WOW, that's service
by Shivani Gupta,
Newcastle Herald Small Business Column,
published Monday, 28 March 2011
My iPhone died. I was lost as it is an important business tool.
As it was still under warranty, I rang Apple and they organised a 15 minute appointment to see an expert in my local store.
I’m showing my age now but I was greeted by “a young kid”. Seriously, he looked and probably was 18. I was wrong to judge. He knew his stuff.
Half way through the appointment he had typed in codes into his computer and checked the phone. Anxiously, I asked if he could fix it. He calmly and assuredly replied 'if I can’t fix it, then no one can'.
He was not being cocky. He was genuine and his training obviously matched his words.
It turned out he could not fix it. So he replaced my phone on the spot. Just like that. He didn’t refer to a supervisor or make me feel like he was doing me the biggest favour in the world. He followed Apple's policy he quickly and professionally got a new phone ready for me and I was out the door in no time, dialling away.
It was an amazing customer service experience that got me thinking about service in my business.
Companies have been talking about delivering wow-factor customers since the 1990's but we still rarely experience really outstanding customer service. Small businesses don’t have the resources to match large companies in customer service systems but service is something that can be much more directly under your control as a small business owner.
There are three key lessons from my experience.
1. The staff member was well trained and professional. He knew everything about his products and I was confident I was dealing with an expert.
2. There was a clear policy in place to support decision making – a policy that was centred on me, the customer.
3. The staff member had delegated authority. I didn’t have to wait for a supervisor to come back from lunch.
The benefits of having such a focus on customer service are obvious. I was so impressed I think I am a convert for life. Apple will certainly have some credits in the bank if something is to go wrong at a future date. And, of course, I am telling loads of people about my experience.
The last point is important because research shows that if my experience had been bad I would have told even more people. There is a real cost of not addressing your service issues.
Put yourself in your customers’ shoes and walk through what they experience from your business. Would you say “WOW” if you were doing business with your business?