Karen a member of the JCK team has just come back from a fab holiday in Egypt. When asked what it was like her response got us all talking, as it wasn’t the fact that the sun shone every day and she could eat and drink as much as she liked.
So what did she say?
Well that the hotel was very clean and well kept with everything working as it should with all the important fixtures and fittings that one would want from a 5 star hotel. The food and drink was on tap, everything that you could possibly want was at your finger tips. The weather was good, guaranteed sunshine (37) so plenty of swimming etc to be done.
All sounds fabulous and very much what you would expect from an all inclusive holiday.
The one thing that stood out above all else however, was the level of customer service from every member of staff; the bar man who knew what drinks that you had as soon as you entered the bar they were ready and waiting for you; the waiter in the restaurant who had freshly made tea and coffee waiting for you on the table that you preferred, to the staff who cleaned the rooms who folded your clothes and hung up your wet stuff to dry.
Why is this important?
In talking through what seemed to be a fantastic holiday, we determined that the holiday experience was the added extras that the staff provided, not the core features (nice hotel hot weather etc) that were kind of expected but those over and above extras that made all the difference. The same is true for your business, your products you sell and service level agreements are all an expected part of your package, what can you deliver that is over and above the norm?
There is no point in marketing your business and spending time and energy doing it (and not forgetting money) if your customer service is so poor that your clients will never return to you. So what are the critical non essentials that you can provide in your business? what is your customer service level? what would your customers say?
What can you implement today that will make a real difference?