This year’s American Express Global Customer Service Barometer finds that 70% of American consumers are willing to spend an average of 13% more at companies that provide “excellent customer service.” But the study also found that 60% of Americans believe businesses haven’t increased their interest in delivering good customer service in the last year, and 26% of respondents felt that companies are paying less attention to it than they were a year ago.

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Those results spell opportunity for you, provided you are willing to deliver exceptional customer service that gets noticed. Yet how do you get that to happen? According to customer service consultant Shep Hyken, the key is to provide such exceptional customer service that your organization is seen as a company of choice, not as a “commodity” that simply sells something. According to Hyken, asking these questions can help your organization break out of the “commodity trap” and earn more:

1. Why are customers currently doing business with you instead of your competition?

2. Can you identify value-added extras that you are not yet offering? Some examples: If you are a car repair shop, could you offer loaner cars? If you are a dry cleaner, could you offer free delivery and pick up? If you are a tax preparer, could you offer free rear-round credit monitoring to your tax clients?

3. How would that extra level of service be different from what your competitors offer?

4. Would your customers be willing to spend more if you offered those extras? You could survey them to find out, or introduce your new services and measure results.

Hyken cautions that if you are currently keeping customers simply because your prices are low, you could be in danger. If another company steps up and starts to offer a better overall customer experience than you do, it could win your customers away.

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