The Power of Giving a Damn

It’s a sunny but cold Sunday morning here in Toronto. I’m grateful for the sun. It just makes the day better to me. I was talking to client last week about what it takes to move a customer  from just happy or satisfied with your business, to a “raving fan”. It’s an important thing to talk about, and I wanted to share my thoughts about it with you.

This client really focuses on their referral rating. That is the percentage of their customers that would refer the company to friends or family.  You can tell what a company values by what they measure.  If it’s important, you measure it.

A lot of companies measure profit, sales, shrinkage (the amount of stuff that’s stolen from them), worker productivity (the amount of output a worker produces per hour/day/week) etc. Smart, customer focused companies measure things like repeat customers, referral rating, complaints AND compliments, things that indicate your customer’s level of happiness.

There is a general feeling out there that customer service has gone into the toilette.  So many businesses give you the impression that they just don’t give a damn that the smallest level of giving a damn stands out and we notice it.

What an opportunity!!  In this time of Word of Mouth on steroids that we call social media, where happy customers are great but raving fans that talk about you are gold, please PLEASE be the company that gives a damn.

As you build your business, put into your planning, put into you POLICIES, things that will make your customers know you care about their experience with your company. Let them know you care.  I promise you the extra cost for assuring not a positive customer experience, but an amazing customer experience, and measuring it, will be repaid.

Of course it costs more to be the great company.  It’s worth it. Always.  Besides, if price is the only factor in a customer choosing your company, I think you’re in the wrong business.

Thanks to the low bar that has been set for you, It is so easy to stand out today.  Use that to your advantage.  Establish yourself as the best customer experience in your industry and I don’t care of you clean houses, fix cars, sell cupcakes or give advice for a living, you can dominate your competition.