What is the one thing we have all experienced and discussed with our close circles? From product reviews to customer experiences, these are some of the topics we are too fond of discussing. Frustrations from a bad customer experience fuel the fire of bad publicity and loss of clientele for any brand, regardless of its size.
The assumption of being customer-friendly without actions to back it up is like boarding the flight of reckless abandon that can directly lead you in hot waters. In order to help our readers improve their customer experience, we have curated a list of lessons from the market giants. We hope that by the end you will be able to start positive discussions about your brand that will only lead to better revenue and reputation for you!
Where can you learn about customer service?
Speaking from a psychological perspective, the customer tends to seek an experience that adds value to their life. The consumer is no longer interested in finding a product for their needs, instead they look forward to the impact the product would make on their esteem and image. With the development of globalized behaviors and the search for excellence, the customer is not satisfied with empty promises.
Considering the significance of customer service on business prospects it is only natural for a business to gravitate towards the words of experts. And who could have more expertise on customer service than the hospitality industry? After all it is the industry that employees all of its resources to appease millions of guests each year.
Taking inspiration from Micah Solomon’s works, one learns that exceptional customer experience, regardless of its niche, can learn to adapt and innovate from the hospitality industry. From the Ritz-Carlton to Virgin, here is a lesson from every hospitality mega-mind in the industry to help you achieve the highest summits of customer experience.
Lesson 1: Recognition and acknowledgement form the route to the customer’s heart.
When a business succeeds in making the customer feel appreciated since the moment they step inside the premises until after they are done, it succeeds in keeping the doors open for more than a single transaction.
Paying attention to the customer even before they make a purchase and letting them know that they mean the world to your business will help them realize that choosing you was the right decision, says Danny Meyer the hospitality king who has caused Shake Shack to become a global entity.
Lesson 2: Customized service is the ultimate form of customer service.
According to Richard Branson, the maestro behind Virgin Hotels, authenticity is the key to impressing a customer. The consumers today are not impressed by scripted introductions and copy-pasted dialogue.
Considering the fact that the major segment of consumers comes from the millennial cohort, it is essential for businesses to understand their patterns of consumption and get rid of the phony, scripted services styles that are a major turn off for the intended audiences.
This is why businesses must invest in customer feedback and gain insights from survey platforms like krogerexperiencee.com.
Lesson 3: The customer is always right.
Patrick O’Connell from The Inn at Little Washington has been noted to endorse the culture of yes. When any organization begins saying yes to their customers, it builds a positive aura that translates to stars and stripes of appreciation from the monarchy, presidents, and stars that preside over the masses.
Patrick O’Connell teaches his wait-staff to answer clients in the same words as the client, instead of limiting their tone to a reductionist list of no’s, not possible, we don’t do that here.
At the end of the day the employee must be comfortable with the default framework of saying yes to the clients.
Lesson 4: Empower the team to reap the fruit.
Have you ever noticed that the frontline employees in major hotels are capable of efficiently solving customer queries? They do not need the approval from someone above them in the hierarchy to solve 89 percent of customer problems.
The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company has the answer to this.
Empower frontline workers who have the autonomy to be creative for customers always works its charm. This helps the team to be quick and effective in achieving customer satisfaction. The Ritz-Carlton allows its team to spend up to $ 2000 without involving the senior management.
Lesson 5: Hire a team that knows how to interact with customers.
Tom Colicchio from Top Chef brings the impact of the right team to our attention. He says that trait-based hiring is the best way of administering high-quality customer-service. Hiring a team that is adept at the skills of exuding warmth, empathy, and arduousness is the essence of spectacular customer service. Call center services in the Philippines nurture their agents to provide quality customer service by learning how to understand and engage with different types of customers.
The key here is to hire people who have a natural gravitation towards serving customers and enjoying it. Whether you throw a spectacular dinner to honor your guests or host an event for a client, you must have a team that is prepared to appease the crowd and is skilled to make you proud!
Last lesson: Continue to improve.
The road to customer service has no end because it never remains static. The conceptual framework at work here focusses on improving the service delivery to ensure that the clients are satisfied and the competition is still left behind. You must enable your team to upgrade and enhance your service to facilitate customer needs.
Improvement cannot be achieved unless you learn lessons from experts and apply them in accordance to the changing patterns of consumption in your niche.
Final Thoughts
To broil down facts to the basic, one must understand that superb customer service is a product of many elements working together. From hiring the right team to empowering the employees enough to say yes, there is always room for improvement. Remember that the consumer is looking for a customized experience that helps them feel appreciated and needed. Once you are able to deliver that, you are all good to go!
