What puts Zappos and Nordstrom on a completely different
orbit when it comes to customer service? Besides an unbelievable ability to
understand their customer, it also is their knack to handle the non routine. A
non routine query from a customer can be best defined as a request from a
customer asking a service provider to go beyond laid down offerings and
processes. This is where most brands get a shot at instant immortality in the
minds of the consumer. And companies who do this with great aplomb are the ones
who have a plan. A plan that may involve limitless employee empowerment or well
distributed resources. So even though we
know, that fulfilling these queries can create customer satisfaction like never
before, companies need to ask themselves this; how tenable is developing a
strategy for handling a non routine query?
While planning such a strategy companies need to look at the
financial burden that they might be taking on. Completing a non routine query
can involve a cost which your business could not have accounted for. Preparing
for these costs make it a tricky financial proposition. This leads us straight
into another quandary a company faces; how do you empower your employee to
handle these queries? Drawing the line for how much discretion you can trust
your employee with is never easy. It involves a great amount of training and
also smart recruiting. Employees have to buy into your brand philosophy or be
trained to execute it to perfection. When you are past the monetary and
employee capability conundrums, you will have to ask yourself if you can truly
sustain such an effort. Changing track midway and not delivering on such
queries can lead to a loss of goodwill as customers will immediately sense something
is out of place. From that point on, getting back in the good books of the
customer may take a greater effort.
So to sum it up, the three key requisites are: financial
ability, employee empowerment and sustainability. These are by no stretch of
imagination, the only questions you need to ask. A lot of it comes down to top
management will and operational nous. The results are there for all to see, the
commitment is what you need to ensure. So are you ready to become a Zappos or a
Nordstrom? Now that, is not a non routine query!
