The True Story of Cinderella
We've all heard the story of Cinderella hundreds of times since childhood. But the story we've heard is not the real, true story of Cinderella. I'm going to share the true story of Cinderella with you and tell you where the traditional story is wrong.
The story we know describes Cinderella's stepsisters as the "ugly stepsisters," but they weren't ugly at all. In fact, they were as pretty as Cinderella. The story also tells us that the stepsisters were rude, selfish and without poise. But this isn't true. The stepsisters were actually very nice and extremely well-mannered. They were every bit as nice as Cinderella.
At the ball, Prince Charming's first impression of Cinderalla wasn't love at first sight. She walked in with her sisters (another fact left out of the traditional fairy tale), and the prince found all of them equally attractive. All three looked beautiful, and each greeted the Prince in a very courteous way. So, what led the Prince to choose Cinderella, and to quickly forget he had even met the sisters?
The stepsisters were very polite to the prince. But so were about 50 other would-be princesses who attended the ball that night. Being nice to the prince was no way to get noticed, since most everyone was doing it. Cinderella was nice and poised also, but what made her seem so special to the prince was that she was interesting, engaging and intelligent.
The lesson of the true story of Cinderella is that being nice is not enough. Lots of people are nice. If you want to stand out in a crowd, you need to go beyond nice and be interesting, engaging and intelligent.
Just like we've all heard an incorrect story of Cinderella, we've all heard an inaccurate story about customer service and how companies are able to win undying loyalty from their customers. This faulty story tells us that we can win customers just by providing exceptional customer service, because so many of our competitors provide bad customer service. But this isn't true. Sure, there are companies who provide bad customer service (just like there were a few rude, crude guests at Prince Charming's ball), but you can't win a disproportionate share of your customer's business just by giving good service. Enough of your competitors are providing good, basic customer service that it has become a commodity. It's expected.
Good customer service is like being pretty and nice at Prince Charming's ball. It will get you into the ball, but it won't help you win the prince. In this competitive age, much more is needed.
So, what is this "much more" that is needed? What is it that goes beyond customer service and creates true loyalty from customers?
Our post-customer service age rewards companies that engage customers in a way that creates a unique relationship with that customer. These companies provide good customer service, of course, but they do more. They aren't just nice, they are interesting, engaging and intelligent. They create unique "We" relationships with their customers.
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