The most successful companies understand their customers. They work with them, for them and will look after them whenever they have troubles, even if those troubles aren't directly their fault. They understand how to communicate to them, and not just in a one-way manner, they listen. Their actions pave the way for customer advocacy to the point where the word customer is no longer needed, it is replaced by 'friend'.
The past two years I have watched, utilized and even challenged EAT24's attitude to customer service. The result? A pass, and with flying colors. With the overwhelming evidence drawn from first hand experiences and reinforced by stacks of positive word of mouth, it was time to do what I do best and give credit where its due, especially when it involves delicious food. I reached out to the EAT24 team and they gladly accepted to partake in an interview to share a little more about what makes their culture so friend-forward and effective and to share about how they, in my opinion, are Customer Happiness Champions.
Topic 1 - Blogs
Your blogs hit the customer on such a personal level, like a 1-1 conversation between two friends at a bar. What made you decide to take this approach? Where did it start?
There was never any discussion about what our brand voice should be. Our goal is just to be ourselves. The way we talk on all of our communication channels is the same way we all talk in real life, including our founders & CEO. Everything we do uses this voice, no matter if it’s a blog post, an email, a tweet about chimichangas; even a notification in our app. Our general rule of thumb is if it makes us laugh, go with it.
***
Something else I notice about your blogs is that they are short and to the point. While some companies decided to take the long, tedious 'here's our weekly updates and a ton of other stuff approach', you make it bite-size. What prompted this decision?
Plain and simple - we get bored after a few sentences. Nobody has time for boring, long-winded content. We don't want to read it, and we're certainly not going to make our customers read it either.
Topic 2 - Customer Service
Your customer happiness reps (as i like the call them) seem to be vetted to maintain the same brand persona/personality as EAT24 gives off within its day to day communications. How do you make this happen?
We all contribute to the voice of EAT24 because the EAT24 persona isn’t written in a manual. It’s a mentality that runs through the entire company, so it comes very naturally for most people. Whether you talk to someone from sales, support, social media, or even accounting, you’ll get the same voice. It’s truly who we are. Some of us were hired internally and some of us just responded to good old fashioned online job ads. This speaks to the point above about being yourself. When the personality of the company is strong and it comes through even in something as seemingly insignificant as a job post, it’s going to attract like minded people.
***
Why are you so generous? If a customer has a problem you will nearly always compensate them. Even in situations where its not your fault - you work with third parties and its inevitable that sometimes they will get things wrong. But you have the customers back, there's none of this 'it's not our problem' - what made you decide to take this approach? How was it worked for you?
We're our own customers too, and we know how much it sucks when an item is missing or you get onions when you specifically said "No Onions!" - especially when you're hungry. We love our customers and we do whatever we can to make them happy and feel like someone has their back.
***
At BritWit I make a point to say 'cut the corporate crap'. Companies spend far too much time playing it safe and generic opposed to connecting with their customers. If you could give some simple advice to a new company wanting to truly connect with its customers, what would you say?
Just be yourself. For us that means advertising on porn, fighting for a Taco's right to be an Emoji, and just loving what we do. Do what works for you and stick to it.
Topic 3 - Gotta' End With Some Fun
Across the board what are the top 3 dishes that people order on Eat24?
It really depends on where you are, but we definitely get a lot of orders for Pepperoni Pizza, General's Chicken, and Onion Rings.
***
What’s the most ridiculously amazing thing you guys have eaten together in the office?
We're a sucker for snack foods. Lately, it was Reese's Oreos and Doritos Loaded (not at the same time). We also love to order in as many different wing flavors as possible for the office.
***
Describe your whole team in three words.
Best. Team. Ever.
Well, there you have it. A huge thank you to the EAT24 team for giving up their time to help the BritWit community with this delicious special feature interview. If you're feeling peckish then you should definitely head on over to EAT24 now and order some Mozzarella Sticks, Lamb Shawarma *drool* or what ever else floats your hunger boat.
Take it easy, and until next time!
