Shep Hyken's Blog, page 148

Sorry Shouldn’t Mean “Too Bad”

The other day a buddy shared an experience he had with a company that sold him mulch for his yard. When the truck arrived, he asked the driver and his co-worker to put the mulch in the backyard. The driver said, “I’m sorry. Dropping the mulch off in the backyard is considered white-glove service. You needed to let us know you wanted the mulch in the backyard when you ordered it.” In this case, sorry had a double meaning. Maybe the driver was saying he was sorry to apologize, and at the same time, he was also saying, “Too bad. Pay more money if you want the mulch delivered an extra 50 feet to the back of the house.”

I had a similar “I’m sorry” experience when I went to check out at a hotel. There was a $35 resort charge that I didn’t know about. I was there for three days, so that added up to over $100. I asked the front desk clerk what I got for that $100. She said, “Free internet, access to the workout room and a newspaper.” Hmm… most hotels I stay at don’t charge for any of these amenities. And, she added, almost ashamed, “I’m sorry. They should have informed you about the resort fee when you made your reservation. Once again, the word sorry was more of a “Too bad,” than an apology.

Lesson One: The words we use are important. And, if we use a phrase like “I’m sorry,” what comes after that needs to be part of the apology versus a “too bad” type of explanation. Even if it is “too bad,” the way you say it can include some empathy and caring that makes the customer know you feel their disappointment.

Lesson Two: The surprise resort fee wasn’t a big deal to pay. Yet, at the heart of the issue is that I felt the hotel was “nickel and diming” me. So, I asked the front-desk clerk to do me a favor. I told her that I wasn’t mad at her about the resort charge. It wasn’t her fault, and she was just the bearer of the bad news explanation. She immediately seemed to relax. Then, I told her what I did for a living, and asked if she would share how she felt about this situation. She told me that almost every day several guests complain about the resort fee, and she feels she has to defend it, and that makes her feel uncomfortable.

When you know that your customers are regularly disappointed with a part of your process, figure out a way to eliminate that disappointment. In the case of the resort fee, it seems simple. It’s fine to charge it, so when the guest makes a reservation, if it’s online the fee should be made clear and be included on the confirmation receipt. If the reservation is made over the phone, inform the guest, and in the process, “sell” the benefits of that fee. For example, the reservationist could say, “Make sure you take advantage of the workout room. It’s more like a spa with the latest equipment. It’s part of your resort fee. You’ll love it.” Then, at check-in, go over the room rate and resort fee and “sell” it again. Make it a benefit, not an ugly surprise at the end of the trip. Isn’t that so much better than having to say, “I’m sorry!”

There are many ways we can turn negatives into positives. There are many words we can use to show our customers we care. The powerful words, “I’m sorry,” shouldn’t be abused. They shouldn’t be part of a too bad explanation. They should convey empathy, care and concern. And, if you have to utter those two powerful words more often than you should, figure out why, and do something about it!

Shep Hyken is a customer service and experience expert, award-winning keynote speaker, and New York Times bestselling business author. For information, contact 314-692-2200 or www.hyken.com. For information on The Customer Focus customer service training programs, go to www.thecustomerfocus.com. Follow on Twitter: @Hyken

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Amazing Business Radio: Jeanne Bliss

Deliver a Customer Experience That Would Make Mom Proud
Would your customers agree that your service is so good, you’d make mom proud?

Shep Hyken sits down with Jeanne Bliss, author of Would You Do That to Your Mother? The “Make Mom Proud” Standard for How to Treat Your Customers, and discusses her book and the art of making customers happy.



Top Takeaways:

“Make Mom Proud” businesses are companies that are deliberate regarding how they will and will not make revenue, how they will enable employees to do the right thing, how they charge customers, and how they make it easy or hard to do business.
Jeanne encourages listeners to go to make-mom-proud.com to join the #MakeMomProud movement by posting a picture of their mother and writing something they’ve done to make her proud.
Because customers first interact and communicate with a company’s employees, businesses must first have happy employees.
Would You Do That to Your Mother?, which includes 32 case studies, is split into five parts:

Be the Person I Raised You to Be

This chapter discusses enabling your employees to thrive. Bliss emphasizes that hiring is the most important decision for businesses.


Don’t Make Me Feed You Soap

This part of the book describes the importance of honoring your customers’ time.


