By Josh Watkins
While it may be hard to come by in real life, when it comes to advertising, everyone claims to have "great customer service." From big-box chains to mom-and-pop shops, you would struggle to find a single company that doesn't use words like "legendary", "dedicated", or sometimes even "award-winning" to describe their service.
Who knows, some of them may have great service. But because they are just using "ad speak" it is quite literally filtered out by most people, if it isn't specific. (For more on coming up with a good USP, see Jimmy Harris' article "Delivered in 30 Minutes or Your Toilet is FREE" in this Newsletter.)
Ask yourself how many times you hear these descriptions about customer service:
- Friendly and courteous
- Second-to-none
- Dedicated
- Award-winning
- World-class
- Knowledgable
- Expert
- Caring
- Genuine
Every commercial you've ever heard probably lists at least one of these cliches. And while you may use some of them from time to time, you also want to try to qualify what you mean when you say them. In other words, don't just say you have great service. Say you "promise customers won't have to wait more than 10 minutes. Ever." (And then make sure you don't make them wait 11.)
As a decision maker, you need to give your customers something different - something unique they can't get anywhere else.
How should you do this?
- Step 1: Stop describing your staff with cliches.
- Step 2: Find your company's unique selling point.
- Step 3: Tell your customers about it.
Consider the specific actions that make your customer service staff better than the competition.
Don't say your staff is friendly and courteous. Say, "We'll remember your name."
Don't say your staff is knowledgeable. Say, "Our customer service staff has more than 500 years of combined experience in this industry."
Separate your business from the competition and use real descriptions to illustrate the great work they do. If you make this one small change, you can distance yourself from the competition and emerge as an industry leader.
