Customer service and loyalty aren’t just nice to have terms or cost centers they can actually drive profits and revenue. Cruise lines before the pandemic were making $8.2 million a day in profit.
That in itself should make it a priority for businesses.
But the reality is that most companies struggle with creating customer service and loyalty programs that actually result in growth. Many times, this is because they don’t understand how to create win-win outcomes for their customers and themselves, despite encountering difficult customers.
Solutions lie in lessons that cruise lines can teach us. Drawing on the insights of cruise lines can help businesses reimagine their service model and create a guarantee of wonderful experiences that drives profits. By focusing on culture and empathy, as well as customer service metrics to watch, you too can create a customer service and loyalty strategy that leads to growth.
The more than perfect service model can help you drive customer service and loyalty while avoiding these common pitfalls. This model is based on the idea of going above and beyond to provide remarkable experiences for your customers. Culture and empathy are two essential ingredients in forming these remarkable experiences. Additionally, it’s important to track key customer service metrics so you can reimagine your service strategy if needed. And finally, a guarantee of wonderful experiences drives profits – so make sure your company is offering them!
Paul Rutter a senior executive at a cruise line shows us how we could do just that.
About Paul
Over the past three decades, as a Senior Executive, Paul Rutter has managed and guided some of the largest and most luxurious cruise ships in the world. According to a Cruzely study, cruise lines can make up to $8.2 million in profit per day before the pandemic.
These experiences have taken Paul to speak on stages all over the globe where living with his customers, clients, and co-workers was a way of life.
His time on the high seas has taught him that through approaching customer service with the intent to exceed his customer’s expectations, rather than just meet them, higher levels of customer satisfaction, retention, loyalty, and repeat business can be experienced.
Paul is the author of “Repeat Business Inc: The Business of Staying in Business” and You Can’t Make This Ship Up”, a hilarious look at the lessons leaders use that apply at sea and land-based businesses.
In this episode, Paul shares his lessons learned from his experiences with cruise lines to show us how customer service and loyalty can drive growth quickly.
Some topics we discussed include:
- Is the customer always right?
- How to create win-win outcomes despite encountering difficult customers
- How to use customer service and loyalty to drive growth
- The more than perfect service model to help drive customer service and loyalty
- Why having good customer service is not good enough
- How do you create remarkable experiences
- The role of culture and empathy in forming remarkable customer service and loyalty experiences
- Customer service metrics to watch
- How to reimagine service to drive lifelong loyalty
- Why a guarantee of wonderful experiences drives profits
- and much much more ….
Listen to the episode
Related links and resources
- Check out Pauls site
- Learn more with Rajiv Lamba – What is Customer Empathy And Why it Drives Great Customer Service
- Learn from Connor Gillivan – How to Craft Positive Customer Experiences With a Growth Mindset
- Check out the article – What is Brand Value and How to Use it Drive Growth
- Check out the article – 30 timeless lessons on creating killer content from one of the greatest business minds and copywriters: David Ogilvy
- Check out the article – What is an Omnichannel Customer Experience And How to Boost Growth With it
- Check out the article – How to Create a Powerful Diversity Marketing Strategy That Drives Growth With Examples
- Listen to my interview with Sam Shepler – 9+ Proven Ways to Create a Successful Customer-Driven Marketing Strategy
- Learn from Shep Hyken – How to Build Customer Trust And Loyalty to Drive Business Growth
- Listen to my interview with Paula Thomas – How to Create Powerful B2B Customer Loyalty Programs That Drive Growth
- Listen to my interview with Rich Rose – How to Radically Improve Customer Service for Business Growth
- Learn from Dan Gingiss – How to Create a Digital Customer Experience Strategy to Drive Growth
Connect with Paul
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What is Brand Value and How to Use it Drive Growth