Put Others Before Yourself

For businesses to achieve their own goals, they must first make it possible for customers to achieve their goals.


Take the High Road

Bliss discusses the need to be fair and not take advantage of customers. Instead, businesses and customers become partners.


Stop the Shenanigans

This section of the book summarizes the “mom” lens with questions and includes a “Make-Mom-Proud-ometer” to help evaluate your organization and find out how close you are to being having a “Make Mom Proud” business.

Quotes:

“Reward ingenuity. Trust people for going out and taking action – sometimes risky action. Celebrate that!” – Jeanne Bliss

“Would you give your mother a four-hour window in which you might show up to visit her?” – Jeanne Bliss

“Redesign your business to help your customers achieve their goals, and then you will achieve your own.” – Jeanne Bliss

About:

Jeanne Bliss is the Founder and President of CustomerBliss, and the Co-Founder of The Customer Experience Professionals Association. She is one of the foremost experts on customer-centric leadership and the role of the Chief Customer Officer.

Shep Hyken is a customer service and experience expert, New York Times bestselling author, award-winning keynote speaker, and your host of Amazing Business Radio.

 

This episode of Amazing Business Radio with Shep Hyken answers the following questions … and more:

What steps must businesses take to “make mom proud”?
How can companies use rewards to lift people’s spirits?
What role does the hiring process play in customer happiness?
What can businesses do to lead a business transformation?
How can companies create a partnership with their customers?

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5 Top Customer Service Articles For the Week of May 7, 2018

Each week I read a number of customer service and customer experience articles from various resources. Here are my top five picks from last week. I have added my comment about each article and would like to hear what you think too.

Overstock’s customer service texts have a 98 percent open rate by Ilyse Liffreing

(Digiday) Overstock.com knows the days are long gone when people would call or email about problems with its products or service. That’s why the online retailer now converses with its customers most frequently through text messages.

My Comment: There are many ways for customers to communicate with the companies and brands they do business with. Everything from the traditional phone, to live chat, email, etc. If you aren’t considering text messaging, perhaps you should, and that’s what this article is about. The author uses Overstock.com as the case study, and get this. Since Overstock started texting, they have received 14 percent fewer phone calls. Why are customers embracing texting?

How to set a return policy that works for the customer and you by Sam Kliger

(Retail Customer Experience) A store’s return policy is an important part of your overall approach to customer service, but it’s not as simple as making your guidelines strict or lenient. Return policies are very specific to your brand and what you’re looking to accomplish — there is no one-size-fits-all strategy.

My Comment: If you are in the retail business and you have returns, then this is an article you want to read. An easy return policy creates customer confidence and trust in the brand. This short article covers some basics and also includes some interesting and forward-thinking ideas.

The Humanoid Touch: How AI is Changing Customer Experience by Deb Miller

(CMSWire) Our expectations for good customer experience are changing. Or are they? All we have ever really expected is to be recognized, treated respectfully and served efficiently.

My Comment: What do customers want? According to this article, “All we have ever really expected is to be recognized, treated respectfully and served efficiently.” Agreed! However, some companies struggle to do so. The author of this article suggests that the way to meet these basic expectations is a combination of human and digital interactions that he refers to as the “humanoid touch.”

The Three Types of Brand Consistency that Drive Customer Loyalty by Christina Sanders

 (CustomerThink)  Consistency is frequently touted as the key to building a successful brand, but consistent in what? Let’s dive into the three types of brand consistency that can boost customer loyalty.

My Comment: What drives loyalty? One answer is consistency. This short article focuses on the three types of consistency that drives brand loyalty: a consistent customer experience, consistent brand values and consistent brand identity elements.

Take Your Company’s Customer Experience Efforts to the Community by Adrian Speyer

(CRM Magazine) Branded communities can capitalize on this emerging picture: Potential customers would much rather hear from their peers than they would from you.

My Comment: No doubt that getting people to talk about your products and services is your best marketing (also known as Word-of-Mouth). So, what can a company do to give their customers something to talk about? Understanding the customer’s journey is the start. This article says exactly that and supports the ideas with some good stats.

