Recently my dishwasher broke down and was no longer usable. The dishwasher was no longer under warranty so I needed to engage an external service provider to get it fixed. Not knowing anyone in the industry, I called the manufacturer and they referred a local business. I called that business straight away. I explained very briefly that my dishwasher was not working.
And without asking any further questions the customer service representative said, “I’ll send someone over between 1pm and 5pm tomorrow”.
I was a little surprised. There was no attempt to:
- Understand the problem;
- Determine whether it could be fixed over the phone;
- Seek further information about the product (e.g. make or model); or
- Provide information in regards to their service and fees.
The expectation was that I would go ahead blindly and without question. Because the dishwasher needed urgent attention I persisted and eventually the customer service representative gave me information in regards to their service and fees and then we set up a time.
Not exactly the great experience I was expecting as a new customer.
The dirty dishes were starting to pile up and between 1 and 5pm I waited in anticipation for the service provider to arrive. At 4:50pm I sensed no one would come. So I called back and found out that their repairer did not arrive because he didn’t have my address details even though I provided it earlier. There was no apology. I was simply asked do I want to reschedule. The likelihood of engaging them again was now very low.
Getting a new customer can be expensive.
It takes money to get customers attention and continued effort to educate them. According to Seth Godin “instead of focusing on how to maximise the number of customers, the focus should be on keeping customers longer”, developing a long-term relationships and “getting more money from them over time”.
Zappos a Service Company that happens to sell shoes and range of home wares online, is building a brand focused on delivering the very best customer service and experience. Instead of investing in paid marketing, they have chosen to focus on providing exceptional customer service.
The repeat business and word of mouth has become their number one marketing strategy. According to CEO Tony Hsieh, “on any given day, about 75% of their orders is from repeat customers”. Repeat customers tend to spend more and come back more frequently. Despite the difficult economy Zappos have continued to grow their online businesses.
So what makes Zappos different to other service centres?
It comes down to their unique organisational culture, recruitment and customer service policies, some of which include:
- Focusing on having a great company culture
- Providing employees with in-house training and encouraging continuous learning
- Encouraging their customers to call them by providing their contact number on top of every website page
- Focusing on developing the customer relationship over the phone
- Offering free shipping for product delivery and returns
- Encouraging product returns
- Not using customer service scripts
- Not having “average call handle times”
- Running their warehouse 24/7 and providing next day delivery
- Finding the product on a competitor website if a product is out of stock and directing the customer to the competition
If you’re thinking you could never do that in your business, think again.
The key to Zappos success is their customer centric, service focused culture, “thinking outside the square” and providing a unique and exceptional service that sets them apart from their competitors.
Customers become “raving fans” and feel compelled to keep returning and tell all their friends and family about the awesome customer experience.