Every person has a perceived level of acceptability for adequate customer service. Your job is to EXCEED that “level of acceptability”. Most often this “acceptability” is an equation of benefits versus cost. The higher their perceived benefit for the cost, the better your customer service will be ranked. Remember, you are always being compared to the most recent positive experiences, but you are always being compared to their entire lifetime of negative experiences.
There is no way of knowing the “level of acceptability” for a new customer. However, if you have created a relationship with your existing customers, you can ask each of them what they expect from your customer service. From there you can get a fair idea of what level of customer service you need to have in place to meet or beat prospects expectations.
Remember, your customer service isn’t what you perceive as adequate, but what your customers feel is their “level of acceptability” which you need to meet or beat.
What measures do you need to take to ensure you are not just meeting your prospects “level of acceptability”, but creating additional value in the eyes of your prospects? It may be something as simple as providing extra information, or a bit more involved like offering better phone communications by having a direct number to a solution manager. Whatever the solution is will come from the voice of your customers. Find out what the concerns of your customers are through surveys, follow up calls, service experiences and outreach functions to anticipate and act on their needs to go beyond their “level of acceptability”.
When you increase your customer’s perception of the value of your products and services, they will not only be more satisfied, they will be more likely to share their “good deal” with others.