By Mark Mitchell
Successful businesses today that eclipse others in their field must provide products and services that continually exceed their customer's expectations.
If you focus on beating the competition you are doomed for failure, because you stay at the survival base line. Your future success is dependent upon your ability to go beyond the competition and focus consistently on exceeding the expectations of your customers. When you do this you create exceptional customer service that your competitors find difficult to duplicate.
It is no longer survival of the 'fittest' ... it is survival of the 'fastest'. Your success is dependent upon how fast you can create and implement ideas to retain and generate new customer.
Business must establish viable relationships with their customers. The services you provide are more important than the products you sell. In other words, the product provided is the 'prop' and the service you offer is the 'real product'.
The following worksheet will assist you in exceeding your customers' expectations and make your business the first choice of your customers. This example was excerpted from a retail jewelry store.
1. Select the most important market discipline that your customers value.
- Product leadership and innovation
- Best total solution for each individual customer
- Lowest possible price for reasonable quality
2. Identify the transactional sequence your customers experience when they do business with you.
Customer...
- Telephones store
- Drives to store
- Looks for parking space
- Walks to entrance
- Enters store
- Is shown merchandise
- Purchases item
- Leave store
3. Identify the expectations of each customer catagory.
'Engaged couple' enters store.
Expectations...
- Fresh smelling store
- Bright lighting
- Romatic music playing
- Greeted with a friendly smile, even if you can't wait on them right away
- Acknowledged by others working in store
- Pictures of bride and groom on wall
- Offered free token gift if they are new customers and/or children
- Millennium diamond theme promoted
- Inside hanging 'diamond' sign
- Flowers in glittery 'diamond' vase
4. exceed the customers' expectations to get a 'WOW' response.
'Engaged couple' enters store.
Expects a unique experience...
- Live harp music playing
- Customer is greeted with a smile and called by name
- Name of couple is listed on the store marquee
- Millennium diamond theme promoted
- Special carpet in front of store with a diamond design
- Ballons with diamond theme
- Sales people have nametags with diamond theme
- Phone answered with..."We have your diamond!"
The key to this process is to go beyond your customers' expectations. Give each of your most valued customers, individually a stake in specifying how they want to be served. If you involve your customers in how they want to be treated the realtionship with them will grow stronger over time.
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