Just in case anyone thinks its OK to create a satisfactory or even good customer experience, here are five reasons why you should be aiming that bit higher…

1) Differentiation.

If a customer is choosing between you and a competitor and it’s a close run thing, then offering that bit extra can make all of the difference. I live in a city with three big department stores but only shop in one. Why? Because when there is a problem, I am guaranteed great service and a resolution that I want. I will happily side-step savings and offers from the other two because it’s more important in the long term to use a brand I can trust.

2) Savings.

Being excellent at customer service means you focus on what the customer wants. This also means you focus on what they don’t want and if its not important to your customers, should it be important to you. Organisations that have cut out the things their customers don’t care about, have been able to remove non-value-adding processes and put more resource onto the things that matter. They have also saved money and in the economic climate the UK is in, that’s no bad thing either.

3) Reputation.

Word of mouth is a very strong indicator as to how an organisation is perceived. But there are massive practical values including savings on marketing costs (look at how many people join First Direct on recommendation), customer loyalty (they don’t want to risk leaving an organisation with such a great reputation) and winning new business. If you get a reputation in your field, and beyond it for that matter, you get a lot more besides. Your customers will be doing your sales and marketing for you.

4) People Engagement.

It’s hard to get everyone in an organisation committed and focussed on a single goal. But customer service excellence is one of those goals that people can buy into and engage with – because they can control it. People will always be the single biggest factor behind success of failure and if they are all working towards a common objective of being the best, or one of the best, for customer service this can galvanise the whole organisation and become the norm. After that, any new recruit will just get it from the moment they join. The “we deliver excellent service, it’s just the way we do things around here” culture is incredibly powerful. Just ask the organisations with that culture.

5) Increases.

Whether it’s an increase in new customers, increased customer loyalty, increased customer satisfaction, increased revenue or all of them, being excellent at customer service means that you see these key performance indicators going in the right direction. Just look at the top providers of customer service in the UK. They are all successful organisations doing well even in a difficult financial climate. Coincidence? Not at all!

So service excellence is a bit of a no brainer. Why not start your service excellence journey today?