the most likely to have left an impression): We like to think the valet parker greeted her, smiled at her, and was prompt. He didn’t walk to retrieve her car, he ran. This action signaled subliminally that he cared—that he was committed to giving her prompt service. He took time to wipe her windshield. He did not change her radio station. He did not move her seat in a way that required her to readjust it, or if he did need to adjust her seat, he at least showed concern about the inconvenience: ‘‘Ma’am, I had to move your seat.’’
Service Alfresco
To create a fresco requires a palette of colors, skill, time, and attention—and the judgment and foresight to envision a painting that will fit just right on a particular wall. To create exceptional service, treat every single time you come in contact with your customers as an opportunity to add another brush stroke to their service fresco.
A great service provider is always looking for an opportunity to pull out the palette and add a few more touches that will make a more vivid, inspiring impression. In the face of the struggle to reduce waste, a great service provider knows these extra touches, as long as they actually reach the customer, are never wasted.
They’re what keep a business the picture of good health.
Process-Based Anticipation on the Internet
When you interact with customers via the Internet, you have an opportunity to provide anticipatory service created or enhanced by software algorithms—algorithms that offer individualized guidance and assistance to your customers. The best of these anticipatory algorithms can help a 74
Exceptional Service, Exceptional Profit
customer make sophisticated service or purchasing decisions by analyzing the preferences of past customers who have behaved in the same ways as the current one, as well as taking into account how the customer himself has behaved in earlier interactions on the site.
The Netflix online video rental site is an example of an unusually sophisticated, algorithm-based procedure. Netflix’s algorithms are based on millions of previous customer actions. The algorithms allow Netflix to accurately predict which movies will appeal to a particular customer as soon as that user begins selecting and rating movies. The software can even make rather impressive educated guesses before a customer makes a first selection by weighing such variables as the customer’s gender, zip code, and initial ‘‘search style’’ on the website.
Humans appear to be wired to respond appreciatively to anticipatory service. That’s why Netflix’s ability to figure out a customer’s preferences feels so impressive. Indeed, regular customers describe a sense of having a ‘‘relationship’’ with the Netflix website; it feels to them as though the site ‘‘knows’’ them personally. That’s how Netflix creates intense customer loyalty—it’s one of the best-loved customer service sites on the Internet—despite providing customers with not even a single moment of direct human interaction in the course of a typical encounter.
But before you rush to become the Netflix of your industry, remember our discussion in Chapter Five of how easy it is to cross a line from ‘‘ultra-functionality’’ to ‘‘creepiness’’ online. Given the creepiness factor, should online retailers make personalized purchase suggestions based on the behaviors already traced to a customer’s IP address, or should they wait until the customer has voluntarily logged in? It’s tempting to push the envelope, isn’t it? After all, if you logged and analyzed all of a customer’s behaviors on your website, you could probably make your website more relevant for them.
But consider the downside: Do your customers want to have their behavior tracked even before they log into your site? And do you want to risk potential side effects, such as inadvertently offering children sug-
Building Anticipation Into Your Products and
Service Alfresco
To create a fresco requires a palette of colors, skill, time, and attention—and the judgment and foresight to envision a painting that will fit just right on a particular wall. To create exceptional service, treat every single time you come in contact with your customers as an opportunity to add another brush stroke to their service fresco.
A great service provider is always looking for an opportunity to pull out the palette and add a few more touches that will make a more vivid, inspiring impression. In the face of the struggle to reduce waste, a great service provider knows these extra touches, as long as they actually reach the customer, are never wasted.
They’re what keep a business the picture of good health.
Process-Based Anticipation on the Internet
When you interact with customers via the Internet, you have an opportunity to provide anticipatory service created or enhanced by software algorithms—algorithms that offer individualized guidance and assistance to your customers. The best of these anticipatory algorithms can help a 74
Exceptional Service, Exceptional Profit
customer make sophisticated service or purchasing decisions by analyzing the preferences of past customers who have behaved in the same ways as the current one, as well as taking into account how the customer himself has behaved in earlier interactions on the site.
The Netflix online video rental site is an example of an unusually sophisticated, algorithm-based procedure. Netflix’s algorithms are based on millions of previous customer actions. The algorithms allow Netflix to accurately predict which movies will appeal to a particular customer as soon as that user begins selecting and rating movies. The software can even make rather impressive educated guesses before a customer makes a first selection by weighing such variables as the customer’s gender, zip code, and initial ‘‘search style’’ on the website.
Humans appear to be wired to respond appreciatively to anticipatory service. That’s why Netflix’s ability to figure out a customer’s preferences feels so impressive. Indeed, regular customers describe a sense of having a ‘‘relationship’’ with the Netflix website; it feels to them as though the site ‘‘knows’’ them personally. That’s how Netflix creates intense customer loyalty—it’s one of the best-loved customer service sites on the Internet—despite providing customers with not even a single moment of direct human interaction in the course of a typical encounter.
But before you rush to become the Netflix of your industry, remember our discussion in Chapter Five of how easy it is to cross a line from ‘‘ultra-functionality’’ to ‘‘creepiness’’ online. Given the creepiness factor, should online retailers make personalized purchase suggestions based on the behaviors already traced to a customer’s IP address, or should they wait until the customer has voluntarily logged in? It’s tempting to push the envelope, isn’t it? After all, if you logged and analyzed all of a customer’s behaviors on your website, you could probably make your website more relevant for them.
But consider the downside: Do your customers want to have their behavior tracked even before they log into your site? And do you want to risk potential side effects, such as inadvertently offering children sug-
Building Anticipation Into Your Products and
Similar Books
