"Drilling Down" - Great Customer Service

by Skip Cohen

It's Marketing Monday, and I want to continue with my "Drilling Down" series.  You're looking forward to a great year and need to pay close attention to everything under the Customer Service umbrella. Great service isn't just about your active clients; it's about ALL your interactions with your target audience. It's about building a reputation for excellence and a brand known for exceeding expectations.

Just for a second, think about any company you love working with. It might be a favorite restaurant, a supermarket or even a major corporation like Amazon.

For example, we do a significant amount of shopping online at Amazon. I can usually find anything we need. First, Amazon ALWAYS delivers. At a time when USPS, UPS, and FedEx take turns at being underwhelming, Amazon is consistently delivering on time. Second, their Customer Service team is pretty remarkable. I can call their 800 number, express my disappointment with an order, and have it resolved in minutes. And there are often times when I don't need to even return the defective or damaged merchandise to receive credit. THEY EXCEED EXPECTATIONS!

Here's a check-off list for your business:
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• Response Time: Do you check your email and phone messages multiple times each day? You need to respond as quickly as possible to set yourself apart from your competitors.
• Use Your Phone: Rather than always replying to emails in writing, use your phone. Have you tried calling the customer? Often, there are easy-to-answer questions allowing you to react even faster than through the written word. Plus, email and text messages are limited in being able to convey sincerity - whereas a phone call allows you to talk to the customer on a far more personal level.
• Finding Solutions: Whether you or a member of your team is working on it, find solutions to challenges quickly. And when there is a problem, NEVER hide from an angry/frustrated customer. 
• Exceeding Expectations: Every customer interaction is an opportunity. From the quality of the products and services you offer to each inquiry and interaction with the public, never walk away saying, "That's good enough!"
• Speed isn't Just About Your Response: Never assume your website is working the way you think it is. Check things every day on different platforms. Right now, Chrome and Safari have over 80% of the market share.
• You Can't Take It Back: Remember, there are no erasers on the Internet. Don't get into arguments in the various forums on Facebook, for example. You can never really take back an angry post, and you never know who might be a member of that FB group, reading and sharing what you've written.
• Simplicity: Too many of you have policies and disclaimers on your website that would scare an IRS auditor. Keep things simple in your policies. For example, save the discussion on penalties for noncompliance when you're having a discussion about your contract/agreement.

Here's the bottom line, and I'm paraphrasing what I've learned from good friends Tim and Beverly Walden over the years. Working with you should be an experience. You're not selling a portrait session, or for that matter, an album, prints, or video - you're selling the fun of working with you and building trust with your audience.

Tony Corbell says it best when he talks about things he did when he first started his business, "I wasn't the best photographer in town, but I was going to make sure I was the nicest!" He's never strayed from that philosophy, although today, he really is one of the best!