Is Perfection Possible?

A recent blog over at Shep Hyken’s website talks about striving for 100% perfection with your customer service. Shep gives the example of the airline industry, where it was seemingly great news that just fewer than 85% of flights were on time in December. He remarks that it is a good thing the percentage went up, but the fact remains that having nearly 15% of flights NOT on time is still pretty poor.

And he’s not incorrect. If you went to a restaurant regularly and the service was bad 15% of the time, would you continue to go? If the movies at your movie theater broke 15% of the time, would you still buy tickets?

That last example hits close to home as my college town’s movie theater DID mess up all the time, probably closer to 25% of the time. The thing is, we had no other options, and when things did go wrong, we would complain and get free tickets. And that’s where the customer service aspect of imperfection comes in to play.

Perfection

Shep argues that every company should strive for 100% perfection when it comes to taking care of your customers. Of course, he also says it’s impossible, as one little slip-up, intentional or not, kills your record.

But just how close can you get? Is 99% perfection possible? What about 90%? Honestly, sometimes there’s just no way to judge what your percentage of success is. Plus, unlike an airline’s lack of punctuality, sometimes that percentage changes.

For example, you may goof up an order at one point or have miscommunication on the first call. It’s unfortunate, but occasionally it happens.  During the follow-up, you realize the mistake and you remedy the error. Now where’s your percentage? Does the original success rate go up or do you start a whole new chart? It’s difficult to say, as the whole affair ebbs and flows naturally.

Striving

In Shep’s final paragraph, he mentions the point of striving for perfection is along the way you create a great atmosphere for your customers.

“What you sell has to do what you promise it will do, and you must deliver it with strong customer service,” he says. “When you do, you have a winning combination and a chance at getting that customer to come back the next time they need what you sell. And when that happens over and over, the customer will eventually own the experience. Once they own it, you have created customer confidence.”

So the end point really isn’t to achieve some magical number you can brag to your competitors about. The final result is more about creating a happy environment for your customers where they feel safe in buying your stuff. They’ll know that no matter what happens you’re going to do what you can to fix anything that comes up.

While there may not be any such thing as “perfect,” you can certainly be perfectly honest in your attempts to BE perfect. Along the way you should find you’ve achieved even more than if you had somehow acquired that perfect record.