- Mike Prongue
Money, money, money, net operating profit,
return on investment- how to get it, how to make more of it. That’s what
business is all about- right? And, the LED sign industry is a prime opportunity
to do just that- make money. There is a need for a cost effective way to
advertise on premises, there are great product and software solutions available
and you, the LED sign dealer, can marry supply with demand and make a boatload of
money.
There are two schools of thought on
how a business should become successful-
- A quantitative approach to tightly
managing costs and expenses, tracking every nickel, working those MS- Excel
spreadsheets and the budgets, or,
- Taking care of the customer and
bonding them to your business as a lifetime fan.
The truth is you need to blend these
two approaches- watch the numbers closely and take care of customers.
Flexibility is the key when making decisions translating the numbers into
policies and business decisions that impact the customer. Lose the word “never”
and take care of the customer. For example- “we never refund purchases beyond
the stated one year timeframe.”
Each potential exception to a policy
needs to be evaluated based on the financial consequences, long term. So you
don’t refund a service call charge of $500 because it’s 30 days past the stated
warranty period? Why should you fork over $500, you told them the rule and your
one year warranty is more than fair? Why, because the customer has choices and
refusing to lose a nickel today, can cost you hundreds of thousands of dollars
over the next 30 years.
Creating lifetime fans will help your
business by having a devoted group of followers, great word of mouth
advertising, and a lot of friends rather than just strangers who are marginally appreciative
of your hard work and business efforts.
If you think you have what it takes
to deliver truly extraordinary customer service, these four steps will help you
get there:
1. See the world with “customer eyes”
Many
customers, if not most customers, are skeptical and really do not expect anything
extraordinary from your company. They just don’t want to be ripped off- they do
expect some service but they really are not hoping much beyond what's on the sales
contract.
When
Circuit City opened their Louisiana stores, in the 1990s, many customers in the
New Orleans market simply could not comprehend being able to return an
electronics purchase if they didn’t like it. It took many months for the customer
base to really believe that such a “liberal” policy (for its time) could even
be possible! The customers in that market had been subject to such anti-customer policies for so long
they saw retailers as their enemy. Creating a “Wow” moment for people with such
low expectations was fun and easy.
Remember
that most customers are hopeful, but they also have had so many marginal purchasing
experiences over the years that they may be skeptical. Whether the issue is a
great 5-yr on-site service warranty for their LED sign, they hear you but they
may not really think it’s real.
Credibility
must be established and maintained. And customers are looking for the “catch” or for you to reverse what you stood for when the going gets rough
and an exception must be made. Consistency is important.
2. Defer today's profits until tomorrow
A
true customer-centric business will see increased revenue and profits long-term. That
doesn’t mean you have to squeeze every dime today until 12 pennies are created.
There is tomorrow and sometimes extending world-class customer service will
cost more in the short run than you may like. But, if you continue to execute
the plan, keeping the customer in mind, you’ll see a larger financial return down the
road.
If
the bean counters, the accountants, in your organization crack open their
MS-Excel spreadsheets and start doing a cost versus benefits analysis of your
customer service programs they will short-circuit your efforts. It is hard to account for long-term
customer loyalty with today’s numbers.
Creating
lifetime fans of your business is not always about today, but rather tomorrow.
Like any good gardener, you have to plant the seed, tend to it, and WAIT to
watch it grow.
3. Be original and surprising
How
much easier is it to follow than to lead? What keeps people from leading
boldly? Fear is one reason. Sometimes its fear of being original and allowing
their true selves to create uniqueness and surprises in the customer service
offering.
Returning
to the retail example of Circuit City Stores, one bold move that dramatically
increased revenue and improved customer service happened when a program was
implemented that offered “Same day car stereo installation or it’s free.” The
program was hated in the stores at first because it put pressure on the local installation
team to increase their productivity or work for free. A bold plan in
retrospect, but once implemented it improved customer service. Right away the
2-3 day backlogs for electronics installation went away and almost every store
was on “same day” installation with almost no free installs, anywhere. Customers no longer had to wait up to a week in some places, for their car stereo
installation to be installed and the customers thought it was fantastic!
There’s
nothing wrong with “stepping out there” with a leading offer or testing a
surprising new idea.
Many
companies fail to do this because they stay in a “safety and comfort” zone. It’s
nice and warm in the zone and you probably won’t take much criticism. But if
you can differentiate your business from the other Sign Companies in your area
then you become a leader. If you are not a leader in your region, then what are
you? There are leaders, and there are…?
Do something unique and surprising and see what kind of response you get.
4. Create a culture of customer
service
Whenever
articles are written about customer service Nordstrom’s is always used as an
example where a culture of customer service was created. You could return
anything to them and they’d take it back while their customer interactions on
the floor also embraced the spirit of always “saying yes.”
There
are many ways to create a culture of customer service. A culture is not a month-long program giving away glass alligator ashtrays to everyone walking in the
door! It is a long-term commitment and a way of life.
A
culture starts with the leaders and is something that is turned into a way of simply doing
business, a habit. Decisions are made that support the customer. Respect is
given to the customer.
Much
negativity is infused into organizations by internal negative dialogue about
the customer in meetings and one-offs. Trying to stop this frustrated “joking”
and putting the external customer (the ones who buy stuff) at the same level of
respect as the internal customer (staff) is a must.
You
need to spend time living in your customer’s world- feel their emotions, their
worries, their concerns, their joy, their frustration. Talk to them, survey
them… get information in whatever way you choose. Then do something to improve
the experience!
Once
the customer condition is identified, everyone has to get into the boat and
proverbially “row in the same direction” to improve customer service. From the
way phone calls are answered, to empowering the associate to fix customer
issues, there are hundreds of ways to stand out in the customer service arena
of your business.
It
is the responsibility of sign shops to surprise, astound, delight and “wow”
every customer they encounter, every day they are in business. When this
happens, all of the bean counting could stop, all of the MS Excel spreadsheets
could be burned and you’d still be successful.
I
am realistic and I know that those spreadsheets are not going away, but you
have to decide if you want customer service to be the dog that wags the tail of
profits. Or, do you want a profit margin goal to be that dog that makes that profit
tail work?
Smart
money goes to customer service. Try it… you’ll find it to be much easier and
more fun!
These comments are my personal perspective and do not reflect the
opinion of Vantage LED, Inc. or SignVine, Inc. or any other person or
organization. If you have constructive feedback please email me at
michael@signvine.org.
- Mike Prongue
