Client servicing: Creating a Differential Advantage

By Ted Kouri

“Good customer service is the key to a successful business.”  It’s a credo we’ve all heard a thousand times.  Service your best clients and they’ll take care of you – it sounds easy enough.  The problem is that good customer service has become expected.  Polite and courteous employees just don’t cut it anymore.  Customers want more.

Think about it…do you know of any competitors that don’t claim to have “exceptional service” or “the highest standards of quality?”  Your business likely makes similar claims and a lot of your customers will probably back you up.  However, until you find a way to, most are as likely to find your competitor’s service to be equally good. service your clients in a truly transparent, creative and unique manner

This means that your customer service people, systems and tools need to deliver the same message and experience every time (transparent).  It means that your clients should be serviced in the most memorable and innovative means possible (creative).  Finally, it means that whatever you choose to do, it has to be significantly different from your competition (unique).  If you can do that, you’ll have created a differential customer service advantage.

For example, 10 years ago, the major courier companies claimed to have excellent service - and most did.  However, a courier could deliver 19 out of 20 packages on time and the only incident the customer would remember was the one package that came late.  Then, FedEx introduced their 9am delivery guarantee – get your package to your customer by 9am or it’s free.  Suddenly, their claim to great service was being backed up in a transparent manner, and in way that differentiated them from the competition.

FedEx customers actually hoped the package might come late.  When it did, they were happy.  They loved the FedEx guarantee.  FedEx’s number one customer annoyance had been turned into a positive.  They had elevated their customer service to a point where it actually stood out in the customer’s mind.  It became their brand.

Only when you achieve this level of service, can you start to build loyalty and win clients based on your customer service.  And you can’t rest on your laurels, because like the 9am delivery guarantee, a good idea will soon become the industry standard.  When this happens, customers will no longer appreciate your level of service, they’ll simply expect it – and in between customer appreciation and expectation lies truly great service.