Somethings not right, right? Service, service is a cost centre, service is an overhead. How in the world can focusing on a cost center, let alone advocating investing more heavily in “overhead” make more money, let me explain.
Some days ago, I received a receipt from iTunes for an app renewal charge that I didn’t recognize. As it was for almost $30.00, and was indicated to be a monthly recurring charge, it got my attention.
If you’re like me, then anything to do with erroneous credit card charges stemming from online activity makes you break out in hives. Why? Because we all know that while it’s all too easy to purchase or engage with a vendor online – they make it so easy and accessible – that if conversely you have a problem, need service, or God forbid, want to speak to an actual person, achieving that can be tantamount to summiting K2 with a pogo stick.
None-the-less, I steeled myself to grabbing this bull (%$#^) by the horns and begrudgingly accepted that a good part of my morning would be squandered on hold, in queue, being disconnected, or speaking to people in the wrong department in perpetuity. All I wanted to do was speak to someone who could explain to me how this charge was ever approved in the first place, and then how to get it reversed and stopped in the future.
Now, since it was iTunes that charged me for this renewal, I clicked on an easy to find “customer support” link in the receipt that I was sent electronically. From there, I clicked on the “I’d like to talk to someone” tab. Next, low and behold, the software responded that I would receive a phone call within 2 minutes. My finger had barely hit “enter” before my phone rang and voilà, it was a person, asking if they were talking to David, asking how they could help!
The whole exercise from start to finish took something less than 5 minutes. In that space, the charge was reversed, and I was efficiently and expediently walked through how to disengage the automatic renewal feature on my iPhone. Done, done, and done.
This is not a first “Apple” experience I might add. I’ve had similar experiences dealing with iPhone or iPad related issues; all just as accessible, all just a painless, all just as perfect.
So, where is the point in all this?
You have to start by asking whom the most profitable company or commercial enterprise in the world is. Then, you have to ask what company is the second most valuable in the world. Next, ask yourself what company has over 60,000 employees; good lord, 60,000+ employees. How in the world does one herd that many cats at the same time, never mind so consistently, that the experience of its customers – is, well, consistent?
Do you have a phone company you deal with? How about a bank or a credit card provider; a provider that at some point in the past you’ve needed to contact to resolve an issue? Have you ever had problems with your PVR at home and called the cable guys? If you’ve answered yes to any of the above questions, then you’re likely a veteran victim of the shoddy but all too common lack of service syndrome.
You’ve experienced the old “we’re experiencing a higher level of callers” shtick, and probably more than once. You’ve wasted umpteen hours navigating endless prompts, all with the claim that the company is “trying to better serve you”, or has “provided this handy advance menu to improve the customer experience.” You’ve been told “it’s not my department” or you’ve been forced to endure agonizing hours of canned diatribe from some junior and poorly trained gnome who falls to pieces once forced to go off script.
And the take away, the end result, the irony in all of this? Not rocket science here. You, your friends, your family, and your in-laws spend an inordinate amount of time swapping war stories about how you’ve had enough and how you are going to change suppliers!
Att-a-boy – or girl -, you sure showed them. Think again though, because they’re smarter than you. They know all too well that the grass is the same crappy shade of puce on the other side of the fence and in no time at all their competitor will piss you off, and low and behold, you’ll be back!
Now, what’s interesting here is that at the same time, most of these companies are struggling one way or another. They’ve either just missed an earnings call, or they just announced a massive re-org. “We’re going to get it right next quarter!” they reassure. Or one of their favourite ruses is to change the CEO, cause “he’s going fix it!!” (Barf). Are they one of the most profitable companies in the world; no. Are they one of the most valuable companies in the world; no. Do they see the value for investing in service? No. Is service just an empty promise…
So, I ask myself; how in the world can a company that arguably offers the best customer service in the world (which has to cost a ton) be the most profitable company in the world? How is it that the bean counters failed eons ago to convince the late Mr. Jobs that way too much money was being squandered on service, monies that could be redirected to the bottom line with one swipe of the Mont Blanc? What is it that Apple knows – and has irrefutably proven time and time again, I might add – that so many other companies seem unable to comprehend; companies that are constantly “restructuring” or “streamlining” or what-ever else because their debt just got downgraded, or their profits are wallowing, or their shareholders are grumpy?
It’s service; obviously. Apple could have written the old adage about “fool me once and shame on you, fool me twice, and shame on me.”
Apple gets it that while it’s relatively simple to sell somebody once, the real pot of gold lays in selling them again and again. Apple knows that if they take care of you, make that really take care of you, that they’ll have a customer for life; a customer that not only will become a serial purchaser, but a customer that will become an advertising campaign that all the money in the world could never hope to buy.
Now, let’s translate that into the world of B2B sales.
If you’re a sales professional whose success depends in any way on growing your business, how do you suppose you can best bring that about? Service, service and service.
It seems so simple, yet it is the one thing that people consistently continue to cock up time after time. People get lazy. People get complacent. Sales people often fail to see past the end their noses. Fat, happy, and satiated with the deal just done. Sales people all too often fail to recognize that the best time to sell something is once they’ve made the sale.
There is no better way to sell someone again than, at the very least, meeting their expectations, and if you’re really smart, and want to be way more successful than the next guy, by exceeding their expectations.
You want to know what the really cool part is? It’s that it is so darn easy to be really good at service because the vast majority of your competitors are so bad! Seems a shame really, but then who are we not to exploit such an easy opportunity?
You want to excel at service, then try some of this:
- Return phone calls by day’s end. If you only just do this, you will tower over the competition.
- Religiously meet your deadlines.
- Under promise and over deliver.
- Look for ways to help your clients that won’t directly benefit you.
- Never, ever, make it hard for a client to find you.
- Listen to what your clients are saying, I mean really
- Never subject your clients to unnecessary and gratuitous presentations or “sales speak”.
- Be transparent; if something is about to go wrong, inform your client well in advance of it going wrong. Nobody likes surprises.
- While it may seem obvious, be honest and transparent.
Of course, there is so much more one can do in the name of service excellence; the above is meant only to start you thinking in the right direction, but just remember, if you’ve sold someone something once, wouldn’t you like to sell them something again? I can promise you this; Apple will sell me something again and again.
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