Superservice

Consumers are accustomed having everything they want in real time. The rise of internet combined with smartphones means that consumers expect a simple buying process and an immediate response when they ask a question. Easy, right?

Ultimately companies need to offer convenience by finding an easy way to solve a problem or filling a need with a product or service. If brands can do this and impress customers in the process they are offering something I call a Superservice.

Superservice is when anything to do with a customer touchpoint is executed smoothly. To achieve this, companies must set up a customer experience engine, which is a framework that manages all customer interactions. The process to build this framework involves:

1. Document all customer touch points, from initial awareness through to when the customer is no longer a customer
2. At each touchpoint identify what the customer needs to be impressed
3. Use analytics to monitor the performance of each customer interaction and implement systems to make these more efficient
4. Build a matrix team to work across the organisation to use this data to build tools that offer increased customer self-service

Once one has the correct framework, this should be used to design the best customer experience possible. The best customer experience is one where the customer needs the minimum amount of interference to be wowed.

For an organisation to deliver Superservice, each function needs to revaluate their purpose. The following are some suggestions:

1. Customer service teams: These must capture customer feedback metric and use this to build self-service tools so customers can manage their own issues
2. Logistics/Technology: These must focus on making sure everything runs smoothly while also continuously optimising the delivery process to make it faster, more efficient and accurate
3. Sales: These must change process so customers are not only buying because of the price but because they love the experience
4. HR: Create a culture that delivers great customer experiences, rather than focusing on output and results

Implementing Superservice in any company is a daunting task. It requires a change of focus from price and promotion to a focus on delivering a great customer experience.

One of the greatest examples of a company that delivers Superservice is Netflix. Netflix serves over 100M customers but has the lowest number of support requests of any company, as well as one of the best net promoter scores. To buy a Netflix subscription consumers don’t need to speak to the sales team, simply buying online. The UX is one of the easiest and most seamless experiences ever created by a brand.

The key metrics a Superservice initiative should be measured on should be the same metrics for any initiative in an organisation:

1. Increasing sales: The goal is to increase the number of orders. To achieve this, the brand needs to meet an existing need in a better way than anyone else.
2. Improving the net promoter score: This involves first measuring the net promoter score and then tracking what positively moves this score in the right direction.
3. Reducing inbound requests: Working with the customer service team to identify the most common issues and implementing either product or organisational changes to reduce these.
4. Maximise margins: Making all these changes should not only increase sales but show a path to improve margins, if not immediately then in the very near future.

Many brands are unable to keep up with changing consumer habits. Implementing a Superservice framework enables brands to detect these changes before they start to impact revenue.