You know how passionate I am about truly outstanding customer service as a differentiator for business. Well I have had the pleasure of becoming acquainted with customer service experts Chip Bell and John R. Patterson, authors of Take Their Breath Away: How Imaginative Service Creates Devoted Customers. These guys are the real deal, working with leading multi-national corporations and small businesses on implementing culture changes to drive the customer experience. They have authored the following guest blog:
The weather was the type that drives you indoors on a Saturday afternoon. It had been a hard travel week and I needed some unwind time; perfect conditions for two back-to-back Academy Award winning best picture movies. The first was the 1995 winner—Braveheart; the second was the 1996 winner–The English Patient.
The order of movie viewing was a big mistake. I only watched 2/3rds of the second movie. Now, before you play the “Guy Movie” card, you should know I actually prefer movies with more plot and less gore. But, Braveheart was so “in your face,” heart-pounding edgy that The English Patient seemed plain vanilla by contrast. The first movie made me ready to go out in the front yard and charge something; the second made me ready for bed.
Customers are generally bored with service these days. They long for Braveheart edgy. They want sparkly and glittery; a cherry on top of everything. And, when they get edgy, every other service provider is compared to that memorable experience. So, what are you doing to stimulate all your customer’s senses? How can you decorate your customer’s experience in a way that makes it exciting, original, fun, entertaining, unusual, special, different, amazing, or any other descriptor that can take your customer’s breath away?
