How to turn more first-time visitors into repeat customers

Service is a P A C T © 2009 Gangaadhar Krishna

A pact is an unwritten agreement. Case in point: you take good care of the customer, and the customer brings you their business.

P A C T is also an acronym for PROCESS – ATTITUDE – COMMUNICATION – TIME. The four pillars of service excellence. To know more about the theory ‘Service is a P A C T’ read the article released yesterday.

The anecdotes here shed light on each of the pillars. But before we get into what is good service, let's peek into what poor service looks like.

1. Poor PROCESS can disrupt the foundation of good service.

Last week, my wife developed a fever after getting the Covid vaccine. I used a local pharmacy app which assures delivery in 2 hours to order a Dolo650. This was at 6:27pm.

To begin, they did not have a customer-friendly tracking mechanism. I searched all over and accidentally stumbled upon the tracker.

Though the app said they were open till 8pm, there was no person I could speak to.

Two hours went past but the medicines didn’t arrive. Having delayed on delivery, they did not even bother to call, message or update me! Finally I went to the closest pharmacy at 10:45pm and got the medicine myself.

The following day, the delivery boy called and asked for my address though the pharmacy app had all my details.

Soon afterwards, I started getting promotional message from the app: I got 13 messages in 90 minutes. It was frustrating If this happened because of a technical glitch, then the pharmacy should have identified the problem, and shut off the messaging. And if this was intentional, then they were criminal in their COMMUNICATION and ATTITUDE towards the customer.

Anyway, their P A C T had innumerable cracks and since they did not keep their side of the PACT, why should I keep mine?

2. Every action performed; every word spoken is a reflection of your ATTITUDE.

Recently, I had a problem with my RO machine (a reverse osmosis water purifier). There was a water leak. One of the agency representatives came, saw, and did not know what to do.

Later, on calling the company, I spoke with one of their technicians. He sounded confident and committed (effective COMMUNICATION). I shared a video of the problem over WhatsApp. As promised, he landed on the scheduled date and time (On TIME performance). Having seen the video, Mr Tejash had come with the required part and solved the problem. However, the candles needed replacement but he did not have the required spanner. So, he promised to come that Saturday to replace them. But he did not come nor call. Seeing Tejash’s attitude and approach, I was willing to give him the benefit.  And true to my judgement, he pleasantly surprised me by calling on Sunday and asked if he could come to replace it (ATTITUDE to serve). I was indeed surprised to receive the call on a Sunday and his willingness to come by. The replacement was done but I said I will make the payment once I am convinced that all problems were addressed. He said that was fine and would come the following day. Again, I was pleasantly surprised at the response. I monitored the machine and agreed to pay the following day. Out of curiosity and as a service analyst, I asked Tejash why he agreed to take the payment later. He said he spoke to his immediate supervisor who said ‘if you are convinced the customer will pay, then go ahead’ (PROCESS). And Tejash took the decision. Here I saw ‘empowerment’, a quality very rarely seen amongst frontline. It came as a breath of fresh air, as empowerment is something that is rarely seen in organisations. Employees like Tejash are true assets for any company. They are employees that I call ‘Service Champs’. The next time I have an issue with my RO, you know who I will call? Yes, you guessed right!

3. Good COMMUNICATION keeps customers well informed and on top.

It is sheer pleasure when you know what is happening with the money you invested to buy a product or service. We made an online order for a name plate for the house. The service from the word ‘go’ was handled seamlessly. The organisation was a small local supplier. The PROCESS of how to order and customise the name plate was clearly explained. On placing the order it went like clockwork - finalising the name, font, size, design discussed over WhatsApp, and the final image sent for our approval. Within a few days the name plate arrived. It was on TIME. On receiving the item I received a ‘Thank you’ note along with links for (1) Product return (2) Warranty support (3) Product rating (4) Review / feedback and (5) How to connect with the seller. The forms were well thought out and drafted for customer comfort and seller benefit. They had a PROCESS in place but prompt and good COMMUNICATION was the hallmark of the experience.

4. If you perform on TIME, you satisfy your customer.

Time commitments stand strong with a sound process backing it, an empathetic attitude nudging it and prompt communication covering for any delays.

With the pharma app experience, had I received Dolo650 by 8:30pm, I would have been a satisfied customer! Their timely delivery would have helped overlook any other shortcomings and retained me as a repeat customer.

Empathy also plays a huge role in timely services. I know of this unempathetic bank that times its SMS messages to midnight and beyond to inform about the credit card bill sent to your email address. Now, that’s enough to spoil a good night’s sleep!

Speaking of time, I have always wondered, with all the advanced technology in place, why online businesses take your money in less than 15 seconds but refund it much after 15 working days? If you know the answer, other than what I am thinking, then please share it with me.

Though there are numerous other facets while serving or satisfying a customer, they all stem from a P A C T. For, all service and satisfaction revolve around your P A C T with the customer. You keep your side of the P A C T and customers would keep theirs in building your business.

Service is a P A C T