Published September 2005

Service: It’s what
customers really want

Dear BizBest: For years, my small business has been trying to compete on price, and frankly I’m getting burned on this front by the bigger competition. It seems like customers will go anywhere to save a dollar. I’ve beefed up my marketing but I need some kind of strategy to keep existing customers. Ideas? — Burned on Price

Dear Burned: Want to stop getting beat up on price? Then stop trying to compete on price alone. What your business may need is a crash course in better customer service. Strive for fabulous, standout, outrageously great service to set yourself apart.

Will superior service trump price? Absolutely, says a dramatic new survey of over 100,000 small business and retail customers nationwide. According to this four-year study conducted by the Ohio-based market intelligence firm BIGresearch, most customers will put service ahead of price — if you give them the chance. BIGresearch asked people how they like to shop, what they look for in service and what it takes for them to buy.

According to T. Scott Gross, who turned the results into a book called “When Customers Talk,” some of the most deeply entrenched “wisdom” about what customers want may simply be wrong.

When researchers asked customers how far they’d be willing to drive for excellent service, 80 percent said they’d travel four or more miles, and nearly half said they would drive 10 miles or more for the right combination of price, quality and customer service.

Your job as a small business owner is to deliver superior service that attracts and keeps customers day in and day out.

How many service slipups does it take to send a customer packing? According to the BIGresearch survey, 17 percent will bolt after a single service fau paux. Another 40 percent will jump ship after two instances of poor service, and 28 percent more are out the door after three. Here’s what customers say they want, in order of priority:

1) Knowledgeable and available staff. Customers place a high value on accurate information and want to be served by employees who know the product inside and out.

2) Friendly staff. Customers not only want product-savvy sales people, they want them to be friendly and courteous.

3) Good value. Customers surveyed see price as only one component of the bigger picture of “value” that includes the service, information and follow-up they also receive.

4) Convenience. Make it easy! Says Gross, “Customers want merchandise that is well organized, attractively displayed and easy to find.”

5) A fast finish. While customers are ... deciding to buy or not ... they want thoughtful help making the right decisions. But once the buying decision is made, get out of their way ... they want to complete the transaction and be on their way as quickly as possible. At the cash register, there is no time for making new suggestions.

In the end, says Gross, if you give customers what they want, the way they want it and follow through with a fast finish, you are much more likely to see them again.

Daniel Kehrer, can be reached at dan@bizbest.com. He is founder of BizBest (www.bizbest.com), which publishes The 100 Best Resources for Small Business.

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