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Show Don’t Point

On a recent Scaling Up podcast with John DiJulius, the authority on World-Class Customer Experience, he reminded us to ‘show don’t point’.

I know that when you are in a bricks and mortar store the best customer service people will take you to the item you are looking for while the others will say ‘it is on floor 2’ or maybe not even that. I think I understand that but I didn’t get how it might apply to businesses like yours and mine until DiJulius explained that ‘he’s not in right now, if you ring him back after 3.30 he should be back’ or ‘you can find it on the website’ is actually pointing.

Showing would sound like ‘I am sorry John’s not available at the moment, he should be free at 3.30 can I get him to call you then?’ and ‘There are full details on the website, would it be OK if I sent you a link?’.

One of the least attractive parts of the digital revolution is how customer service has all but disappeared as people intentionally hide behind the computer and perceive the anonymity that it provides as an excuse to provide zero service.

I wonder how our companies actually fare in the eyes of the only people that matter, our customers, and how would we know. What damage is pointing rather than showing doing to our reputation (because that still matters even if our team members don’t always understand that). Are our service people simply trying to move the problem off their desk or actually help the customer?

So the questions for this week are;

  • Are our customer service responses AI generated or do they come from a sensible, sentient human being? There is a distinct difference you know.
  • How easy do you make it for your customers to speak to a fellow human?
  • How much of your corporate communication is done on email rather than human to human in real time?
  • Do you praise human interaction or process quantity completion?
  • Is your phone being answered with a prerecorded apology that your lines ‘are busier than normal’?
  • What is your NPS score?

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Many successful business owners eventually hit a wall on growth and struggle to climb it alone. When you work with me you get a fresh perspective, a solid plan, and customised coaching so you can grow and scale your business safely and at speed.

To check whether I can help you on that journey https://calendly.com/iankinnery/canweworktogether