Shep Hyken's Blog, page 174

The Ship Is Sinking, Yet the Band Plays On

Common sense must always prevail – especially when it comes to customer service. That said, sometimes companies create strict rules and policies or have a “system” that makes it impossible for an employee to deliver the customer service the company actually wants them to deliver.

Recently, I was sitting next to someone on an airplane who was on his way for a vacation on a cruise ship. We got into a discussion about how some people are so set in their ways that they can’t be creative about solving a customer’s problems. These people are so tied to their process and the way they have always done things that they jeopardize the relationship with their customer, even when common sense should prevail.

My fellow passenger has been on many cruises – and as good the customer service is on most cruises, he said there are always a few of the ship’s employees that are more focused on the system or process than on their customer. He then shared a few stories from his past trip about how some crew members lacked common sense. For some reason, it reminded me of the Titanic and how the eight-member band continued to play, even after the ship started sinking.

I thought that the story of the band playing while the ship was going down might be fictitious, so I did a little research to see if were true. Well, as the story actually goes, the reason for the band continuing to play was that Wallace Hartley, the band’s leader, had asked the band to keep playing because he thought it would help calm the chaos that was ensuing around them.

Maybe that was true, but I’d like to take some creative license and bend this story a bit to create a customer service lesson. My made-up version of the story has nothing to do with keeping the passengers calm. My version is that Mr. Hartley said, “Keep playing. We still have two hours to go in our set.” The passengers had all left to save themselves, but the band played on … as they went down with the ship.

The point is that Mr. Hartley’s band should have stopped playing immediately and tried to save themselves. Common sense should have prevailed. The band should have headed for the life rafts. But, sometimes people just do what they think they are supposed to be doing, without regard for common sense.

So, what does this have to do with customer service? The best companies hire people who are smart, problem-solving, customer-focused people who look for ways to work around having to say NO and come up with ways to say YES. They don’t get stuck on company policy. They work within the rules, but also understand flexibility. They will do what’s right for both the company and the customer. In short, they use common sense, especially when the ship is going down – or a customer is angry.

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

(Copyright © MMXVII, Shep Hyken)

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Amazing Business Radio: Jeremy Watkin

Jeremy Watkin on How Listening to Your Customer Service Reps Can Give You a Competitive Advantage

Do you realize there is a hidden gem in your customer service department?

Shep Hyken speaks with Jeremy Watkin to discuss the strategies you can use to mine that hidden gem, which can give your organization a competitive advantage.

But first…

Shep Hyken discusses the power of the customer satisfaction survey. Just about everything related to the success of a business is tied to numbers, and the customer satisfaction survey is a big part of that. With the survey, it is important to ask the right questions, but even more importantly, to be prepared to do something with the answers you get. As Peter Drucker said, “You can’t manage what you don’t measure.”

After Shep’s opening comments, Shep and Jeremy discuss how you can measure what the customer is saying through listening, and paying attention to your customer satisfaction or Net Promotor Score surveys, and the verbatim feedback that accompany them. It may also be through anecdotal comments they are making to your customer service department on the phone. It may be the comments customers are typing on your website when they are canceling their service. All of these comments can be used to give valuable insights into how we can improve our customers’ experience.

A few tips from Jeremy Watkin on improving customer service:

Create a Customer Service Focus Group

Jeremy suggests as a solution to create a focus group, not only among your customers, but also with your customer service department. You’ll never be short for material when you ask your customer service department for feedback on the pain points your customers are experiencing. The customer service department will happily share feedback from your customers. Ask them the right questions, and you will get incredible answers.

Customer Service Stop Words

There are a number of words that some people in customers say on a regular basis that simply turn our customers off. We must get away from telling our customers things like “Sorry, there is nothing we can do” or “Our policy prohibits us from taking any action on your behalf.” Sometimes the customer service rep may resort to saying, “No,” because it’s easier than trying to figure out a way to fix the customer’s issue. Here are a few “Customer Service Stop Words” to avoid:

Unfortunately
Policy
Can’t
Won’t
No

Any time you invoke policy, it is not going to sit well with the customer! Instead using phrases such as, “Let me see what I can do,” or, “Here is what I can do for you.”

