I recently saw the phrase “Delight the Customer”, and I thought it would make a great blog topic. I couldn’t wait to dive into some reading on the subject and I had all these great ideas and thoughts I wanted to write about! ?
That all changed after a recent experience with a (soon-to-be ex-) vendor (who shall remain nameless).
In this case, I was the customer and I did not want to be delighted.
I simply wanted what was agreed upon, based upon the terms of my contract. I wanted to be dealt with honestly, and not told blatant lies about when I’d receive service that I paid up front for, and I certainly didn’t want the ol’ smoke-and-mirrors game played by the vendor.
People should not feel like actual / genuine customer service is a delight; it should be expected, as part of the working relationship. We should never be surprised by good customer service. The standards of how we treat people, and are treated, should be the norm, not the exception, such as (but not limited to):
- Do what you say you are going to do, in the timeframe mutually established
- If something comes up or you do not have an answer, call the customer within the mutually-established timeframe and give them a status update
- Be appreciative of the business you’ve been awarded; do not take the relationship for granted, as if you are doing the customer a “favor”
- Do not play games and never lie; your reputation may not recover
- Do not try to razzle-dazzle; if you are insincere, it will eventually come to light
- When you mess up, apologize; no one is perfect and a sincere apology goes a long way to regaining trust
Just meet the customers’ needs. As customers, isn’t that what we all really want?