Improving Global Customer Service: The Long-term Mission

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At AQ, we’re all about improving global customer service. Our mission statement says it all: “To let people experience great service.” But what do we mean when we say that? Today, I want to break the ice, crack the fourth wall, and tell you a little about that.

When AQ was founded in 2001 by Jan-Willem Smulders and Thomas Kascha, the theme was simple: advance quality service. The goal was to help businesses improve their customers’ experiences by improving the level of service they were experiencing. Over time, AQ focused on mystery shopping. Why? Improving global customer service requires both qualitative and quantitative data. More importantly, however, is that to truly understand what goes on in a business, the human element has to be measured. That’s not something that’s done with other market research tools like surveys or external focus groups for example. By specializing in mystery shopping AQ can pinpoint the cause of a drop in sales with quality accuracy.

Taking this specialization, we partner with our clients to help them develop a better understanding of their own employees and their own systems. Sometimes all it takes to boost sales and engagement is a little bit of insight from a reliable source. AQ strives to be that reliable source. We put an emphasis on quality assurance precisely for that purpose, insights are all well and good but if the foundational data isn’t of the highest quality no one benefits.

Ultimately, our quest is to make sure that every industry around the world has the highest level of customer service possible. The trouble is, of course, that customer expectations keep evolving. Our work will never be done, but it is our hope to keep adapting to these changing concepts and demands and guide our clients along the way. We believe in continuous improvement, doing the right thing by everyone, and, above all, that everyone deserves to experience great service.

 

 

 

 

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Improving Customer Relationships: why it matters & how to do it.

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We often take relationships for granted. Building and maintaining them takes work. Even in our day-to-day lives, we need to work on our friendships. Some relationships require less than others, of course, but none should be taken for granted. In the same way, improving customer relationships should be an ongoing process.

Why should we bother improving customer relationships?

Having a good relationship between company and customer boosts customer loyalty, engagement, and advocacy. All of these things help build better customer service and, because of it, improve a company’s productivity and performance. As we like to say at AQ: the frontline impacts the bottom line!

For many businesses, improving customer relationships can seem like a lot of work: why not simply make the sale and move on? To counter: why let go of existing, satisfied customers when they could buy from you again? Contrary to believe, improving customer relationships isn’t as much work as it sounds, and besides, it’s something every company should be doing anyways:

1. Communicate

Connect with your customers on a human level. People like to connect with other people. Think of the last time you walked into your favourite coffee shop and you were greeted by name. It may betray your caffeine addiction but it also proves that the staff recognize that you’re a person. Communication skills are one of the top requirements for great customer service performance.

2. Empathize

Part of being able to communicate with another human being is being able to understand what they’re all about. Empathizing with customers allows us to get a good feel for their needs and requirements and how we might best provide a solution. Empathy is all about letting a customer know that this about them, not about us, and is a vital element of improving customer relationships.

3. Listen

When a customer provides negative feedback, it’s important to listen to it. Listening to criticism and feedback is a good way to understand what your customers think about your product or service. Choosing to ignore this information can be detrimental to future growth; after all, if there’s something wrong and your customers have told you about it, then they won’t come back until it’s fixed. Feedback, negative or otherwise, is the best way to get your customers’ perspective on your company.

4. Commit

As with every relationship, a customer relationship requires commitment. No, don’t run away – we’re not saying you have to marry them, just that once you’ve decided to go down the road of improving customer relationships, you’re going to have to stick with it. That means keeping in touch with your customers, listening to their needs, empathizing with them, and communicating relevant company information to them, on a regular basis. Relationships take work, and you have to be committed to making them work.

5. Build Trust

Every healthy relationship hinges on integrity. Being honest with your customers is the best way to make sure that there are no miscommunications. You can’t sell your customer what you don’t have, and if you don’t know the answer to their questions it’s better to admit ignorance – and promise to find out – than to something up and give them the wrong information. What’s that old adage? ‘The truth will out’? You can always count on people finding out the truth, and if it’s not what you’ve told them, you can certainly say goodbye to that customer, and all their personal connections, forever.

How will improving customer relationships boost my business again?

By putting some effort into training employees – and management! – into building customer relationships, your company is automatically improving its customer service. Better customer service means satisfied customers, engaged employees, and both those things lead to the closing of more and better sales.

The frontline really does impact the bottom line!

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4 Emotions Driving Customer Loyalty

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Companies are learning that good customer loyalty is a vital part of their business. It’s no longer enough to rely on new prospects; companies are recognising the importance of repeat business and customer advocacy.

What is Customer Loyalty?

Customer loyalty is an attitude and behaviour where customers favour one business brand over others. Usually, a company earns customer loyalty through satisfying the customer’s needs and requirements, whether it’s a service or product (or both!). It can also be born out of a sense of familiarity with a brand’s image, and, more and more, a company’s corporate social responsibility.

Also read this article for more information: How To Improve Customer Experience

Why is it so important?

The Gartner Group discovered that 20% of existing customers generate 80% of a company’s profits. This is backed up by marketing data, which reveals that selling to brand new customers if only 5-20% likely, versus a whopping 60-70% for current customers.

