Four levels of Customer Relations

Four Levels of Customer Relations

There are essentially four levels of customer relations and the question that should be on your mind is: Which level am I operating on?
We live in a society in which many people who provide services or sell products tend to believe that they are doing the people they sell to a favor. What a narrow minded way of thinking! The customer is the one who is doing the seller a favor and unless we begin to understand that in most cases, the customer has options and can go to the competition if he is ill treated, we will continue to lose patronage.
It is important for us to realize that the main frontier on which major organizations are competing is Customer Relations. If I open a store that sells burgers and soft drinks and a couple of weeks later someone else opens a similar store with the same products, how can I have an edge over the competition? Well, apart from making sure that my environment for sales is secure and attractive, and ensuring the product or service I provide is not defective, I have to make sure that my relations with my customers is at the very best level.
Service is the first level of customer relations. Everyone wants service and from the providers point of view, service should be the minimal level of relations. What that means is there is a higher level to which we can aspire as providers of goods and services.  Service simply means doing the minimal. Letting the customer make do with as little attention as possible. You let him get what he wants and try to keep your efforts as low key and detached as possible. Service simply means your customer has no identity, no special taste and you treat him as a one off buyer who you probably do not really expect to see again.
Care is the next level of customer relations. You are going beyond mere service this time and you hope to make a lasting impression by showing the customer that you care. So perhaps you go out of your way to get to Know Your Customer(KYC). You begin to try to think and determine what his tastes are like. If you sell food perhaps your asking him does it like spice? pepper?If you are in banking you want to know what kind of business he runs and how you can tailor your services to meet his specialized taste. How often does he make deposits? How substantial is the cash and what can you do to make it easier for him. At the care level you probably find yourself actually knowing his name and addressing him by it. Everyone has an ego and everyone has a little bit of vanity. It does no hurt to be on first name basis with your customer if he allows it. Of course if he doesn't you can call him by a title or simply add the universal Mr, Miss or Mrs which for most people is generally acceptable.
Delight is the next level to care. At this level you don't just show the customer that you care, you go to some length to make him happy. This question should dominate your mind: What can I do consistently that would make my customer happy? Sometimes extras, freebies and remembering anniversaries as well as special days that are linked to the customer can come in handy here. Do you know your customer's birthday, wedding anniversary? If you can't go out of your way to attend the ceremony, can you send a message? Delight is not always about gifts. Gifts are good but often you might be confronted with a slim budget or a customer who does not necessarily value gifts and extras or freebies. There was the case of a billionaire businessman who was celebrating his birthday. His bankers with whom he had several accounts actually held a meeting on what to do for him on his birthday! Suppose the gifts he values are way out of your budget? Even for people with such extraordinary tastes, there ought to be a way to delight them. After a brief meeting the bankers came up with the idea of sending the man a giant sized custom made birthday card that could serve as decorative item after the special day had passed. The got two of the most beautiful customer care ladies in the office to deliver it in the company of the Managing Director of the Bank.  Of course the billionaire was delighted. In fact, even before the delivery crew left his office, he was calling up some of his friends to tell them what the bank had done!
Ecstasy is the highest level of customer relations. Its a situation in which you literally "blow the customers mind". Like street cocaine which sends the sniffer on a temporary island of extreme joy and celebration, ecstasy is that level of relations that is difficult to come by. It is usually achieved easily with customers who have no prior experience with what you are introducing them to. A person who has probably traveled by train or economy seats in an airline is suddenly upgraded and put in first or business class in Virgin Atlantic where food drinks, movies, music and massages are available on demand. Ecstasy is like a trip to Fantasy Island. Everything in the wildest dreams of the customer is made possible and is happening right before his very eyes. Depending on how fastidious the customer is, ecstasy can be achieved. There are some people who are so simple in their tastes and demands that taking them to the level of ecstasy is a simple job.