Shep Hyken is a customer service expert, professional speaker and New York Times bestselling business author. For information on The Customer Focus customer service training programs go to www.TheCustomerFocus.com. Follow on Twitter: @Hyken

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Guest Blog: 3 Essential Stages of Cultivating a Winning Customer Experience

This week we feature an article by Meyer Baron who writes about the essential stages of a winning customer experience. Smart companies promise a positive customer service experience, and they deliver. – Shep Hyken

“Customer experience” means different things to different people. The digital marketer may see the website as the key to producing a great customer experience, while the customer service pro may see training and culture as the keys to customer experience.

Who’s right? They both are, because the reality is that there are three essential stages of customer experience: before, during and after the sale. Cultivating a winning customer experience entails giving all three stages the focus that customers deserve and increasingly demand.

That’s a lesson we learned the hard way at FreightCenter, a third-party logistics company that helps businesses and individuals find the best freight shipping solution for them. After more than 15 years in business, our Better Business Bureau rating fell to an unacceptable level, mostly out of neglect. We acted with the expressed goal of improving our rating to A+. Here’s what we did.

Updated our BBB profile and made sure the Bureau understood our business and how many people we served.
Improved customer service training.
Began the process of consistently responding to every customer grievance.

Six months later we earned that A+ rating. We also started addressing customer experience more fully at every stage of the customer journey.

Before the Sale

People go online because they are looking for something. It is the job of marketing and advertising to make sure they find it. Moreover, when the prospect clicks on an ad or search engine result, that click had better take the prospect to a relevant page. As simple as that may sound, think about how frequently you have had this happen to you.

You search for a product on a search engine.
There is an ad at the top of the page that mentions that product.
You click on the ad and are taken to the company’s homepage instead of the page with that product on it.

How would you rate that customer experience?

Advertising and marketing need to create delightful and relevant customer experiences by aligning the brand’s goals with what its ideal customers seek. Otherwise, there will be no sale.

During the Sale

Once the customer has arrived, what sort of customer experience will differentiate your company from all the others that sell the same things yours does? The answer to this question extends beyond the value proposition and calls for doing each of the following:

Create an easy path to purchase.
Answer as many customer questions as possible without requiring the customer to contact you.
Explain what will happen next.
Use technology to make the decision-making process clear and simple.
Back up technology with live salespeople.

We developed a proprietary freight quote system, so customers could instantly compare shipping cost quotes from multiple freight carriers. While all our competitors invite customers to request a quote, many of them do not deliver that quote instantaneously, so our quote system elevates our standing to the shipper who is shopping for a solution. We also back our technology with a knowledgeable staff that is available via phone and email to address all customer questions and concerns. The level of direct expertise available to our customers also makes us stand out. Together, the innovative use of technology combined with real subject matter experts creates the ultimate customer experience.

After the Sale

Your customers will expect you to thank them for their purchase and provide some form of tracking technology, so they can see the progress of their order at a glance. They will also expect to receive an email asking them how satisfied they are with the job you did, and maybe a request for a review. But there is a part of the after-sale customer experience that the customer never sees. Call it the preventative customer experience, because it prevents a customer from having a negative experience.

A quality assurance system should review all orders and follow their progress. Such a system heads off ugly customer experiences. Your customer would rather receive a pro-active message from you informing them of a problem than wait for a delivery that never comes to pass. When everything works well, your customer won’t even realize how happy you made them.

Meyer Baron is a Senior Content Writer for FreightCenter, a full-service 3rd Party Logistics company. FreightCenter recently earned a Net Provider Score® of 80, measuring how likely a customer will be to recommend FreightCenter to a friend or colleague, based on customer surveys.

For more articles from Shep Hyken and his guest contributors go to customerserviceblog.com.

Read Shep’s latest Forbes Articles: How To Be A Company That Amazon Looks Up To

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We’re the Front Desk, Not the Shipping Department

The short version of my story is this: At a recent conference, the client gave their speakers a gift – a backpack filled with swag that included fancy water bottles, fleece pull-overs and more. This wonderful gift was a little large to fit in my suitcase, so I decided to box it up and mail it to my office. As I was heading to the FedEx office, one of my fellow speaker-buddies told me he took his to the front desk of the hotel where they conveniently accommodated his request to ship the gift to his home. I decided to do the same, but my experience was the antithesis of his.

Just like my buddy, I took my gift to the front desk. When I asked about having it shipped to my office, the gentleman behind the counter said, “We’re the front desk, not the shipping department.”

