Great customer service is more than just answering the phone or tracking down orders. To really deliver great customer service you need two things: smart informative employees that are well-trained and the right technology to help them deliver exceptional customer service. But what if you could bring your level of customer service up a notch and make it anticipatory customer service that can help your customers by anticipating their unexpressed desires? That is how the Ritz-Carlton explains its top of the line customer service, and you can do it too.
Creating that Emotional Customer Commitment
When you deliver customer service that anticipates your customer needs, you move your company out of the acceptable business experience into the kind of experience that creates real loyalty. It is easy to see why, once you look closely at what they need you to deliver. We aren't talking about spam here but real customer service that understands customer needs and anticipates them for them. Keep in mind that although having the right technology can help you to deliver this exceptional service, it is only part of the equation. Great people and top notch training combine to make this an unbeatable way to keep customers coming back again and again. When your customers see that you anticipate every roadblock for them, they can relax and leave it all in your hands. This is the kind of service anyone would come back for, and you can deliver it with the right mindset and the technology to deliver it. Here are just a few examples.
Delays in Service – The moment it is obvious that something has happened that can delay a service being delivered, a part being shipped or an event taking place as anticipated, let them know. If you offer travel services and a flight is delayed, offer to rebook and give them options. If that order needed to be in time for the holidays and it might not happen, tell them the instant you know.
Keeping Track – Some services happen regularly, such as delivering prescriptions or handling mortgages. If you have a business that has this kind of cyclical service, why not do the basic steps to ensure there are no delays? My Internet provider recently sent a notice they were changing their billing cycle to give customers more time to review the bill, which they send out reminders for via email. They now would send those notices two weeks in advance of billing instead of just a few days before. This is responsive and thoughtful.
Keeping the Human Touch
While using technology, such as your EzPSA system, can be a big part of organizing the information that helps you deliver anticipatory customer service, remember that in the end it always comes down to the human touch. Always give your customer a way to talk to a real live human being when sending out notices of changes or updates. Salespeople sweat blood for human contacts so always give your customer a human alternative to a tech solution when a problem pops up.
Even if you are using your PSA technology to contact them, they should always have the option to talk to a person. We developed our EzPSA system to help business stay in touch with their customers and serve them better. Taking the next logical step and making that customer service become an anticipatory service is just one more way you can use technology to deliver the best service possible and in turn have customers who wouldn't think of doing business with anyone else.
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