Over the years, many companies have approached customer experience from a ‘policing’ perspective; aiming to ensure consistent service or manage individual outlet performance.

Smart operators have increasingly focused on individual customer interactions, and the opportunity they present to resolve issues.  

Even so, there has been a tendency to leap on issues when they cause major dissatisfaction, while showing less urgency (or even interest) when the customer is broadly content.

In Net Promoter terms, this has led some programs to restrict alerts to Detractors (those scoring 0-6), reasoning that these are the most likely to defect, or to spread negative views about the service provider.

That’s all true, and it’s important to understand the mistakes that caused such outcomes, to help prevent similar issues for future customers.

However, by not offering a contact option to those classified as Promoters (9-10) or Passives (7-8), companies miss opportunities to further enhance satisfaction.

These customers may have been happy to recommend their service provider, but it doesn’t mean their experience was perfect.  

It’s like having a small pebble in your shoe. You can tolerate it for a short while, but it’ll become annoying if not removed.

We know that even satisfied customers leave service providers, and it’s unfortunate when there’s a mechanism available to help.

Accordingly, we strongly recommend asking all customers if they need contact from the service provider, regardless of their level of satisfaction or likelihood to recommend.

Where they do want contact, it’s easy to ask for details, so that the customer service agent can anticipate the solution ahead of getting in touch.

Matters we have seen raised by highly satisfied customers have included:
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• Wanting to understand the maintenance or service cycle
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• Assistance with technology (increasingly an issue where lengthy replacement cycles mean a giant leap between purchases)
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• Wanting to buy additional products or accessories
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• Needing help with a particular feature
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All offer opportunities to delight the customer, while many will also be revenue-positive. At minimum, the customer should end the interaction with a more positive view of the service provider, who has helped to solve their issue.

Finally, remember that the clock also ticks for satisfied customers, so service providers should ensure that they manage all requests promptly. CX programs can help by classifying all contact requests in the same way, and reporting resolution times for benchmarking.

The more pebbles we can remove, the better the outcome, so get shaking those shoes!

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