At first, I thought he was joking, but when it was obvious that he wasn’t, I was shocked by his answer. It turns out he was very serious about not wanting to take the package. I explained that my friend had been there earlier that day, and whoever it was working at the front desk took care of him. He finally acquiesced and said, “Okay, I’ll take the package and hold it for when someone from our shipping and receiving department comes in later, but I won’t be responsible if it’s lost or stolen.”

With that comment about his lack of responsibility, I put on my best smile and told him that I didn’t want him to have to worry about the package and that I’d find a different way to ship it home. I calmly walked away and decided to try again later.

The next morning I gave it another try. I approached the front desk where a young and enthusiastic employee greeted me with a smile. She listened to my request and responded, “I’m new here, but I know we do this all of the time. Wait here for just a moment.” In less than two minutes she was back and asked me to write down the shipping details. She took the package and told me she would text me the shipping information. About fifteen minutes later she texted me a picture of the shipping label.

This is a classic example of a lack of consistency, which comes from a lack of training. I had a chance to talk to the hotel manager about what happened. He was horrified at what I experienced. He assured me that this is a common request, and he would have plenty to talk about at the next team meeting.

Too many times I’ve asked a customer support rep a question and didn’t like the answer. So, I politely ended the call and called back to see if a different employee would give me the same answer. I’m amazed at how many times I get different answers. So, which one is the correct answer? For the customer, it’s the one they like the best.

If this is happening in your organization, it’s time to put a stop to it. Inconsistent answers lead to customer confusion and a lack of confidence. And, without confidence, you can’t have trust. Customers need to know when there are problems or they have questions that they are dealing with knowledgeable and smart people. I preach customer service and soft skills training. But, this is all about the facts. This is about employees knowing their product and sharing consistent information. Anything less and customers may move on.

Shep Hyken is a customer service and experience expert, award-winning keynote speaker, and New York Times bestselling business author. For information, contact 314-692-2200 or www.hyken.com. For information on The Customer Focus customer service training programs, go to www.thecustomerfocus.com. Follow on Twitter: @Hyken

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Amazing Business Radio: Brad Birnbaum

How to Eliminate Friction and Improve the Customer Support Experience
How can you provide a better experience for the customer and an even better one for the agents?

Shep Hyken sits down with Brad Birnbaum, CEO and Co-Founder of Kustomer, to talk about how to understand and know everything about your customer.



Top Takeaways:

A common problem is when the customer knows that the company has information about them, yet the customer support rep solving the problem doesn’t know anything about the customer. Every support agent should have all the information about the customer in front of them. By having knowledgeable agents, you can increase productivity by 20%.
When you create friction, you end up creating a complaint. To eliminate friction, agents must have the relevant data about the customer at their fingertips, reducing the time of the phone call and the number of emails exchanged.
Consider using a “sentiment rank” to gauge how happy or angry the customer is. Then find all the unhappy customers and reach out to them to try and get them to re-engage.
Chatbots are best used for simple requests and less effective for personal service. Combining a chatbot with a Conversational Form is an effective way to use the chatbot to collect data or conduct a survey. It may feel like a chatbot but is really collecting data along the way. This makes customers feel like they’re immediately in the chat instead of having to make selections to get to the right place.

Quotes:

“Want to have 100% less frustrated customers? Don’t ask them to give you the same information again and again.” – Brad Birnbaum

“In the age of improving customer service, it’s about reducing frustration and friction.” – Brad Birnbaum

“Wow the customer by telling them at the beginning of the conversation, ‘I know why you are calling, and here’s what we are going to do about the problem.’” – Brad Birnbaum

“Chatbots only as good as the person who programs it or creates it.” – Brad Birnbaum

About:

Brad Birnbaum is the CEO and Co-founder of Kustomer and is a 20-plus veteran of the customer service industry.

Shep Hyken is a customer service and experience expert, New York Times bestselling author, award-winning keynote speaker, and your host of Amazing Business Radio.

 

This episode of Amazing Business Radio with Shep Hyken answers the following questions … and more:

What are the latest tools being used in customer support?
What is the cause of customer frustration?
What data should we be using in customer support?
How are chatbots best used?

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5 Top Customer Service Articles For the Week of April 30, 2018

Each week I read a number of customer service and customer experience articles from various resources. Here are my top five picks from last week. I have added my comment about each article and would like to hear what you think too.

