{"id":31897,"date":"2019-03-08T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2019-03-08T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hyken.com\/guest-blog-3-ridiculously-simple-ways-to-generate-customer-delight\/"},"modified":"2024-01-22T10:37:24","modified_gmt":"2024-01-22T10:37:24","slug":"simple-ways-generate-customer-delight","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hyken.com\/customer-service-strategies\/simple-ways-generate-customer-delight\/","title":{"rendered":"Guest Blog: 3 Ridiculously Simple Ways to Generate Customer Delight"},"content":{"rendered":"This week we feature an article by Jason Milleisen who shares three simple rules that will set you apart from your competition and help provide great customer service. \u2013 Shep Hyken<\/a><\/em>\r\n\r\n\"\"I once heard about a car dealership who had customer satisfaction scores that were the impressively high.\u00a0 When asked about it, the owner explained one of the secrets to their success.\r\n\r\nEvery once in a while, they\u2019d send out a car knowing there was a slight problem with it. You read that correctly. They let cars leave the lot with a defect on purpose<\/em><\/strong>. A missing knob, a dirty floor mat, things like that. Then, when the buyer reported the problem, the dealership sprang into action.\r\n\r\nWith lightning quick speed, the dealership offered to have someone come pick up the car, make the needed repair, then swiftly return it to the buyer.\u00a0 They\u2019d also throw in a free oil change and car wash to apologize for the inconvenience\r\n\r\nWhile I\u2019d certainly not advocate this kind of tactic, it highlights an important lesson that every small business owner needs to understand about customer service: a customer with a problem is an opportunity to leave a lasting, positive impression.<\/u><\/strong>\r\n\r\nLet\u2019s talk about 3 simple (yet powerfully effective) rules that will set you apart amid a sea of cranky reps, unreturned emails, and just plain bad customer service.\r\n\r\nRemember The Golden Rule<\/u><\/strong>\r\n\r\nWe all learned this one a long time ago.\u00a0 Treat others how you\u2019d like to be treated. Easy enough. Yet many businesses, even the really large ones, seem to forget the golden rule on a regular basis.\u00a0 I\u2019m looking at you AT&T.\u00a0 They owed me a refund of $920, and it took 10 separate phone calls to get my money back. Would any person on earth want to be treated like that?\u00a0 Of course not!\r\n\r\nAnd it\u2019s not just large businesses who forget the golden rule.\r\n\r\nWe went out to dinner a few weeks back for my brother\u2019s birthday. \u00a0Our reservation was for 7:30 pm.\u00a0 Our entrees came out at 9:45 pm.\u00a0 By that time, it was clear that we were tired, hungry, and frustrated.\u00a0 When the kitchen is backed up, it\u2019s not the servers fault.\u00a0 Nonetheless, she was the face of the restaurant, so it was her job at that moment to find a way to make it right.\r\n\r\nIf you run a business for long enough, situations like that birthday dinner are bound to happen.\u00a0 That\u2019s life.\u00a0 But as small business owners, we should recognize that a customer with a problem is an opportunity to send a clear message:\u00a0 I hear you, I\u2019m sorry this happened, and I\u2019m going to make it right<\/u><\/strong>.\r\n\r\nUnfortunately, on that night, the server chose to ignore the problem, and when we skipped dessert (that was included with our meal) she didn\u2019t even offer to pack them up to go.\u00a0 As a result, I\u2019ll never go back to that restaurant.\u00a0 Why?\u00a0 Not because the kitchen was slow that night.\u00a0 It\u2019s because they made no attempt to make it right.\u00a0 Give me a free appetizer, or take a drink off the bill.\u00a0 Do something. Do anything<\/em><\/strong> to show me that you are sorry that your customer had a bad experience.\u00a0 Otherwise, I\u2019ll assume you don\u2019t care if I come back or not.\r\n\r\nUnder-Promise and Over-Deliver<\/u><\/strong>\r\n\r\nIf you understand how to properly manage customer expectations, you will eliminate that angry phone call that nobody wants to get from an unhappy client. I practice the art of under-promising and over-delivering on a daily basis, and I can tell you first-hand that it yields amazing results.