How Easy Are You to Do Business With?

Over the years I’ve taught a concept I refer to as the One Thing Question . This is a very simple question to use in a survey as a follow-up to the simple survey question, like the Net Promoter Score question (NPS). For those that may not be familiar with the NPS survey question, it is simply this: On a scale of zero to ten, what is the likelihood that you would recommend us to a friend, colleague or family member. This simple question gives you an idea if your organization did well enough for the customer to recommend you. The follow-up question is this:

Is there one thing you can think of that would make doing business with us better?

The idea is that if you have a number of customers suggesting the same “one thing,” you need to pay attention. And, if the ideas are coming from the customers giving you high ratings, then the suggestions are giving you the opportunity to improve on greatness.Related: A Problem Is an Opportunity to Show How Good You AreSo, here’s a twist on the typical one thing question. Let’s assume you are customer focused and your organization is providing a level of customer service that earns consistent high scores. Where can you go from here? In addition to the great service, be easy and convenient to do business with. That’s the subject of my new book, The Convenience Revolution: How to Deliver a Customer Service Experience that Disrupts the Competition and Creates Fierce Loyalty. This is the next level of customer service. So, the twist on the one thing question is this:

Is there one thing you can suggest that would make doing business with us easier or more convenient?

Some companies make convenience part of, if not all of, their value proposition. They know it separates them from their competition. Huntington Bank has extended hours for their customers, so they can bank after normal business hours and on weekends. CLEAR provides a solution to the frequent traveler that hates waiting in security lines in the airport. Walmart has strategically placed their stores so that 90% of people in the US are less than 10 minutes from a Walmart. Restaurants that choose to use the NoWait app lets their guests add their names to the waiting list at a busy restaurant and time their arrival so that when they show up they are near the top of the list.So, what one thing (or more) can you do to be more convenient for your customers? Come up with the answer and you may get more businessfrom your existing customers and steal away customers from your competition.