According to this poll, 3 out of 4 of us will reward excellent customer service by sharing positive experiences and return and half will never darken the doors again after a poor experience. When I've had a horrible experience, I have vented my displeasure with family and friends, and when someone indicates they are planning to spend their money with that business and asks my opinion, I suggest businesses where excellence in service and product has been my experience.
Marketing and promotions can pull the customer in, but failure to provide the best possible experience and the resulting word-of-mouth advertising will drive potential customers away.
Positive customer experiences abound. Just as recently as yesterday I was exposed to an example of excellence in the face of what could have been a catastrophe when I stopped to get a carry-out lunch for myself and office colleague at the local Panera. The order line was short and swift, but the line to wait for orders to be completed was probably 20-people deep and not moving. The manager stepped into action, pulling staff over to get orders filled faster. Before I knew it, another worker had whipped up some cherry limeade smoothies and was walking a tray of samples among us for us to try. It was a delightful treat and before I could even finish it, my order was ready to go.
I have found that offering an element of lagniappe certainly promotes a positive experience and I have voiced this before here.
Marketing and promotions can pull the customer in, but failure to provide the best possible experience and the resulting word-of-mouth advertising will drive potential customers away.
Positive customer experiences abound. Just as recently as yesterday I was exposed to an example of excellence in the face of what could have been a catastrophe when I stopped to get a carry-out lunch for myself and office colleague at the local Panera. The order line was short and swift, but the line to wait for orders to be completed was probably 20-people deep and not moving. The manager stepped into action, pulling staff over to get orders filled faster. Before I knew it, another worker had whipped up some cherry limeade smoothies and was walking a tray of samples among us for us to try. It was a delightful treat and before I could even finish it, my order was ready to go.
I have found that offering an element of lagniappe certainly promotes a positive experience and I have voiced this before here.
What has been your recent lagniappe in customer service? More importantly, who will you tell? The best lagniappes are the shared lagniappes."Aren’t you delighted when you frequent a business and they go out of their way to fit you into their service schedule, locate a misplaced article or take the needed time to fully and patiently answer your questions? You expect great customer service because that’s been your experience there. Are you willing to give your loyalty in exchange for that lagniappe?...When it comes to loyalty, ‘‘All things being equal, people will do business with people they like. All things not being equal, they still will,” claims John C. Maxwell."
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