\r\n\r\nSetting expectations is a powerful, yet overlooked tool that you can use to craft your customer’s perception of your business.\u00a0 I always say that despite my inability to do anything handy, I should go into the home improvement business. Why?\u00a0 Because any home improvement project I\u2019ve ever hired for inevitably runs over budget on both time and money. Nothing makes me more annoyed than the 2 week project that runs 6 weeks. A simple solution to this issue? Tell me it\u2019ll take 8 weeks, then finish it in 6. You\u2019ll be a hero! Instead, you\u2019re just another guy who talks a good game but can\u2019t deliver.\r\n\r\nI can hear you yelling at your screen already: But what about in a competitive situation? I need that customer so I need to be aggressive!\r\n\r\nI get it. You are competing for customers, and in the midst of that, you want to promise the customer something that the competition can\u2019t (or won\u2019t). I\u2019m not saying you shouldn\u2019t try to be better than the competition. What I am<\/em> saying is that when you make promises that you can\u2019t keep, you\u2019ll end up driving your customers into the arms of your competitors when you fail to deliver on your promises.\r\n\r\nEmbrace Your Size<\/u><\/strong>\r\n\r\nI run a consulting shop that employs one person: me. I use that to my advantage, and you should too.\r\n\r\nWhen a prospective customer calls me for a consultation, I make sure they know that I\u2019m the only one who will handle their file, and it will never be passed off to someone else. Is there anyone else who could handle their file? Nope. But that doesn\u2019t mean there isn\u2019t value in me handling each and every full personally.\r\n\r\nSmall businesses often strive to appear to be a much larger organization than they actually are. \u201cFake it till you make it!\u201d is the credo. In some cases, that makes total sense. You don\u2019t want, for example, customers to know that your high-end shoe site is actually a drop-shipping operation run from your bedroom.\r\n\r\nOn the other hand, being small can be a selling point for you like it is for me. Have you ever sat on hold with the cable company for an hour, only to have a completely incompetent representative muck it up even further? Makes your blood boil, right? And therein lies the opportunity.\r\n\r\nEmbrace being a real person on the other end the phone that has the ability to resolve their problem quickly and cheerfully.\r\n\r\nWho would you rather deal with? The generic customer service person, or Steve, Founder and Owner of ShoeCity.com. Do you know what Steve can do that nameless, faceless customer service reps can\u2019t do? Steve can respond to urgent customer emails after business hours, and take phones call on a Sunday even though the business is technically closed. Nothing like that is going to happen at Amazon. Use that to your advantage.\r\n\r\nJason Milleisen is founder and owner of Distressed Loan Advisors<\/a><\/em>, a consulting firm that assists small business owners who are facing SBA loan <\/em>default and wish to pursue an SBA Offer In Compromise.\u00a0<\/em>\r\n\r\nFor more articles from Shep Hyken and his guest contributors go to\u00a0customerserviceblog.com<\/a>.<\/em>\r\n\r\nRead Shep\u2019s latest Forbes article:\u00a0<\/em>Ritz-Carlton Founder Reveals Secrets For Success","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This week we feature an article by Jason Milleisen who shares three simple rules that will set you apart from your competition and help provide great customer service. \u2013 Shep Hyken<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6800],"tags":[2301,4561,5359],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nGuest Blog: 3 Ridiculously Simple Ways to Generate Customer Delight - Shep Hyken | Customer Service Expert<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Jason Milleisen shares three simple rules that will set you apart from your competition and help provide great customer service.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/hyken.com\/customer-service-strategies\/simple-ways-generate-customer-delight\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Guest Blog: 3 Ridiculously Simple Ways to Generate Customer Delight - 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