Chewy sends out hand-written cards to new customers, cards of condolence when a customer’s pet passes, and holiday cards.
If you’ve been following my blog for even a few weeks, you’ll realize that I have a passion for certain elements of superior customer service. And this week I came across the perfect example of a case study that exemplifies the power and effectiveness of these elements.
Real world story: The secret to superior customer service is all about people connecting with other people—and having the systems in place that allow these connections to happen organically. This week, I came across an article by Veronika Sonsev on forbes.com titled “Did Customer Service Help Chewy Rake In A Hefty Price Tag?” This article includes an interview with Kelli Durkin, Chewy’s vice president of customer service, and it covers many of the elements of customer service that I discuss in this blog: from empathy, to how to WOW the customer, to hiring the right people.
Strategies that Turn it Around:
- Company culture: Durkin says, “We’re not optimizing customer service to save money.” Obviously, the company culture at Chewy revolves around customer service, and it makes it the key to maintaining the bottom line. One follows the other. I often say that superior customer service begins at the top. When done right, it permeates all throughout a company’s culture.
- Relevance: Durkin says, “In some cases, our card was the only holiday card customers said they received that year.” Most companies find it difficult to stay relevant with customers. But what better way to do that than to show customers you care. Chewy sends out hand-written cards to new customers, cards of condolence when a customer’s pet passes, and holiday cards. Stay relevant by showing commitment to your customers. Talk about WOWing your customers!
- Go the extra mile: Durkin says, “We have an entire team who responds to negative [customer survey] scores to ensure customers feel heard.” As I’ve written before, most customer service is in response to something not going quite right. People encounter problems with our products or services, and they need these problems solved—effectively, efficiently and with empathy. What better way to go the extra mile than to commit an entire team of people to ensure consistently great service by fixing problems in our policies and systems of delivery?
- Hire the right people: Durkin says, “Customer service recruiters are former agents.” Are you having an “Aha” moment? If I have said it once, I have said it a thousand times: hire for attitude, train for skills. From the very start, you need people who are committed to helping people. Not everyone is cut out for customer service—let alone consistently deliver exceptional service day in and day out. And what better way to hire the right people than having the people who have done the job do the hiring?
Remember: Connecting with people and making them feel important and cared for is what customer service is all about—and responding effectively when things don’t go quite right.
What do YOU do to ensure an extraordinary customer experience to every customer every time.