I enjoy asking people this question because it often takes their mind back to a really happy moment in their life & normally the experience isn’t something that has come directly from a company as such. It’s normally something a staff member has gone out of their way to do.
I’ve experienced a lot of great customer service over the years, but there is one customer service experience that I’ve had that just stands out head & shoulders above the rest.
We were holidaying in Whistler, Canada and staying at the Delta Whistler Hotel to enjoy our first ever White Christmas .
My wife Annette & I wanted to make everything just right for our daughters Natasha & Katelin, so we made sure that we booked a room with an open fireplace so Santa Claus could come down the chimney.
I must say that the whole town of Whistler was like something out of a Fairy Tale, but what happened back at our hotel needed to be seen to be believed.
Everything was decorated magnificently, the restaurant had a beautiful miniature Christmas display that was breathtaking & kept Natasha & Katelin mesmerized for ages.
On Christmas Day they had one of Santa’s helpers downstairs giving out presents & they even put on a special show with Barney the Dinosaur (who was bigger than The Wiggles at the time). We were all having the time of our lives.
But the best part about our whole experience was something special that one of the staff at the hotel did for us.
We were down in the foyer, heading out to dinner with friends, when all of a sudden 3 blokes walked into the hotel with a huge Christmas Tree. It was obvious that they were guests of the hotel & that they were taking the tree up to their room.
The tree had only just been cut because there was snow dripping off the branches onto the foyer carpet & was so big that they had difficulty getting it to fit into the lift. It was really funny to watch them squeezing up against the tree so they could all fit into the lift & get the doors to close at the same time.
Seeing these guys struggling with the tree made me realise that we didn’t have a Christmas Tree in our room. So we walked up to the Concierge & asked if they knew of anywhere that we could get a tree or even a branch of a pine tree for our room.
He said they didn’t know where to get a tree or a branch but he’d see what he could do.
We then went off to dinner with our friends & didn’t think any more about the tree…until we got back to our room from dinner to find a fully decorated Christmas Tree, with lights flashing, lighting up our room.
We were blown away…
It was the icing on the cake for our White Christmas holiday & I’ll never know how they got the tree in our room or where it came from. And, if you think about it, the hotel probably had lots of Christmas Decorations sitting in a box in storage or they could have taken the Christmas Tree from somewhere else in the hotel, but none of that mattered in our eyes. All that mattered was that they went to the extra effort to do that for us & it made us feel special.
And because they did that for us, we’ve told lots of people about this experience & won’t hesitate to stay there again in the future.
How to have customers raving over your service?
Now in analysing the experience, when booking our holiday we had an in-built expectation for a certain level of service from this company, but in the end it was the great customer service delivered by one of their people within the company that left the greatest lasting impression.
As a real estate agent, your clients will all have differing opinions about the level of service they expect from you & your company, whilst it is vitally important that you deliver on your promises, doing that little something over & above is the thing that will have your customers raving about you.
There are lots of things that you can do to impress customers.
There are lots of things that you already do that probably go unnoticed that you can be made to appear more obvious to your customers. You need to leave footprints or evidence of service in your day-to-day activities. (eg. the hotel cleaners don’t just put a new toilet roll in the holder, they fold the end of the paper to make sure the customers know that it’s new.)
If you want to generate more business,I recommend that you have a brainstorming session with your team about customer service.
Ask each member to share their best customer service experience & what made it the best ever customer service experience for them.
Then come up with a few simple ideas about leaving evidence of service or doing something above & beyond what the customer expects. And then start implementing them one after the other into your business.
Remember your customers like nice surprises. So make sure they are simple, easy to implement & come as a complete surprise to the customer.
Please feel welcome to share the best customer experience you’ve ever had underneath this article.
Alternatively, if there’s something that you currently do that is totally unexpected & WOW’s your customers GenYre readers would love to read them & get some fresh ideas.
October 31, 2009
Greg my greatest customer service experience came from a salesperson working in an upmarket men’s clothing store. Six months earlier I had bought what I considered a reasonably expensive suit. I like to dress well, it’s important to me.
I must admit I didn’t have many suits at that time as I was reasonably new to real estate and cutting my teeth. Money was tight for me.
