Marketing Matters
Dayton Business Journal - October 6, 2006
by Craig Steffen
Actions Speak Louder than Words with Customer Service
"What you do speaks so loudly, I can't hear what you're saying."
-- Ralph Waldo Emerson
Professor Albert Mehrabian's Research at UCLA indicates that only about 7 percent of our communication is attributed to the words we choose to speak. The lion's share of our communication is made up of voice tones (38 percent), and facial expressions and body language (55 percent). Action = 93 percent.
Perhaps this is why most of us have a mysterious ability to determine when someone is being genuine and when they're not. We can usually "sniff out" people who are speaking with sincerity, and those who are "blowing smoke."
My wife and I recently spent a few days at an Ohio inn that touts its dedication to customer service and creating memories. These claims are made by companies so often these days that it's not surprising that we've grown skeptical. When we arrived, I had my smoke-sniffer in full operating order. Frankly, I expected to be disappointed.
But throughout our stay, we were greeted by friendly people everywhere we went. Not just by the select staff who are paid to provide "hospitality," but also by grounds-keepers, maintenance persons and house-keeping personnel -- literally everyone. But here's the thing: I never felt like they were saying hello and inquiring about the quality of our stay because they were told to. Their smiles were genuine. Their queries were sincere. Their desire to serve was an extension of who they were.
In short, the customer service wasn't just in the words they chose to speak, but in the other 93 percent of their communication as well. Several times a day I discovered some customer service touch that wasn't promised, just delivered. How completely refreshing, and frankly about as rare as a barking cat.
It's so easy to throw the customer service claim around, but it's a very different thing to weave it so tightly into your business culture that it happens, not because people are working at it, but because it's who they have become.
You're probably thinking, "So what? You had a nice stay at an inn. What's that got to do with my business?" Good question. I'm glad you asked.
Based on the average cost of upscale lodging in the State of Ohio, I'd estimate that this business is reaping roughly twice the profit as other businesses in their class. They are not cheap -- they make no attempt to compete on price. They are selling an experience, making promises they keep, and people are happy to pay the asking price.
Our stay at the inn extended into the work week. We felt like we were alone and expected the occupancy to be sparse on weekdays at this kind of place. But when we gathered for our gourmet breakfast, the place was packed with couples -- on a Tuesday in September. Based on this (admittedly small sample size) experience, I'm also guessing that their occupancy rate runs well ahead of their competitors.
In our cottage was a guestbook where previous occupants of the place had taken time to write of their experience there. The majority of entries stated that this was the third, fourth or fifth time they had been here -- touting each experience as more special than the one before. This inn has discovered the goldmine that is customer service, and they've discovered how to continuously improve so as not to get stale to repeat patrons.
The bottom line is: People will pay for unique experiences. People will return to be genuinely treated like they are truly special. People will tell their friends (that's how we first heard of this place). And how we treat (93 percent) our customers is far more important than what we say (7 percent) about customer service.
Make it so.
Craig Steffen is president of Paraclete Consulting Inc. Reach him through his Web site at paracleteconsulting.com.
Since I wasn't able to reveal the identity of the Inn in my article -- It is (drum roll please ....)
Glen Laurel Inn Visit them at www.glenlaurel.com
