I was recently in Toronto to meet with a client. Just around the corner as I arrived at their office, I spotted three hot dog vendors side-by-side. I thought that was pretty strange; but even stranger was that two of the vendors were without customers, while the third was busily serving about six customers.

After my meeting, I walked by that location again for another look (the interest wasn’t purely professional: I just wanted a shot at a street dog during my foray into the big city!). Sure enough: lots of people at vendor number three.

The reason why became clear as I approached. With little more than the barest glance at my interest in her hot dog cart, I was accosted. “Hello my dear,” she yelled out, from about 15 feet away. “What can I get you?”

And as I waited for my dog from the busy vendor, I noticed the other vendors waiting for their own fish to arrive.

To me, the lesson was obvious, and has wide-ranging implications for how we do business. When you offer the same service as everyone else, the difference is in the customer service.

So many businesses are in this boat. Heck, I am! How many web publishers are out there, providing the same service I am? The numbers are scary. But here I am anyway, focusing not on how afraid I am, but doing my best to make Innoveghtive an outstanding customer service organization. And my clients tell me horror stories regularly. How the guy I’m replacing just didn’t get the job done.

We live in a very rich market. So many people are available to provide all the services we need. We don’t suffer from simply finding someone to fulfill our needs: we have to choose. And often, the choice can be made on the basis of convenience; or the first one you come across. You can’t necessarily be the first one your customer comes across, but by building your reputation, you might put the good word in someone else’s mouth when they get asked for a recommendation.

“Hey, I’m looking for a good accountant,” you might be asked. If your accountant is making you happy, you’re very likely to recommend him. The accountant wins, because he made customer service to you a priority.

In the spirit of improving your business, here are some tips for putting some shine on your customer service. The great part is, these tips are useful for your own business, or your work, or your personal life. After all, “customers” are the people you rely on.

• Say Hi From Time to Time. Especially when there’s nothing going on between you. Make a point to get in touch without a clear motivation, and build relationships. It’ll help keep you top-of-mind.
• Respond Fast. Customers love it when you get back to them quickly. It means you’re on the ball. Even if you can’t address their question immediately, throwing a response back saying “I’ve got it; I don’t know the answer yet but I’m on it” means a lot.
• Get Feedback. When the job is done, ask them to tell you how it went. One of my customers, well-known for their service orientation, sends out a survey for customers to complete. I think customers appreciate the chance to make their opinions known, and you get valuable feedback.

Nobody’s perfect at doing this stuff. But with some refreshed thinking about customer service, you can start to move your business from average to exceptional.

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This entry was posted on Thursday, March 15th, 2007 at 9:15 pm and is filed under E-Marketing. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.