Just over 100 years ago, the Wright Brothers made history by flying the world’s first successful aeroplane. What once was considered a miracle now happens more than 100,000 times a day. The UK aviation industry currently generates £60bn revenue, and has its sights set on further growth.
As an example of this growth, Emirates, British Airways and Virgin Atlantic, all reported impressive profit increases this year. Virgin Atlantic was also listed in the top 15 companies with the best customer service in the UK. Virgin has often cited its customer centric approach as a key driver of business success. The approach Virgin uses is simple, yet effective: “Brilliant Basics” paired with “Magic Touches”.
What can other businesses learn from this approach to improve customer service and achieve the same successes as other business high-fliers?
Back to Basics
After polling 18,000 consumers across nine countries, we found 81% of customers just want their questions answered. Getting the basics right is clearly an important element for success. It all starts with setting clear standards for customer operations and rolling them out across the whole workforce. Outlining expectations and ensuring staff are on the same page is key to delivering a universal experience for all customers.
Training is integral – your teams need to have the tools to meet customer expectations. This is especially important when interacting across many channels. Customer service agents must be properly trained to harness their potential and that of the tools which help provide the best service. Achieving and exceeding customer expectations can drive loyalty and customer retention, so getting these mechanisms in place is a great starting point in improving offerings.
Taking it up a Gear
Once the basics are in place, businesses can add the extra touches that can differentiate them from competitors. Our research found almost two thirds of customers tell friends and family about positive experiences with brands. Success here means you haven’t just pleased your customers: you’ve started to grow brand ambassadors.
Teams need to think creatively and understand the customers they’re dealing with to provide outstanding service. Dominos was even able to save one customer’s life after staff noticed he’d broken his normal ordering routine. Personalised service is not always literally a matter of life and death, but our research found that for 89 percent of people, good service makes them feel more positive about a brand.
What Customers Want
The key to finding the middle ground between the basics and the extras is understanding what your customers want. Customer analytics can help give management information to front-line staff so they can understand customer data at a glance. In cases beyond solving simple questions, an understanding of a customer’s history with the company can make the difference between good and bad service.
Your teams can quickly see what a customer is looking for by using customer data effectively. This means they can get the basics right and answer questions, but also create opportunities for the special touches that drive loyalty.
One thing is key to this dynamic: transparency. Customers want to have good service, and are often happy to share some of their information in return. Businesses that are not transparent with how they use customer data threaten the trust of their consumers, while organisations that transparently work with their customers to deliver better service will reap the rewards.
Final thoughts
Businesses that have all the information they need at their fingertips deliver a service that soars. This can give a competitive edge. The key is harnessing the information, showing your workforce how to use this intelligence, and nurturing a culture that wants to do well by customers. Aligning this approach to your marketing offering will show the business as a united force, and will build trust from new and existing customers. From a start-up to an enterprise business, this approach to service is tried and tested to make you a business high flier.
By Graeme Gabriel, strategic back office WFO Consultant at Verint
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