Customer Service Support Tools

To help your customer service department do their job more effectively, consider artificial intelligence tools like Gridspace or Call Miner. These tools can ‘listen’ to how your customer service department interacts with the customer, and will give you ideas on how to improve words, syntax and cadence to make a better connection with the customer.

And, since many customers (especially millennial customers) like to solve problems on their own, consider the use of self-service tools like Solvvy (for email support) or Nanorep (for chat), a Frequently Asked Questions page or even a “how to” video on YouTube.

Jeremy Watkin is the Head of Quality at FCR, an outsource provider of customer service. He is also the co-founder and regular contributor to the blog Customer Service Life, where he continues to write about customer service, customer experience, and contact center life. Be sure to connect with him on Twitter at @jtwatkin for more awesome customer service and experience insights.

“Empathy is not about a statement saying, ‘I’m sorry’ or ‘It’s unfortunate that this happened to you.’ Empathy is about truly connecting with our customers, creating a human-to-human connection.” – Jeremy Watkin

      

 What questions will this episode answer?

Why is it important to respond to customer surveys and comments?
What are some the words to avoid when responding to customers?
What is empathy for the customer?
What are some support tools we can use to improve the customer service experience?

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5 Top Customer Service Articles For the Week of February 6, 2017

Each week I read a number of customer service articles from various online 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.

11 Reasons Why Customer Advocacy is the Bedrock of Your Business by Robbie Richards

(JitBit) In this post, we’ll be discussing the importance of customer advocacy and why you must get on board, or else risk weakening the bedrock of your business.

My Comment: Customer advocacy is powerful. Customers who are willing to recommend you to their friends and colleagues are your best marketing. This article has eleven “data drive” reasons customer advocacy is important and seven tips on how to increase advocacy. There is something here for everyone.

How to Build Trust with Internal Customers by Elaine Fogel

(Elaine Fogel) Whether your business or organization has one or a hundred employees, it’s important to honor them, treat them with respect, and turn them into your best brand ambassadors. And, it doesn’t have to cost a lot to accomplish this!

My Comment: Too many times a company (and employees of the company) focus on the outside customer and forget about the internal customer. The best companies know better. This excellent article on internal customer service shares seven ways to build trust with your employees. Trust is a big part of what customer service is all about.

Jay Baer’s Top 3 Tips for Acing Customer Service in the Age of Social Media by Matt Hunkler

(Forbes) If you follow the best practices in digital marketing or customer service, then there’s a good chance you’ve come across a blog named Convince & Convert and have heard of Jay Baer.

My Comment: My friend and colleague Jay Baer, author of Hug Your Haters, is an expert on social media and customer service. The author of this article, Matt Hunkler, reports on three of Jay’s thoughts regarding social customer care. This is important information that everyone should pay attention to: Answer negative reviews, embrace criticism and care about all of your customers.

There is One Quality that Builds Loyalty and Trust by Renuka Rayasam 

(BBC Capital) Businesses often use sales numbers or other figures to gauge how well they are doing. Or track other results, like competence, in order to measure employee performance. But when it comes to building trust with customers and within teams, it turns out that warmth is a key element to success. But how exactly do you measure something so seemingly abstract? Especially as warmth might look different to different people?

My Comment: According to this article, there is one quality that will help build trust and loyalty with your customers more than any other. That is “warmth.” It is the “warm feeling” that the customer has when they do business with you. That feeling primarily comes from the people who engage directly with the customer. This article not only shares why this works, but also backs it up with some stats and facts.

A look ahead: How artificial intelligence (AI) will affect customer service by Alexander Huls

(Telus) For most of its 60-year history, the capabilities of artificial intelligence (AI) has been limited to science fiction movies.

My Comment: Artificial Intelligence (AI) is a hot topic in the customer service world. Can a machine learn enough about a customer – and communicate with a customer – better than a human? One of the important points of this article is that AI is enhancing human to human interactions, not replacing them. The author even shared one of my comments in the article. The article is short and to the point, with some insights that should help you understand and embrace how AI will support customer service.

