Your Customers: Satisfied or Happy?

Have you ever thought about the difference between customer satisfaction and customer happiness? 

I think it’s becoming increasingly clear that customer service needs to evolve from satisfying customers to wowing them, thrilling them, and making them truly happy to work with you.

That’s because customers who are merely satisfied aren’t loyal. If your competitor decides to drop his prices, many of your “satisfied” customers will leave you. They’re content – that is, until something better comes along. 

Happy customers, on the other hand, are loyal. 

They’re your raving fans. You get them and they get you. They’re “evangelists” for you cause. They’ll help you spread the word about how great you are because they have a stake in your product and your business, and they know that you care about them as well.

Case in point: take a look at what the guys from 37Signals are doing on their website. Not only do they aim to make their customers happy, they publish their happiness ratings online for all the world to see.

That keeps them honest.

And that’s a good thing because it’s easy to talk a good game about wowing customers but not easy to get it done.

But keeping customers happy is a must now, not a nice-to-have. In a market saturated with capable competitors, the last thing you want your company to be is just “OK” in the eyes of customers.

You want them to see you as great! Awesome! Remarkable! Worth raving about!

I know it’s not easy, but what are you doing to move in that direction? 

And by the way customer service applies, not just to external customers but to internal customers as well- your teammates, co-workers and direct reports! Remember to WOW them too!

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