SERVICE VS. SATISFACTION

Let me start by saying I am a firm believer that we should be in the customer satisfaction business and not just the customer service business. There really is a difference. Have you ever lost an account where you felt you were doing everything on the list of specifications yet the customer canceled? "But the place is clean". Right, but the customer was not satisfied. A "small" thing like an employee complaining to the customer at night about a vacuum not working or that they never get enough time to clean the area can lead to a customer cancellation.

You see, CUSTOMER SERVICE IS A CONCEPT, CUSTOMER SATISFACTION IS A DEMONSTRATION. You can have a concept all day long, but what keeps customers is a positive demonstration of your concept.

Think about it. Ever been to a restaurant where the service was bad? You got your food, it was good, but oh, the waiter had an attitude that made you want to get up an leave. You see, that restaurant had service and good food but you left as an unsatisfied customer. They had the concept but not the demonstration.

The same can happen in our business. We can clean good but if we haven't installed a training program that teaches our employees proper customer relations etc., we will lose customers.

I remember so well several years ago hearing Tom Peters give one of his famed lectures in which he stated, and I am paraphrasing here, "If your company needs to have customer service representatives, what are the rest of your people doing"?

My interpretation of that phrase was that everyone in the company should be focused on satisfying the customer and you should not need designated individuals visiting the customer to see "how are we doing"? I am not saying you should not be visiting your customers to maintain an ongoing positive satisfactory relationship but I am saying that if you are visiting them to check on the cleaning, somebody missed the boat. So many companies have "customer service representatives" that go to the accounts during the day to check the work. Shouldn't that be done when the work is being performed? I am sure I'll get some push back on this but so it is.

In my opinion, if you are focused primarily on "doing the specifications" and providing service and not overall CUSTOMER SATISFACTION, your account turnover will be high. Want a phrase that will lose customers day after day? Here it is , ready? THAT'S NOT IN THE CONTRACT. Know anyone in your company who has made that statement lately?

Let me suggest you make your company an organization focused on satisfying the customer, not just servicing the account. Do the proper training throughout the organization and you'll see your account turnover reduced.

MAKE IT A GREAT DAY and we'll see you next time. In the meantime, send me a message on your thoughts or you can visit me at www.consultantsincleaning.com and click on the ikon that sends me a direct message.