Amazon is the most loved brand by American consumers, according to a Morning Consult report.
Although Amazon uses some brute force to dominate the market, they work hard at appealing to customers too.
And you can routinely find Amazon at the top of the heap in the UK also.
Since customer service week just happened from 10/07 – 10/11, it makes sense to take a look at what they do so well with their customer service.
Because, you know from experience that nailing customer service is a choice. You can probably name a couple consumer-focused companies that make you angry when you just think of their name.
So, what does Amazon do so well that your company can learn from?
Here’s what:
1. Listen, Care, and Quickly Admit Mistakes
Regardless of whether your customer is actually correct in what they say or not, always start with,”Rita, I’m sorry that happened.”
That makes them feel like you’re working to understand their problem and get them a fix. They calm down.
And then you get to listen to and understand the facts.
Using their name also makes the situation more personal. Customers want to feel like people, not numbers or transactions.
The hard part is keeping your focus on this when you deal with customer problems and concerns all day long.
You won’t be perfect. But you need to find a way to train and reinforce this behavior in your employees on a daily basis so they focus on caring for your customers.
2. Create a Plan of Action with a Promised Result
After you learn and understand the customer’s problem, then your team member must create a plan of action to get the customer a result.
Ask the customer if the result is something that will make them happy.
If not, ask them what result will. For example, they may not want to pay return shipping. And that’s not totally unreasonable if you made a mistake on the order.
Stories of Amazon’s customer service can even fly to the extreme. For example, customers will buy hundreds of dollars in electronics, ask for a refund, but then never actually return the product.
That’s theft!
But Amazon will let some customers get away even with that behavior.
We’re not saying you should fly to that extreme. That’s not reasonable. But it does show you what Amazon will do on behalf of its customers.
3. Always Aim for 100%
Jeff Bezos was extremely proud of Amazon when it delivered 99.9% of its packages in time for Christmas (2011).
However, he responded,”We’re not satisfied until it’s 100%.”
Now that’s intense.
100% may never be possible. But if you make it your goal, that creates a competitive advantage between you and your competition.
Even though Amazon dominates the e-commerce world, they’ve done so largely through making the customer ecstatic.
So learn what you can from these tips, and implement them in your organization, ranging from the CEO to the office intern.