It Is Better to Be Their Favorite Than the Best

1.   Customer Service Feature Story

It Is Better to Be Their Favorite Than the Best

We all have a company or two that we can’t live without. Think about the companies you frequent the most. They may be your favorite local restaurant, cafe, hair salon, or a dry cleaner. All these companies have competitors that offer identical products and services for less. What have those brands done to make customers feel they can’t live the rest of their life without them? That is brand loyalty. That is power. The more people feel like they cannot live without your brand, the closer you are to making price irrelevant.

If I had to choose, I would rather be my client’s favorite than be known as the best. Why? Being the best is subjective. It also depends on what each customer values the most, is it expertise, quality of the product, fancy décor, ease of doing business, location, or consistency. While all are critically important, different customers place a different value on each one of those. However, being thought as someone’s favorite is not subjective —it is a fact, their fact. How does a company become a favorite? Now consider why you are so loyal. In most cases, it is because they have gotten to know you well. The emotional connection they have built with you over time. They know things about you, then know your FORD, what’s important to you. All the employees and the other regular customers know you. And you know the employees by name. You are part of a community. Even if some of them screwed up, you would immediately forgive them because of the emotional equity they have built up with you.

Brands put billions into boosting awareness, satisfaction, and loyalty, but they often overlook the most powerful driver of customer value—emotional connection. Research shows that consumers who are emotionally connected with a brand are anywhere from 25 to 100 percent more valuable in terms of revenue and profitability than those who are “merely” highly satisfied with it.

*Related -The Art of Relationship Building

With the increase in the digitization and automation of customer interactions, your employees must be focusing on building relationships with customers. The most memorable customer experiences are the ones where an emotional connection was made, where both customer and employee felt something. Get to know your customers. The best companies do it by design, not by chance, not out of eventual familiarity. They train their employees to develop relationships by making emotional connections, even with new customers, on every interaction.

2.   Client Best Practice

Role Play your way to Success

Shared by Dave Murray, Senior Customer Experience Consultant of The DiJulius Group

As part of their recent Customer Service Vision Statement roll out, Indiana Michigan Power, a utility in the Midwest and subsidiary of AEP, focused heavily on role play. After the new Service Vision, Pillars and Never/Always were introduced and discussed, attendees were divided into smaller working groups and role played for 90 minutes. What happened during this time was amazing. Facilitators took the small groups through multiple, real-life scenarios, which were portrayed in front of their peers. Employees became cheerleaders and coaches as fellow team members practiced scenarios they would soon be facing in customer interactions. While 90 minutes may seem like a huge investment of time, the end result was I&M team members leaving with an extremely high level of confidence and increased Service Aptitude in their ability to know and to live their Service Vision!

3.   Short Video You Need to Watch & Share with Your Team

 Are you struggling with lack of creativity? Are you in a rut? You probably are suffering from MSA.

4.   Quote of The Week

 “In an era when companies see online support as a way to shield themselves from costly interactions with their customers, it’s time to consider an entirely different approach: building human-centric customer service through great people and clever technology. So, get to know your customers. Humanize them. Humanize yourself.”

—Kristin Smaby

5.   Resource to Help Take Your Customer Experience To The Next Level

It is time for your entire organization to learn how to dominate in The Relationship Economy.

Contact claudia@thedijuliusgroup.com and see how we can keynote your next event.