Help Others Get What They Want and You Will Get What You Want
One of my friends Andy Nearny, called in with a story worth sharing.
One of Andy’s friends was driving from Chicago to southern Missouri to participate in some type of sporting event. As he was driving through St. Louis in the early evening, his car broke down. This guy had no idea what to or who to call since it was after typical business hours. His car was insured by State Farm. His agent lives in Chicago, so it wouldn’t do him much good to call him. Not only that, this wasn’t about an accident. It was just a mechanical problem.
He decided to call State Farm anyway. He didn’t call his agent. He just found a St. Louis phone book and called a local agent who he didn’t know at all. You’ve heard the slogan, “Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there!” Well, they were!
The local State Farm agent, who had never made a commission (and probably never will) off of this guy, drove out to help him. The insurance agent drove him to get a rental car so he could continue his trip. The car was eventually towed to an automobile dealership where it was picked up on the way back to Chicago a few days later.
There is an old Zig Ziglar quote that says, “If you help enough people get what they want, you will get what you want.” (By the way, this is this issue’s motivational/business quote.) The St. Louis State Farm agent had no compelling reason to help our amateur athlete from Chicago, other than to just help him. He was a very nice person doing a very nice thing. He went out of his way to do a good deed for a fellow human being. If this insurance agent treats his customers with this much kindness and care, I’m sure he enjoys a very successful business.
State Farm ought to be proud of this guy. This story is what customer service legends are made of. It reminds me of Nordstrom’s, whose amazing stories have created a legendary reputation for amazing service excellence.
So what is the lesson? Part of it can be attributed to the above Zig Ziglar quote. And part of it can be about how you can create a tremendous amount of good will by being nice – not just to your customers – but to everyone. You never know whom you are helping, being nice to, etc. It could be your next customer or someone who gets you your next customer. Or it could be the person that shares your story with everyone they know, creating your very own legendary customer service story!
Shep Hyken, CSP is a professional speaker and author who works with companies who want to develop loyal relationships with their customers and employees. For more information on Shep's speaking programs, books, tapes and learning programs please contact (314) 692- 2200. Email: shep@hyken.com Web: www.hyken.com A Tale of Excellent Service
The offer of great service was so good it was hard to believe! Was doing business with Vicki Groswald going to be this easy? YES!
In a past article I wrote about an experience with Nexstar, the company that refinanced my home. It could not have been better. It was easy and there weren’t any surprises. Other than the hassle of pulling together a little documentation for income verification, it was easy as can be. All I had to do was meet with the closing officer at the title company’s office, which was just fifteen minutes away. I thought that the level of service and knowledge could not be topped. But it has!
Don’t get me wrong. I still highly recommend Nexstar. But how often do you get to hear about something great being made even greater? Here is the story:
Recently my wife and I ran into an old friend, Vicki Groswald, who brought us up to date with what she was doing. She was working with Residential Mortgage Consultants. As any good sales person would do, she asked if we needed what she was selling – a lower mortgage rate for our home.
My response was that I didn’t want to pay any more money for appraisals, credit reports, closing costs, etc. She said that she would take a look at our loan and see if she could lower our rate without adding to the loan amount and save us money on our monthly payments. She added that we wouldn’t have to go to a title company for closing because everything would be done at our office or home. I was skeptical, but willing to listen. This seemed like too good of an offer. It almost seemed like a gift.
Well, everything she said was true and accurate. It made me think about how the “best of the best” types of companies and sales people operate. Here is what I came up with. It is a simple question to ask yourself about your process…
“How can you make doing business with you so easy that it is economically beneficial, totally stress-free and, at the same time, blatantly apparent to the customer?”
Economically beneficial does not mean a low price. You can save customers money without touching the price. Saving time is a good example (time is money). For example, Vicki told me I wouldn’t have to drive to the title company to close our loan. That saves me time that I can be devoting to other things.
Stress-free is the same as hassle-free. Alleviate concerns and follow-up to ensure the customer’s confidence. Just today I received an email that a product I ordered for my business had been shipped.
Blatantly apparent means that the ease of doing business with you is obvious. It makes you stand out. It separates you from your competitors. What makes you special or different compared to your competition? Exploit these differences. It can take you out of a “price war.”
Add to all of this a good relationship and you are on your way to creating a loyal customer – one that will not just do business with you, but refer business to you as well.
Shep Hyken, CSP is a professional speaker and author who works with companies who want to develop loyal relationships with their customers and employees. For more information on Shep's speaking programs, books, tapes and learning programs please contact (314) 692- 2200. Email: shep@hyken.com Web: www.hyken.com