Have you ever had a terrible experience with a company?
Something like calling customer support only to end up furious because they can’t seem to help you.
Or maybe you were at a restaurant, and the service was so terrible that you returned your food.
How did you feel after that experience?
How do you feel about that particular brand now?
And I want you to focus on how you feel, not what you think about it or a way to justify the human error on that experience. I want you to focus on your body and remember that experience.
Feels terrible, right?
You may be already reinforcing your commitment to avoid doing business with that company. And believe me, I’m the kind of guy that will never return to a restaurant if I had a bad experience there.
Now I want you to shake that feeling and instead think of that time when customer service was magnificent.
That time when you felt that a company had your needs at the top of the list and that they did their best to help you sort something out and without wasting any of your valuable time.
Focus intensely on how you felt at that very moment. I bet you were astonished at the level of service you got. And I bet that you are still doing business with that company.
It feels fantastic when someone helps you navigate a stressful situation, and you end up better than when the problem first appeared.
And you may be wondering why I’m telling you to focus on your feelings about these experiences, and the answer is simple, they define how much you trust a brand. If for any reason that trust is broken it will take a considerable effort to repair the damage.
Now, I want you to think about your business and ask yourself:
- When was the last time a customer was completely angry with me?
- When was the last time a customer expressed how much they loved working with me?
Your answers to those questions define how much emphasis you are putting on your client satisfaction.
If you have a ton of incidences of people being angry or displeased with your product and service, you should start questioning yourself about the specific issues that are damaging your relationship with your customers.
Because just like you have never forgotten that lousy customer service experience, your client’s will remember when you make mistakes.
The sooner you understand the problem, the sooner you can turn those complaints into praise for your business.