Do you, as a small business owner, believe that you deliver the exceptional customer experience? A survey by Bain & Co. verified that 80% of those companies surveyed believed, possibly like you, that they delivered an exceptional customer service experience. However, the results of this customer service survey revealed that only 8% of their customers believed the same way.

So why this gap between the desired beliefs of small business owners to C Level management and the actual ones of the customers?

Part of the explanation has to do with the overall lack of a strategic plan not to mention a customer loyalty plan. However, the inability to identify the Points of Connection (those things that the customer see, hears, touches, smells, tastes or feel) along with Points of Potential (operating systems) that are not properly aligned to purpose of business probably contribute just as much to a poor customer service experience.

Additionally having customer service employees with bad attitudes does not deliver an exceptional customer service experience. The bad attitudes of customer service employees were cited by close to 70% of the customers who took their business elsewhere. Again, what your customers see and hear from your customer service employees are two significant Points of Connection.

Another survey in the 20th century by Learning Dynamics discovered that 1 out of 5 senior management personnel do not even talk with customers. Additionally, 1 out of 3 responsible for reaching customers (marketing) do not talk with these same individuals that are hearing the various marketing messages. Finally, 2 out of 3 involved in innovation (research and development) do not talk to those who are looking for better products and services. Do you see a large disconnect here? Or in the often quoted line: What we have here is a failure to communicate!

These reasons all demonstrate why only 1 out of 10 of your customers believe that you delivering exceptional customer service. To avoid delivering poor customer service, then maybe you as the small business owner to the C Level executive management team need to reconnect with your customers through a customer loyalty experience. By not taking action, your business may continue to be one of those firms that operate in denial much like the ostrich with its head in the sand.