The Business of Being Irresistible

Has your organisation has got what it takes to stand out from the crowd, that little bit of magic that attracts and keeps customers? British consultant and author Brian Clegg writes on irresistibility

Attracting and keeping customers is at the heart of business survival. This isn’t news. Or at least it shouldn’t be – yet so many companies ignore this fundamental truth. They treat customers as if they weren’t important. Despite all the customer focus of the last twenty years, despite the clear message that excellent customer service is a superb differentiator – and differentiation brings competitive advantage – survey after survey has shown decreases in customer satisfaction. When researching my book, Capturing Customers’ Hearts, it was very easy to gather stories of misery, but many people could not come up with a single example of truly great service. What is going wrong?

There isn’t a single cause. Thanks to global communication and the spread of consumer broadcasting, customers now expect more than ever before. At the same time, many companies that really did do something about customer service back in the 80s and 90s have become complacent. After making huge improvements, it was easy to say ‘we’ve done customer service, now let’s concentrate on business’ – but in customer service you have to run to stand still, let alone to improve. This backsliding is worrying, but other companies never even got that far. They paid lip service to the need for customer service, thinking it was enough to stick badges saying ‘how can I help you?’ on the same old surly staff. And then there are companies that have suffered explosive growth. Particularly in the IT sector, it has proved difficult for customer service to keep up with the expansion of products and demand.

The fact is, customer service is in need of an overhaul. There is a widening gap between customer expectations and what actually happens. It may seem nauseatingly Pollyanna-like to label a problem an opportunity – but it’s really true here. If your company can do something about this gap, there’s a huge opportunity to get a lead over the competition. To realize the benefits that can arise from giving the customers a glow, from making them feel that dealing with your business is a special experience. There’s a chance to give your company charisma.

This is very well, but what about the basics of customer service, the essentials of delivering what the customer wants when the customer wants it? There’s no doubt that good delivery is vital. However much charisma you have, if you repeatedly fail to deliver, your customers will desert you (though they’re much more likely to give a company they like another chance). I’d liken service delivery to the foundation on which great customer service is built. You can’t manage without it, but foundations alone don’t give you a building. On those foundations you need to build for charisma, to make your company, its products and its services, attractive to customers. There are at least 12 components of charisma (see box) that can lift companies above the average.

No one company is likely to need all these components straight away, but each factor can contribute to making the difference, to giving the customer service edge that is necessary to capture customers’ hearts. Sometimes many of the components can be combined in a single initiative. US retailer Nordstrom packs a whole bundle of them into their superb approach to staff policies and procedures. By saying to the staff ‘Use your good judgement in all situations. There will be no additional rules,’ Nordstrom management provides the opportunity to make a difference. It’s tempting to think ‘it couldn’t work here’ or ‘this charisma business is okay for a high street store, but not a … [fill in your sector]’ but it would be wrong. Every single business has customers. In a world of frantic change, of competition emerging from nowhere, of technological revolution, we owe it to ourselves and our staff to make sure that someone is fighting our side. Why not make that somebody the customers?

The twelve components of charisma

1. Going the extra light year – When an individual goes out of his or her way to help, it’s something special. This applies to companies too, but to stand out like a beacon you have to go way beyond expectations.
2. If it’s broke, fix it – In the service world, zero defect is a fantasy. However good our systems and staff, things will go wrong – and the customer measures the company's worth on the effectiveness of the fix. Service recovery is often grudging, set about with conditions and rules that make the customer feel like a criminal. The outcome should surprise no one.
3. I’m in love with my car - Some products and brands produce a reaction in the customer that is wildly disproportionate to their value. They have a quirkiness that generates affection. You can’t guarantee a product will have charisma, but all too often products with this status have been undervalued and ruined by the owning company.
4. They know me - Unfortunately, all too often, customer relationship management has been driven by systems rather than human relationships. But this shouldn’t cloud the reality that the company that really knows the customer, that makes him or her feel recognized and welcome, has a big stake in the charisma game.
5. Star power - Companies without star figureheads are cynical about such apparent self-publicists. Yet the public likes a recognizable human face (compare the public image of Richard Branson and your chairman). You can’t identify with a corporation – you can with a chief executive. For that matter, you can with any famous employee – or maybe the whole team.
6. They’re people like us - Customers have relationships with real people, not companies, so the more you can make your customer contact staff into real people, the better. That means staff that aren’t uniform automata. Real people with real enthusiasms – especially those that are shared with the customers. And it means people we trust to get it right. There can be no charisma from staff in a straitjacket.
7. Surprise, surprise! – McDonalds made consistency a customer service god, but if everything is predictable, there can be no excitement, no charisma. The element of surprise, provided it is pleasant, keeps your customers intrigued and coming back for more.
8. Technical wizardry – Many of us don’t really grow up – we remain enthralled by toys for life. Technology needs to be optional – some customers are turned off by it – but for many it is an attractor.
9. They’re mine, all mine– Everyone has some positive parochialism. We like to see our own do well. If customers feel they own your company, they will become inseparable from its fortunes. Make the company theirs and loyalty is no longer an issue.
10. Cute and cuddly - To be charismatic is not necessarily to be loveable, but companies, products and people that make customers feel protective are inevitably charismatic.
11. We keep in touch - Communication is essential for all relationships, including that between a human being and a company. Keeping up a dialogue and making it obvious that you enjoy that communication makes it difficult for a customer to resist.
12. The twelfth component - Every company has unique attributes, forming the twelfth charisma component. Make the most of your USP (unique selling proposition) and the resources that can make your company one of a kind.