When we talk about this guy in our family, we refer to him as “the bulb guy.” I guess we have never really asked his name, so to us, he is the bulb guy. I know we can go online and subscribe to lightbulbs for convenience. I know we can go for a car ride to Palo Alto, go to IKEA, and buy bulbs along with other items we may need for our household, for efficiency. But, there is something about this guy - the bulb guy - that makes us go out of our way, make an extra stop on one of our weekend chores trips, to buy new light bulbs (of any kind) from this guy. The question is, what is it that creates this strong sense of customer loyalty that beats convenience and efficiency. We just want to buy from this guy.
I, of course, decided to dissect the ingredients of this seemingly perfect customer service recipe. The outcome follows:
Clear, targeted, just-the-right-amount communication
He communicates well. He is succinct and accurate, does not exaggerate, does not involve too much filler information, or “sales talk” that dilutes the message. He answers your questions with relevant information. It feels more like education than a sales experience.Excellent sense of the customers’ needs
He does not guess who you are, he quickly figures out what you need. He already knows you are there for light bulbs - he does not have to ask you about that. In other words, he really knows his customer, and 95% of the use cases are there, in that store, at that moment.Knowledgeable
The bulb guy knows pretty much EVERYTHING there is to know about (and around) his products. There isn’t a bulb type, brand, issue, or power consumption stats regarding fixtures this guy doesn’t know about. This includes the practical and theoretical information about the bulbs! (And going back to the first bullet point, he knows how to share that information with me).Genuine care
As you are served, you feel he truly cares about his customers. For example, we have gotten pointers for things we didn't ask, but he volunteered to add the enlightening information as it would help us.
A common misinterpretation of ‘caring for your customer’ is that you have to know everything about them, ask personal questions, figure out their interests etc. But to be honest, I don’t want to have to share things about myself in a professional context. Personally I find many businesses a bit intrusive in their mission to “know their customers”.
What I mean with ‘care’ in this context is an exact nuance. The bulb guy nails this nuance. He genuinely cares about a successful outcome for me, the customer. In other words, he respects the line, yet he cares about the relationship building between him in the role of the bulb provider and me in the role of the bulb consumer. Our roles are very clear. No lines are blurred. There is care about my satisfaction with services and success with the product.Passion
Hard to put it into words to do this justice. It is as if in every interaction, however short, you sense how he is quietly very passionate about what he does. Note, however, he doesn’t push his excitement onto you. The feeling is just there, and it is slightly contagious - at least in that moment. I also believe this under-the-surface genuine and deep interest is why he is really good at what he does. And it shows in the interactions.Organized
His “house” is in order. It starts with the first impression: the store is clean and well organized, and the product collection is relevant, complete, and is kept updated: it shows he has a good inventory process. It shows he cares for the ease of the customer to find and navigate the relevant product at hand. He understands where things need to be for you to find them. Quickly.
It makes me think the rest of his business is similarly organized, up-to-date, and reliable.No distractions
During the essential part of the customer experience, there is little else distracting me from getting my business done. There is not much unnecessary marketing razzle-dazzle in the shop. It's clear what the store provides and what the task at hand should be: when you enter you don't wonder what this business is all about and what exactly this guy is trying to do/say/achieve.
If we zoom out a bit and look at the impact of all the listed items above, it lands in that these characteristics and behaviors of a vendor builds reliability and trust with their consumers. The way the bulb guy runs his business is very inspiring to me and my family. What is your inspiring store or business owner? Have you ever thought about what you can learn from them that could be applied to take your B2B SaaS business, customer interactions, customer success culture, or customer touchpoint experiences to get to the next level? How will you improve customer loyalty?
Very good perspective Eva. Thanks.