There are many ways for a business to “stand out from the crowd.” One approach is to give your customers more than they ask for as a customer service enhancement. If others are fast, you go faster. If others are clean, you be cleaner. If others are cheap, you can make a bigger discount. If your competitors offer a lot, you offer even more.
This approach has obvious problems. First, your first position may be outbid by anyone else offering “even more.” Second, the cost of escalation can become overwhelming, making improving customer service a real problem. You need happy customers but also healthy profits.
A different approach is worth your time and effort: Find entirely new and different ways to surprise, intrigue, support, nurture and delight your customers with a customer service upgrade that truly wows them.
For example, international airlines compete on big seats, quality service, good wine, and movies. But Virgin Atlantic was the first to offer neck and shoulder massages on all long-haul flights. They stand out from the crowd of airlines because of this clear improvement in customer service.
Most quick-service restaurants offer clean counters, fast delivery, and low prices. But McDonald’s put huge, colorful kids’ slides inside its restaurant buildings. McDonald’s French fries are made from potatoes, just like everyone else’s. Your gaming space stands out in the fast food crowd.
How many times have you left your wet, crumpled and sticky tube of toothpaste in the bathroom sink? Procter & Gamble helped solve the problem with the first tube of foot-standing toothpaste. Your toothpaste packaging stands out from the crowd because it offers a unique enhancement in customer service.
The Garden Café in Dubai caters to many single customers, always on the go and short on time. So the Café offers a lunch and dinner buffet with good food and drinks, but also irons your shirts and shines your shoes while you eat!
You can also do this. (Stand out from the crowd, not from the clothes.)
Key learning points
Anyone can compete by doing “more” than what is already expected. But there is another way to be distinctive: Be different! It’s a customer service improvement that people will take notice of.
action steps
Make a list of all the “usual ways” your organization provides good customer service. Now think of totally different ways you could surprise, intrigue, or delight with an unusual improvement in customer service.
What annoys your customers? How can you fix it? What do they do before or after their service? How can you integrate it? What do they bring, carry or take away? How can you replace it?
The first bookstore to offer plush chairs and fresh coffee changed the industry completely. The first bank to offer the self-service service transformed our expectations. What can YOU do to stand out, stand up, be different?