December 20, 2009

The ‘Serving Customers’ Model

Organizations today are challenged to create strong customer loyalty. In the face of empowered and knowledgeable customers (thanks to search engines and the internet), fickle customers (who will leave you in a heartbeat for better treatment) and hyper-competition( the rate of new business formation has increased like never before) there is a struggle to get the right formula to both attract new customers and keep the ones you’ve got.

What’s the answer? You need to look at your Serving Business as having two components.

The first component, Core Service, represents the basic foundation of your business. It is your basic product or service without which you simply don’t have a business. In the telecom world Core Service could be defined as dial tone (although today it is probably an Internet Protocol data stream). In finance it could be ‘financial advice’. And in software development it could be an ‘operating system’. Your customers expect your Core Service to work according to specifications. They EXPECT 24X7 dial tone; EXPECT reliable financial advice: EXPECT a working O/S. As a result when you provide working Core Service you get a ‘C’ on your Serving Customers Report Card and no more. However, when your Core Service is NOT working as promised you get an ‘F’ on your Report Card; they leave you and they don’t go quietly, telling everyone how bad your organization is at serving customers!

Bottom line: your Core Service has to work ALL the time as promised. But don’t expect loyal customers when you do.

Loyalty comes from the second component of Serving Customers - The Service Experience. Whereas Core Service is WHAT you GET from an organization, the Service Experience is HOW you FEEL when you get it. Or is the way you are treated by the organization when you do business with them. If the service experience you provide is ‘memorable’; if it ‘takes their breath away’ (thanks to Author Chip Bell!); if it ‘blows people away’; if it ‘WOW’s’ them; if it ‘DAZZLE’s’ them, you get a ‘A’ on your Report Card. And you are rewarded with customers telling others how great you are; they stay with you at least until you deliver a de-dazzling event which puts everything in jeopardy.

So, how to create customer loyalty? Provide Core Service in a satisfactory manner ALL THE TIME - consistency is key here. Once you have risen to this challenge you have earned the right to move on to loyalty building by providing dazzling Service Experiences every time a customer touches you.

Cheers, Roy

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Posted 12.20.09 at 01:38 pm by Roy Osing | Read Comments (0) | Leave a Comment