Words matter, and thanks to social media saturating our lives, words can and do fly to and from opposite sides of the globe in seconds. As wonderful as it is to shop from the comfort of our living room and to compare businesses online while we enjoy a slice of pecan pie and sip iced tea, this convenience means it’s easy to shop for a new business to provide the service you want or need. One moment of feeling unsure that a business can consistently deliver desired results and a consumer can and will research another service provider immediately, sometimes before they even finish their iced tea.
There’s a reason Chick-fil-A, according to a July 2019 CNBC article, ranked number one for the fourth year in a row for customer satisfaction out of all fast-food chains. Chick-fil-A employees are trained to say “How may I serve you” and “My pleasure,” among other phrases. Some may argue they’re ranked number one for their food but at the end of the day, Chick-fil-A isn’t the only fast-food chain to sell chicken. They’re also not the only ones to figure out clever marketing and inside play areas for children. So why does this company crush its opponents in customer satisfaction rankings year after year? For starters, Chick-fil-A has figured out how to impart upon its employees, regardless of geographical location, one critical component of success: All communication, especially words, hold weight.
Whether written or verbal, words make a consumer feel like more than a means of improving the company’s bottom line. For a business to possess longevity, that business must consistently meet their consumers’ needs in a way that sets them apart from their competitors. Although it’s easy to say price alone does this, one only needs to look at two competing gas stations that charge the same price and are feet apart to realize that there must be something else pulling vehicles toward one gas station or another. And that something is often the language the company uses, which is a language communicated through billboards, merchandise and employee’s actions and words.
So instead of calling it lucky when a business consistently receives top marks for customer satisfaction, call it a strategic success. Instead of thinking of a business’ language as only words spoken with a mouth, think of a business’ language as every communication that business makes with its consumers. The sooner a company realizes they speak through not only their mouth but also every piece of paper and company image that exits their location, whether that be a company newsletter or highway billboard, the sooner they’ll unlock an important key to not only attracting first-time consumers but also, building their pool of repeat customers.
Author: Evelyn Lindell
