It takes many things for a customer to love your company. But in the end, it boils down to two things: product and service.
It’s impossible to say which is more important; here’s an example: Imagine you go to a restaurant that makes the best tacos in town, but… you know that if you go, you’ll have to wait in line for at least three hours, and once seated, you might wait an hour to receive the dish that your waiter brings with a less-than-pleasant face.
The tacos are incredible, but would you really go back?
Example No. 2: Imagine you arrive at a restaurant, you’re seated immediately, the place looks tidy, and the service is impeccable. As soon as you sit down, you’re handed the menu. The waiter takes your order very quickly, and your food arrives in less than five minutes. However, when you taste it, the food is cold and poorly seasoned. You raise your hand, and your waiter listens to your complaint, showing great empathy, and returns with a new dish very promptly.
But now it’s a different dish than what you wanted; it still needs to be at the desired temperature and has too much onion. The waiter returns and offers sincere apologies, but you no longer want to stay, so you get up and leave.
Would you go back, then?
So, which is more important, service or product?
To me, this is like Formula 1: You can have the best car in the world (product), incredibly fast and easy to drive. But remember, the curves will eventually come; they are an inevitable part of the track (customer journey). This is where an excellent driver (service) can shine and put you in a position to win the race.
So, what makes a great product in the SaaS industry?
- A product with extensive capabilities, designed for all possible scenarios that customers may require.
- A reliable product. You know that the number of bugs will be minimal, and if any do appear, they will be quickly resolved.
- Excellent UX. We all want to avoid reading hundreds of help files to understand how something works; we want something intuitive, where the learning curve to know where to click is very quick because it has a logical structure.
And what makes excellent service? The people.
To me, a company focusing on service excellence will treat its customers like they would a true friend. And what makes a great friend?
- Trust. The easiest way to gain someone’s trust is by demonstrating that you know what you’re talking about. It’s essential to have a deep understanding of the product, but also to clearly state when you’re unsure about something. The worst mistake someone can make in a relationship, whether work-related or personal, is to lie. So be transparent; if something isn’t possible, say so. If something isn’t possible in the exact way the client desires but there is a similar solution, explain it as it is. Don’t just say, “Yes, it’s possible.” Say, “In the way you require it, it isn’t exactly possible, but if we try this other option, you’ll get a result similar to what you desired.”
- Respect. Some time ago, someone told me that you can’t truly be friends with someone if you’re their boss. I don’t agree with this at all. I believe that if you treat the person under your charge like you would a friend, that’s it; if you don’t insult or humiliate them, becoming friends is very easy. Of course, it’s much rarer to see a client-provider relationship like the one mentioned between a boss and subordinate. But at the end of the day, respect starts with honoring the agreements made and meeting the delivery times promised from the beginning.
- Being present in difficult moments. Difficult moments can come any day, unexpectedly. There was a change in personnel, and now your client is being asked for something new; help them achieve it with your product. Take the time to schedule a meeting with them and listen to what they need. Contact with your client isn’t just during the implementation of a project; it’s something constant, like a relationship with a true friend. Months may have passed without time to talk, but you know that if you need them, they will be there.
At QuestionPro, we’ve been developing various products to help you provide the best service to your clients and evaluate how good your product is.
Recently, we launched Suite CX 2.0. With this tool, you can easily measure the journey your customer takes with you and how it is for the different types of customers you have. You can identify, in a “mock-up” way, where things might get complicated and successfully reinforce this journey.
We’ve also been working very hard on our Closedloop feedback tool. This helps you automatically create tickets for the team handling complaints about issues, track them, escalate them, and evaluate your customer success team’s response times.
And of course, we’re continually improving our platform. Here’s a playlist with our latest product improvements if you’d like to check them out.
I hope you found this interesting and helpful, thank you for reading!
Is there something wrong with your customer experience?
When you complete an honest assessment, the outcome can be beneficial. Particularly when it comes to your Customer Experience program.
Take five minutes and complete an audit for your organization here.
You may discover a gap in measurement, an opportunity to improve a process, the place where an organizational shift needs to take place or an opportunity to win a greater share of your customers’ wallets.
We all want that bigger “return”. In this situation, the worst case scenario is that you’ll get some information that will help your organization since there is no cost or obligation in completing this audit.
