👀 Solve Customer Problems by Showing, not Just Telling
One of the three unbreakable laws of customer loyalty is CLARITY.
We hate to wait (more than ever).
But what we hate second-most? Lack of clarity.
When customers are uncertain, they are anxious. And anxiety typically keeps people's money in their pockets.
Further, SO MANY customer service issues could be solved by just communicating more and communicating better, right?
One of my favorite exercises is to ask business leaders what confuses their customers most often. And then ask them, "so why are they still confused, if you know that's a problem?"
Some of you have heard me talk onstage about Wade Lombard from Square Cow Moovers and how he transformed his business by communicating MORE.
But sometimes, it's not about communication volume, but about communicating BETTER.
I experienced this first-hand this week, during a quick trip to Guadalajara, for important tequila business (I swear!).
We went to dinner at a fabulous restaurant, Bruna. Truly one of the most memorable meals of my life, and I've been around the globe.
Incredible decor. Stunning mixology. Great food.
But what I will always remember is the novel and powerful way Bruna solves the age-old restaurant dilemma: steak temperature.
My Dad owned a steakhouse for a few years when I was a kid, and invariably there would be a customer each night who had a vastly different notion of what "medium" meant in the pantheon of steak
temps.
If someone sends a steak back, it creates drama for front of house, back of
house, and possibly management. And that's just a steak!
What if it's a REAL house?
I'm doing some work for a custom homebuilder, and misunderstandings about materials and colors are one of their primary customer satisfaction challenges. High STEAKS or high STAKES? You decide.
Bruna is also challenged by the multi-lingual nature of their clientele. Locals from Guadalajara + interlopers like me armed with un pequito understanding of Spanish + tourists who know más cerveza, and nothing else.
Does Bruna train their waiters how to describe a medium steak as rosy pink in the middle? Nope. Lost in translation.
Instead, they arm them with double-sided, multi-lingual photos of steaks. You point to your temp. No problema!
