The service professional showed up on time, delivered the service promised, and then prepared to leave. As he was leaving, he asked the homeowner, “how was everything with the service?” The homeowner answered, “fine, thanks.” And the service professional walked out the door, content that the homeowner was satisfied with the service they received.

What the service pro didn’t realize is: He just lost tens of thousands of dollars in future business.

The homeowner was NOT happy with the service. So they decided never to call that company again. And then they told their family and friends about the negative experience. And then they jumped on Yelp and AngiesList to share their dissatisfaction.

The service professional was shocked. How could the customer SAY they were happy with the service but then change their mind so quickly?

The answer is: The customer never changed their mind. They were always dissatisfied with the service they received. However, when the service professional asked about the service, the customer just gave a default, non-committal response. Many customers will do this because they don’t want to confront someone (especially if it’s a female customer – they won’t want to confront a strange man in their home).

I believe that it doesn’t matter what a customer says to your face that really counts; rather, it’s what they say behind your back (to their family and friends, and even online) that really matters.

Asking customers how they felt about their service is okay (because some people will tell you openly) but you should train your experts in how to read tonality and body language (which account for more than 80% of all communication) to help them know what’s really going on in the customer’s mind. You can read more about this in my book Secrets Of Communication Mastery.

But even more important than reading body language, you need to take a long look at your own business to determine exactly what you can do to help WOW a customer to deliver the best service possible. For this, I recommend building a Framework For Service, which I talk about in my book The Secrets Of Business Mastery. In that book, I share some step-by-step strategies to create a framework that your experts will follow to ensure that all of your customers are truly happy with the service they receive.

For example:

• The service you provide actually starts long before the customer encounters your staff on the phone or in their home. It actually starts with your marketing – does your marketing position you as a business that serves?
• Your service needs to not just be “good enough” – it needs to be beyond excellent. Most customers expect and deserve good service from every company they deal with. Therefore delivering good service is only delivering the service customers expect. You have to explode beyond their expectations.
• You should also follow-up on your expert’s visit with an automated phone survey. People are far more likely to be honest when faced with a machine than a human. This will give you a true picture of your customer’s satisfaction.

There are, of course, many other strategies you can build into a Framework For Service to help shape a customer’s experience and to ensure that they are thrilled by the time your expert leaves. You can read about these in The Secrets Of Business Mastery.

Remember: It doesn’t matter what they say to your face. What matters, is what they say behind your back.