How to Turn Exceptional Customer Service Into a Conversation
When it comes to marketing your goods and services in the digital age, you have to get creative. It’s not always enough to deliver a great product or service. You need to get people talking. You need to “go viral.” How can you do so? By enhancing your customer experience in such a way that they want to tell others about it. How? Some companies find a creative way of packaging, displaying or delivering their product or service. Another tactic that some companies are finding success with is turning customer service into a conversation.
What Is Turning Customer Service Into a Conversation?
The way you get customers talking about you is by doing something pleasant and unexpected. Today’s consumer is jaded. They know you’re just trying to make a buck off of them and that most companies don’t seem to care how it’s done. But today’s consumer also expects more. They know that thanks to the internet, they have virtually unlimited choices for anything, and they also know they have the power to report you via online reviews if they don’t like their experience.
The bottom line is that you need to provide a customer service experience that’s surprising and desirable as well as authentic. It’s a bit of a dance, a bit of a courtship. Your customers have to feel like you don’t need them to talk about you — they’re doing it because they want to.
A great example is DoubleTree Hotels. For the last 30 years, they’ve been giving warm chocolate chip cookies to every guest who checks in. That’s a lot of cookies! But it’s worth it. It’s something nice, something unexpected and most importantly, something to talk about. No one’s going to tweet a picture of their room key that they got after only five minutes at the checkout counter, as nice as that is. But they might tweet a picture of the delicious cookie they never thought they’d get for free — a welcome surprise after a long trip from the airport.
Another example is TD Bank. One summer, they replaced the ATMs at four bank locations in Canada with Automated THANKING Machines. Instead of delivering cash, these machines delivered gifts, like trips to Disneyland or a plane ticket. Completely unexpected and worth talking about.
How You Can Turn Customer Service Into a Conversation
As you can see, there are a wide variety of ways to turn your customer service into a conversation — you just have to get creative. As a manufacturer who may not serve customers directly, you have a slightly greater challenge on your hands, but it can be done.
Try to put yourself in your customer’s shoes and think about what a pleasant surprise would be when it comes to your product. For example, if a customer calls with a repair problem, you could show up at their house personally to fix it or present them with an upgraded model. Doing so would be sure to get attention. Let your imagination be your guide, and remember that whatever the cost, the resulting publicity is likely to be priceless.
Visit Global Electronic Services often for more manufacturing trends and advice, and contact us for reliable, affordable, quick electronics repair.