I wore the suit so much that my wallet wore through the back pocket. I felt a little embarassed and didn’t want to admit I had worn the suit so much. But I thought, hang on, this is supposed to be a quality suit. So I took it in hoping to have it repaired for free.
I was completely blown away. The salesperson didn’t even consult his manager and made a decision on the spot to replace the trousers. Not only did he replace the trousers that had worn through, he also provided me with an additional pair of new trousers too. My two trouser suit all of a sudden became a four trouser suit. And that came at a time in my life that it was very much appreciated.
October 31, 2009
This question really got me thinking, and I was surprsied by how easy it would be for me to rattle off a poor customer service experience and a little more difficult for me to think of a positive one. And this isn’t because I haven’t had many great service experiences, nor a vast number of poor ones.
Is it just me, or does human nature suggest that we are more disappointed when our expectations aren’t met, than we are impressed by when they are exceeded?
If this is true, there is no greater argument for any service industry to always strive for customer service excellence. Poor service is more likely to be remembered and discussed by the recipient of that service to their friends and family, than a good customer service experience.
Keen to hear your thoughts on this
November 1, 2009
Best customer service – 2 experiences come to mind:
The first was in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Years ago we were having dinner at a casual outdoor restaurant on the harbor – nothing special, good food, paper plates, etc. and we starting hearing fireworks from across the harbor but unfortunately plastic shades were blocking our view. When the waiter came by to ask how everything was, we said great but it would be really nice if we could see the fireworks better. Next thing we know the staff was running around rolling up the shades… Not a big deal, but I can say most places wouldn’t have bothered and we still remember the great customer service!
The second was shopping while on vacation at Nordstroms in Las Vegas. Not only did the sales person help me find what I was looking for but she actually came into the dressing room area and brought me different colors and sizes….this should be what always happens, but these days shoppers are lucky to find someone in a department store and when we do they just point. Additionally, she gave me her card and told me I could call her if I needed anything else. When I got home, I called and ordered a few more items and the service over the phone was just as wonderful. I don’t remember what I bought, but the service made me feel so special!
November 2, 2009
Marilyn & Steve they are some great examples . Isn’t it interesting to see that it doesn’t take much extra effort to make a customer really happy.
Steve, how a business reacts to a customer complaint makes all the difference between getting a bad reputation & winning a customer for life.
A lot of companies only focus on the sale right at that moment, whereas they should be looking at the lifetime value of a customer.
I can imagine Steve that you’d feel awkward now if ever you buy a suit anywhere else, which is the way good businesses make their customers feel.
The lifetime value of a customer is rarely considered in real estate because lots of sellers move out of the area, but agents need to remember that most sellers leave behind lots of family & friends that the seller could refer you to.
Agents should also pamper their buyers because they are not only your future sellers but they also become residents living within your service area & they will talk poorly or kindly about you & your company for years to come depending upon the level of service you gave them.
PS: Dave, it’s human nature that people are more likely to complain or criticise than they are to make compliments or give praise. Newspapers have been sold for years based on this principle. It’s a sad indictment on our world, but it’s reality.
That aside, a customer complaint should be seen as an opportunity to create a raving fan, because unfortunately it’s the silent customer who says nothing but votes with their feet & takes their business elsewhere who’ll always have the greatest impact on the success of any business.
November 18, 2009
Greg,
The best customer experience I’ve heard of happened to a former co-worker of mine at the Shilla Hotel in Seoul, South Korea (very nice 5-star hotel). He left the equivalent of a $12 tip for the clean room staff after staying there several nights. 4 YEARS LATER he checked in on a return business trip. As he was unzipping his luggage there was a knock on the door from a hotel employee. They handed him an envelope and inside was his $12!!!
That will not happen at many hotels, especially since the right cultures and tipping guidelines have to be in place, but the good news is customer service numbers are up for the hospitality industry over the last few months, even with staff reductions. If you are interested I posted an analysis here:
http://www.uberoom.com/blogs/2009/10/15/improved-hotel-customer-service-top-3-reasons-why/
Good luck to all the hotels today. Time are tough but customer service is a big part of survival in the current environment.