How many of us when asked,
“How are you doing today?” reply with our stock answer of, “fine.” When in
reality, we aren’t fine, we’re just saying that!
Or have you ever had a
terrible customer service experience at a restaurant and as you are leaving,
the host or hostess asks, "How was everything?" Instead of giving them an
honest answer, did you mutter, "FINE?"
Most of us leave it at "fine" for a number of reasons. We don't want to waste
our time trying to fix their business; we don't believe anyone will listen to
our concerns; and even if they do listen, we don't believe anything will
change.
So we say "fine" and walk
out the door vowing never to return. Then, on Monday morning, we go to work
and tell whoever will listen about how awful our experience was at that
restaurant.
My thesaurus gave the following options for “fine": well, all right, okay,
and satisfactory. The problem is that oftentimes when people give “fine” as
their response, they are merely avoiding the truth. Oftentimes they mean:
not well, not or unsatisfactory.
Are your customers telling
you that everything is fine, implying they are satisfied? 65-85% of customers
who say they are satisfied actually switch to the competition. Don't settle
for your customers or employees checking the "satisfied" box on your
satisfaction surveys. You could have a real problem and not even know it!
Customer’s expectation levels are changing. Meeting their needs is simply not
enough in today’s environment. Your service needs to exceed their
expectations. We must continually look for ways to surprise and delight them
if we want to stay even or beat the competition.
The next time a customer
tells you that their experience was “fine;” send a meaningful message to them
and ask them what could have been done differently for them to have responded
with “great.”
This type of feedback will
help you to identify opportunities for improvement, which can only help to
strengthen your relationship with them!
Coming next week: Do You Know Who Your Customers Are?
MEASURE-X
6227 North 15th Street, Phoenix, AZ 85014
888-644-5499
www.measure-x.com
The Customer Service Training Experts!
