Why Am I Not Special Anymore? – Losing the Customer Service Edge

All customers want to be treated as though they are special.  This isn’t news to any business owner, but it is sometimes forgotten in the day-to-day operations.  Writing “We love our customers” on the wall doesn’t necessarily translate to policies that respect the customer or interactions that demonstrate that love.  And there are, at times, reasonable excuses as to why this happens.  Running a business is tough, there’s a lot to do and precious little time to do it.  It isn’t always the easiest thing in the world to be polite to a customer when your mind is more focused on the crisis that just occurred in the storeroom.

But what customers notice more than poor service is when they used to be treated well and now they are not.  They notice the change in quality of service more than the service itself.  Especially when that level of service goes down.  Humans are wired to notice the lack of something that was previously there.  Is it better to not offer good service in the first place?  That way, the level of service can remain stable?  You could.  But I don’t recommend it.  Good service is a reason customers stay.  An easy way to convince customers to stay.  But the level of service must remain at a high level in order to be effective.

Two luxury brands, offering a different kind of product, but both around similar price points related to the rest of the market, had previously treated their customers as though they were the “chosen few.”  But now, both brands decided that they didn’t need to put as much effort into the quality of service they were offering their customers.  They felt that they were wasting time and resources on something that didn’t matter.  Now, customers may not notice if you bought employee’s uniforms on sale, but they will notice when their experience is affected, i.e., staff aren’t polite, they don’t engage them in conversation, a decrease in the quality of products, a decrease in the quality of experience.  The things that affect them directly.  Your employees may complain about itchy uniforms, but your customers will complain if an employee didn’t say hello to them.

It isn’t so much about “rude employees,” it’s more about what it says.  It tells your customers that they used to be important, but now they are not.  No one, not customers, not employees, not anyone, wants to feel as though they’ve been passed over.  It doesn’t matter if you are now treating all your customers terribly, they only recognize that “I used to be important, but now I am not.”  Besides the fact that with a high price point comes a high expectation for service.  They are linked in the minds of the customers.  You can’t have one without the other and still survive as a business.  A high price point product comes with an expectation of a high-quality experience (otherwise why pay the high price point?).  And at the same time, if you have a high-quality experience, but your price point isn’t high enough, you probably won’t be able to make ends meet.  Prices and experiences must match.

One luxury business routinely had customers who wrote “I spent all this money and all I got was…” on surveys, yet the organization believed they were providing “such value” for the customers.  The customers are always the ones who determine value, not the business.

And while pricing can be somewhat arbitrary, most customers have different expectations from a hot dog bought at a minor league baseball game and from a luxury car.  They shouldn’t be treated the same way.  If a customer pays thousands of dollars for one person for a cruise, the carpet and furniture on the ship shouldn’t be falling apart.  If someone buys a luxury car, staff should say hello to them when they bring the car in for servicing.  This just makes logical sense.  You don’t need a metric to figure this out.

But at the same time, treat every customer as if they are special, whether they are buying luxury goods or a cup of coffee.  Not to get business, but because it’s the right thing to do.  Customers are what keep you in business.  Thank them every chance you get, because if you don’t, it might be the last opportunity you have to interact with them.  

We’ve all been through hell lately, one way or another, so let’s appreciate the fact that we made it this far.  Let’s spread kindness and respect.  Two things the world is always better off with.  If a customer is still patronizing your business, show them how much you appreciate it.