Customer Service

Make a Promise to Provide a Great Experience.

By Chris Cook - MEA President

Running a business provides you with a daily opportunity to impress your customers. I know this sounds simple, but the reality can be disappointment when you fail to meet expectations. When someone walks into your business, they have already set an expectation and they hope that it is met or exceeded during their visit.

Setting the Stage

The journey your customer takes has much to do with your level of professionalism while running your business. Look around: Is your store clean and well-organized? Do you manage your schedule with realistic timelines for completion? Did you and your customer come to an agreement as to the successful outcome of the work for which you were contracted? When attempting to meet or exceed your customer’s expectations, you must view the sale in the eyes of your customer. Step outside your daily process and make sure you would be satisfied if you were the recipient.

Make a Promise

Your customer deserves a promise that you can deliver upon. When making this promise, leave yourself some room for error. Some circumstances will be beyond your control. These will require additional care, and you will need to properly manage your customer’s expectation.

Set Expectations

To meet expectations, you must properly set them. Overpromising in any area will inevitably leave you missing the mark. Set your team up for success by anticipating what may go wrong. There are always unknown roadblocks that can derail your best intentions. Your job is to foresee as many as you can and build into the delivery time. Telling your customer on the delivery day, or even the day before, that their vehicle will not be ready as promised puts your business in a less than stellar position. No matter how great the outcome is, the failure will always be remembered. Letting your customer know ahead of time will work wonders when seeking to lessen their disappointment. It helps if you let them know that the delay will serve to deliver a better finished product. And don’t hesitate to offer them something of value for the missed deadline. These steps will go a long way when seeking to satisfy your customer.

Make Amends When Warranted

Disappointing your customer with a late delivery is troubling enough. Don’t complicate the issue by delivering the vehicle as anything less than perfection. An apology goes a long way. But this alone won’t make things right. Make sure you complete the process. Don’t shortcut when you are behind. Take the time to do something special. I suggest that you reflect upon a time when your own expectation was not met. What did you assume would happen? What would have made things right for you?

Do it Better Every Time

The future of your business depends on your ability to manage your customer’s expectation. Review what you and your team did, both right and wrong. A weekly and, at the least, monthly staff meeting is a great time to review both great and not-so-great experiences. Make sure to highlight both. Too much focus on the not-so-great may provide you a less than honest result and could undermine your team’s confidence level. Your process should include time to listen and ask for help from your team to solve any issues for your next project. Regardless of the outcome, take time to celebrate your successes and provide praise. If you treat your team with the same attitude that you would treat your best customers, you may find that they will work harder and do the same.

And Don’t Forget the Follow-Up

Every customer should receive something from you post-delivery that allows them to critique and praise your performance. Be proactive. Use some sort of online survey tool. Contact every customer if you can. Feedback is invaluable to your business and essential for growth. At the very least, put customers on a callback list that requires someone to contact them within 30 days of delivery of their vehicle. This is a great opportunity to show you care.

If you can get them to stop by the store once again, you have another opportunity to sell them something. Make an appointment to inspect the vehicle or answer any additional questions they may have. And don’t be afraid to ask for a referral, such as: “Do you know of anyone who may benefit from the products and services we offer?” If you treated them well, there is a high probability that they will refer you to someone they know. Great customer service begins with you.