Did the title of this article seem incredulous to you? Or, on the other hand, perhaps the prospect caused a bit of excitement in your mind. This article asks a variety of questions about the customer experience, and you could learn a lot by thinking about your answers to them.
First, let’s imagine that you are operating a successful business (hopefully, that part is your reality and doesn’t take a whole lot of imagination). You are offering a needed product or service and have many happy customers. Business is going great–so well, in fact, that you charge twice as much as your closest competitor for the same product.
Wait a minute… what? Charging double and still the business is successful and growing, with returning customers, and new customers as well? Remember, we are doing a bit of imagining here. But, could this situation really occur?
What would it take to make it happen? Put some thought into what it would take for customers to be willing to pay twice as much. We noted that your product or service is comparable to the competitor’s, so might the difference lie in the level of customer service? Break that down into further questions: How long do customers wait on hold when they call? How quickly are orders filled? What is the level of commitment to problem resolution? Etc., etc…
If you are happy with your answers to those types of basic customer service questions, ask yourself: what more can you do than you are already doing? If customers are going to pay double, there must be a really compelling level of customer experience.
If this were a real situation, the bottom line is that some serious thought would have gone into answering the deep questions. Generating extra revenue like that doesn’t happen by accident.
In reality, businesses don’t generally aim to charge double. But if it were possible, how much effort would you expend in answering the questions that would get you there?
How much would it cost to implement service that is responsive to customers’ needs and wants–shorter wait times, reliable technical assistance, speedy orders, and so on? Probably not much. Why not try treating your customers as if they were paying double… while actually charging a fair and competitive price?
Offer the customer premium service–it won’t cost you much, if anything, to deliver, and the benefits to your business will be well worth it. Start by addressing the basic customer service questions, and once you have mastered those, continue on to an even greater level of value-added service.