If you’ve been paying attention, you know things have changed in the world of business. As customers, we are smarter than ever. We know we have more options. We know we deserve to do business with companies that help us accomplish our goals.

And we understand it’s okay to expect companies that will work WITH us as partners rather than adversaries.

Companies that ignore this will

Last weekend I spoke at the Ensemble Travel Group 2009 International Conference. It was held at the Fairmont Banff Springs hotel in Banff, Alberta. This week I will be sharing some of my experiences there and using them as examples of how we can all increase customer loyalty by improving customer service.

For now, I’ll start with a short video. This was an interview we did before I spoke. The Ensemble Team made wonderful use of technology to capture and deliver learning throughout the conference.

A lot of companies make their employees use scripts as they work with their customers. This is a major pet peeve of mine. Rather than keeping customers I believe it drives them away. When I know the person I’m talking with is working from a script, I question how able they are to help me. Because life does not conform to a script.

So if you use scripts and your customer deviates from it, then your employee is

Here is your Daily Dose of Amazing Service:

Don’t go overboard for your customers.

And here are some additional thoughts on this topic…

This might sound contrary to what we’re all about here in the land of Amazing Service. But it’s not. Because if you go too far in trying to serve your customers, you can actually drive them away.

A powerful way to increase customer loyalty is to give your customers a positive and memorable experience. Some days it’s easy. Just be nice, attentive, listen well and be helpful. But other times you might break out of your comfort zone and give your customers something they’ve never seen before.

This Ford dealer clearly went beyond the usual and expected when they decided to treat their customers to the “A-B-C’s of the Ford Focus”.

It’s not something every business would do. And it might even annoy some customers. But you have to give them credit for trying.

Here is your Daily Dose of Amazing Service:

Make it easy for customers to leave

And here are some additional thoughts on this topic…

Too many companies make it easy to become a customer and hard to leave. Maybe they think people will change their minds if it’s hard to quit. The classic example is this call to AOL that made national news:

We hear a lot about customer experience and going the extra mile for our customers. And these are good things. Every employee in every business should pay attention to these. But it’s not just the employees who are responsible for this. Management has to lead the charge.

If you want more loyal customers, the kind who come back again and again, the wonderful people who tell their friends, neighbors and everyone else about you, then you need to make service a priority across your organization. Front line employees can’t make this happen alone.

And when you make this commitment, you need to tell the world about it. Do this by telling people what it’s like doing business with you. Tell them and show them what they can expect when they become your customer.

We all have bad days. You know them. The days we’d rather just stay home. Or be anywhere but at work. It’s normal for us to be off once in awhile. Even professional athletes have slumps. So don’t deny this. Just accept that it’s going to happen.

But that doesn’t mean you have to let it affect how you do your job. In fact, it does not give you the right to deliver lower quality service. Just the opposite. Being a professional means no matter how you feel (or how bad your slump is) you keep doing your best.

No matter what your situation is, you can always choose to be Amazing.

This video shows us what happens when someone let’s their bad attitude run amok. It demonstrates (in a funny way) how customers see us when we let our slumps affect our work.

I talk and write a lot about giving our customers what they want. Because if we fail to give them what they want they’ll leave us. That’s what customer loyalty is all about. But as we do this, we should keep in mind some guidelines.

The following video helps us see (in a funny way) what some companies do wrong as they try to keep their customers coming back.

First, they forget to

One of the best ways to keep your customers coming back and get more referrals is to give your customers a great experience. And that’s true even when your customers aren’t human.

When I watch this video, not only would I want our dog to be a “customer”, I want to go there too! If you like dogs you’ll love this video. It doesn’t tell you the experience this doggy daycare business provides. It shows you. And it does so brilliantly.

Customer service is more than

Part of serving your customers well is giving them a positive and memorable experience. In fact that’s the formula for “wowing!” them. When you do this they have fun, they remember you (and your company) and they say good things about you to others.

Here’s an entertaining example of how Southwest Airlines wows their customers.

There are s couple things I really like about this:

In the world of customer service, the concept of going the extra mile is well known and well worn. But what it’s NOT is well practiced. If it were, I’d be selling shoes at Zappos rather than writing and speaking about how to improve customer service. Sadly, the art of the extra mile is a lost one.

That’s why I love this video. It uses humor to show us what’s missing in too many customer experiences. It shows us what going the extra mile might mean.