than a moment into trying to decide between whole grain and onion buns, a woman taps me on the shoulder and says, “You’re looking for non-dairy cheese? Follow me…”
Both the male and female grocer had come back together, and worked feverishly to find me what I needed. She led me to the rice and almond cheese, and the man walked away with a smile on his face – satisfied that he was able to go above and beyond to find me what I needed.
Speaking of Taboule earlier, something similar happened to Jenna at Whole Foods on Saturday. She couldn’t find the small size that she wanted, so they just gave her the large size Taboule for free. She came home so excited! I’m sure that she is going to be a Whole Food’s customer for a long time, and tell the story about getting free food to a lot of people.
That said; I wouldn’t go to a new retailer just because they advertised having great customer service, but I would certainly stay with a retailer and tell others about it because of how they serve me.
What are you doing for your clients to retain them, and improve your word of mouth marketing?
Jamar Cobb-Dennard is the Vice President of Business Development for reachmore, which provides leadership coaching for small business and executives. Email Jamar at jamar@goreachmore.com for the latest on reachmore’s newest seminar, Launch.
Tags: customer service, value, whole foods
