March 30, 2017
Delivering outstanding value in the form of high customer-service—aka people-care—levels, in most businesses, is far from where it needs to be. Think about the last time you went out for a meal, shopped in retail, or dealt with a supplier. What grade would you give the service you received? Likely not an A+.
We all have the ability to deliver outstanding service, no matter what our role. Here are some examples of things we do at Ideon to deliver the highest level of service possible to our customers.
Just Say Yes—and Thank You
How often do your customers hear “no” from your business? Or maybe not “no,” but something like “I’m not sure; I’ll have to get back to you,” or “Sorry, you’ll have to talk to my supervisor about that.” What if, instead of your customer hearing “no” when they phoned, all they heard was “yes”?
I fully understand there are a few circumstances where this can’t apply, such as creditworthiness, but in the vast majority of scenarios, a simple and consistent “yes”—followed by the desired result—will put you at the top of your customers’ favorite-suppliers list. Moreover, your loyalty scores will go through the roof. What’s the worst that could happen from saying “yes”? It will force you to ask tough questions such as, “Whom do we need to get involved to make this request happen for our customer?” or “What is preventing us from accomplishing this request every time and without red tape?”
Just put yourself in their shoes and ask yourself what would wow you if you were the customer.
Wow the Customer
Internal customers are everyone in your business, and I’ve always said that if all employees simply focused on wowing the next person in the process—aka their internal customer—then wowing the end/external customer will take care of itself.
External customers, on the other hand, are easy to wow. Just put yourself in their shoes and ask yourself what would wow you if you were the customer. Then, do those things. Simple, isn’t it? Unfortunately, as Jim Rohn said, what is easy to do is also easy not to do.
Nobody is perfect. The reality is, there’s the possibility that a delivery may be late or we forget to call someone back, but even if these things happen, you still have an opportunity to wow by stepping up to the plate—not hiding—and making the situation right for the customer.
Response Time
Get fast! I’m not talking about running around like a chicken with its head cut off; I’m talking about removing all the red tape and waste from your processes so you can move as efficiently and effectively as possible. Let’s face it, red tape and waste are put there by you in order to protect yourself. Moreover, it has nothing to do with making your customers’ lives easier, yet that should be one of your top priorities. If you’re not doing everything you can to simplify the process of buying your product or service, then customers will find someone who is.
At Ideon Packaging, the phone is answered in two rings or fewer by a real person (really! 604-524-0524). We return calls within 30 minutes, even if we don’t have an answer or
resolution; we just don’t want customers to feel as if we’ve forgotten them. We partner with suppliers who can help us provide this level of service to the market; we have some amazing suppliers. Our business was founded on five-day guaranteed delivery—guaranteed!—all with the goal of providing a level of service that puts us in a category without competition.
Kaizen: That’s Not the Way We’re Always Going to Do It
Kaizen is the lean word for change for the better, or good change. By focusing on the value-driving service areas above, you will inherently create kaizen. Isn’t that what all businesses want? To improve? Give it a try. Give something—anything—a try. What’s the worst that could happen? As I always tell my teams, if you try and fail, at least you’ve learned what not to do, and then you’ll go and try something else.
Mike Nunn is vice president of operations at Ideon Packaging and is Lean Black Belt-certified. He can be reached at 604-524-0524 or miken@ideonpackaging.com, or followed on Twitter @mikednunn.
