Have you ever had a remarkable customer experience, a time when a company representative went above and beyond and made your day?
These kinds of experiences are rare, which is unfortunate, but this is likely why we remember them and want to share them with others.
Recently, VibrAlign’s COO experienced an example of this. While on a flight back to Richmond, the flight attendant took time out of her busy day to write him a personalized note, thanking him for being a regular customer.
The note thanked him not only for being a loyal customer, but for being part of the company’s success story.
This simple gesture made a significant impression on him because it was unexpected and demonstrated that the company and its employees don’t take their customers for granted.
We often hear stories of terrible customer service, particularly on airlines, so hearing a positive story is very encouraging.
These kinds of small but significant gestures demonstrate why customers choose to be loyal to certain companies. It is insightful to look at statistics on why customers leave one company for another:
- Customer believes you don’t care about them – 68%
- Customer is dissatisfied with your service – 14%
- Customer persuaded to go to a competitor – 9%
- Customer gets a friend to provide a service – 5%
- Customer moves away – 3%
- Customer dies – 1%
These statistics are pretty clear: by far, the most important thing to customers is to believe you and your company care about them.
This can take many forms. Maybe it’s spending a little extra time talking to a customer on the phone, maybe it’s going the extra mile to ensure the customer is able to get the right product for their needs, maybe it’s writing a personalized thank-you note, maybe it’s remembering something about a customer to make their next order even easier.
Whatever extra amount of care and service you provide, there are sure to be customers on the receiving end who appreciate your effort.
As poet and author Maya Angelou has said, “I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”
This is definitely a true statement when it comes to customer experience!
At VibrAlign, we certainly try to go the extra mile for our customers, but we believe satisfied customers begin with happy employees, so we also strive to provide a workplace where our employees thrive. It’s a win-win-win situation, and it helps us toward our mission of continuing to provide the products and training to our valued customers.
We’d love to hear your stories of how a company interaction made your day or how an employee went above and beyond to meet your needs. If you manage or own a business, we’d also love to hear from you–how do you strive to ensure your customers know you truly care about them?
Please share your stories in the comments!
Photo courtesy: iStockphoto.com/Tero Vesalainen
