Many trademarks and company names have become so successful that they are now synonymous with their class of products or services. There’s even a term for this process: genericide. You know of many examples and might not even realize: Kleenex is often substituted for any facial tissue, Aspirin for any acetylsalicylic acid tablet, Saran wrap for any cling wrap, Band-Aid for any adhesive bandage, Popsicle for any frozen fruit juice on a stick, and so on. You can find a list of more examples here. In recent decades, Xerox became the generic term for making a xerographic photocopy, and Google (a service that was once the name of the company before they reorganized into Alphabet) has become synonymous with performing a web search.
Many companies are resistant to their names, products, or services being genericized, and usually for good reason. Loss of trademarks is a real consequence, as Bayer suffered for products like Aspirin. And yet, it’s also highly complimentary when you think about it: imagine revolutionizing a product/service category or setting such a high-mark for quality that your name changes the language. Thinking in the positive sense, Shep Hyken recently posted a blog on this subject: “When Your Company Becomes a Verb”.
Going beyond the genericization of trademarks, Hyken discusses what it means when a company becomes synonymous with being the crème de la crème: “For example, people might say, ‘They are the Cadillac of their industry.’ Obviously, that’s a powerful compliment for both the company and for Cadillac.” In this example, the idea is a level of product quality, but Hyken expands this idea to include a level of service when he explains multiple examples of companies wanting to “Chick-fil-A” their customers.
As Hyken explains, “If you have experienced Chick-fil-A, you know that it is not just the food that brings you back. It has created a service experience that is praised and studied by many other companies and brands. It has a customer-focused culture, hires good people, and is consistent and predictable.” Indeed, this level of customer experience goes beyond serving as a model for other fast-food restaurants. Hyken mentions how the Charlotte Police Department was similarly interested in offering a Chick-fil-A experience to their community. (That may sound odd for law enforcement, but as Hyken elaborates, “97% of police interactions with the public do not result in an arrest. […] In other words, about 97% of the police interactions could potentially be positive customer experiences—even a Chick-fil-A experience.”) Imagine being so successful with your customer service quality that it becomes a trademark of your business and a model for others.
Indeed, in Hyken’s training workshops, he describes something he calls The Five Levels of Service: “The levels advance from Unacceptable to Basic to Good to World Class to Trademark. Any company should be happy with World Class, which is when the company is consistently and predictably delivering a level of service that gets customers to come back. Very few companies can get to Trademark levels of service.” To reach that last level, you have to ascend to the upper echelon of your industry.
Either way, every company should aspire to offer the best customer experience possible. While it’s unlikely any one small business will ascend to that Trademark level, becoming famous across the whole industry or even the world, that doesn’t mean your business can’t offer that same level of experience. It all comes down to having a strong company culture, having the right employees, and being consistent.
In a world of imitators and also-rans, your business has the opportunity to distinguish itself from the competition by setting high standards for yourself, your staff, and your products. Offering a superior customer experience is all about taking charge of what you’re doing with your business, about making the declaration that good isn’t good enough because you have to be great to not only survive but thrive. That’s how you earn long-lasting customer loyalty—how you become the standard by which others are measured.
To take advantage of this opportunity, consider reaching out to us at The Brandt Group. With our best-in-class mystery shopping services, customer and employee feedback tools, and leadership training, we’re your partner in the journey up. Together, we’ll test, retest, and hone your customer experience until it’s the envy of your competitors. Take charge today, so your business can become the standard tomorrow.
