Page 13 - Oil and Energy January 2013

January 2013 • 13
SHOW THEM SOMETHING BETTER
These rebukes give the utilities a huge
black eye and point up their ineffectiveness
in assisting customers in their time of greatest
need. Oilheat customers who are on the fence
about their home heating fuel can be coaxed
to stay with oil if you show them what great
customer service looks like.
You can’t eliminate the price differential
between oil and natural gas, but you can
leverage the night-and-day differences on
customer service to your advantage. Remind
customers that your attentive, caring company
will be there for them when they need you
most, but if they switch to gas they’ll be stuck
with unreliable utility service.
Don’t settle for just talking about how
friendly and attentive your staff is; anyone can
do that. Instead, seize this moment and make
a commitment to grow your company by being
the un-utility. Make your service so satisfying
in every detail that your customers are excited
about advocating for you and wouldn’t dream
of leaving you.
There are lots of good reasons to hang
your hat on great customer service.
• It’s do-able. You can’t bring down the
price of oil, but you can create a great
experience for your customers.
• It’s cost-effective. You can greatly improve
the experience of doing business with your
company by making some small invest-
ments in training and online applications.
• It’s marketable. Creating great customer
experiences enhances your reputation
and leverages the awesome power of
social media to draw attention to you.
• It’s refreshing. In these challenging
times, many employees have trouble
maintaining peak enthusiasm. When you
engage them in a campaign to be the most
appreciated company in your market, you
make their work more meaningful and
pleasurable.
AIM FOR GREATNESS
To elevate your performance in customer
service, take a comprehensive approach.
Question everything, and engage employees in
a customer service review and brainstorming
session. Consider hiring a customer service
specialist like PriMedia to work with you
and your staff in the planning process to add
excitement and fresh perspective.
Don’t settle for just small tweaks here
and there. Think big and aim high. Engage
your company’s best minds in thinking like
customers and envisioning how you’d like to
be treated. Think about the companies you
appreciate the most and ask what you can do
to be more like them.
Keep in mind that there is a lot more to
the customer’s experience than the occasional
telephone conversations they might have
with a CSR. Those conversations are vital, to
be sure, but they do nothing for customers
or prospects who never call. You need to be
proactive and look for new ways to make great
impressions.
Consider, for example, how you schedule
annual service visits. Are you waiting for
customers to call and schedule themselves? Is
that what you would want as the customer?
Maybe you do that because it’s “what you’ve
always done.” In these challenging times,
you can’t afford to think like that; you
need to find customer-centric solutions and
implement them before someone else beats
you to it.
ELIMINATE OBSTACLES
Another example is customer intake.
What does someone have to do to place their
first order with you or request an estimate
on an efficiency upgrade? Could you make it
easier for them? If so, it’s time to figure out
how. All obstacles must go.
Concerned about the costs? You can use
the Internet and cellular phone network to
do a lot of effective communication for very
small money. Imagine if a customer could visit
your website at almost any time of day and
engage in live chat with a customer service
representative. Could you juggle employees’
schedules to ensure that someone is available
online well into the evening and early in the
morning? Yes, you probably could.
As you start reflecting on your policies and
procedures, you’ll probably realize that many
of them are focused on internal company issues
and not on the customers and prospects who
ultimately control your company’s success.
Every company is different, but there are
some rules that apply equally to all.
• Phone calls are old school. Many
customers want to speak with you as little
as possible. Accommodate their prefer-
ence for online communications with
online account lookup, online payment,
online scheduling and online ordering.
• Paper bills are old school too. Many
customers prefer e-billing that reduces
the paper coming into their home and
allows them to organize their records
online. Offer e-billing.
• Customers want rewards. Your bills
might be one of their largest household
expenses, and they want some action on
that. Sprinkle a little sugar in the form
of a flexible online rewards program that
enables you to offer incentives wherever
you think they’re needed.
• Electronic communications are faster,
greener and less expensive than paper-
based communications. Make it a priority
to get as many customer e-mail addresses
as possible. Use your online rewards
program to motivate customers.
• Customers love special offers. Put
coupons online and refresh them often.
• Customers like experts who know their
stuff and have all the answers.
Put resources on your website and
promote them through social media.
• Customers have no patience. None. Look
for lag times anywhere in your customer
communications and eliminate them.
• Smart phones and tablets are replacing
desktops and laptops. Publish a highly
effective mobile website.
• Customers love one-stop shopping.
Make sure they can find and schedule
every possible comfort-related service
through you, even if you are partnering
with others to make that happen.
SHOUT IT OUT
As you upgrade your customer service,
move decisively to capitalize on the improve-
ments you are making. Develop fresh
messaging around the great customer experi-
ence you offer and place it prominently on
your website, your mobile website and on
every business review site available in your
area. Share a story on Facebook and your
website whenever you help a customer save
money or improve their comfort.
Use customer surveys to monitor your
performance, demonstrate your commitment,
and identify your company’s greatest fans.
Reach out to those customers that appreciate
your business and tell them how they can help
with testimonials and reviews. Make it easy for
them by collecting a testimonial on the spot.
A commitment to great customer service
can benefit any company, but it is especially
important for companies that are diversifying.
When you are using a new service to attract
customers beyond the Oilheat base, you are
trying to initiate long-term, fruitful relation-
ships. Make sure the process is satisfying,
starting with the first visit to your website.
When diversifying, it is important to strike
a good balance between stretching yourself
and staying within yourself. You have to
stretch to accomplish anything, but you must
not overextend – and risk compromising the
quality of customer service.
The utilities have created an opportunity
for you by letting their customers down. Make
a commitment now to outstanding, proactive
service and promote your commitment every-
where people see your name.