It goes without saying that time is a precious commodity. Consider the frustration of waiting on hold for hours or remaining housebound during the designated “four-hour window,” awaiting a delivery or repair. (Of course, invariably these folks arrive five minutes before the “window” closes.
But there are exceptions. A friend of mine told me about an experience she had with One Hour Air Conditioning and Heating – Always On Time…Or You Don’t Pay A Dime!®, a firm that’s been serving the San Francisco Bay Area for 21 years. The company’s phone was answered by a woman who gave her name and immediately followed with the question: “How can we save you time today?”
Depending on where you live in the Bay Area, it can get blistering cold or blazingly hot. This company not only understands the importance of climate control, but also values its client’s time. In fact, if the technician is just one minute late for the appointment, the service is provided free of charge. The company offers the promise of saving their customers’ time upfront and consistently delivers on it.
This sparked a couple of thoughts. First of all, time is precious. Are our business’s policies and procedures aligned with respect for our customer’s time? Equally important, are we just paying lip service to it or consistently adhering to our tenets and keeping our promises?
The other question that came up for me is: How can we better communicate our values to our customers? Right off the bat, “How can we save you time today?” is an excellent way for One Hour Air Conditioning and Heating to express a major benefit of working with them. Depending on your industry, the tired questions, “May I help you?” or “ABC Company, this is Linda” could easily become:
“How can we save you money today?”
“How can I help make this vacation special?”
“How can we help you look more glamorous today?”
“How can I help you select the best television programming for your family?”
You get the idea. You can strongly and immediately communicate a benefit of using your product or service and pose an open-ended question your customers can respond to. Then, of course, it’s our job to ensure we’re unfailingly fulfilling our promises and meeting or even surpassing our customers’ needs.
One Hour Air Conditioning and Heating—a business that’s thrived for 21 years—sets a good example. They may specialize in equipment that blows hot and cold, but when it comes to communicating and keeping their promises, their barometer remains steady.