Recently, I went to my favorite car wash in Sarasota, Eager Beaver, to have my car detailed. Every year I purchase at least two “Wash Books” that have discount coupons for a full service wash. Another perk is that they also have a punch card for each wash so after ten washes, you get one free. I like their service, but most of all, I love these savings (and I am sure so do all the other customers)!
This week when I stopped to get my car washed, the cashier informed me that they would not longer be offering the wash books, and that my coupons would be good only until the end of the year. Then she said they were ALSO canceling the free wash after ten visits. I could not believe it! I asked if they were under new ownership, and she said no. Someone just decided to no longer offer these perks to their loyal customers.
I have been thinking a lot about this experience. When I speak on Customer Service, I talk with my audiences about CORE Services, CUSTOMER Service, and ENHANCEMENTS. Core service is your product, and you must be good at this to stay in business. However, that is not enough to create loyalty. Customer service is all about how you treat your customers- their EXPERIENCE with your organization. Research has shown that there are four things all customers want: Friendly, caring service: Flexibility: Problem solving; and Recovery when a mistake is made. The way your organization deals with these things demonstrates your customer service.
Finally, Enhancements are those additional, often unexpected perks that surprise and delight us. The more creative they are, the more customers love them, so they become huge drivers of business, and an added bonus is that people talk about them to their friends and neighbors. However, we have also learned through our research, both statistically and personally, that once these perks are established, customers come to EXPECT them, so taking them away is now a huge disappointment and ultimately can (and usually does) lead to loss of customers. The only way to save a customer is to offer a new and exciting perk which Eager Beaver does not seem to be doing.
It will be interesting to see how Eager Beaver fares with these new policies. I, for one, will probably no longer be a customer!
To learn more about Barbara’s work, go to www.barbaraglanz.com
