Conventional wisdom says that the basic aim for an organization to create a loyal base of customers is to ensure that the customers are not just satisfied by their service but they are delighted by their service. Some of the concepts divide customer satisfaction into four different levels like – Meet, Exceed, Delight and Amaze. The majority of people feel that this is a linear journey.
On one extreme we have examples of companies that are trolled daily on social media for bad service and dissatisfied customers, while on the other extreme there are examples of stories from companies like Nordstrom tire – In 1975, a man drove up to a Nordstrom store asking for a refund for tires he’d bought weeks ago at a tire shop that the retailer replaced. Even though the company had no obligation to pay the man, they still did, much to his delight. Today, this story is an often-repeated customer-service legend.
The question that keeps on popping up is that is there a process for customer satisfaction or is it just a hit and trial method to achieve the top level.
According to Don Clifton & Gallup’s study, customer satisfaction is a scientific process and varies from industry to industry eg customers demand a different type of relationship from their doctors than they do from their electric repairman. Despite these differences, the process can be divided into “Four Levels” and these levels are quite consistent across various types of businesses and types of people.
Level 1 is “accuracy” – The customers expect the hotels to give them the room they reserved. They expect the same shade that they see in the shade card when they buy the final product. When they eat out, they expect the waiter to serve what they ordered. It does not matter how friendly the employees are; if the company consistently fails the “accuracy” test, the customers defect.
Level 2 is “Availability” – Customers expect their preferred hotel chain to offer locations in a variety of different cities. They expect the shade of laminates or paint they saw on the net to be available at the dealer shop without much effort.
Though both the above-mentioned levels are very easy to steal. Anyone can copy them without much effort. Moreover, even if the company manages to be “accurate” and make their product “available”, they become hygiene factors and only the absence of these will create dissatisfaction but presence might not create satisfaction.
The next two levels help in completing the journey. They don’t just create a wall against negative feelings of dissatisfaction, rather when met consistently these expectations create positive feelings of satisfaction. They help in creating “Brand Advocates”.
Level 3 is “Partnership” – The customers want you to listen to them, to be responsive to them, and to make them feel like they are part of the same team. That is the reason airlines create “Loyalty Programs” offering special treatment to frequent fliers. Some of the businesses have gone a step further and started looking at the world through customers’ eyes. E.g. Levi’s now offers you the chance to purchase made-to-order jeans. Companies like Greenlam have introduced “Customized Laminates” as a step to strengthen the partnership with customers. Most businesses now realize that a customer who feels understood is a step closer to real satisfaction & genuine advocacy.
Level 4 is “Advice” – This is the most advanced level of customer satisfaction and final level as they no longer are satisfied customers but are your advocates. The best example is colleges and schools and why they have so strong alumni associations. One recent example is of the product called Medium Density Fiber Board (MDF), market education alone created a huge differentiator for my last company and we were able to create a huge customer base that also went on to become our advocates for the product in the long run.
Partnership and Advice are the most advanced levels of customer satisfaction. If you can consistently meet these expectations you can successfully transform prospects into advocates. To meet these expectations, the front line team should be not “Transactional sales team” but “sales Consultants”.
