Delivering superior service requires organisations to develop five essential capabilities in their service organisations. These are all straightforward: getting the basics right, making a personal connection, focusing resources, flexing the rules and going the extra ‘mile’.

In setting up this blog I initiated online discussion fora in the [now defunct] Ecademy and LinkedIn business networking sites under the question ‘When was the last time you experienced superior customer service?’Contributors’ responses ranged from ‘3 minutes ago’ to tales of woe with faceless bureaucracies but the stories of superior customer service all yielded useful insights into what makes for a superior experience and fall into five areas.

1. Getting the basics right

We have already discussed some of the basic factors – environment for example – that can contribute to a superior service experience but the majority of respondents cited behaviours that were incredibly simple: smiling, being friendly and pleasant rather than treating the transaction as a functional interchange to be got out of the way as soon as possible.

Organisations that were mentioned in this context were Pret a Manger, Marks & Spencer (although not consistently) and Sainsbury’s.

How to encourage basic politeness and friendliness is explored in an earlier post on etiquette.

2. Making a personal connection

Treating customers as individuals is a central tenet of many CRM approaches and almost has the status of a management cliche. However you don’t need to invest in extensive CRM software to make a personal connection with customers. Simple approaches such as referring to customers by their name can be one small step in creating an experience that is better than functional. (One contributor acknowledged that checkout staff had read her name off a credit card, another found this approach rather false so maybe you can’t please everybody I suppose.)

But personal connections can extend beyond whether you would like to be addressed by your name or not. In another example, at a Co-op store, when a customer had purchased a dishwasher she then met the man who would deliver it the next day. Not only was a personal connection made in this case but the delivery arrived at the promised time. (Incidentally if you were expecting to see ‘keeping your promises’ as one of the essentials it’s not in here as it’s an aspect of functional service, not superior service and of course if a company can’t keep its promises then any attempt at superior service is wasted.)

3. Focusing resources

There are always going to be some areas of an organisation’s business that are likely to be more difficult or fraught for a customer than normal. Instances where a customer wants to transfer an account or change address can be tricky and in these cases it can be worth having a dedicated team in place.

First Direct was cited as a bank that has a good focus on account moving. They have a dedicated account transfer team and well-designed forms for the process that address every aspect of the move. They also keep you informed about the time the process is likely to take and work through problems. They are pro-active about confirming that Direct Debits have been transferred and helping chase down debtors who haven’t responded to requests to update details and offer to pay any fees incurred by debtors’ slow/incompetent responses.

4. Flexing the rules

In any organisation it’s important to have processes and procedures that ensure customers are treated consistently. Often, the larger an organisation gets, the more its procedures get interpreted as inflexible rules.

Bending these rules to adapt to a specific customer need is likely to transform a routine experience into a superior one. For example, one contributor was visiting Tooting Bec Lido, one of London’s outdoor swimming pools, and, having arrived by bike, realised she had forgotten her bike lock. The receptionist let her bring the bike into the lido so she could keep an eye on it.

5. Going the extra ‘mile’

Flexing the rules can be an instance of that greatest of customer service cliches: Going the Extra Mile. I would go so far as to say that this is one of the biggest misunderstandings in the whole area. Most of the examples cited by contributors did not require a great effort on the part of the organisation or individual concerned so my version of Going the Extra Mile would be Going the Extra Inch, where the extra inch is that small extra effort that distinguishes you from your competitors.

One respondent cited taking his car in to a local garage to have some electrical repairs carried out. He asked if he could sit somewhere with a laptop while he waited and they got out a garden table and chair, made him a cup of coffee and offered use of their wi-fi connection and mains. The cost of the work carried out was under 100 euros, which made the ‘extra’ service seem even more special.

I will explore these themes in more detail in future posts. In the meantime I welcome your views on the simple things you can do to create a superior service.