16 Statistics Showing Data’s Influence on Customer Experience by Tricia Morriss

(Business2Community) A Customers 2020 report predicts that by 2020, customer experience will overtake both price and product as the key differentiator for brands.

My Comment: Data and personalization ate HOT topics in marketing and customer experience. This excellent article by Tricia Morris has some interesting facts and stats about how companies are using data to personalize the CX. Some are exciting. Some are surprising. And, depending on your company – and how far advanced (or not) you are with your personalization strategy – some might be a little scary!

The Opportunity Cost of Delivering an Average Customer Experience by Maggie Lin

(Solvvy) People naturally tend to initiate conversations about experiences that are either exceptionally good or really let them down. Unhappy customers tell between 9 and 15 people on average about their poor customer experience–and 13% of unhappy customers will complain to more than 20 people.

My Comment: A satisfied customer is not a loyal customer. If all you do is satisfy your customer – or give them an average experience – you are in a dangerous place. The cost of delivering average service and CX can be huge. The benefits of consistently being above average can take you and your company to another level.

We Asked 30 CX Influencers if They Would Recommend the Net Promoter System by Anna Pogrebniak

(Lumoa) The Net Promoter System® (or NPS) has been a popular customer experience metric since its creation in 2003. NPS is used by the biggest companies and leaders in its industries: from Apple to Airbnb, from Amazon to Tesla. At the same time, NPS is often a subject of critics and misunderstanding.

My Comment: I’m a big fan of NPS (Net Promoter Score), and many of you already know that. Lumoa asked 30 customer experience influencers their opinions on NPS. I’m honored that they included me, but there are 29 other comments you are going to want to read. A great compilation of comments that include NPS promoters, passives and detractors.

Phone Is King for Customer Experience by Blair Pleasant

(No Jitter) Recent Five9 survey data shows digital consumers, regardless of age, still want to talk to customer service agents.

My Comment: According to Jitter, the phone is not dead! It’s still the number one way customers connect with the companies they do business with. I don’t disagree, but some companies and their customers are finding other channels are just as powerful, if not even more so. They can be quicker and more convenient for a customer to interact with a company. And certain types of customers prefer to use the phone as a backup to other customer service support channels. But in spite of all the other ways customers connect, the phone is still king (at least according to the article)!

5 Predictions On The Future Of Customer Service by Mikhail Naumov

(Forbes) From process automation to customer self-service enablement, here’s what brands, executives, and service leaders need to know about what’s on the horizon for customer service.

My Comment: What does the future of customer service look like? Mikhail Naumov shares some of his predictions. I’ve had the pleasure of meeting Mikhail several times, and he is one smart dude! Pay attention to what he says. He makes the complicated simple to understand, especially when we are in heavy discussions about AI and other customer service and CX technologies.

Shep Hyken is a customer service expert, professional speaker and New York Times bestselling business author. For information on The Customer Focus customer service training programs go to www.TheCustomerFocus.com. Follow on Twitter: @Hyken

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Guest Blog: How to Tailor Your E-commerce Site to Best Serve the Digital Customer

This week we feature an article by Seema Nair who writes about the importance of tailoring your e-commerce site to give your customers the best experience. The best customer service is invisible. It just happens. – Shep Hyken

Building an e-commerce site is just the first step of a successful e-commerce journey.  An e-commerce site always needs to be tweaked and fine-tuned to align with ever-evolving business needs and customer expectations. The goal should be to create an e-commerce site that continuously over-delivers on user experience, so make it easy for your customers to find your e-commerce site, navigate, buy, and come back for more! Here are 8 ways to creatively tailor an e-commerce site to best serve digital customers:

Provide Great User Experience

A seamless user experience is an added advantage to a great looking and well-functioning e-commerce site. A great user experience should be the top priority, across all platforms and devices. Regardless if customers are using a desktop, laptop, tablet, or mobile device, the user experience should be customized with features that will enhance their experience. Empower customers to easily search, filter and sort so they can find exactly what they are looking for. A quick product search that caters to every need is key, and provide word tags so products can instantly show up in search results.

