What Do We Mean By ‘Service’?
You could ask loads and loads of different people what they think service means. Some might go with the various different dictionary definitions:
- The action of helping or doing work for someone.
- Assistance or advice given to customers during and after the sale of goods
- Performing routine maintenance or repair work
All of these definitions, as good as they may be, ever so slightly miss the mark. They’re not wrong by any stretch of the imagination, but they’re not definitions that really sum up what service is in the customer experience arena. Fear not, dear reader, because we have Ron Kaufman, the CEO of Uplifting Service, to explain it to us (‘Service’ is, quite literally, in his company name, so if we trust anyone, it’s this guy). He says:
“When I started working in the field and the country said, ‘We want to be known as outstanding in service’, my first question was: what do you mean by service? And you could ask a hundred people and get a hundred slightly different answers [...] So here’s the definition I wrote: Service is taking action to create value for someone else.”
The first thing you get taught in business and entrepreneurship classes is this very concept of providing value to your customers.
This is a concept that gets lost on a lot of businesses, they think that by simply having a good product you’ll be successful, but that just isn’t the case. You need to provide value for them, whether that’s fulfilling a need or entertaining them, you need to give them a legitimate, outstanding reason for them to advocate for you.
So, how are you going to create or provide that value for them? By taking action to do so; by going out of your way to make sure their experience is the best it can be. Otherwise known as ‘service’.
The 4 categories of value
Now that we’ve established what exactly service is and its intrinsic relationship with the idea of value, let’s go over what the four categories of value are and how they work:
1. Primary Product
Let’s say you’re an ecommerce company; this category is all about what you are selling. What range, size, colors and price points do you have? What packages do you offer? What’s your pricing? All of these factors are part of your primary product, and even if you’re not an ecommerce company, they all still apply. Think about how you’re answering those questions; are you offering your customers the best value you possibly can?
2. Delivery Systems
This is a big one and, in the twenty-first century, it might be one of the most important. It’s about whether your website is user friendly and easy to navigate. Can people going on there find all the information they both need and want without any hassle? Can they get a question answered easily, without any faff? Is it easy to place an order?
All of these things are not the product, and yet the value the delivery systems provide are so, so important. Your product needs to be good, yes, but that simply isn’t enough. Everything surrounding it needs to be succinct and functional.
3. Service Mindset
This is the most traditional thing that people think of when they think of the word ‘service’. You might think of a waiter in a restaurant who smiles when they take your order, never giving you a chance to leave a bad review. But in ecommerce, it’s about the words used on the page. How are you communicating with your customers and potential customers? How are they inviting you and thanking you? What’s their tone of voice?
For example, years ago if you were to type in the wrong password on a website, you might have gotten a message that said ‘User error, wrong password’. But now, they say ‘Oops, sorry, try again please.’ It’s the exact same situation, the only difference being that they talk to you like human beings now, rather than like a robot.
4. Ongoing Relationships
This is all about customer retention and focusing on what comes next for your customer. Are you thinking about their well-being? Are you being proactive and anticipating the future actions of that customer?
In fact, are you doing everything in your power to ensure they stick around but at the same time aren’t feeling smothered by you? They will get value from cultivating an ongoing relationship and they will, eventually, feel like they can trust you!
Listen to the Full Episode!
In this Retain: The Customer Retention Podcast episode, Lauren DeSouza speaks with Ron Kaufman, CEO of Uplifting Service. Together, they get right into the four categories of value for the customer, why you need more than a good product, the fairly unknown origins of the term ‘customer’, and how retention works across different industries.
Ron is a keynote speaker and author who’s considered an authority on all things customer service. As the CEO of Uplifting Service, he’s helped transform the cultures of many global brands, including Microsoft, Xerox, and Coca-Cola. He is also the author of the New York Times best-seller Uplifting Service, in which Ron provides the reader with ways to delight their customers.
