Creating a world-class customer experience is about
creating “secret service” systems that allow front-line
employees to engage and interact with customers to personalize the experience by anticipating and delivering on their needs.
So the next time you hear
somebody use the words secret
service, don’t assume their talking about the government agents.
Out of curiosity, I looked up
the definition of the government’s Secret Service.
Secret Service: Governmental
service of a secret nature
charged chiefly with the protection of the president, responsible for the collection, analysis
and appropriate dissemination
of intelligence.
Think that has nothing to with
secret service as it relates to
customer service? Actually,
by substituting just three
words, it fits perfectly.
Secret Service: Customer
service of a secret nature
charged chiefly with the protection of the brand, responsible for the collection, analysis,
and appropriate dissemination
of customer intelligence.
Customer intelligence is
customer data (i.e., buying habits, personal preferences, where they live, etc.)
that fuels secret service.
Many companies let this
happen by chance.
Typically, a few long-term
employees create relationships with regular customers to get this, but you
have a high degree of
inconsistency when it is
contingent on that. The
best customer service
companies train all their
employees how to collect
and use customer intelligence. A good system with the
proper training allows even the newest employees to personally
engage and recognize even
those less frequent customers.
Secret service lawyers
Connecticut’s Carter Mario
Injury Lawyers has grown consistently during the past five
years, going from $2.5 million in
revenue in 2002 to more than $8
million in 2007. Back in 2002,
however, the law firm was stagnant largely due to low service
aptitude. That is when Carter
Mario, president and CEO,
decided to buy out his partners.
“Our service culture had to
change in order for us to differentiate from the rest of the pack
and to survive,” Mario says. “We
adopted a service culture that
has enabled us to become one
of the fastest-growing law firms
in the state.”
One of the single biggest complaints in the legal industry from
clients is poor communication
between clients and lawyers.
“We made this the No. 1 priority in our office: client contact,”
Mario says. “We guarantee we
will return the client’s call the
same day or lunch is on us. It is
a nonnegotiable part of everyone’s job here.”
The management team at
Carter Mario instituted a procedure for capturing information
about each client in a format
that allows everyone access.
They were able to customize
the software they use by adding
a “secret service tab.” This tab
contains vital customer intelligence, such as preferred
refreshment, client’s eye color,
birth date, spouse’s name, children’s ages, hobbies and even
the client’s pet’s name.
They use it to execute what
Carter Mario calls “drive-bys,”
where a staff member makes a
seemingly spontaneous visit
with a client who is in the office
just to say hello and say something personal.
“We have continuously
received great responses from
our clients, and a collateral benefit has been that our staff
members doing the drive-bys
really enjoy the responses
they’ve received, and it pumps
them up,” Mario says.
Altruistic secret service
My favorite secret service is
when the customer service that
is provided has no apparent hidden agenda. For example, my
accountant dropped off an autographed picture of Notre Dame
football legend Rudy Ruettiger
personalized to my oldest son
Johnni. I don’t recall telling him,
but somehow he remembered
that was my son’s nickname
when he played youth football.
Secret service creates an emotional bond between customer
and company that transcends
the product or service. That
feeling becomes sought after
again and again.
Think what would make you
stand out a little differently.
When every other business is
making pitches, asking for
orders and never finding out
what is important to a CEO,
imagine what it would mean if
you simply sent a gift that has
nothing to do with what you do,
or can do, for his or her business but demonstrates that you
have genuine concern for the
person and his or her business
goals.
JOHN R. DIJULIUS III is the author of “Secret Service: Hidden Systems That Deliver Unforgettable
Customer Service” and “What’s The Secret,” the No. 1 business book for the month of June on
Amazon.com. He is also president of The DiJulius Group, a firm specializing in giving companies a
superior competitive advantage by helping them differentiate on delivering an experience and making price irrelevant. Reach him at [email protected].
