I’m sure you’ve experienced an incident like this before.

You work with a service company and at one point they disappoint you. You decide to try another service provider (let’s say a car maintenance service) based on a friend’s recommendation and now you are loyal to the new provider. Goodbye to the old; they’ve let you down.

Maybe a few years down the road, the company you’ve been working with suddenly let’s you down. The convenient thing to do is to go back to the first company and give them a second chance. You do this because, at that moment, it was the most convenient option. They take care of you and thank you for coming back. Your loyalty is restored. All over a mishap with the second company.

Today customers have no tolerance for anything less than stellar service. There is no margin for error. In the age of the internet we want immediate results and response. Someone not calling you back the same day will never be called again. The bottom line today, service must always exceed customer expectations.

And yes, the reality is we all make mistakes at one time or another. When we do, we must act immediately to manage the damage control.

How do you respond to service that is less than stellar?

Well, that depends on your personality type.

There are two personality types that can be short on patience. Gold and Orange. Both types are more aggressive and typically do not like surprises. With these two types, you need to set expectations.

Golds are more structured and less flexible than Oranges. Oranges are more impulsive but also expect great service since convenience is very important to them. Oranges are more tolerant than Golds. The Gold likes consistency and demands loyalty. They like to work with companies that have been around for awhile with a great track record. Oranges will be glad to go with a new company and give them a chance. They like personalized service and that extra touch.

People with Green and Blue personalities are more patient and less aggressive. Blues love the personal touch and strong relationships and like Golds, they like predictability and consistency. Greens will go with companies that have new and unique services. Greens, being similar to Oranges, like out of the box thinking and change. Greens tend to be skeptical while with Blues you need to build trust. Blues will also be more forgiving than Greens since they don’t like to change service providers.

The bottom line is when providing service to a customer, understand what’s important from their perspective. Ask them, “when it comes to service, what’s most important to you?”

Their answer will tell you about their personality style.

Realize that past customers, or those who are momentarily happy with a competitor, just might be open to trying you when the opportunity arises.

Good selling!
Stu

©2020 Stu Schlackman