If you’re going to create a highly successful business, you’re going to need exceptional service. Not just customer service – all service you provide must be phenomenal.
Whether you’re serving customers, employees, vendors, or other organizations, your service standards will determine your ultimate success. Treat everyone you interact with as if they’re important and worthy of respect and your business will develop a phenomenal reputation.
There are plenty of business models you can follow. In fact, you can follow multiple business models if you find several that work for you. However, here’s why providing top-notch service should be part of your overall business model.
1. Providing phenomenal service will bring you to the top of your industry
Nearly every industry is saturated with people running a business just to make money. Quality is easily sacrificed if a cheaper option is “good enough.” In a world where high level service has been declining, “good enough” has become acceptable, although reluctantly. It’s acceptable only when people have no other choice. For instance, if you only have one restaurant in town, you’ll settle for lack of service when you just want a hot breakfast.
Businesses that just do enough to be “good enough” never see big success. If you want a successful business, providing phenomenal service will give you the edge you need to generate more customers, higher paying customers, and loyalty.
Better yet, if you can provide the exceptional service other businesses are ignoring, you’ll be the premiere option in your industry. For instance, when Anna Pittard pursued her vision to create Cotton Grove Estate – the gold standard in senior care homes – she created an entirely new paradigm for senior living.
Anna’s service-oriented vision led her to develop a residential care community known throughout the South for having an atmosphere of gentleness, love, and compassion. She filled a need that most businesses in her industry lack, which made success inevitable.
2. People will remember when you go out of your way to serve
Phenomenal service isn’t limited to serving your customers when they walk in your door or connect with you online. Phenomenal service is going out of your way to serve people sometimes for no reason other than wanting to do something great.
For example, what would you do if a customer tagged you in a Tweet asking you to meet them at the airport with a meal? Most businesses would just chuckle. However, when journalist Peter Shankman posted a Tweet asking Morton’s Steakhouse to meet him at the airport with a porterhouse steak, the Steakhouse did something incredible – they met him at the airport with a porterhouse, Colossal Shrimp, a side of potatoes, Morton’s famous bread, and some silverware.
Shankman describes his experience with Morton’s Steakhouse as the “Greatest Customer Service Story Ever Told.”
You don’t need to run around trying to please all of your customers, but if an opportunity arises to go above and beyond, take that opportunity to surprise them with something amazing.
3. People will share stories about your business
When you do amazing things for people, your stories will get shared across media platforms, including online. When people hear about the wonderful ways you’re serving people, it will positively shape their opinion about your brand.
You don’t need to be a superhero to get mentioned in the media. For example, People published a list of 50 companies who went above and beyond during the pandemic in 2020. Many of these companies simply did what they felt was right to help people with food, money, shelter, and other resources. They weren’t trying to get acknowledged. Being acknowledged was simply a by-product of their inclination to help.
4. You’ll get repeat, loyal customers
When you provide phenomenal service in your industry, you will become the go-to option for people. For example, crowds of people flock to Dutch Bros. Coffee every day to grab their favorite beverage either on the way to work or on their way home. Some people even visit twice a day.
The service provided by Dutch Bros. is unbeatable. The baristas are friendly, energetic, and they always ask how the customer’s day is going. They get to know their customers, call them by name, and even prepare their drinks ahead of time when they see them in line.
Why would anyone go to another coffee shop? The phenomenal service at Dutch Bros. is one of the main reasons the company is successful. They also help employees become successful franchisees – something unheard of in the coffee industry.
Service is king in every industry
Service is king. To be highly successful, your business must exhibit phenomenal service from top to bottom, inside and outside of your company.