I was reading an article on BradingStrategyInsider.com on brand inspirations this morning which moves me a little bit. The author talks about how when in Japan he had observed a gesture of hospitality typical in Japan both in private and business domains.

The host would place the sake cup in a saucer of some kind. He/she would then start pouring sake into the cup up to the brim and continue pouring till it overflows and start spilling into the saucer and only stops when the saucer is filled to the brim and ready to overflow.

The meaning behind the gesture is to show the generosity of the host and to express their gratitude for your presence. What an idea! Translated into the business arena, Brands show customer service beyond what is expected. Much more than what is expected.

This led me to analyze the kind of customer service my companies were offering (both online and offline). I looked into one specific online business that I am running (an online logo design company) and what we are doing in terms of meeting or exceeding the expectations of the customers. I was a little disappointed to find that we are perhaps meeting (barely) the expectations and the brand promise that we had started out with. In some instances, we were actually slightly behind.

Why? It is not for the lack of passion or dedication. I realized it was due to the price cutting and “cheapest service around” kind of business model that we were stuck in. When you charge so low for a professional service, it is quite hard to go beyond the brand promise and provide truly outstanding customer service. It is hard to make those calls before a project begins to see if there is any thing else the client might want to share with the design team. It is hard to call the client and find out their reaction to the initial design concepts presented. It is difficult to follow up after a project is complete and find out if the client had any issues with the files, or perhaps needed some assistance in using the new logo etc.

Why is it difficult? Because, at least in some industries and for small businesses, it costs money to offer outstanding customer service. It takes time and effort to make calls to clients when you really don’t have to or are not expected to. You need some one passionate and capable to be handling this kind of communication with your customers. Some one who would be expensive to retain. You can not simply outsource this kind of superior customer service.

So I thought, would our clients appreciate such customer service even if it means spending a bit more than than the competition? Or should we sacrifice our already meager profit margins and offer this kind of customer service and generosity from our pocket? Tough question. So I have decided to run an experiment. I will introduce a new package in our logo design service which will be a lot more expensive compared to the other packages and provide the highest level customer service that any one can offer in this industry category. Of course the next question would be weather the potential clients would be able to appreciate what they would get by going for the expensive option. Towards that end, I will have to work out a way to communicate this message and see if there are any takers and what the results would be like.

Book mark this page for more updates on this topic as I conduct my experiment. I would also invite you to share your own experiences and this topic and offer any insights.