No, it’s not the TV game show. Though why an individual would stand before millions of people to admit to matters that could potentially lead to character and career suicide is a question best answered by the participants themselves.
The ‘moment of truth’ I refer to is a terminology in customer service that describes any point during the interaction between an organization and its customers that leaves a lasting positive or negative impression about the business. In the hospitality industry, for instance, this would include, but not be limited to, booking the room, check-in, check-out, dinner reservations, dinner ordering, dinner presentation, quality and quantity of food and so on.
Why does it matter?
It matters for three major reasons:
1. The customer has changed: In the past, it used to be that a business just produced products for the customer and the customer just had to take it or leave it. In the event that the customer did decide to leave it, the business would just make a better product. Nowadays, customers are more educated, better informed, more value conscious and demand more for their money. Their expectations of the companies and the people they buy from are much higher and the internet has brought more options literally to their doorsteps. They want better customer service and when they don’t get it, a typical dissatisfied customer will tell an average of 7 to 10 people about his problem and why they shouldn’t patronise you.
2. The business environment has changed: Unless an organization has a monopoly in its industry, businesses today have more competition and globalization has ensured that this competition is not only local but regional and international. If you don’t offer superior service to your customer, they’ll just waltz over to someone who did, and wouldn’t mind paying the difference. That’s your money going to someone else simply because they performed better.
3. The World Economy: The recession hit a lot of businesses pretty hard and so money is spent with a great deal more discretion. It doesn’t leave that much available for elaborate marketing strategies to attract new customers. The funny thing is, it has been statistically proven that it costs way less to maintain an existing customer than to get a new one.
So how do you determine this ‘moment of truth’?
· Break down each process involved in the customer experience into its component stages to see where you can save your customer time or money. The best way is to ‘walk a mile in your customer’s shoes’. This is known as Mystery Shopping. A lot of businesses get expert help to pose as a customer and observe employee treatment and operational bottlenecks. You can simply get an informed friend to help out and then discover at which points your customer can potentially be frustrated. This Business Process Mapping can help you identify where money should be channelled and energies exerted.
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Ask your frontline staff. Employees see first-hand the body language, nonverbal communication of the customer and the circumstances surrounding the particular incident, things that surveys will never see and that customers will sometimes not realise is happening.
Excellent customer service has the advantage of not only being an effective marketing tool but also a unique selling point for any company. By understanding the moments of truth, you can improve and even determine the perceptions of your customers. This would lead to positive word of mouth advertising and customer loyalty.
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