One of the Seven Pillars of a Better Business is to “Stick to the Knitting and Differentiate Yourself From the Crowd”.  For full details, come to one of our briefing events, but in essence the idea is to focus on a core market, get to be very good at what you do and stand out from your competitors on anything but price or margin.  In that way profitable businesses can be grown.

A key way of standing out from the crowd is to be supremely focussed on true quality of customer interaction – surpassing expectations wherever practical.

Last month I was with my long-suffering wife, Bev, walking part of the South West Coastal Path.  Bev was enduring my moaning about the length of the walk and the physical effort involved (this traditionally starts about ten minutes into  any walk).  At the small town of Seaton, still some 7 miles from the destination of Lyme Regis, we came to cross the River Axe at a road bridge.

The road was closed, the way barred by builder’s metal fencing, behind which sat a very, very large crane.  On this side of the fence was a burly construction worker, stopping people entering the site.  There was a clear pedestrian route past the crane, onto the bridge and onwards to Lyme Regis, but the fencing, and the builder, barred the way.  The alternative route involved using the next bridge on the river, approximately two miles away, meaning a nearly five mile diversion.  I was a little concerned at the escalation in exertion this implied.

Protracted negotiations, attempts to plead to the guy’s kind nature (NB never expect too much empathy from a construction worker), intervention by sympathetic local residents and outright begging failed to move the builder.  Our only option was to trudge around the diversion (I was dreading the effort, Bev was dreading the moaning).

As we passed the garage of the local bus company, the prospect of catching a bus became a possibility, so I asked a guy washing the buses whether that was feasible.  After finding a timetable, it was established that the two-hourly bus had just departed, so the bus wasn’t going to save the day.  So the guy cleaning the bus said “That’s daft, I’ll just take you in the car”.  We are permanently indebted to the guy who undertook a ten mile trip to help two tourists, because he didn’t want them to think ill of Seaton.  He wouldn’t even accept something to buy himself a drink.  He literally went the extra mile – or an extra ten.  And we will forever love and speak highly of Axe Valley Mini Transport.  As we set off on the coastal path again, 50 yards from the crane, we turned to each other and said “that will make a good article”.

What can we all learn as business owners from this story (except to never go on a long walk with me – long being more than 100 yards)?  If we put the story into the context of a customer coming to your business with a question, a complaint or a request:

Listen:-  make sure you hear and understand what the customer is articulating.  To be fair to Tesco’s intractable construction worker, he did at least do this stage.  Be sure that you have genuinely listened to what has been said, not just waited silently for your chance to speak (because the difference is huge).

Empathise:- show that you understand what the customer is saying, and how they are feeling (which doesn’t mean you have to say they are right, just that you understand what they are feeling).  Research on customer service calls shows that customers hate being brushed off, and like being told they have been heard.

Take Ownership:- part of going the extra mile is about making the customer’s issue your own issue.  People remember (and subsequently refer) when people step up and own sorting things out.  A friend had to travel internationally at very short notice after the death of a parent.  He left Barbados on the first flight, not knowing if he could connect in London to a flight in Australia.  When his wife rang customer services in Heathrow, to try and get someone to meet him off the flight with his next flight details, the lady at BAA said “I will not leave tonight until your husband boards his plane”.  That’s the extra mile.  How supported did that bereaved wife feel?

What’s the Right Thing:- Christians sometimes wear a bracelet asking “What would Jesus do?” – a constant reminder to base their regular actions on their beliefs.  A secular alternative is to ask “What if this person were your Mum?”  Family disputes notwithstanding, most people would go the extra mile for their Mum.  What’s the right thing to do on a human level?

Offer a Viable Solution:- our construction worker offered a solution – a long walk.  He was unwilling to offer any viable solution.  What you offer need not be what the customer is asking for (they have been known to make unreasonable requests!).  If you have listened and empathised, you may have an idea of which solution might actually meet their needs (which is not normally the solution they have first asked for).

An extra mile is all it takes:- it is important to respond to customer requests, and it is important to go the extra mile.  But it is also important to not be taken for a ride.  One still has a business to run, and margins need to be maintained, or you won’t have a business to help the customer with in the future.  We meet a lot of lovely people who run businesses and are just too generous with their time or their fees. There is a fine line between providing exceptional value and undermining your value.

What’s the culture in your business – are you an Axe Valley Mini Transport (cheers!) or a Tesco construction worker (boos!)?

What is likely to constitute going the extra mile for your customers?  Could you be doing it before they ask?

What autonomy and responsibility do your team need, to empower them to go the extra mile when they feel it is right to?

James Butler

Executive Coach

© James Butler and Corporate Alchemy 2011

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