Keep the Checkout Process Simple

It can be a thoughtful and time-consuming task for customers to add various items to their cart, review their selected items, and then submit the final order. Enable immediate purchases with one click rather than filling up a cart to manage that will possibly be abandoned. Being able to checkout as a guest, without registration, is a great way to ensure quick and easy purchases. Also allowing the customer to choose a delivery time, helps avoid missed deliveries, and a delivery on a first attempt creates a happy customer. A seamless payment experience is also vital, implementing respective security certificates helps to establish trust and provides comfort when sharing credit card information.

Provide Excellent Customer Service

Touchpoints, as an order progresses, is expected from a digital customer, for instance, updates such as order received, shipped, and that the delivery is on its way. Sharing this information and notifying them of the status of their order will increase their level of excitement and give them a reason to return. This is just an initial start to an on-going customer relationship that doesn’t have to end with only one purchase. Make sure reps are easily reachable for after sales inquiries and feedback via instant chat, social media, email, and phone.

Utilize Social Media

Being omnipresent on various social media platforms is a plus. A strong presence on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or Snapchat can help you reach new or existing customers. Regardless of your existing customer base and target market, millennials are accustomed to promotions and communications across various social media channels. Take advantage of these free platforms to easily engage with customers and develop creative ads to catch their attention as often as possible. Also, social media networks can assist in solving customer inquiries or issues much quicker than other channels.

Provide A Personalized Experience

Personalize, personalize, personalize!  Personalization is not going anywhere and will increase as technology evolves. Remarketing based on click-through history is fundamental. Also, send additional product recommendations in order confirmation emails. Personalize offers and tailor suggestions based on that specific consumer’s wants and needs. Promote their wish list continuously, the more they wish, the more they will buy. While searching, showcase what’s trending and hot.

Include Customer Reviews

Customer reviews and insights about what items sell best, perform best, or have the utmost quality are things customers want to know before a purchase. Customers are heavily influenced by real customer reviews and feedback. Providing a product page that encourages and displays customer feedback is key. This influences buying decisions to either buy that specific item or by suggesting alternative options keeps engagement within the site.                                                                 

Provide Quality Content 

Short and easy to read product descriptions along with real images will capture your customer’s attention. Providing quality and unique content to your customers regarding your product, service or industry will keep them coming back. Be concise and informative, while using images to engage and entice them to learn more.

Tailoring your e-commerce site to best serve your customers can make or break an online store. The key is to perform constant analysis of the site to get customers to come back, drive sales, and enhance customer loyalty.

Seema Nair is a Senior Project Manager (Mobility) at Indusa and has around 11 years of experience in enterprise and consumer-facing mobility solutions. Being a Subject Matter Expert in enterprise mobility, she assists clients in defining mobility strategies and implementing the right mobility solutions for their business.

For more articles from Shep Hyken and his guest contributors go to customerserviceblog.com.

Read Shep’s latest Forbes Articles:  To Create A Great Customer Experience, Sweat The Small Stuff

Can Luke Skywalker And Han Solo Save The Universe… And Your Local Shopping Mall?

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What Does Perfect Service Recovery Look Like?

There are many great customer service stories that can serve as a template for how to handle a problem.  I always fall back on my five-step service recovery process to handle all complaints and problems. For those that haven’t been following, the five-steps are: 1) Acknowledge the problem and thank the customer for bringing it to your attention. 2) Apologize for the problem. 3) Fix it or discuss the resolution. 4) Have an attitude of ownership. 5) Act with urgency.

If you fix a problem or complaint and use these five steps in the background, you will typically not just fix the problem, but restore the customers confidence in you, sometimes to a level even higher than if the problem had never happened.

That brings us to Sarah Wimer, one of our followers, who sent in a story about one of my favorite companies, Panera Bread. For those that don’t know, before Panera was Panera, it was St. Louis Bread Company, a local  St. Louis, MO chain that sold sandwiches and bakery items. Today there are over 2,000 bakery-cafes, more than 100,000 associates and sales are over $5 billion. And, they didn’t get there by disappointing their customers. On the contrary, they are very customer-focused, and this story is a perfect example.

Sarah lives in New York, and had the yearning for Panera’s Green Goddess Salad. It was a cold rainy day, so she drove through the drive-through rather than go inside to place her order. When she got back to the office, she discovered that whoever made the salad, left out the dressing. In Sarah’s words, “If you have ever had a Green Goddess Salad, you know that the dressing is the entire point.” Frustrated, she decided to call Panera and share her thoughts. She braced herself for the worst, but was pleasantly surprised as the experience went from a Moment of Misery, with the missing salad dressing, to a Moment of Magic®, with flawless recovery.