Shep Hyken is a customer service expert, professional speaker and New York Times bestselling business author. For information contact 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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Guest Blog: Kaleidoscope Service

This week on our Friends on Friday guest blog post my colleague, Chip Bell, shares his concept of kaleidoscope service with some great examples. Kaleidoscope service, I like it! – Shep Hyken

When I grow up, I want to be a kaleidoscope! Kaleidoscopes are addictive. They make you privately ooh and ah as you turn the animator and behold the patterns of colorful glass that charm you. The view can be as special as a grandchild’s hug, as exciting as new puppy, and as awe-inspiring as a double rainbow. Innovative service has the same emotional influence and poignant hold on customers. It creates a chain reaction, a tugging at our heart that triggers us to tug on our wallet.

Kaleidoscopes have the attributes of the kind of experiences we all desire—as customers, employees, and colleagues.  Notice how we all like good service, but only boast, shout or tweet about experiences that are unique and produce an emotional connection. “Good” is the key to customer retention; but “unique” is the secret to customer advocacy. Kaleidoscope service is enriching, inspiring, inclusive, unique and sometimes downright ingenious.  Here are a few examples:

Corley Heating, Air, and Electric in Greenville, SC sends their service techs out on Valentine’s Day with balloons and a valentine card for each customer. The service department of my car dealership has a Keurig Coffee Machine.  On the day I take the car in for service, they always make sure there is hazelnut coffee (my favorite). Miller Brothers men’s clothing in Atlanta has a giant, colorful gumball machine next to a dish of shiny pennies in their store entrance. Guess where junior goes when daddy is trying on trousers? Kaleidoscope service at its finest!

When I checked into the Pacific Rim Fairmont Hotel in Vancouver—a noticeably new high tech property–on my industrial strength desk were retro-toys from an early era (a kaleidoscope, yo-yo and a slinky). When patrons of the Restaurant R’Evolution in New Orleans report they are too way stuffed for dessert, the waiter places a large Peruvian jewelry box in the middle of the table. Inside each drawer and behind every tiny door is a miniature petit fours, pastry, or delicate sweet.

How do you create an experience that is so profoundly remarkable your customers remember it for the rest of their lives?  Instead of the usual exemplars as your role models—Disney World, Nordstrom, and Amazon–look to the kaleidoscope as your new metaphors for magic and watch your customers grow—right along with your bottom line!

Chip R. Bell is a renowned keynote speaker and the author of several best-selling books.  His newest book is Kaleidoscope:  Delivering Innovative Service That Sparkles.

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

Read Shep’s latest Forbes Article: Collect Data Through The Customer Service Center To Improve The Customer Experience

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United Airlines Computer Outage Is Customer Service Crisis Case Study

Last week United Airlines had a computer outage that lasted two and a half hours and caused 200 flight delays and six cancellations. Keep in mind, this wasn’t a single unhappy customer complaining to a gate agent at the airport. This situation involved thousands of people who were inconvenienced. I would describe a two plus hour delayed flight as a Moment of Misery™.

There were thousands of angry passengers. Yet, problems like this are bound to happen at some point; just last year it happened with Delta and Southwest. And it may not be a computer glitch, but a weather problem that causes airline delays. Yet every cloud has a silver lining, and in this instance it’s a mini-case study on how to handle a customer service crisis.

I can’t speak to what happened at the airport when passengers approached gate agents for help, or what happened on the phone lines as passengers tried to reach a customer service representative. I’m sure there were long lines and hold times. The individual interactions turned out either good or bad because of the individual employees’ attitudes and how well they have been trained to handle such situations. But, what I can speak to is the general response that United Airlines made, and how it was a perfect example of what to do in a crisis situation.

I teach a five step process to deal with a complaining customer, and for those who follow my work, this is a short review:

Acknowledge the problem.
Apologize for the problem.
Fix the problem – or discuss how it will be fixed.
Do it with the right attitude – not just being nice, but acting accountable.
Doing all of this with a sense of urgency.

Well, the same way you deal with individual customers is also the way you deal with a customer service crisis that impacts thousands of customers.

First, United acknowledged and apologized for the inconvenience. That’s steps one and two. They responded to media inquiries and tweeted out to all of their followers: A ground stop is in place for domestic flights due to an IT issue. We’re working on a resolution. We apologize for the inconvenience.

Then they fixed it, accomplishing step three.

Step four was that they accepted responsibility. Maddie King, a spokesperson for United, met with the press and told them they were working to fix the problem. No excuses. In other words, United was owning the problem.

Finally, there was a sense of urgency behind all of this. It took just two and a half hours to fix the problem. They worked hard and fast. Urgency is key to restoring confidence.

So, be it an individual complaining or a major customer service crisis effecting thousands of customers, consider the five step process that not only fixes what is broken, but potentially restores the customer’s confidence. And, done well it may restore the customer’s confidence to a level higher than if the problem had never happened at all.

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Amazing Business Radio: Scott McKain

Scott McKain Talks About How to Stand Out in a Hypercompetitive Marketplace

Show business is a multi-billion dollar (and thriving) industry. What can we learn from show business that we can apply to our own business?

Shep Hyken speaks with Scott McKain who states that all of us, no matter what our business is, are in show business. And here’s why . . .

The purpose of entertainment is to create the desired emotional response from the audience. As business people, we need to determine as a first step how we want our audience (our customers) to feel as a result of our production (whatever product or service we provide).

Unfortunately, and the reason Scott wrote the book All Business is Show Business, is that businesses don’t think about how they make their customers feel. Yet, we must make it part of the process. How do we, as a business, think about the compelling experiences we are creating for our customers?

In business, this is usually the last step we take. We create our storefronts or design our websites, and then, after everything else has been put in place, we ask, “Okay, how do we improve the experience for our customer?” We simply do not think about defining the customer experience and customer service as we should – or at least at the right time.

With motion pictures, the real profitability is in the sequel, the repeat business. Yet how are we as business people preparing for our repeat business? Additional profitability for motion pictures comes from licensing products and spinoffs. Similarly, how can we extend and expand our products and services?

Another subject that was discussed was one of Scott’s other books, Create Distinction: What to Do When ”Great” Isn’t Good Enough to Grow Your Business. Scott wanted to find out why some organizations were standing out in the marketplace and others weren’t? Looking at the book Good to Great by Jim Collins, he noticed that most companies represented in the book as “great” had either gone bankrupt or had fallen from their lofty perches. He wanted to understand why, and determined that they had their ability to be distinctive.

Part of what made companies distinctive was the level of service they were delivering, but Scott determined it was much more than that. Through his research, he was able to determine the four cornerstones of distinction:

Clarity – This process involves becoming totally precise and what you are, and being just as precise about what you are not. If we try to be everything to everybody, we end up being very generic and very bland.
Creative – It is easy for an organization like Amazon to be creative because they are so clear on who and what they are. Steve Jobs could be so creative with the iPhone because he was so clear on what kind of products Apple builds. Creativity must be grounded in clarity.
Communication – We need to communicate the narrative of what really matters. We know the narrative of distinctive businesses like Southwest Airlines, yet we tend to in our own businesses and our own careers to run away from our uniqueness. Your story can define your culture.
Customer Experience Focus – What will the customer feel like when they do business with us? How do we refine that experience? How to we make it stand out?

Business is hyper-competitive, and one way to separate your business from the competition is to focus on these four cornerstones and creating distinction.

Scott McKain is an internationally known authority who helps organizations create distinction in every phase of business. He is the author of three Amazon.com #1 business bestsellers; all teaching how to expand profits, increase sales, and engage customers. This year, Scott will be releasing an updated 15th year anniversary version of his book, which will be entitled All Business is Still Show Business.

“The purpose of any business is to profitably create experiences that are so amazing or compelling to customers that their loyalty becomes assured. They ask themselves, ‘Why would I even look around? Why would I want to go anyplace else?” – Scott McKain

      

 What questions will this episode answer?

What is the purpose of business?
Why is all business (still) like show business?
Why are we not successful in determining and defining the customer experience?
Why should we not try to be all things to all people?
How can you stand out and be distinctive among your competition?

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5 Top Customer Service Articles For the Week of January 30, 2017

Each week I read a number of customer service articles from various online 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.

Southwest’s Communications Chief Shares Her Top 3 Crisis Management Tips by Social Media Today

(Social Media Today) Nearly half of all organizations make the mistake of not planning for a crisis, thinking it’s either superstitious or somewhat futile. After all, you can’t foresee all of the nuances and dynamics that may constitute a crisis.

My Comment: Southwest airlines continues to shine bright in the airline industry with their relentless focus on their customers. Yet as good as they are, there are bound to be problems. Linda Rutherford, Southwest’s chief communications officer, shares three tips on how Southwest handles crisis management. Keep these in mind the next time a customer service crisis occurs.

Customer Service of the Future: 3 Most Important Customer Experience Trends by Justyna Polaczyk

(LiveChat) In this post, I’d like to focus on customer experience trends. Here’s how customer service of the future will look like.

My Comment: Companies are making an effort to provide better customer service – including spending more on customer service software. If you run a customer service department or call/support center, you will enjoy this report. One interesting point is that almost all customer service software (98%) is now cloud based. This can give more employees better access to customer info, the result being a potentially better customer experience.

5 Rare Customer Service Skills you absolutely need to deliver 5-Star Support by Shivam Trika 

(Interakt) In today’s article, I’m going to tell you the exact 5 rare characteristics to look for in a great customer service rep.

My Comment: About two weeks ago I wrote an article about the traits a good customer service employee would have. These included both attitudes and skills. This excellent article focuses on five traits that anyone who interacts with customers should practice. I especially like number four, which is about being “incredibly thorough.”

Digital Customers Less Loyal by Tanya Gazdik

(Media Post) The digital economy has driven innovation and created new channels and profit centers, but organizations that look at technology to totally displace human interaction are misguided, according to a study.

My Comment: While most companies are trying to create a digital presence to capture customers who prefer to do business on the Internet, keep in mind that the interactions are less likely to garner customer loyalty than a person-to-person experience. According to the article, customer loyalty is dropping with a big percentage of those defecting customers coming from the digital experience. The problem is that it’s tough to make an emotional connection during an online experience.  

Customer Service Software Buyer Report – 2016 by Craig Borowski

(Software Advice) Each year we speak with thousands of business professionals about their customer service and support (CSS) software needs. Facing daunting lists of hundreds of possible customer service software solutions, these professionals contact us for advice.

My Comment: Companies are making an effort to provide better customer service – including spending more on customer service software. If you run a customer service department or call/support center, you will enjoy this report. One interesting point is that almost all customer service software (98%) is now cloud based. This can give more employees better access to customer info, the result being a potentially better customer experience.

Shep Hyken is a customer service expert, professional speaker and New York Times bestselling business author. For information contact 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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Guest Blog: 4 Technology Solutions to Help You Manage Customer Service More Effectively

This week on our Friends on Friday guest blog post my colleague, Shital Shah, writes about how with the right combination of technology and human touch, customer service doesn’t have to be difficult. She shares four excellent solutions to help manage your customer service more effectively. – Shep Hyken

Customers don’t want to wait on the phone for the “next available representative” anymore. Companies must adapt and provide quick and efficient ways to remedy customer service issues.

76 percent of consumers say that customer service is the true test of how much a company values them, according to Parature. Keep a customer happy, and they’ll stay loyal to you. Make a customer upset – even if it’s just once – and you risk losing their business for life.

Luckily, with the right mixture of technology and human touch, customer service doesn’t have to be hard.

Here are 4 technology solutions to help you manage your customer service more effectively:

CRM Software

2017 looks to be an important year for the four major CRM players (Microsoft, Salesforce, SAP, Oracle) as they continue to innovate their products and compete for market share. While investing in CRM seems like a no-brainer, the customer service modules are becoming more advanced. With BI, AI, and cloud-based SaaS apps, CRM software is adapting to your business, not the other way around.

Whether it’s self-serve, peer-to-peer, or assisted customer service, CRM makes life easier for customer service agents, and in turn, your customers.

For customer service agents, a CRM contains case records, customer prioritization, resolution deadlines, and omnichannel integration, all in one centralized location.

For customers, a CRM can proactively diagnose problems, allows them to engage via their channel of choice, and provides an easy, personalized experience to keep the relationship healthy and intact.

Relationships = revenue.

SMS and Messaging

Over the holidays, Amazon lost a package of mine and, unfortunately, it was the last in stock. To get a refund, I merely clicked a few buttons, and within 36 hours, the money was credited back to me. From the way we do business to the way we socialize, it’s all about messaging.

We text, tweet, Yelp, Uber, Facebook – a tremendous amount of our personal life relies around messaging, so it’s only logical to extend that into the business world, too.

Sprout Social estimated that companies would receive upwards of 3,000 messages through social this holiday season. Of those messages, 56 percent required action from the company.

Companies must invest in new technologies to reach people on their mobile. How many more years until 1-800 numbers become obsolete?

Whether it’s a text message when a package has been delivered, or a push notification when inventory is restocked, this omnichannel approach is nothing new. However, to keep up with your competition, using messaging to interact with your customers should no longer be on your wish-list. It’s a must-have.

Live Chat or Chat Bots

While certainly effective, chat support doesn’t have to come from a robot. If you work for an SMB, have someone from inside sales or marketing handle a live chat on your company’s website during business hours. If a customer is on the checkout page and is still on the fence, a live chat representative can potentially close the deal.

However, if you’re working for a large organization that receives hundreds of customer service tickets a day, use an automated chatbot. The chatbot, using AI, will be able to intelligently assist customers and answer questions quick and simply. Although not at the level of Amazon’s Alexa or Apple’s Siri, chatbots will reduce your customer service team’s workload while still providing excellent frontline support.

Real-Time Support

In 2016, major companies had some very public blunders due to customers sharing their bad customer service experience on social media. In fact, there is a subreddit with 20,000 members solely dedicated to sharing customer service horror stories.

When a customer @’s your Twitter handle, leaves a comment on your Facebook page, or writes a review on Yelp, they expect immediate help and solutions to rectify their problem. Every second you neglect a customer’s concern on social media is a screenshot away from a lifetime of bad press. Getting back to a customer in 24-48 hours will no longer cut it. It’s imperative that a company’s customer service team is able to address issues anywhere throughout the world, 24/7.

If you work in an industry or for a company that can’t offer around-the-clock support, offer self-service portals, FAQs, and helpful literature so the customer has the opportunity to solve the problem on their own. In fact, ¾ of consumers would rather solve the problem themselves rather than engaging customer service.

Technology solutions are just one of the many ways companies can deliver effective customer service. First and foremost, effective customer services starts with YOU.

Shep puts it best:

Customer service is the experience we deliver to our customer. It’s the promise we keep to the customer. It’s how we follow through for the customer. It’s how we make them feel when they do business with us.

Keep your customers happy and you’ll keep your customers.

It’s that simple.

As President of Indusa, Shital Shah, focuses on strategic and operational planning and management. She has diverse experience in management and strategic consulting with technology-based businesses and has managed global teams and implemented projects in 16 countries.

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

Read Shep’s latest Forbes Article: A Worker’s Right To Disconnect From Work

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Dollar Shave Club Teaches a Valuable Customer Service Lesson

The Dollar Shave Club continues to impress me with their amazing customer service. I have used them as an example of how to create a membership experience, but now I want to focus on their ability to deliver amazing customer service.

For those that may not know what Dollar Shave Club is, it was started by Michael Dubin and Mark Levine in 2011. In 2012, they rolled out a promotional video on YouTube that was hilarious and went viral. (Currently there are more than 23 million views!) They immediately picked up thousands of members, moving them from a start-up business to a success that would eventually attract the attention of the business world. But, sales alone couldn’t make them the success that they are today. They needed a good product that was supported by good service.

As their name implies, they sell a membership for one dollar. You get one of their two, four or six place razors, your choice, for just a dollar! And, that includes the shipping. Then each month they send you four fresh blades for as little as three dollars. That’s great value for the money. And, typically great value, as in low price, doesn’t always come with great service. But, that is not the case with Dollar Shave Club.

Recently my razor broke. The blade would no longer stay on the razor. Since they are an online retailer, I went to their website and clicked on “Contact Us.” I filled out the contact form and described my issue. In short time they responded.

Hey Shep,

Sorry to hear about the Handle! Thanks for letting us know. We trust you! I’ve got you covered and will send a couple of new Executive Handles on the house right away. Expect them within 3-5 business days and let us know if you need anything else in the meantime.

Shave on,

Wes

It was that easy. It was that fast. Just as easy and fast as when I signed up to be a member. They acknowledged my problem and apologized. They told me what they were going to do, which was send out new handles right away. They didn’t make excuses or make it hard on me, such as asking me to return the broken handle. They just took great care of me. That’s what great customer-focused companies do!

So, how easy are you to do business with? When a customer has a problem, do you respond quickly, apologize, accept responsibility and make it easy on the customer? Do you handle it in such a way that creates confidence? Everything Dollar Shave Club does creates confidence. Confidence gives them a great reputation and loyal repeat customers – or should I say members.

Dollar Shave Club is the total package. Great value with great service. And here’s some proof, they currently have over two million members, and recently, after just five years in business, sold to Unilever for, are you ready? One billion dollars!

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

(Copyright © MMXVII, Shep Hyken)

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Amazing Business Radio: Steve Curtin

Steve Curtin on the “Other Dimension” Necessary to Raise Your Customer Service from Ordinary to Extraordinary

Sure, you hire your people based on job function, but shouldn’t you also be hiring on job essence?

Shep talks with Steve Curtin who says, “Employees consistently execute mandatory job functions for which they are paid, yet they inconsistently demonstrate discretionary customer behaviors, which are known as ‘voluntary job essence.'”

In other words, your employees may be doing what they were hired to do, trained to do, and are paid to do. What they are less clear about is why they’re doing it, and how they’re doing.

By way of example, Steve talks about waiters in a restaurant. Their job function may be to take orders and deliver the food to the guests. That’s easy to understand.

However, if the waiters were clear about their job essence, they might also:

Express genuine interest by making eye contact
Smile
Add energy to their voice
Convey authentic enthusiasm
Be respectful and be discretionary when they approach the table
Provide the guest with a surprise

There are many things waiters, or anyone who has a customer-facing role, can do to elevate a transactional experience into one that is more relational. And the way to do that is by being intentional as you interject essence into the various job functions you were hired to do, trained to do, and are paid to do.

Another way to demonstrate job essence, in addition to the attributes listed above, includes displaying a sense of urgency and paying attention to details, such as Disney employees (or “cast members”) do as they pick up trash as they walk the park.

Tasks are determined by your job role. The behaviors you choose to exhibit are determined by you. For instance, employees may be trained to use customers’ names, and they may be trained to smile, but they still need to choose to demonstrate those behaviors.

Steve does not believe that customer service standards are being raised, and he gives a specific example as to why.

Employees at one of the retail stores he frequents are indifferent to his presence. All of what the employees are doing on the job becomes incredibly transactional. All of the employees are doing exactly what they have been hired to do, trained to do, and are paid to do. Yet this is only one dimension of their job function. The reason that they are miss the more important function (job essence) is because their immediate supervisor lacks this all-important information.

The more important dimension of the employees’ role may be to inspire confidence, to delight customers, or to create a promoter. But it definitely has nothing to do with bringing in carts, stocking shelves or sweeping the floor!

There is a way to operationalize exceptional customer service so that it occurs reliably over time by design rather than by chance. And that is by being intentional, deliberate and purposeful about incorporating job essence into every job function.

Steve Curtin, author of Delight Your Customers: 7 Simple Ways to Raise Your Customer Service from Ordinary to Extraordinary, has 20 years of experience between hotel operations, sales and marketing, training and development, and customer service roles working for Marriott International, one of the premiere customer-focused companies in the world. Steve now devotes his time to speaking, consulting, and writing on the topic of extraordinary customer service.

“Customer service is a voluntary act that demonstrates a genuine desire to satisfy, if not delight, a customer.” – Steve Curtin

 What questions will this episode answer?

How can you raise an interaction from a transactional to a relational experience?
What is the difference between job function and job essence?
Why is job essence such an important part of the role?
How can you determine which candidates for a job may have an understanding of job essence?
Why don’t more employees demonstrate job essence?

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