We went with a very comprehensive “100% Satisfaction Guaranteed” policy for one of our store we developed this past summer. This was not only something I very much wanted to test and research in an ecommerce environment, but I have a strong belief in the effectiveness of service related guarantees. Please note, that more extensive testing will be needed to be qualified research analysis, however, I am publishing our current findings in hope that others can benefit.
One of the things in my work that I rely on most heavily is my previous customer service experience. For 25+ years I was a restaurant manager for many different venues, setups and positions. The knowledge and experience I learned through these years has always benefited me in my marketing efforts. Every restaurant manager knows that nothing is more damaging or complicated than an unhappy customer. This one unhappy customer in perhaps a sea of satisfied customers can do more damage to your business that anyone ever realizes. They tell others, the upset the restaurant staff, which in turn can cause additional incidents and every team member knows in their hearts they have failed.
Many of us have been to a restaurant and something was wrong…. We have a very vivid recollection of how the issue was handled. We remember these matters very black and white… Good or bad. As a consumer we know exactly how this made us feel and the steps we took to resolve it, but we are going to concentrate on the restaurant staff’s reaction. So for the sake of role play lets say you ate at a full service restaurant and your steak was overcooked.
First of all realize that most customers will say NOTHING about the steak, but rather pick and their meal and leave unhappy if this goes unchecked by the server. I have had many a conversation with pissed off customers which took many open ended questions and discussion to find out what the problem really was. Why do you suppose this is?
This very common human behavior is caused by several issues.
- The customer doesn’t want to hassle with the issue or they are shy
- The customer thinks the issue cannot be resolved to suit him
- The customer has had this same issue in this or another restaurant and when reported it went badly
- The customer is afraid you or he will become overly upset and ruin his evening
Fact is, customers rarely complain with their voices, but rather with their actions. To effectively handle customer problems you must first detect them. In our online stores this is a big struggle… But there are signs if you watch.
So we call our server over and tell her our steak is overdone. Servers, like online merchants, are paid based on their performance in these matters. A “good” server will immediately and without hesitation offer to replace the steak. What is the cost of a steak stacked against the estimated 25 direct patron losses that this customer can easily cause the restaurant, no brainer right? Many servers, and customer service personal are handicapped in this area. Their bosses or managers have tied their hands and left them helpless to serve customers by not specifically empowering them.
What is empowerment? You can effectively empower your employees in many ways, including telling them… Most importantly, you MUST show them. Each person who touches your customers in any way is either an asset or a risk for your business.
So if that server had chosen to instead get her manager, what then? Then although the customer shuts up and eats his new steak, he is convinced that the wait staff of this restaurant is incapable. What if she said sorry and walked away? Damage complete, this customer and everyone he knows is history.
Turning a Negative Situation in to a Positive
You might be surprised to find that a customer complaint is actually a wonderful opportunity. When issues arise and a customer is unhappy, this is absolutly your moment to shine and turn that customer in to a super marketing machine for your business. How? Well its really very simple, if our steak was fine and everything was OK, we leave without any real impression at all…. But if the steak is wrong and the server is astute and effective in handling it on his/her own without management intervention… We are in fact satisfied AND impressed. Generally speaking great customer impression often begin with a problem… Thus the opportunity to have this same customer so blatantly impressed instead tell 25 people how great you are…
Cost of impressed customer $2.00 steak…. Word of mouth marketing result – PRICELESS
So getting back on track here, for ecommerce store owners, many times the attention and emphasis is on restrictions, rules and policies as opposed to service and word of mouth marketing. We seem to easily over look the opportunity presented by word of mouth marketing on the web.
Our store launched over the summer has a 100% satisfaction guaranteed policy. The store only a few months old is in a fairly competitive niche, but doing rather well. How much success is related to that great big %100 Satisfaction Guaranteed seal in the header of every page? We may never know for sure, but I can offer you some insight as to how the word of mouth marketing from a customer can easily and almost always cover any service related cost.
We had this customer in the early weeks of the stores launch. This customer, needed to return for exchange one of the items on her order…. But needed it ASAP and could not wait for us to receive the returned product for a reshipment. I explained that I would be glad to ship that today for her and did. She got her package in time and we even received our return…. But what she really paid us was unknown at the time.
This customer is from a small town in Pennsylvania, very small like 1200 citizens. I was pulling reports the other day when I noticed that this VERY small town had produced over 40 orders in 3 months… Curious I started sifting through the orders for a common link…. Low an behold, ALL of these orders occurred after the customer incident above. So I picked up the phone, called and graciously thanked her for recommending us.
The likelihood that you come out short on a positive customer experience in VERY unlikely… However, the return on investment is just not always apparent immediately. Nothing pays like satisfied and specifically IMPRESSED customers. I think you will find that this is one of the cheapest and most effective marketing options you have in ANY business.
So go forth and empower yourself and every single employee, so that you may grow your business.