Interpreting Your Remarkable Service Inventory

Q’s 1 & 2 are about engagement—how much you value customer intelligence,  your source for staying up to date on what is important to customers.  If the two questions together are less than 7 points, you are either harboring the scary position that you know what customers want and need, or you are perilously risking being out of step with your customers.

Q’s  3 & 4 are about enlistment—the path to building long term customer loyalty.  When customers are involved, they feel like partners, not just consumers.  Participation deepens their emotional investment in your organization.  If the two questions together are less than 7 points, you are missing a powerful opportunity to increase the commitment customers have for your organization.

Q’s  5 & 6 are about enlightenment—how much investment you make in helping customers learn through their experience with you.  Today’s customers are more loyal to organizations that help them remain on the cutting edge.  Investing in customer learning is a commentary on how committed you are to your customers’ welfare.  If the two questions together are less than 7 points, you are missing a great chance to build customer loyalty.

Q’s 7 & 8 are about empowerment—how secure and trustful your customers feel about your organization.  Customers who feel empowered feel confident in your organization.  Empowerment comes through consistency (the reliability of your service) and comfort (the ease of doing business with you).  If the two questions combined are less than 7 points, you are at risk of being viewed as untrustworthy—the early stages of customer turnover.

Q. 9 is about enchantment—how much your customers view their service experiences as special and distinctive.  Without some sparkly, customers ultimately view you as first, boring; and then mediocre.  Given customers enormous choices today, service magic sets you apart.  If you scored a 3 or lower on this question, look for ways to reinvent your customer’s service experience.

Q’s 10 & 11 are about entrustment—how much customers trust your organization.  Trust includes how effective you are at managing betrayal when customers are left disappointed.  If the two questions together are less than 7 points, examine ways to rebuild customer trust.  Put more emphasis on healing customer relationships, not just correcting customers’ problems.

Q. 12 is about endearment—how generous customers experience your service.  Keep in mind that the opposite of generosity is greed—an attribute that customers abhor.  This question is the big kahuna!  If you are not at least a 4, you may be en route to rocky times and clueless about it!  Focus on taking care of customers and they will take care of your bottom line.