When was the last time you had a customer service experience that was so positive that it left your jaw on the floor? When did a company totally blow your mind with how they took care of you start to finish?
Netflix, whose stock soared near the end of January, is one company on a mission to do that for their customers. According to a recent article on the Huffington Post about the internet streaming service, “At Netflix, taking on the persona of a Star Trek captain during a live chat with a customer gets you on national TV, a trip to Netflix headquarters in California, your very own captain’s shirt and an iPad mini.” While Netflix has certainly had their share of publicity for bad customer service as well, they have found a way to turn that weakness into a major strength.
This is highly fertile ground for small businesses that wish to differentiate themselves by making a positive impact in the day of their customers in ways that they could never have imagined.
Another company (Xylem Design Inc.) in northern Colorado that manufactures pedestal displays is doing customer service differently as well. Every Xylem Design customer receives a very short “thank you!” video that is shot as a “selfie” by the person who finished detailing their display pedestal, and the person who did the final inspection on it. This is simply uploaded to YouTube and sent along to the customer as a link, along with a very brief written thank you, and tracking numbers.
The total time to make the video: perhaps two minutes start to finish. “The impact has been nothing short of mind blowing,” says Greg Glebe the CEO and founder of Xylem Design.
“We have found that the level of team connectivity, cheerfulness and overall engagement has gone through the roof and the number of defects has gone through the floor.”
There are industries where it can be really hard to make a positive experience for every customer because of high volume. At the same time, there are industries that are overdue for better customer service. One of these is the domaining industry. Domain registrar Network Solutions, recently came under fire for implementing a security program that automatically enrolled their customers in an $1800 a year billing cycle, for a product that was unnecessary for most of them.
An expert in the world of domains, domain broker Andrew Rosener CEO of Media Options, commented on this situation, “Like in any service based industry, customer service is essential to success. Being a domain broker is a competitive business; my customers have a lot of options, but we have risen to the top of the pack because we are relentless about follow up, service and communication.”
Do you think your business could do better a customer service? What are some of your favorite ways to keep your customers so happy they become raving fans for life?
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