In your quest to provide the best customer service, what techniques do you adopt?
Have your techniques managed to create lasting relationships with clients?
As part of the EWTS Critical Conversations Webinars, Certified Guide, Emily Hill talked about making the most out of every customer interaction to strengthen relationships and win more business.
She shared her insights into achieving elite customer care guaranteed to win more business and improve your organization.
Emily is an expert in hearing health care, working directly with private practice owners to develop onboarding training and curriculum for their front office staff.
Her expertise is in the onboarding and continued training of front-office staff, but has also worked previously with neurodivergent children. She understands the importance of words and the impact that they can have on behavior.
The concept of effective communication is what initially drew her to the world of Exactly What to Say, and she uses the theories and practice to help her own practice and teach others how to do it in their own settings.
In this blog, Emily discusses marginal gains theory, elevating the way you think about products or services, intentionality, and the importance of creating Super Fans.
Marginal Gains Theory
In 2003, the British cycling team wasn’t in the best shape, and they’d gone almost a century without winning a gold. In a quest to turn things around, the team hired Dave Brailsford in 2010 to be their performance director; under his guidance, the team won 178 world championships, 66 Olympic and Paralympic gold medals, and brought home 5 Tour de France victories.
But how did Brailsford help them do this? He followed a theory called marginal gains.
Marginal gains theory is the theory that improving and optimizing your performance by a small amount across a number of different areas will lead to much more significant, noticeable improvements overall
Brailsford searched for a tiny margin of improvement in everything the team did. This ranged from changing the ergonomics of the bicycle seat to lessening the weight of the tires to researching and discovering which pillows offered riders the best sleep.
Brailsford even went as far as teaching the team the best way to wash their hands to avoid sickness. He literally searched for 1 % improvements everywhere, highlighting the concept of being better each day and remembering that better always beats best.
These small little changes over time equal massive change.
So, thinking about that, what’s something small that you could do today that would greatly impact your tomorrow?
Emily recently implemented a couple of minor things in her clinic that made a huge difference. She refers to the first change as the Fresh Eyes Audit. This is where each employee is asked to look at the clinic from a patient’s perspective.
From the moment they get out of their car to the minute they sit down at their desk, what did they notice with a fresh set of eyes?
One relatively small but crucial note was that there were half a dozen things that needed to be added to the weekly cleaning list. Areas that were overlooked were having a negative impact on the client experience.
Another little thing that she did in her practice that resulted in better patient interactions was how they handled their devices for their clean and check appointments.
Now they ensure that the audiology assistant greets the patient at their vehicle and takes the devices into the clinic so a full-service cleaning can be given. Once complete, they return the device on a velvet tray with a little chocolate.
This small act elevates their service and makes the client feel special.
EWTS Founder Phil M. Jones always says: “Success is created by doing the basics to a high standard consistently.”
This is a quote that Emily lives by in her own practice, and as a result, it has changed the way she thinks about their products and services.
How can you take the basics and do them to the highest standards consistently?
Triangle
The triangle theory is very important if you are hoping to strengthen relationships and win more business.
The theory is simple, and it leans on the belief that curiosity is the fuel for great conversations.
When you start with curiosity, you show someone that you understand their problem. This demonstration of understanding creates empathy and shows that you care about what the people you care about, care about.
Curiosity and empathy are essential to gain trust, and with trust comes the courage to take action.
Working in the hearing healthcare world, Emily spends a lot of time in curiosity, slowing down the process to gain context. Say things slower, not louder.
Emily often asks patients curiosity-based questions, such as: “I’m curious, when did you first experience a change in your hearing?
She can then move the conversation into empathy by asking, “Where in your life would you like to have clearer conversations?”
After gaining enough trust to move towards action, she would ask: “Would you be open-minded to discussing your options?”
What kind of curiosity-based questions could you ask your clientele?
The good news is that these techniques can be adopted into any organization to have more successful conversations.
It’s important to remember, however, that you’re working in the space of us versus it. You should also remind your team of this fact.
Ask yourself – What is the ‘It’? Whatever the ‘it’ is, remain curious enough to reach empathy to deliver action.
Again, curiosity plus empathy equals trust. When you’re more curious, you naturally display more empathy, and you will gain more trust.
Trust is necessary for any decision-making, and if the goal here is to generate more business, you need all of your client interactions to result in the building of trust.
Creating Superfans
Brittany Hodak’s book, Creating Superfans, is a really useful resource when it comes to building trust. Brittany believes that it’s all about curating the journey for people to be delighted with their experience, and this can be done by ensuring you create magical moments that people will remember.
When was the last time you experienced a magical moment?
Magical moments don’t necessarily have to be major events; they can be relatively small, and they can happen from seemingly small moments. It is interesting to notice that even the smallest moments can be made magical with a little bit of work before the work, intentionality, and authenticity.
Once you realize the importance of those moments, you can start to be intentional about creating your own moments for your clients.
This concept is crucial if you are to create loyal superfans, too.
Creating Superfans is all about the intersection of your story as a business owner or brand ambassador and your customer’s story.
In an economy where technology makes it easy for a startup brand to make noise in your customer’s search for a similar product or service, your brand is the only thing you have to future-proof your business.
The success of your brand depends on your superfans.
But who are your superfans? They are usually those loyal, enthusiastic people who keep coming back and advocate for you with others.
Story
– Start with your story, your origin story, something that makes you unique
Understand
– Understand your customer’s story. You should listen, learn, and understand your customer
Personalize
– With your customer’s story in mind, relate your product or service to their experiences
Exceed Expectations
– Remember, at the end of every interaction, your customer is either going to leave feeling better or worse. or exactly the same. How can you make sure you exceed expectations?
Repeat
– This is not a one-and-done kind of thing. It’s a rinse-and-repeat scenario. It’s a day-in, day-out commitment to customer-centered care that is consistent and authentic
Follow the superfan’s motto and keep focused on your magical moments, and your brand identity will thrive.
Who are your superfans? They are usually those loyal, enthusiastic people who keep coming back and advocate for you with others.
Make Every Conversation Count
For the overall success of your business and to provide customers with exceptional expert care, your whole team should be comfortable and confident in providing the correct level of care.
This should be thought about throughout your hiring and training process.
Just as your customers need to share your brand values, your team members need to share your brand values.
They should not only share your brand values but they should want your customers to align with them as well.
When you care about your clients or your customers first, they care about you, and by extension, they care about your product or service.
Try to create advocates rather than just customers with every conversation, and you’ll soon start seeing the impact on your organization.
