Life in the customer experience universe is not always perfect. Balls drop. Promises are not kept. Messages are not relayed on time, or with urgency. Customers have a less than stellar experience. The counterbalancing factor however, is the finesse and finality with which customer trust and happiness are restored.
In my previous article, while I spoke about the best moments in customer experience, I wanted to dedicate a full article to “the best service recovery moments.” This area of care requires its own spotlight.
Service recovery is the art and science of resolving issues that cause the customer to experience breaches of care, during the service delivery process. Every business should have a clearly articulated process for resolving any instance of ball dropping.
The pipeline has to be manned by level-headed individuals, who can make decisions that constitute a win for the business and a win for the customer.
We know how irritating it is to experience a service failure, to have the customer contact agent promise to correct the situation, only to have a recurrence of the mishap. Conversely, we know the delight that we experience when the follow-through on the correction results in a smooth journey, the next time we interact with the business.
The first goal of service recovery, is to get the customer back on his or her experience journey, as smoothly and as favourably as possible. The second goal, is to make the solution permanent, so that the breach does not happen again. Achieving this is part science, since efficiency lies at the backbone of the resolution process and part artistry, since there is a lot of diplomacy and people engagement skills needed to maintain the composure of the customer communication process.
The reality is that many businesses do not have a clearly articulated process, or if they do, the process is not enacted effectively. The businesses that understand the interoperability between customer lifetime value and revenue generation, are not careless with their service recovery efforts.
It requires intentional effort and investment on the part of the business to create a culture of expertise as a natural lynchpin to delivering meaningful and profitable outcomes.
So, let’s take a look at a key component for achieving the first goal of service recovery, namely to resume the efficacy of the customer’s journey. Service recovery should happen on-spot, same day, or within twenty-four hours, with the majority of the situations being resolved effectively. For this speedy resolution to become the norm, the decision-making has to be pushed as close to the customer as possible.
The consideration here, is that the authority bandwidth has to be stretched from managerial, to supervisory level, to customer contact level. What all of this means, is that the pipeline has to be manned by level-headed individuals, who can make decisions that constitute a win for the business and a win for the customer.
These level-headed individuals do not materialize out of thin air. They have to be selected carefully, be trained and nurtured to transition into valued decision-makers. Moreover, this process does not happen overnight, nor is it cheap. It requires intentional effort and investment on the part of the business to create a culture of expertise as a natural lynchpin to delivering meaningful and profitable outcomes.
The best moments in service recovery happen when customers realize the extreme lengths to which a business will go, to right the wrong, restore trust and preserve the bond with its customers.
The second goal of service recovery is to make the correction permanent and as a consequence, profitable, due to customer retention. Typically, customers are delighted when the outcome of a service failure is in their favour. The best moments in service recovery happen when customers realize the extreme lengths to which a business will go, to right the wrong, restore trust and preserve the bond with its customers.
These moments can run from a simple apology, to a grand gesture of making amends that include waiving fees, adding extras or providing a credit for future services.
These “emotional bonding moments” are compelling moments. They happen when customers realize that the business “cares” genuinely about resolving the mishap and preventing a recurrence. These are the moments in which trust is restored in the business as a brand that cares first, about its customers, then about their money. Brand reputation and brand value skyrocket, simply because customers have good stories to tell about great outcomes, when situations went wrong and how they were made right.
Having said all that I have about service recovery, the point needs to be made that the prevention of service failures should be the overarching goal. Every business should assume that all moments along the customer’s journey matter. However, some do matter more than others.
Brand reputation and brand value skyrocket, simply because customers have good stories to tell about great outcomes, when situations went wrong and how they were made right.
The premium moments that matter are the moments when a business can regain its balance with customers by handling the exceptions to customer expectations with speed, empathy and finesse.
The question is, “Does your business know what moments are considered emotional bonding moments by its customers, regardless of whether those moments lie in service recovery, or in the regular routine?”