Why “The Detail” is not just for Retail!

How does any business know when they have delivered a ‘wow’ customer experience?

B2B Customers may initially seem to have a different set of requirements to a retail environment, however, isn’t customer satisfaction, loyalty and return business what all industries should be striving towards?

In these challenging times when all customers have a lot more choice and potentially less money to spend – it is vital that you look at what you offer and how you can do it better. The retail business talks a lot about ‘The Detail’ and most of us experience a level of service in the retail/hospitality sector on a regular basis and could easily describe what equates to both good AND bad service. I believe that when ‘The Detail’ is applied in the right way it can be equally relevant to B2B.

When trying to improve service it is important to review each and every area where you and your team come into contact with the customer.

The phone can be an extremely beneficial tool and is often the first contact you may have with a B2B prospect, it is however, an often overlooked and undervalued device. Smiling when answering the phone, showing that you are really listening to the person on the other end and re-capping any information or future actions are all basic and easy to do things – so why is this not always the case or what the actual customer experiences?

Face to face contact also utilises many of the same skills and it is always worth remembering the old cliché that ‘first impressions count...’ Though this may at first appear trite, remember, it is far easier to start a business relationship the right way, rather than spending huge volumes of time struggling to change or improve an initial perception.

After spending some time in the USA I saw how even the most simple service experience can be enhanced and, as always, it seems to be the small things that are the most memorable. When you visit a supermarket – someone brings a trolley over to you and the American consumer would be deeply shocked to be expected to return this after they have finished their weekly shop – instead it is either taken from them or left by their car to be picked up. It all makes the shopping ‘experience’ far more enjoyable or at the very worse less hard work!

How does this relate to B2B service – well, it is a great example of ‘delighting’ the customer.

When asked what attributes contribute to customer service, it may seem deceptively simple – but the best description I can give is ‘... give the customer what they want, when they want it and do better than anyone else’.

How do you get your whole team to do this? Well, the key to this is training, developing and honing some simple skill sets within your organisation and ensuring that everyone in your business delivers this time after time.

Delighting the customer is the fundamental difference that you can offer your end user and it is what can set you apart from your competitors. Look at ‘The Detail’ that your clients require and realise that this will be different for each of your customers, however if you use the above skills set to really understand and recognise what your customer wants – you are half way to be able to deliver it!

After all, all businesses know that retention is less expensive than finding new customers!


This article was originally published in 'Tomorrow's Cleaning' September 09 Issue.
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