Fantastic Customer Service: How-to Do It

There are two famous customer service legends about Zappos.com, the largest online shoe outletin the universe. These are legends that I want to share:

1 - Several years ago the CEO of Zappos, Tony Hsieh, was in a meeting some vendors from a shoe manufacturer. One of the vendors had a hunger for a late night pizza and suggested they should call Zappos customer service for assistance. The group laughed. The CEO of Zappos didn't. He thought calling Zappos customer service to ask about pizza was a powerful test. Tony Hsieh was so sure of his company's customer service (a shoe company, remember) that he told the vendor to call customer service and ask about pizza.

So, the vendor dialed the Zappos customer service line. The Zappos rep briefly and politely made sure the caller knew he was calling Zappos, then said, 'of course, I can help you with that, give me just a second.'

After a very short pause, the rep politely provided a list of five nearby pizza places that were still open. She even gave her personal recommendation in a very kind manner, offered to read the list over the phone, text it, or email it—whichever was best for the caller.

As you can imagine, the entire table was amazed. Everyone but Tony Hsieh.

Now, another example from Zappos, this one from their website:

"One of the craziest stories," said Jerry Tidmore, who manages Zappos' help-desk concierge service, "was that a guest checked in to the Mandalay Bay hotel (in nearby Las Vegas) and forgot her shoes."

According to Tidmore, the guest called Zappos, where she had originally purchased the shoes, looking for a replacement, but they didn't have any in stock. So the company found a pair in the right size at a local mall, bought them and delivered them to the hotel - all for free.

Indeed,this is epic customer service.

Tips to Giving Legendary Customer Service

Entire libraries have been written on customer service, but here's a few proven tactics.

1 - Focus on what you can do. Never, ever say 'I can't,' or 'I'm not allowed.' Who cares if you do not have something in stock, or if corporate policy prohibits you from fixing the problem? Focus on how you can help the client. Get creative; make phone calls to business partners, to your dad, even to competitors—whoever! Help the customer no matter what!

Remember this: you are not guaranteed to have everything in stock all the time, you are not guaranteed to be able to answer every concern every time, but you are guaranteed to help the person all the time. Period.

2 - Helping them is your job. If you're a salesmen or a manager and somehow you get a call about an IT or a technical issue, your first reaction is, 'this isn't my job.' After all, you don't know anything about the question they're asking. Heck, you don't even know what half the words mean in the question they're asking. This isn't your job.

Incorrect.

Serving them is your job! So serve them. If you can't fix the problem, find someone who can as quickly and efficiently as possible.

3 - Warm transfer vs. cold transfer - Have you ever called a company to explain a situation/problem? You explain it once, and they transfer you? 'I'm gonna transfer you to Mary.' Mary picks up the phone and you have to explain who you are and why you're calling all over again. And if that person still can't help you…they transfer you; and the process of repetition and explanation and frustration repeats itself.

That is a cold transfer.

A warm transfer is much better and goes like this: you call the company to explain a situation/problem. You explain it and that rep says 'I'm going to transfer you to Mary, she'll be able to help you.' But instead of pushing transfer and forgetting you, this rep calls Mary herself, with you on the line, and explains to Mary what you've just told her. She does the work for you, so you don't have to explain everything 47 times.

That is historic customer service.

4 - Outlook - The first three keys were really tactics, specific things to do or not do. But the most crucial tool is an outlook. You have to have an attitude of 'owning' every problem that passes over your desk. You have to follow it through to the resolution. You have to realize that helping the customer is your first job (even if your official title is mechanic, front desk clerk or salesman). Your job is to help the customer.

Become a Legend and Get Business

You want to grow you business? Then improve your customer service. The Zappos website says it best, "We've been asked by a lot of people how we've grown so quickly, and the answer is actually really simple... We've aligned the entire organization around one mission: to provide the best customer service possible."

So, maybe you don't have the most revolutionary products, the most affordable prices, or even the smartest employees…but guess what, by practicing these tools you can have the best customer service. That is something you can control.

And you can become legendary.