How Important Is a 5 Star Customer Rating in Business?
The question of how important a 5-Star Customer Rating in Business seems to have an obvious answer.
Yet how many of us actually think of this each and every day and strive to achieve this result with every customer that is kind enough to give us their business?
Five Star Ratings
If you are like most consumers, you have in all likelihood researched a Restaurant on Yelp, a Resort on Travelocity, a product on Amazon, or Customer Reviews on a Blog, Website, or the App Store.
How often have we heard, “Given a 5-star Safety Rating from JD Power & Associate?”
It goes without saying that we are far more likely to eat, travel, purchase, or deal with a Company that has 5-Star Customer ratings and reviews.
THE GOAL
To serve our customers with a standard of Work Ethic, Integrity, and Excellence, to Provide an Exceptional Customer Experience.
I recently purchased an infrared electric patio heater from Wayfair.ca. After just 2 months the bulb popped marking the end of that heater. I dreaded the call to Wayfair knowing that the item would have to be shipped at my expense, in its original packaging, and with the original proof of purchase.
What I actually encountered was a very pleasant Customer Service Rep. who gave me two options :
1) Would you like us to ship you another unit today, or
2) would you like a full refund credited to your payment card today.
That’s it – no return, no picture, no questions. That in my mind was an exceptional Customer experience.
Now would be a good time to take a moment a reflect on the last Exceptional Customer experience you personally encountered, one in which you would happily give a 5-Star rating.
Is there anything from that experience that you could incorporate into your own business?
Now achieving 5-Star Ratings does not come easy, does not come without planning, does not come without hard work, and does not come without commitment.
I believe it starts with commitment. We must be committed not only to doing our job, but taking it to the next level of personal service, understanding, communication, and distinction, all in an effort to create an exceptional customer experience in hopes of getting that 5-Star rating.
Fully understanding our Customers, and over-communicating (if there is such a thing) with them will go a long way in achieving our goal. Are your Customers fully aware of the status of their file at the end of each day? One of our Customer Service goals is to “Call the Customer before the Customer calls us”.
Be Different. Don’t do what your Competition IS doing, do what they ARE NOT doing. This only makes sense if we are trying to create an Ultimate Customer Experience. It could be knowing your products better, going over and above in an evening or on a weekend, before and after follow-up, Thank you cards or gift baskets, Subscription Services, Birthday, Anniversary, or Christmas cards. There are endless possibilities here so be creative.
Now comes the tough part. You don’t know if you don’t ask, and you can’t improve if you don’t know. At the conclusion of each transaction ASK THE QUESTION – How did we do? What could we have done better? On a 1 to 5 Star Rating where would be? Listen to their feedback as they are actually teaching you how to make your service or business better. Work at resolving their concerns immediately, and by doing so will not only increase the chance of a repeat customer but will also make the next customer’s experience that much better.
Here a few additional tips to help you create an Exceptional Customer Experience in achieving your goal of a 5-Star Rating from every Customer:
INTEGRITY - Do what you said you do when you said you would do it, the way you said you would do it. (A quote from Larry Winget)
EXCELLENCE - In EVERYTHING you do from start to finish strive to achieve your goal of providing an Exceptional and Ultimate Customer Experience.
Treat EVERY customer as if they were your only Customer, because they deserve to be treated as the unique individual they are.