Five reasons why ‘Great Customer Service’ is not a ‘Great Selling Point’
Almost half the clients I have worked with over the years believe that their strongest selling point is their great customer service. When you are deciding what your market position is going to be, when you are seeking out that all important unique selling point (point of difference), look beyond customer service – here’s why:
1. I expect good customer service come as standard, not to be a special feature.
2. It’s an old cliché and customers are sick of hearing it
3. It means your business lacks any other stand out feature
4. Even the most impersonal fast food joint claims to have great customer service, it can’t be quantified.
5. You can’t guarantee all your staff and all your customers have the same expectations and definitions of customer service
But what do you do if your business is in one of those industries where customer service is all there is? Say you sell floor tiles. Floor tiles are essentially all the same from store to store, they all look roughly the same, they don’t have a brand name attached to them and they’re all displayed in roughly the same manner. It’s a price driven industry and it’s highly competitive. What can you do but market yourself on the product knowledge and friendliness of your staff?
If there is absolutely no other way (and after working with over 30 tile retailers in my time, trust me, every other way has been done) then go extreme! Create yourself a customer service based promise that is so concrete and so enticing that it stands out in the crowd.
The only way to make a customer service based promise work in a cluttered marketplace is to address the five key problems:
1. It must be something SO good that it is unexpected by customers
Free delivery might not be enough, perhaps, free delivery, unloading and room preparation to target men or a free colour consultation from an interior designer to target women.
2. Everything about your brand must ooze service.
You are branding “service” so you must live it. You may need to hire a dedicated staff member to help people carry tiles, hire interior designers as sales staff, participate in advertising and promotions that will associate your brand with service – you must demonstrate it at all times because just saying it is not enough.
3. It must be strong enough that it lends character to your business
When a customer thinks of your brand, they must instantly think “that’s the company with the great customer service” so it must be strong enough and focused enough to be synonymous with that position. “This company will actually carry my tiles to my bathroom and then scrub the area ready for laying – this must be the best customer service in the market!”
4. Quantify your value
Give concrete evidence, not vague mentions of saving money or time – “Our designer will come to your home and help you choose the right colour scheme for your new bathroom, saving you $329” “Last year we carried tiles up 42586 steps, saving approximately 694 men just like you $186 in physiotherapy”. And once you have a plan, back it up with concrete and quantitative guarantees – “If our staff do not offer you help within 60 seconds, you will receive a $100 in store voucher”
5. Manage right and define excellence
Ensure your hiring techniques are right; that your staff culture is right and that you pay that little bit more to keep your staff happy and friendly. You may wish to offer staff incentives to keep your brand right on target. Define exactly what you consider excellence and make it a key part of staff training and then display it, proudly, in store so that your customers know exactly what they can expect from you.
Often when you look deep into your business, you’ll find something wonderful that makes you unique and worthwhile – if that is your customer service, then work hard to own it and own it with pride.
About the Author: Susan Long is a marketing consultant who provides excellent customer service ☺ See more of her work at Sell Property Quickly and Vroom Vroom Vroom
Tags: Bonnie Harris, customer service, good customer service for small business, lily ponds, selling tips, Small Business, small business marketing, small business promotion, small business sales
July 23rd, 2010 at 7:35 am
CUSTOMER SERVICE IS GOOD,BUT IMMITATING THEM IS NOT GOOD..every where we see service,we human beings always depend on any thing …
July 23rd, 2010 at 8:05 am
My local Volvo dealership has adopted the oozing customer service philosophy. They leave you a nice loaner car every time you get service. They come pick up your car for free and leave you a new Volvo to use until they bring your car back. They have a nice waiting room with gourmet coffee, but no one is ever in it. If you call ahead for your appointment, someone is literally waiting outside for you to drive up in your car. They quickly put you in a nice loaner and send you on your way.
Unfortunately, their cars break too often, their prices are sky high, and their service department takes three or four attempts before they ever follow all your instructions or actually fix some of the problems. So even great customer service can only get you so far if the core of your service is not up to par.
July 23rd, 2010 at 8:45 am
Customer service still sets us apart in the youth sports tournament industry. Most tournaments expect to get voicemail or a call back on Monday or an email and are shocked that we have staff scheduled during evenings and weekends when they are most likely working on their tournaments. Most tournaments are run by volunteers who have day jobs. Software is software and servers are all the same as long as they are up and running. None of our events ever sees that part of it. But, when they call in a panic at 8:00pm and they get a person to fix their problem, they tend never to want to leave.
July 23rd, 2010 at 8:52 am
Good point Gerard – certain industries the standard of service may be so low, that you really can raise the bar and use it as a marketing tool. For most businesses I think, as Lily points out, it better be a given in a competitive market.
July 23rd, 2010 at 3:13 pm
I don’t even notice when someone advertises “great customer service” anymore. It really is expected and it can’t be used as a way to get someone in the door. This is a really good topic. Thanks for bringing it to light.
July 23rd, 2010 at 4:13 pm
great article! if everyone would follow this article, things could be so much better! you made some great points.
July 23rd, 2010 at 4:44 pm
It’s totally true that you can see right through whether customer service is genuine or if they are modeling it after actually good customer service..
July 23rd, 2010 at 8:36 pm
Those that promise “Great customer service” as a marketing tool, are not the ones that are truly giving it. Those who truly hold the right values to deliver don’t even consider it a part of their business plan – they just do it because it’s a part of their values.
Awesome post with great points
July 24th, 2010 at 1:36 am
Excellent Post,
Thanks for telling me such useful points.Everyone should read this article it will beneficial for all the people.
Thanks Again!
July 24th, 2010 at 9:28 am
We always regarded customer service as one of our key selling points – mainly because web design is (relatively) a fledgling industry and has been populated by geeks. Businesses with first generation websites generally have been stung by the “guy next door”, and thus customer service was one of our focal points. But having read your article, I think I’ll have a go at establishing a USP within our Customer Service!
July 26th, 2010 at 5:31 am
Cracking post, but you hit the nail on the head with point one.
“I EXPECT great customer service”
Damn right! So if you make a song and dance about it, it’d best blow me away.
July 26th, 2010 at 3:26 pm
Valid points. Good service should be a given, but estimating what that phrase means to different people is another task entirely.
July 27th, 2010 at 12:09 am
Great customer service really depends on the customer’s perception of how it should really be like. For example, in a restaurant, some of us want immediate service while some don’t mind waiting at all. There are other factors that would make an overall great customer service in a restaurant aside from immediate serving of the food you order such as the taste of the food, the ambience, and the price. Have some of you wondered why other restaurants in some countries charge you an extra “10% to 20% service fee” and others don’t? I guess the 10% to 20% service fee will benefit the restaurant’s workers and that would motivate them to be more pleasing and accommodating to customers, but for the customers, charging this extra fee would discourage them from coming back to the same restaurant next time. Thanks for your post, I enjoyed reading it and it is true that different people have different points of views when it comes to the concept of great customer service.
July 27th, 2010 at 4:21 am
I know it’s not enough, however, I believe that great customer service is a value-added to a business reputation. It should be imposed to any kind of business ’cause this is very essential. It will give higher impact on your business, just like for example, if you are doing everything in your power to make the customers happy then your business will probably gain customer’s loyalty.
September 3rd, 2010 at 4:42 am
Hello Nice article,
I am agree with you that a great customer service is not a great selling way of product.Thanks for explaining this with the help of this 5 wonderful points.
Thanks Again!