Moment of Magic #1: Since it was lunch time, Sarah thought she might have to leave a message or wait on hold, but was pleasantly surprised that the manager was available to talk right away.

Moment of Magic #2: The manager acknowledges the mistake and apologizes, and then offers up a solution. In just a few short moments he nailed the first three steps in my service recovery process. He asks where she is located and asks if she wouldn’t mind waiting 15 minutes. He’ll get her the dressing right away. That was steps four and five. The manager didn’t make any excuses, such as it being busy or having a short staff. Instead he just owned the problem, and then promised her she would be getting her dressing in just 15 minutes. (Well done Mr. Panera Manager!)

Moment of Magic #3: He shows up on time with the dressing and a Danish ring for the rest of the office to enjoy. I like that… a little something extra for the inconvenience.

Moment of Magic #4: As if all that wasn’t enough, he wanted to make sure she came back, so he gave her a gift-card for her next visit. He also informed her that the team would be running laps outside after lunch as a reminder of why they don’t mess up an order. He was joking, of course, but the humor was another way to add some personality into the recovery effort.

And, this is how it’s supposed to work. And, guess what happens when good companies flawlessly execute, especially in recovery mode? The customer tells other people. In this case Sarah not only told her friends, she also told me. And, I just couldn’t resist sharing the story with others, which means tens of thousands of people are going to find out how well Panera takes care of their customers.

Shep Hyken is a customer service and experience expert, award-winning keynote speaker, and New York Times bestselling business author. For information, contact 314-692-2200 or www.hyken.com. For information on The Customer Focus customer service training programs, go to www.thecustomerfocus.com. Follow on Twitter: @Hyken

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Amazing Business Radio: Martin Powton

7 Secrets for Successful Surveys 
How would you like to provide a better survey experience for your customers?

Shep Hyken speaks with Martin Powton, Marketing Manager at Wizu. They discuss the importance of receiving feedback and how to overcome some potential issues with creating the wrong survey for your business and your customers.

 
 Top Takeaways:

Seven Secrets of Successful Surveys

Personalization – Personalize your surveys, including the customer’s name, for example. Make sure you make it relevant to their experience, following up with relevant questions and avoid asking the unnecessary ones. Creating a more personal experience will make your customers feel as if you value their answers.
Timing – Send surveys in a timely manner – at the right time. For example, if a customer is placing an order for merchandise, you would want to wait until their order was received before you sent out a survey. Sometimes the right time is more immediate. Take Uber, for instance. You receive the survey immediately after the ride. That’s the right time, while the ride is fresh in the customer’s mind.
Close the Loop – You need to engage your customers, so try acknowledging the issues during the survey.
Be Concise – Don’t waste anyone’s time by asking them to repeat information. Make sure every question is important and that you will gain insight from it.
Make the Survey Engaging ­– Create an engaging experience that speaks to the voice of your brand. You can use creativity to add things to the surveys, such as gifs to make them more entertaining and enjoyable, which in turn will help boost your completion rates.
Measure Emotion – Emotion is a key component of the customer experience. Through your survey, you should try to track the sentiment of the customer. Go above just collecting metrics, and discover how your customers feel about you and your organization.
Utilize A.I. to Improve Surveys – Use A.I. to help analyze your results, group emotions and touchpoints. Discover your gaps, areas to improve and more.

Quotes:

“A bad survey experience can actually damage the customer experience.” – Martin Powton

“Make every survey question count. Every question should bring you insight.” – Martin Powton

“Treat your respondents as customers, and remember every customer is a person. Be respectful of their time.” – Martin Powton

About:

Martin Powton is the Marketing Manager at Wizu, a company that creates engaging, entertaining and conversational surveys. Martin has worked in marketing for over 10 years and is passionate about customer centricity and the importance of measuring and improving the customer experience.

Shep Hyken is a customer service and experience expert, New York Times bestselling author, award-winning keynote speaker, and your host of Amazing Business Radio.

 

This episode of Amazing Business Radio with Shep Hyken answers the following questions … and more:

Why do we need customer feedback?
What is the best method of getting customer feedback?
What are important factors of surveys?
How do I increase survey completion rates?
How do I create the best customer survey?

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