As customers, we all need to make these ten declarations to businesses in order to get all of the service and satisfaction we deserve.
I call it The Customer Service Manifesto.
(1) You serve me; I don't serve you.
(2) Give me as many satisfactions for my money as you can.
(3) Make the satisfactions relevant to me, to what I hold dear, and not to what is important to you.
(4) Be available to help me to achieve the results I anticipated when I purchased.
(5) Don't bullshit me.
(6) Pay me for any inconvenience I have suffered because of you.
(7) Surprise me with perks, just for the heck of it.
(8) Don't bundle what I really want with expensive, useless frills that I don't want.
(9) Make it easy for me to stop doing business with you.
(10) Never, ever completely eliminate the human touch from your service.
This article explores the second of these items: "Give me as many satisfactions for my money as you can."
Today, I read an article in the Wall Street Journal about how WalMart is grinding its suppliers, once more, to help that successful retailer to lower costs.
That phrase they use, and you see it on their big trucks, "Always, the low price," is something they're constantly living up to.
Economy is not a hit and miss thing with WalMart. It's in their blood, their sweat, and everything they do.
And they pass along these savings in the form of generally lower prices. In a phrase, they're always delivering as many satisfactions to their customers as they can, knowing that this builds loyalty and a business that can last for a long, long time.
Compare this to the way most cellular phone companies operate. They are constantly lowering their prices, but not for their older, more loyal customers.
Let's say you sign up today for 1,000 anytime minutes for $39.95, and they cut their price a month from now. So, it becomes 1,000 minutes for $29.95.
Will they call you or send you a text message saying, "Good news! Your plan has been reduced or improved"?
No.
The only way you'll learn about it is by seeing their ads for NEW customers. Then, you'll have to contact them and plead to have your cost pared back.
Today's cell phone companies don't strive to lower their costs and then to pass on the savings to us. They lower costs only to meet or temporarily beat the competition and then they are very selective about whom they bestow this benefit upon.
Tell them how stupid they're being. Point out the wisdom of the WalMarts and others who cut their prices before they're forced to do so.
Remember, you'll only get the quality of service and satisfaction that you demand!
Dr. Gary S. Goodman, President of Customersatisfaction.com, is a popular keynote speaker, management consultant, and seminar leader and the best-selling author of 12 books, including Reach Out & Sell Someone® and Monitoring, Measuring & Managing Customer Service, and the audio program, "The Law of Large Numbers: How To Make Success Inevitable," published by Nightingale-Conant. He is a frequent guest on radio and television, worldwide. A Ph.D. from USC's Annenberg School, a Loyola lawyer, and an MBA from the Peter F. Drucker School at Claremont Graduate University, Gary offers programs through UCLA Extension and numerous universities, trade associations, and other organizations from Santa Monica to South Africa. He holds the rank of Shodan, 1st Degree Black Belt in Kenpo Karate. He is headquartered in Glendale, California, and he can be reached at (818) 243-7338 or at: gary@customersatisfaction.com. For information about coaching, consulting, training, books, videos and audios, please go to http://www.customersatisfaction.com |
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