The companies that are going to weather today's extremely competitive and lean environment are those that are concentrating on exceeding the expectations of their customers. Not just meeting them, but surprising them with the quality and value of the products and services they have to offer.
How about you and your organization? If your company manufactures or sells products or services similar to a lot of other companies out there, you are at risk. You are at risk of descending into a price war where the only thing you have to differentiate you from your competitors is the cost.
Successful companies are creating value for their customers by anticipating their customers' expectations and then exceeding them whenever possible so the customer is so surprised by their experience that they turn into cheerleaders for the company.
But how do you go about discovering what your customers want before they even think of it? How do you then use that information to exceed your customers' expectations?
You listen to your customer, that's what. Constantly. And not just once a year either. Through focus groups, questionnaires and surveys, one-on-one interviews and other means, you keep your finger on what the customer is thinking and wanting.
Now I'm not talking about just finding out what your customer thinks of your current service. Sure, you need to be constantly doing that. Rather, I'm talking about learning more about their expectations of your service. What they are expecting when they do business with you.
A bank did some extensive research and found that their customers felt that a four minute wait in line for a teller would be considered good service. That would meet their expectations. So the bank staffed their teller windows and drive throughs so that customers would only have to wait three minutes on average. Their customers came away from the experience with a feeling that the bank was offering exceptional service.
That's what exceeding customer expectations is all about. Of course you can't surprise and delight them every time. It is really impossible to exceed expectations every time, but you must look for opportunities to kick it up a notch every once in a while. That's what makes for memorable service.
Remember: This advice does not only apply to retail store environments, it pertains to the way employees work with each other. After all, how can you deliver superior service to your outside customers if you don't serve each other well? What have you done recently to exceed your co-worker's expectations of your service?
