{"id":13907,"date":"2018-06-21T10:34:15","date_gmt":"2018-06-21T10:34:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.customerservicemanager.com\/?p=13907"},"modified":"2018-06-21T15:43:04","modified_gmt":"2018-06-21T15:43:04","slug":"the-3-secrets-to-wow-customer-service","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.customerservicemanager.com\/the-3-secrets-to-wow-customer-service\/","title":{"rendered":"The 3 Secrets to \u201cWow!\u201d Customer Service"},"content":{"rendered":"

Cindy Solomon reveals the secrets of amazing customer service \u2013 and how you can provide the same “Wow!” experience by following these three simple but powerful steps.<\/strong><\/p>\n\"JetBlu\n

Every time I fly JetBlue Mint, I\u2019m reminded that great service is possible, even in an industry as hated-on as the airlines. Today I\u2019m on a flight from San Francisco to NYC and enjoying every minute of it. When was the last time you said that about a flight?<\/p>\n

JetBlue\u2019s experiment with its new Mint level of service has clearly been a hit, based on the rapidly escalating fares \u2013 but it will take quite a few more dollars to convince me to fly any other way.<\/p>\n

What JetBlue is doing to wow me isn\u2019t rocket science (or even plane science). Really, it just boils down to common sense, which seems to be incredibly uncommon today when it comes to providing great customer service.<\/p>\n

Secret 1: Have them at \u201chello.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

Today\u2019s airport experience is enough to make anyone grumpy. You haul your carry-on around and wait in an endless line, only for the reward of being poked and prodded by TSA.<\/p>\n

But when you arrive at the waiting area of a JetBlue gate, it\u2019s like an oasis from the craziness. The customer service agents are smiling, making eye contact and actually conversing – and not from a script.<\/p>\n

The experience extends to your boarding: You arrive in your Mint Pod (yup, you can get a private pod) where you have a welcome note signed by the two flight attendants who are serving the cabin \u2013 in my case Thomas and Z.\u00a0 From that point on, every interaction seems like a visit with a friend, each as authentic as the last. Thomas and Z made sure I was settled and understood all the operational features of my pod. Most importantly they offered me a welcoming cocktail (with or without alcohol; some of us are working after all!).<\/p>\n

Whether it be the flight captain emerging from the cockpit to welcome everyone, or simply Thomas and Z remembering our names, it\u2019s the little touches that add up \u2013 with those first few impressions setting the tone.<\/p>\n

Secret 2: Don\u2019t hoard customer service feedback on a \u201cneed to know\u201d basis.<\/strong><\/p>\n

At JetBlue, they don\u2019t decide who should get customer service data \u2013 it\u2019s shared with everyone in the organization, from front-line agents to pilots to baggage handlers. That way everyone knows for a fact what customers are thinking and feeling about their service, and not just the disgruntled ones who don\u2019t hold back. Sometimes employees miss out on hearing the good stuff too!<\/p>\n

Another way to really hammer home the importance of customer service is by putting your money where your mouth is. Alaska Airlines knows that it\u2019s the front-line employees who contribute to its financial success, so when the company makes money, the employees do, too. Last year, Alaska paid out more than $98 million in bonuses to its 14,000 employees, an average of five weeks of salary in a year-end bonus for every employee.<\/p>\n

Secret 3: Give employees the keys and point them to the destination.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Every JetBlue employee is told two things: \u201cdo what is right\u201d and \u201cput the humanity back into air travel\u201d. Then, they are offered broad latitude to decide how to put that into practice with their guests.<\/p>\n

Most customer service programs focus on providing scripted words and actions that are one-size-fits-all\u2026 and that\u2019s why they fail.\u00a0 JetBlue sees and listens to their frontline employees as the most important touchstone for customers. Their leaders are tasked with creating a great working environment and providing support and training \u2013\u00a0 but they allow their people to \u201ctake the wheel\u201d when it comes to doing what\u2019s right for customers.<\/p>\n

If you really want to energize your team, get them talking about their best customer service experiences, and how your team can replicate them with your own customers. Helping them see the point on the map where you\u2019re trying to arrive will allow them to make the right decisions in the moment with customers \u2013 particularly when roadblocks pop-up.<\/p>\n

About the Author<\/strong><\/p>\n

Nationally recognized Speaker, Consultant and Executive Coach\u00a0Cindy Solomon<\/a>\u00a0provides inspiring keynote presentations, transformative workshops, and world class executive coaching programs to help you create long-term, profitable relationships with your customers, your leaders and your employees.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Cindy Solomon reveals the secrets of amazing customer service \u2013 and how you can provide the same “Wow!” experience by following these three simple but powerful steps..<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":240,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[2],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.customerservicemanager.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13907"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.customerservicemanager.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.customerservicemanager.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.customerservicemanager.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/240"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.customerservicemanager.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13907"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/www.customerservicemanager.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13907\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13955,"href":"https:\/\/www.customerservicemanager.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13907\/revisions\/13955"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.customerservicemanager.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13907"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.customerservicemanager.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13907"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.customerservicemanager.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13907"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}