Creating an excellent first impression

Legendary Customer Service

Google defines legendary as based on legends and remarkable enough to be famous; very well known.

The companies that deliver that extraordinary/legendary level of service don't have to tell customers in their voicemails and emails, quite honestly; they just do it!

You know - we all know them. But what is that makes them legendary?

When I was studying for my CIM Marketing Diploma nearly 25 years ago now, I learnt about customer delight. I remember at the time realising that this was a powerful feeling that organisations could create for their customers and allow them to keep them - after all isn't that the goal for any organisation?

Customer delight was all about an organisation exceeding expectations, giving the customer 'delight' in the experience.

Today - 25 years on - not much has changed. Customer delight is repackaged as "exceeding customer expectations" and in doing so creates (another buzz phrase): legendary customer experience.

I was doing customer service training last week which I love doing, and this really seemed to stand out in the session. The ability to go the extra mile because it's not crowded there and to go further for customers to gain and keep their business.

It includes doing the basics (meeting expectations):

- Treating customers with respect

- Acting with integrity

- Being polite 

- Trusting your customers - don't call them liars!

- Being responsive - set an SLA for response time that shows you care! And stick to it!

- Doing what's right for the customer 

- Doing right by the customer 

- Showing empathy and understanding for the customer's situation

- Caring about your customers (we can tell when you don't)

- Being willing to help your customers

- Adopting an attitude of "yes"

- Doing what you say you'll do

- Understanding your customers - the person, the situation, their expectations, and more! (Listening!)

- Making it effortless for customers to do business with you

And then there's exceeding expectations:

- Being professional - Identifying/understanding our expectations - and exceeding them

- Being passionate about your product / organisation and doing the unexpected and therefore adding elements of delight (including personalisation) that we would appreciate

- Being proactive - why should the customer wait for us; and be helpful!

- Being positive - at all you do, in every interaction....

.... because we are all customers spending our hard earned money and we deserve this.

Finally, be consistent - from interaction to interaction, from employee to employee; once its done for the first time, we expect it every time and for it to get better!

Just think of the 4 P's and you cannot go wrong!