That is customer loyalty at work.

A customer who has previously been satisfied by the quality of a product or impressed with the level of customer service, is more comfortable with the brand in question and as a result is far more likely to purchase again. And recommend that brand to others, enter customer advocacy.

What drives Customer Loyalty?

People tend to be driven by emotions. Customer loyalty comes from the emotional response to a successful business transaction. Are they happy with a product? Happy enough to come back and buy again? That ‘happiness’ is the driving factor, and must be maintained over time to stop the relationship from deteriorating.

There are many emotions and states of mind that play a part in this. On the whole, however, the following four take the lead:

Gratitude 1. Appreciation & Gratitude

These two emotions go hand-in-hand. A grateful customer is a loyal customer. They feel appreciated by the business because they’ve been looked after. In turn, they appreciate the business for performing up to their expectations, a great way to win customer loyalty!

Winner2. Comfortable

While not strictly speaking an ‘emotion’, this has to do with how comfortable customers are with a brand’s image. It’s about familiarity. People are more likely to use a brand they recognise and know to be ‘safe’ than step out of their comfort zone to try something different. This isn’t just about big business; today, with the Millennial consumer focussing on corporate social responsibility, smaller businesses with strong ties to the community, for example, have the power to outperform the large businesses in this area.

Surprise
3. Surprise!

Surprising a customer – in the right way – can ensure that a business stands out in a crowd. Being different is important to outdo the competition. More than that, however, surprise is one of the strongest emotions to tap into when it comes to maintaining customer loyalty as it will keep brand messages from going stale.

community4. Inclusion

People like to feel as though they belong and are part of a community. Being able to generate the feeling that customers are included in decisions, ideas, festivities, is a great way to increase customer loyalty, and a good way to stand out from the crowd. People are less likely to swap businesses if they feel like they are part of a family.

Of course, these aren’t the only emotions driving customer loyalty. People are too complex for us to assume that everyone reacts the same way or wants the same thing. Some of us just want to walk into a store and buy a pair of shoes, or a sundae, without being bothered that it’s not our ‘usual store’. But, let’s be honest, we do get a nice buzz when we walk into our favourite cafe and the barista goes “Hi, Sam, the usual?…One pumpkin-spiced double-frothed skinny latte, extra hot, extra large, with cinnamon dusting, to go, coming right up!”.

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Managing Customer Expectations to improve Customer Loyalty

Customer expectations? What’s the big fuss? A customer comes in, makes a purchase, goes away again, right? No big deal? We all know that it’s more than ‘no big deal’. A customer’s expectations are what we, as responsible companies, strive to meet.

What do you mean with ‘customer expectations’?

In a previous article, we discussed how customers want to be reassured that they’ve made the right choice. They want the product or service they bought from a company to meet their expectations. They don’t want to feel like they’ve lost time, been tricked, or – worse of all – wasted their money. A customer who leaves feeling used is never coming back, and they will spread the word. People are far more likely to share negative feedback than they are to share compliments.

Promising someone the stars and only coming back with a faintly glowing rock, is not the best way to get return customers. If you promise 100%, then you have to deliver 110%; that’s just the way customer service works. People want to feel special – they want their decision to use your company validated – and as a result, managing customer expectations is one of the key skill-sets required in the customer service game.

Another thing to remember is that not everyone has the same expectations. Or the same interpretation of what we, as companies, think are customer expectations.

Defining the Expectations Clearly

Last week, we talked about why knowing how to have a good conversation can empower the frontline team and drive the bottom line. It’s great to carry a good conversation; part of that is to have the same conversation. It’s not so great if the customer has a different understanding of the words that are coming from your frontline.

If a sales rep is talking about oranges and the customer is hearing apples, there’s going to be some issues!

Similarly, companies can be overzealous when it comes to promising quality. When was the last time we saw an infomercial at 3am that promised us smooth abs and great triceps in six weeks? Think back to the last advertisement you watched for a car, with the fine print warning that the clip was shot in optimal conditions and ‘real results may vary’. It’s difficult to manage customer expectations and boast the quality of your service or product.

Again, if we promise 100% then customer expectation is at least 100%. Any good customer service rep will do their best to make sure they’re giving 120%.

A Note about 100% Satisfaction

Everyone has different opinions, so how do we make sure we’re meeting customer expectations? Legally speaking, the promise of 100% satisfaction is all about the judgement of a ‘reasonable person’ [Source]. In this way, companies can protect themselves from irrational demands and unreasonable expectations.

How far do we go?

This is a good question. The answer varies depending on the practicality of the request. A customer coming into a green grocer to buy apples when there are none, is easier to please than a customer who walks into a car show demanding to buy t-shirts. Is there a practical way to meet their expectations? Then use common sense and strive to meet them! Unreasonable customer expectations? Do your best, but remember that there’s just no pleasing some people no matter how hard you try. Some people who will never be satisfied. Doesn’t mean we shouldn’t give it our best shot though.

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