The past weeks I enjoyed an astonishing trip in South Africa! From game drives and spotting the Big Five, to drinking wine in Stellenbosch and admiring the view from Table Mountain. Not only I fell in love with the entire country, I also experienced the virtue of excellent service!
According to the Service Excellence Model, a typical outstanding customer experience results in a story worth sharing. And I couldn’t agree more. It was striking, and left a mark. Some examples:
- The car rental employee gave us his phone number. In case of an emergency, we could call him directly.
- We found our hotel room prepared for the night. Mosquito net nicely hung around the bed. Curtains closed. A chocolate on the nightstand. Or even a complimentary crème brulee!
These examples surprised us! This illustrates level 4 of the Service Excellence Pyramid. Suprising service is all about going the extra mile and astonishing your customers.
The Service Excellence Pyramid explains four levels of customer experience. An outstanding customer experience consists of surprising service (level 4) and Individual service (level 3). Individual service is mostly tailor made and empathic. Levels 1 and 2 consist of the basic services. Which means business as ususal, solving potential issues well (because nobody’s perfect). Delivering you basic services well, leads to satisfied customers.
Outstanding customer experiences are crucial in achieving customer delight. As Rawson, Duncan & Jones state: “Most companies perform fairly well on touchpoints, but performance on journeys can set a company apart”.*
I’m still dreaming about South Africa. We’ve collected so many memories to hold on to! I’m grateful for the amazing experiences and services. It became crystal clear again what the virtue of outstanding customer services can do for your organization. When was the last time you experienced surprising services?
Curious about the Service Excellence Model? Visit https://serviceexcellence.nu/model/ to read all about the entire approach to achieve customer delight.
*Source: Service Excellence by Thomassen & De Haan.
Essence of Change 