What do your customers think of you – do you know? Have you asked them?
If they think you are great and rave about you all the time, that’s perfect.
If your objective is to satisfy your customers you may fall short from time to time, and even if you don’t you are vulnerable to losing customers to competitor activity.
A satisfied customer is some proof that you met expectations. You satisfied them. You could probably replace satisfied in their responses with “OK” as in I am OK dealing with them
If your customer is only OK dealing with you, they are only one bad experience away from leaving you. You were OK until you messed up this last order, so now I am going to go and find someone else who is equally OK in the hope that they won’t mess up.
Equally, if they are only satisfied with you, how much of a special offer or an incentive will it take for a competitor to poach them? Probably not that much of an effort, after all, your customer thinks you are only “OK”.
How different is the situation when your customer is a raving fan?
You are in a much better place. Competitor activity will not attract them – they probably won’t even notice it – and because they are your fan they will forgive the occasional mistake.
How do you create raving fans?
First, set the expectation in the business – in every department – that you are always going to go the extra mile for every customer.
Second, talk to the customer. Ask the customer “What can we do better?” and “What will it take for you to become a fan?”
The things that you think matter to your customer may not matter at all and things that you don’t even notice may irritate and upset your customer. You will only find out if you ask!