Customer service gives you a competitive edge; it's that simple. If what you sell is the same as what your competitors sell, customer service can be the thing that tips the scales in your favor. For superior customer service, many customers will drive further, wait longer and even be willing to spend more.
Companies that deliver a higher level of customer service are, in a word, amazing. Amazing customer service is not an over-the-top, "wow!" level of service. Amazing customer service is just a little better than average — all the time. It's that consistency that makes the difference. It's that consistency that drives customer loyalty.
A little bit better than average is within the grasp of every company. Sure, some companies will have the opportunity to wow their customers with over-the-top service, but that extreme level of service is impossible to sustain. When you study the best companies, what you will find is that they are a little better than average and consistently so.
Typically, superior customer service is a once-in-a-while occurrence. Usually, something has to happen that prompts an employee to go the extra mile to fix a problem or react to a situation. However, the best business owners don't wait for an incident to happen. They look at all the typical "touch points" a customer has within their organizations and find ways to bump up the experience. Their goal is to "operationalize" it — make it standard operating procedure.
