How to deliver Remarkable Customer Service at your Small Business. It starts with the business owner & requires dedication and a culture focused on customers. Henry Lopez and David Begin define Remarkable Customer Service on this episode of The How of Business podcast, share tips and techniques for delivering it consistently, and the challenges faced by most small businesses on this topic. This is an edited re-release of episode 14, originally released in May of 2016.

Free Download: 6 Steps to Deliver Remarkable Customer Service

Show Notes:

• Remarkable Customer Service is a service or experience that the customer remarks on positively (i.e. they share the experience with their family and friends)
• Quotes from “The Purple Cow” by Seth Godin:
  “Something remarkable is worth talking about. Worth noticing. Exceptional. New. Interesting.”
  “Remarkable marketing is the art of building things worth noticing right into your product or service. Not slapping on marketing as a last-minute add-on, but understanding that if your offering itself isn’t remarkable, it’s invisible.”
• Quotes from “Free Prize Inside” by Seth Godin:
  “…the simplest, fastest way to grow is to make your product remarkable. To make it worth talking about. And if you can’t do that by changing the utility of the product or service, you must do it by creating a story, by adding a free prize, by changing the way someone feels about what they do.”
  “…it’s the thing about your service, your product or your organization that’s worth remarking on, something worth seeking out and buying.”
  “You owe it to yourself to create something remarkable one day.”
• How do you execute on this?
  1. It starts and ends at the top (the owners and/or senior management). The owners (or senior management) have to believe in it completely and genuinely! Be passionate and relentless. Set the bar painfully high, and keep it there even in the face of doubt and pessimism from others. It all starts with your true belief, and how you truly motivate your staff.
  2. Culture. Your culture (spoken, written, and unspoken) must support this focus on remarkable customer service. Do you have a manifesto? You must build a positive team environment and family spirit. It’s not just about motivational posters, or hollow “Employee of the Month” programs.
  3. Systems. You need repeatable and scalable systems in place that support the delivery of remarkable customer service including manuals, procedures, forms, checklists, etc.
  4. Employees. Your employees are the key. Remember to hire slowly, and fire quickly. Invest in your staff through training, coaching, and developing.
  5. Listen & Measure. Listing to your customers (the loyal ones!) and your staff. Do you know what your loyal customers want? Measure how you are doing (i.e. Mystery Shoppers, Surveys, Customer Reviews, Observation, Customer Interactions).
  6. Execute consistently!