It’s no secret customer service is dead. The days of being treated like a king, while you’re spending money, are gone. Even in places like Las Vegas, the service isn’t what it used to be. It’s as if the workforce just gave up on treating customers like gold. Even worse, no one expects above average service anymore. We expect to get let down or have an average experience at best.
Customer service as a whole, is so bad, that when you show up and deliver above and beyond, people have a hard time telling you “no.” I fully believe in treating the customer like gold. To me, customers are gold. Gold is something precious and worth money. Clients mean the same thing to me. Why wouldn’t I treat them accordingly?
I’m surprised at the amount of people who don’t get this concept. I discovered the relationship between referrals and charging premium pricing years ago. The key is to make the prospect/client feel good about spending money with you and the results it will yield them.
Treat your people like gold, and they will pay you like gold.
Have you ever heard the phrase “under promise and over deliver”? Those four words are how I run my entire business. I don’t promise anything, but I do deliver the moon. I can’t even attempt to count the number of times clients have told me how grateful they are to work with me compared to others they’ve worked with in the past. I’ve delivered excellent services in the car wash industry, and in mortgage banking and Internet marketing as well.
Treat clients right and they will never leave.
I’ve found a direct correlation between how you treat prospects and how eager they are to pay you. When you give your prospect an amazing experience, they struggle to tell you “no” even if they are not 100 percent convinced to buy. I pair the perfect experience with letting them see and hear how awesome the transaction can be, too.
When you blow the client’s expectations out of the water, they typically want to give you more money. In a day and age where most businesses could give AF about service, you can stand out by being the standard others will never deliver.
Think about Nordstrom. When you go to Nordstrom, you pay roughly $200 for a pair of jeans. They will let you try them on, the customer rep will suggest good looking shirts and shoes to match and they will tailor them on site, same day. People go to Nordstrom and pay $200 for jeans all day, every day. Meanwhile, jeans that look identical can be found for $40 at Kohl’s. At Kohl’s, you get no assistance and you might get shanked over the right deal on the right jeans #kohlscash
People pay more for excellent service. In a world where you can see the contempt on the faces of employees everywhere, superior service stands out. Think about this, we live in a time where workers will protest to get a raise instead of work harder to earn one.
This type of thinking is running rampant through the workforce.
Let me give you the service rules I apply across my entire company. If you stick to these basics, you’ll never go wrong when it comes to treating the customer right.
Rule #1 Over Communicate – I always keep the client in the loop. I’d rather them know everything instead of nothing. Plus, when you’re letting the client or prospect in on every move you’re making for them, they tend to feel like you’re working hard for them. People love it when you work hard for them. I follow this rule in rough times, too. If a client has an issue, I don’t go dark. I continue to keep in touch often until the issue has been solved.
Rule #2 The Client is the Boss – My income arrives directly via customers. Whoever is paying me is the boss. I don’t call them “boss” or anything like that; I let them know I intend to work hard for them. Many people act like clients owe them money and are lucky to be working with them. Not me. I work to deliver results. If the client has a job that needs to get done, I get it done. That does not mean the customer is always right, it just means they are the boss. There’s a difference.
Rule #3 Set The Expectation – When I close a transaction with someone, I let them know EXACTLY what they can expect and the order, in which they can expect it. There is nothing added. Nothing subtracted. Just straight talk letting them know what they get for buying from me. Many salespeople don’t communicate and set expectations. This results in the client and the salesman having two different expectations of the outcome. Tell them what to expect up front, then deliver more.
Rule #4 Promise Nothing, Deliver Everything – I don’t like promises. After all, they are made to be broken and hard AF to keep. Instead, I like to sell on worse case scenarios and deliver better than they imagined. This rule has made a HUGE impact on my repeat and referral business. When you blow past expectations, your clients love you. Remember: sell worst case; deliver best case. Works every time.
Is your service costing you sales? It’s probably something you should take a close look at. Often, we don’t realize how shitty we are because we are used to being shitty. Same goes for your team and employees. Are they representing you and treating your clients like gold? They’d better be.
Check Out THC Podcast Episode 37 ” How To Delivery Superior Service To Your Clients:
