Shep Hyken's Blog, page 210

Guest Blog: From Bali – 3 Sure Fire Ways to Make Customers Happy

This week on our Friends on Friday guest blog post, my colleague Danielle Storey shares an experience she had in Bali that helped her identify three tips to creating happy customers. I agree that delivering good customer service involves remembering to use the basics to take care of the customer.  – Shep Hyken

Having just spent a delightful week in Bali, I believe I’ve come up with the 3 top tips to creating happy customers. At least in Bali.

Before I share them, here’s a couple of things about the Indonesian island holiday paradise that is Bali and you’ll know them if you’ve been there. Bali is hot and everyone moves accordingly – slowly, with acceptance and stoicism. The general populace don’t speak a lot of English and they don’t always comprehend our fast paced talking style. And the Balinese thrive on the tourism dollars we bring to their island – particularly the sly overcharge that’s possible (read probable) when converting those numerous zeros on their currency to dollars.

Here’s 3 sure-fire ways from to make customers happy:

Say yes. And use a lot of teeth as you do so. Even if you don’t understand the request. Actually, especially if you don’t understand the request. A big smile goes a long way to making a customer comfortable. “Yes, Miss Danielle, yes.” We heard that often. Of course we then had an adventure waiting to see if yes materialised into anything, but that’s the nature of travel – fun surprises.
Get a remote control. Our villa host and driver, Made (pronounced Maahday) had a fabulous remote control for the front security gate. He would make a call on his mobile phone and get one of the staff to walk up the drive and open the gate so he didn’t have to get out of the car. “Made, whilst we have the car, could we call in and pick up a case of beer to save carrying it?” The remote control worked for refilling the Bintang beer fridge too. “Yes Mr David, I will use my remote control and have it done for you.”
Unobtrusively get stuff done. A villa, a swimming pool, a stocked fridge and some perfect weather conditions meant we didn’t move far from the horizontal heaven of the pool or couch. We were never disrupted as things were cooked, washed and put to rights all day long.

Whether you live or play in Bali, or anywhere else in the world, having the right structure and resources to please, to delegate and to get the job done is truly a firm foundation for creating a good experience for customers.

Of course in business, saying yes when you really should be saying no is not always prudent, but a spot of negotiation will usually uncover a third option to suit everyone.

Delegation is the only way to grow. With the right attention and processes, nearly anyone can repeat what you do so that you can get on with other, growth centric opportunities. And finally, just get stuff done. Making it less about you and more about getting the job done is efficient, polite and sensible. Simply, as it is done is Bali, it’s good customer service.

Danielle Storey is a professional speaker, mentor and exhibitor with a particular passion for the fields of small business development, marketing, sales, customer service and employee engagement. Danielle is an outstanding storyteller with a humorous and heart-warming approach to imparting her relationship strategies.  She is a specialist in systems that create customer delight – service with “a little bit extra.” Follow on Twitter @DanielleJStorey

For more articles from Shep Hyken and his guest contributors go to customerserviceblog.com . Read Shep’s latest Forbes Article:

Learn the Critical Keyword that Makes Your Business a Customer Favorite

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The Customer Service Emergency Drill

Customer Friendly Decisions

I recently read an interesting story about a technological glitch at Starbucks that made it impossible for the point of sale registers to work. What that meant was that they couldn’t take money for the coffee – or whatever else they were selling.

This didn’t happen in just one store. The internal glitch caused an outage in 7,400 stores in the US and another 1,000 in Canada. In my mind, this qualifies as an emergency. What should employees do in this situation?

After reading the various reports, it seems that Starbucks and their employees did a fine job of handling the crisis. The solution was simple. Just give away the coffee. That’s right. Give it away for free.

Some stores did close early, but in the process, they still gave away what product they had. If you think about it, it makes sense.  You have coffee brewed and fresh food items. If you don’t move the merchandise, it goes bad. So, why not create a little goodwill and put your best foot forward with your customers and show them a little love?

A number of years ago I had the opportunity to work with a fast food/quick serve restaurant. I asked how they handled a customer who placed an order in the drive through lane, but didn’t have the money (for whatever reason) when they got to the payment window. The response was so customer service friendly. In short, they know that most people are honest and in most of these situations they simply misplaced their wallet or their purse. It happens.  Rather than deny the customer the food, they give the customer the food and tell him or her that the next time they come back they can pay for it.

This is right on several levels. First, it takes the embarrassment out of the situation. Second, it shows the restaurant is more interested in taking care of the customer than the few dollars they might lose if the customer never came back. Third, it most likely creates amazing goodwill. With social media, the customer has a loud voice and may share that positive experience with their friends and colleagues. That’s some very inexpensive, or even free, word-of-mouth marketing.

Back to Starbucks, their customer-friendly decision paid off. I have no idea how much money it cost them to give away the product, but consider this. While their motive was to take care of their customer, the press raved about how well they handled the situation.

I’m not sure if Starbucks had this “procedure” in their play book. My quick serve restaurant actually trains their employees how to handle the situation where the customer doesn’t have the money. This leads me to a lesson, which comes out of these examples:

We have (or should have) fire drills in case there is ever a fire. We are trained on how to handle medical situations; what to do or who to call. So what do we do for the everyday emergencies that come up in business? What happens if your phone lines go down, your cash register stops working, your online payment system fails, or any other glitch in your system?  Do you have a plan? Is it in your procedures manual? Do your employees know what to do? Have they been trained? Have they practiced or role-played out these situations?

I’m not being a pessimist here. On the contrary, I’m suggesting you plan ahead on not only how to handle these situations, but also how to take advantage of them. Starbucks didn’t plan for the outage, but their customer-focused culture played out perfectly with happy customers and good PR. Plan ahead for the worst. Learn from what you can’t predict. Consider what is in the best interest of the customer. And, when “life” happens, think about how you might turn the lemon into lemonade.

Shep Hyken is a customer service expert, 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

(Copyright © MMXV, Shep Hyken)

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Guest Blog: Does Your Company Use Service Recovery Strategies?

This week on our Friends on Friday guest blog post, my colleague Mike Schoultz shares a bad customer service experience and how we can learn and recover from these experiences. I agree that you must be accountable and use prepared strategies to deal with these bad situations.  – Shep Hyken

It is pardonable to be defeated but never to be surprised.

Frederick the Great

Frederick was not talking about customer service, was he? But this quote could very well apply to customer service recovery strategies, yes?

Be prepared is the motto of the Boy Scouts. Also applies to just about everything else we do in life, especially in the business of customer service.

Does your customer service prepare for contingencies? Contingencies and strategy designs for when things don’t go as planned?

I’ll use a story to explain why I believe it is essential.

This is a story about poor customer service and a resulting bad customer experience at a restaurant. A large group of business people had arranged to get together for lunch to celebrate a colleague’s promotion. Reservations for the group of 18 people were made several days in advance.

Arrival at the restaurant was on time. However, despite having made the reservation, they had to wait 20 minutes before they could be seated. Once seated and menus had been handed out, the group was made to wait again. Everyone was hungry and ready to order. They also had a limited amount of time before everyone needed to head back to work.

Finally a waitress arrived to take everyone’s order.

After waiting for longer than seemed necessary, and observing other tables get their meals ahead of theirs, the group’s meals arrived, except for one. He didn’t receive his meal until most of the others were finished.

A complaint was lodged with the manager, with no success. He was totally indifferent to the situation. He offered no apology and, after being asked to comp that meal, refused to do so.

This bad experience resulted in the group writing a letter to the head office of the restaurant chain. They detailed the experience and mentioned that in addition to the 18 customers they had lost directly — everyone would tell their friends they would not recommend visiting that restaurant as well.

A few days later one of the party received a letter of apology in the mail and a $40 gift card. However, they couldn’t find anyone willing to return to the restaurant to use it due to that bad experience. No surprise there.

What should be learned?

First of all, bad things happen in every business. But good contingency planning can usually eliminate most of them. For example, you need to decide how large of a group you can handle on top of your normal crowd. If you can’t handle a group of 18 with your normal great service, then you owe it to the potential customers to let them know what extra wait time would be required. Or, just apologize and don’t accept the reservations.

The key to keeping customers happy is through honest communication, being accountable for the poor experience, and being prepared to deliver what you promise.

Then, if things go wrong, you should have service recovery strategies in place, with everyone prepared and empowered to act. Prepared and empowered to make things right — on the spot. Research tells us that when we fix a problem on the spot that loyalty actually increases more than if the customer is simply satisfied.

So rather than seeing complaining customers as a problem — start seeing them as an opportunity to demonstrate your service recovery strategies as a way to build customer loyalty.

For example, if there was to be a delay in the preparation of meals, then the customer needs to be informed. Informed ahead of time. Offering something to help address the situation also helps — in this case perhaps a basket of bread or something else could have been offered while they were kept waiting.

In this case, the effort was too little and way too late. They couldn’t regain the trust of the customers they lost through one bad experience. And unhappy customers tell everyone. Not good for any business.

Like this short blog? Follow Digital Spark Marketing on LinkedIn, add us to your circles, or bookmark us for 3-4 short, interesting blogs, stories per week.

Mike Schoultz has spent the majority of his career as a business leader in marketing and executive management. Four years ago he founded Digital Spark Marketing dedicated to improving the success of small to medium sized businesses. His success equation includes customer service and experience, creative marketing, innovation and adaptability, and of course, people.

For more articles from Shep Hyken and his guest contributors go to customerserviceblog.com. Read Shep’s latest Forbes Article:

 

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5 Top Customer Service Articles For the Week of May 25, 2015

TOP CUSTOMER SERVICE AND BUSINESS ARTICLES

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.

Customer Experience: adding substance to style by Glenn Shoosmith

(Techworld) Since we’re now five months into 2015, it makes sense to share my third article on predictions — especially given that we’ll soon be able to tell how accurate they’ve been(!)

My Comment: While this article focuses on the B-2-C retail world, I think there is a lot that the B-2-B would can learn from this article. As I read this article I envisioned how all types of business in virtually any industry could use technology to enhance their customers’ experiences.

Looking Ahead to the Successful Customer Engagement Strategies of 2020 by James M. Loy

(Loyalty 360) Consider, for a moment, just how much has changed in the world of customer engagement and retail marketing in only a few years. This thought makes it equally daunting to consider how much will change in the next five years. As everything evolves at an accelerated pace, many brands are uncertain of how to progress. This is why getting a glimpse into the future of retail success would be such a valuable experience.

My Comment: Looking at the trends, we can ignore how the future of the customer experience will be changing. The companies that have embraced this change are winning. They are the companies we would expect to be the frontrunners: Zappos, Amazon, etc.  And, I love the concept of taking customer loyalty to customer affinity. Great concepts to think about.

How Customer Service Can Save Cable by Adam Toporek

(Customers That Stick) In the Temkin Group’s 2015 Experience Ratings Industry Snapshots, Internet Service Providers were ranked last out of 20 different industries. It’s no surprise; few people love their cable or phone provider, and among the least beloved is Comcast.

My Comment: Great article about the cable industry that any company can learn from. Cable TV, for example is an amazing product with hundreds of high-def channels that you can watch, record and more. But having an amazing product doesn’t guarantee customer delight. The industry’s reputation for customer service is far short of their amazing product. The best companies in any industry have a great product AND great customer service, and their customers love them for both.

Customer Experience And The ‘With Pleasure’ Principle by Blake Morgan

(Forbes)  We all know the difference between an experience where we are served “with pleasure” and an experience where we are served “without pleasure.” So why is there be so much variation from one customer experience to the next?

My Comment: It is “with pleasure” that I read this article. Great concept. A simple concept that makes it easy to understand the experience that your customer receives;  one with, or one without pleasure.

How Your Corporate Culture Affects The Customer Experience by Jeanne Landau

(B2Community) Here’s everything you need to know about why customer-centric culture matters, and where to begin.

My Comment: It is said that the customer defines your brand. We may want our customers to perceive us a certain way, but in the end, they have the final decision about how we are perceived. Culture is the same thing. We strive to create a customer centric culture, but in the end, the customer decides if we are (or aren’t). I enjoyed this article and the ideas of why and how to create a customer centric culture.

Shep Hyken is a customer service expert, professional 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 Customer Engagement Ideas: A Special Report from the IBM Amplify Conference

Customer Focused

I recently attended the IBM Amplify (#IBMAmplify, #NewWayToEngage) conference in San Diego, CA where the focus was on customer engagement. IBM invited a select group of people they referred to as influencers. I was fortunate to be in this group, which included a dozen authors, bloggers, and thought leaders. The speakers at the general and breakout sessions filled my head with information, and it was especially refreshing and thought provoking to debrief with this group of influencers, so I thought it would be fun to summarize my top five takeaways from the conference. Now remember, I’m a customer service guy, so the high level technical concepts, while interesting, didn’t get me excited as much as some of the customer focused and engagement ideas.

In this first session, I met Chris Heuer. He gave the perfect definition of the new standard of customer engagement: Engagement is the interaction with intention that goes beyond concern for the transaction . In other words, you are focused on the customer and not the sale. When that fast food restaurant tries to upsell you an order of fries with that sandwich and drink, they are interested in an incremental sales increase. It’s all about the money. While there’s nothing wrong with that, the alternative is to focus on the customer and not the sale. If you focus on the customer and his or her needs, the sale will follow. You may not get the small incremental sale of that particular transaction, but the customer-focused engagement wins you a long-term, loyal customer.

 

In the first general session, Deepak Advani, the General Manager of IBM Commerce, mentioned Starbucks as the perfect example of a customer-focused company. He referenced Howard Schultz’s philosophy that Starbucks believes they are not in the coffee business serving people. They are in the people business serving coffee . Once again, the focus is on the customer over anything else.

 

Jonah Berger, a professor at Wharton School of Business and an amazing speaker, talked about customer engagement that leads to customer loyalty. He showed the stats and facts that made the case for the importance and the power of word-of-mouth marketing. The opinions of friends, family members, and even strangers are more influential than some of the advertising that a company might pay for. In addition, he talked about the power of being top-of mind. If you can get a customer to think about you, they will also talk about you. His comment was spot on: If something is to be top of mind, it is likely to be tip-of-tongue .

 

IBM arranged for me to spend some one-on-one time with Senior Product Strategist David Haucke. We talked about the technology they have created to track the customer’s journey and manage their experience. In the new era of how we market to our customers, you’ll be intrigued with this take-away. It’s not what we want to tell our customers. It’s what our customers want us to tell them .

 

Let’s wrap up this list with one of my favorite comments from the conference.

 

Alex Banayan was the host of the morning general session. His statement really sums up what the convention was all about. The 4P’s of Marketing are dead. There is just one C (not P) – the customer ! With all of the cool technology and the discussions IT, analytics, automation, data and much more, in the end, the focus was on the customer engagement. It’s all about the customer.

 

These are just some of the tweets I highlighted from the IBM Amplify conference. View more of the tweets and insights on my latest Forbes article.

Shep Hyken is a customer service expert, 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

(Copyright © MMXV, Shep Hyken)

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5 Top Customer Service Articles For The Week Of May 18, 2015

TOP CUSTOMER SERVICE AND BUSINESS ARTICLES

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.

6 Ways You Can Deliver A Customer Experience Worthy Of Your Customer’s Dime by Shelly Dutton

(SAP) Here are six best practices top brands use to deliver the consistency customers crave and employees constantly seek.

My Comment: I like the concept here: a “coordinated” customer experience. This emphasizes that there is more than one group (typically customers service) that is focused on taking care of the customer. The impact of customer experience comes across many, if not all (and I’ll always argue it is all) of the different departments of the company. The ideas in this article are helpful for any organization that wants to pull together – or coordinate – the different groups responsible for the customer’s positive experience.

55% of Customers Can’t Remember Having a Successful Experience [Infographic] by Kimberlee Morrison

(Social Times) SDL surveyed nearly 3,000 customers in nine countries to find out more about their customer service experiences. 76 percent of survey participants say their worst customer service happened within the last two years. 55 percent couldn’t remember a single success.

My Comment: I enjoyed this article and infographic. Lots of stats and facts that emphasize the importance of creating that positive customer experience. First it’s expected. Second, if the customer has the opposite of the good experience, they tend to remember that more than the good one. Or, maybe what you (the company) think is a good one isn’t quite good enough to be remembered. (Something to think about!)

5 Ways Customer Interaction Can Improve Your Business by Emily Hunter

(Zopim) Customers will call, customers will interact, and customers will even vent at you. But the truth is, each interaction (whether good or bad) provides information about how your company can do better. Here are 5 ways customer interaction can improve your business.

My Comment: Some might say the ideas in this article are obvious. Then, why aren’t more companies using them? (Rhetorical question!) Every company needs to be constantly striving to improve in all five of these areas.

Why Engagement is the Key to Turning Customers into Promoters by John Rampton

(Forbes) In today’s world of social networks, online engagement and transparency, the customer holds all the cards when it comes to how a brand is perceived. And businesses can thrive or fail based solely on the type of experience they provide to their customers.

My Comment: Strong article that recapped four important points that came out of the CX week sponsored by Qualtrics. A couple of the ideas in this article stand out. I love that Ed Markey of Bain and Company reminds of the concept of turning your employees into brand evangelists. Also, Bruce Temkin (a very smart dude) quotes Walt Disney who said, “Do what you do so well that they want to see it again and bring their friends.” Great advice for all businesses.

10 Laws of Customer Success #PulseConf2015 by Lori Alcala

(CMSWire) Whatever you think of the concept of customer success, this much is true: there are plenty of believers, as evidenced by attendance at this week’s Gainsight Pulse 2015 conference.

My Comment: David Letterman would be proud of this Top Ten list of customer success tips. Anyone – or any company – should be able to find at least one, if not ten, great ideas that can help create a better customer relationship.

Shep Hyken is a customer service expert, professional 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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Guest Blog: Don’t Ignore These Three Customer Journey Experiences

This week on our Friends on Friday guest blog post, my colleague Ernan Roman writes about how important it is to understand the customer journey in order to build engagement and loyalty. Pay close attention to the three critical opportunities during the customer journey Ernan shares.  – Shep Hyken

Every consumer is on a journey when they interact with your. And each of their journeys are likely to be quite different.

 

Recent findings from Voice of Customer (VoC) research conducted by our firm for Fortune brands indicates that customers feel that brands are missing significant opportunities to earn the sale and then build engagement and loyalty.

 

While there are many stages in the customer journey, following are three critical opportunities that emerged from our research.

 

Prepurchase: Clear And Credible Omnichannel Information

 

At this stage, buyers want you to help them make a smart purchase decision. Clear, credible, and easily accessible information is required by the empowered prospect who is doing a major amount of research before ever contacting your company. And because shoppers are multichannel and multidevice, your high value information must be accessed and delivered omnichannel.

 

UnitedHealthcare launched an online informational series, Becoming Dr. You, which offers tools and resources to accommodate a variety of learning preferences: guides, booklets, and brochures in print format, blogs, quizzes, and videos. It’s the latest example of the company’s longstanding commitment to educating and empowering prospects and customers.

 

Post-Purchase: Immediate Onboarding

 

Your customer-friendly and engaging onboarding process should begin immediately after purchase. Per VoC findings, the customer decision-making process regarding likelihood to repurchase begins immediately upon the initial purchase.

 

Another factor at this early stage that drives likelihood to repurchase is how thoughtfully and responsively the company handles problems.

 

After a purchase, customers want ways to incorporate the product into their lives. Perhaps no one does this better than Apple, which develops problem-solving tools, such as the ApplePay “pay by your phone” app. According to Apple CEO Tim Cook, “… in just three months after launch, ApplePay [now] makes up two out of three dollars spent on purchases using contactless payments across the three major U.S. card networks.”

 

Apple’s approach must be working because recently, and for the first time, Apple platform sales outperformed Android due to the strength of products with consumers. In a Xerox survey that measured brand magnetism, 76% of iPhone owners said they were sticking with Apple.

 

Building Loyalty: Show Your Appreciation

 

Research findings indicate that customers often feel taken for granted. They want to feel as though they are valued and appreciated for spending money with your company. They now expect to be more than a number and generic message.

 

According to Hanover Research, customer loyalty programs “enhance the overall value proposition of the product or service … to motivate buyers to make the next purchase.” Additionally, according to a study by Technology Advice, 80 percent [of consumers are] more likely to shop at stores that offered a compelling loyalty program.

 

Customer Journey Takeaways

At the prepurchase stage, prospects expect companies to provide information to make a knowledgeable purchase decision. If your information is not helpful or easy to understand, you’re likely to be eliminated at that early point.
At the post-purchase stage, new customers want help in learning ways to incorporate the new product and brand into their lives.
At the loyalty stage, customers want appreciation and ways to be rewarded for their continued brand support.

Understanding every stage of the customer journey is essential for the highest levels of initial conversion, repeat purchase, and retention. The mind-set of customers is different at each stage. Respect where they are in their journey with your brand. Do not attempt to use “one size fits all” generic messaging for customers in different stages of the journey.

 

Ernan Roman is President of Direct Marketing Corp., (ERDM). ERDM specializes in conducting Voice of Customer research to identify Customer Experience strategies that generate significant increases in response and revenue for clients including IBM, MassMutual, QVC, NBC, Microsoft and Norton AntiVirus. Ernan’s latest book is titled, Voice of the Customer Marketing. He also writes the widely read and Huffington Post published blog Ernan’s Insights on Marketing Best Practices.

 

For more articles from Shep Hyken and his guest contributors go to customerserviceblog.com. Read Shep’s latest Forbes Article:

Special Report: Amazing Customer Engagement Ideas From IBM Amplify Conference

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Rules for Bad Customers Is Bad Customer Service

Business Policies

The other night I had just returned from a trip and was hungry. I wasn’t sure what I wanted for dinner, so I went to the refrigerator, opened up the door, and stared into a somewhat empty box. Other than some beverages and condiments, the “fridge” was pretty much empty. I thought about what I wanted for dinner and I didn’t feel like having a pizza delivered. Instead I felt like something much healthier; a big, thick, juicy hamburger and fries. Okay, not so healthy. But since it wouldn’t be delivered, I would try and be a little bit healthy and walk to a local restaurant and order it to go.

I walked in the restaurant and asked to place a to-go order. “No problem,” said the hostess – until I ordered the hamburger and French fries. By the way, I must tell you that this restaurant has one of the best burgers I’ve ever tasted; big, thick and juicy – prepared just right. And it is very reasonably priced, which is one of the reasons people like to order it. I was then informed by the hostess that they no longer do carryout service for their hamburger. About that time the manager came over and heard what was transpiring. He gave me the following explanation:

“We no longer offer our hamburgers as a carryout item. We had a customer come several times and order a lot of them at once. We decided at that point not to have that item available as carryout.”

I was surprised. This restaurant prides themselves on customer service, but they just informed me of a very bad customer service decision. It wasn’t that they decided to not make their hamburgers available as carry out. It was that they made a rule based on one customer’s bad behavior.

After all of that, there is a happy ending to the story. The manager could tell I was disappointed. I offered to sit down at the bar and eat and said to him, “It is disappointing that you would punish all of your customers because one customer took advantage of you.”

He thought about it and said, “You’re right.” And he sold me a burger and fries to go. He also told me that I could order it as carryout anytime.

So, here’s the lesson, and it’s a good one. It’s important to have standards, and in some cases policies – oh, how I hate that word policy. So, consider this:

Don’t make a rule because just one or two customers (out of hundreds or even thousands) abuse your system. In other words, don’t penalize all of your honest customers for the sins of a few.

Okay, the word sins might be a strong word, but I think you get the point. Make your rules for good customers, not bad ones.

Shep Hyken is a customer service expert, 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

(Copyright © MMXV, Shep Hyken)

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5 Top Customer Service Articles for the Week of May 11, 2015

TOP CUSTOMER SERVICE AND BUSINESS ARTICLES

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.

Best Practices: How Brands Can Build Loyalty with ‘Surprise-and-Delight’ Efforts by Scott Matthews

(AdAge) Two current and prevalent examples that come to mind involve MasterCard and Bud Light. Both brands use surprise-and-delight strategies to great effect, creating powerful buzz and brand loyalty not just among their most passionate fans, but also with new audiences, thanks to the ability to share the news with friends across social networks.

My Comment: I like the idea of a “surprise and delight” strategy. While it may seem random, it should be planned and purposeful. The outcome should be a customer experience that is memorable and appreciated. And, ideally one where the customer will not only want to come back, but will also want to share the “story” with their family members, friends and colleagues at work.

It’s the Customer Experience by Denis Pombriant

(TechNewsWorld) Companies that take a moments-of-truth approach find that rather than preparing for almost anything in sales, service and marketing, they can limit their horizons to the things their customers care about and that they wish to be great at. There always will be things that customers want from us that are outside of our capabilities, and we need to say, in so many words, that this isn’t what I do.

My Comment: While this article’s focus is on CRM, I think that the concepts really apply to anyone and any business wanting to create a strong customer experience. Nothing complicated here. It’s not rocket science. Just good common sense worth considering.

3 Types of Customer Interactions Every Customer Experience Manager Must Understand by Eric Larse

(Kinesis CEM) It is impossible, of course, to plan every customer experience or to ensure that every experience occurs exactly as intended. However, companies can identify the types of experiences that impart the right kind of information to customers at the right times. It is useful to group these experiences into three categories of company/customer interaction:  Stabilizing, Critical, and Planned.

My Comment: This is another perspective on how your customer interacts with your organization.  A “stabilizing” interaction creates confidence. A “critical” interaction can lead to positive impressions and memories.  The “planned” interaction is a reaction based on a customers behavior – when the customer does this (says this, buys this, etc.) you react like this (you respond, suggest other products, etc.).  As Jan Carlzon said years ago, “Every time a customer comes into contact with any aspect of a business, they form an impression.” The three types of interactions in this article are critical to any company’s success.

10 Customer Experiences You Need To Deliver Today! by Gerry Moran

(MarketingThink.com) The customer experience is your next competitive battleground. Are you prepared to win it?

My Comment: This is an outstanding article. Ten great ideas on customer experience. Customers expectations are changing all of the time, and it is because other companies – not even our competitors – are raising the bar. As this article states (so well): “The rules change daily. Customer expectations of experience are set and improved by the be in class in an industry… So, with improvement or a a new way of doing things, your customer raises the bar and increases your pressure to deliver.”

Why Strong Customer Relationships Trump Powerful Brands by Cristof Binder & Dominique M. Hanssens

(HBR) Since the birth of e-commerce, marketing experts have disagreed about the future role of brands. Some have predicted that digital technologies will hasten the demise of brands because customers will have ready access to information they need to make purchase decisions, and “brand” will therefore become less relevant. Others have prophesied an increasing importance of brand as a simple way to evaluate choices in an era of information overkill.

My Comment: This great article makes the case that the relationship with the customer is more powerful than the brand. While the article doesn’t get into how to do so, it is implied that you want to turn average customers into loyal customers. Do that by creating a strong customer service experience. Connect on an emotional level, if possible.  That is what will improve the value of the company – not the name (brand) on the sign above the door.

Shep Hyken is a customer service expert, professional 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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Guest Blog: Customer Service Run Amok

This week on our Friends on Friday guest blog post, my colleague Bill Kalmar shares several recent experiences he has had at different eating establishments. It is amazing to read about the lack of consistent service and the rules put into place by management that do not satisfy the customer.  – Shep Hyken

We’ve all heard and seen the commercials:  “Customer service is #1 with us” – “We treat our customers like we ourselves want to be treated”.  Having said that you would think that all our interactions with various businesses would be positive but obviously that is not the case in many instances.

The Customer Satisfaction Index tracks the various trends in service and while the latest report indicates that there was a modest uptick in consumer satisfaction, there are still areas in need of improvement.  In the airline survey, Jet Blue is at the top of customer service while Spirit occupies the lowest rung.  Travelers are most pleased with Marriott and not so pleased with Motel 6.  In any event, as consumers, we want to be dazzled with service.  That is why the past two weeks have left me a bit disillusioned.  Let me explain.

Lunch at a local restaurant that had just been completely refurbished was an epicurean delight.  Lots of menu choices and the surroundings were breathtaking.  At the conclusion of our lunch I asked for the customary “to go cup” for my soda.  You can gauge my astonishment when I learned that it was the policy of the restaurant not to provide “to go” drinks!  Our server told us it was a “liability issue” as there was a concern that some patrons would leave, add some alcohol to the soda and then have an auto accident.  That is the most ridiculous, inane, insane excuse I have ever heard!  As such, I e-mailed the manager and I am awaiting a response.

This restaurant interaction also confounded me.  We went to a Mexican diner where I ordered a shrimp meal combo which came with warm flour tortillas.  When my plate arrived I noticed that the shrimp still had the tails intact.  I severed the tails and enjoyed the meal.  When our server came by I asked if at my next visit I could request that the tails be removed from the shrimp since other like items on the menu were served in that fashion.  Evidently for this particular treat, the tails are intact and our server offered that requesting such a change would have to be cleared by the chef.  Really?  When does the request of a paying customer not take precedence over the minor inconvenience of the chef!  Guess I won’t be ordering that menu item anymore!

One of my favorite drinks is an iced vanilla latte and in fact I probably drink three or four a week from a nationwide fast food restaurant.  Recently, I went to such an establishment outside of our neighborhood and ordered the drink.  To my surprise I was told by the barista that iced coffee drinks were not available.  I asked if that was a one day problem and was told they never prepare iced coffee drinks.  Of course I returned to our own neighborhood barista and ordered the drink and discovered that it is in fact on the menu booklet.  Needless to say I called the previous establishment and talked to the manager who said the barista was wrong.  Returning to the same place later in the week confirmed that as I enjoyed my customary iced vanilla latte.

To cap off my dining adventures, we went to a sit down restaurant where I ordered a half sandwich, soup and French fries.  When my plate arrived I marveled at the paltry amount of fries.  When confronting our server about the amount of fries I learned that the General Manager in the kitchen weighs the fries since one does not get a full order when ordering the half sandwich!  As a courtesy to me, our server brought me some extra fries.  I also reminded our server that two of their competition, namely, Red Robin and Max & Erma’s, offer “never ending fries”!

And finally, why do several coffee houses not serve decaf brew after a certain time in the afternoon?  One can request decaf but it almost appears to be an imposition.  I would suspect that many people prefer decaf coffee late in the day unless you work in a NORAD missile bunker and need to stay alert!

Now I know what you are saying:  Bill, why are you so cantankerous and why do you come across as overindulged and over-privileged?  Yes, I am cantankerous when it comes to being provided with exceptional customer service.  And I plead guilty to being overindulged and over privileged.  Now I’m off to experience some world-class service on Jet Blue and Marriott hotels where I know I will be dazzled and overindulged!

William J. Kalmar has extensive business experience, including service with a Fortune 500 bank and the Michigan Quality Council, of which he served as director from 1993 through 2003. He served on the Board of Overseers of the Baldrige Performance Excellence Program and has been a Baldrige examiner. He was also named quality professional of the year by the ASQ Detroit chapter. Now semi-retired, Kalmar does freelance writing for several publications. He is a member of the USA Today Vacation Panel, a mystery shopper for several companies, and a frequent presenter and lecturer.

For more articles from Shep Hyken and his guest contributors go to customerserviceblog.com. Read Shep’s latest Forbes Article:

Why You May Not Have A Clue What Your Customer Thinks (And What To Do About It)

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