Shep Hyken's Blog, page 41
June 26, 2023
How to Never Lose an Employee Again with Joey Coleman
Top Takeaways:
You can only expect to deliver a remarkable customer experience if you have remarkable employees. People think that customer experience and employee experience are two different silos. The better way to look at it is that they are two sides of the same coin because we need to work on both.
The first 100 days are the most important time in the entire relationship with an employee. This is where the foundation is laid. How we onboard employees and make them feel part of our organization’s community can differentiate whether they will be long-time employees or leave as fast as they came.
When onboarding and acclimating your employees, the number of days you’re willing to spend teaching them, showing them the ropes, and “holding their hand” is directly proportional to the number of months they will stay as an employee.
Work Institute did a massive survey of exit interview investigations, and here’s what they found – Top 5 reasons why employees leave:
Reason #1 Career – 24% of the employees leave because they couldn’t see a clear career path.
Reason #2 Job – Stress, lack of resources, training, and empowerment.
Reason #3 Health and Family – Their personal health or a responsibility to care for kids or aging parents.
Reason #4 Work-Life Balance – Travel, commute, or scheduling.
Reason #5 Rewards – Only 9% of employees leave for a bigger paycheck.
Employers may care about their employees, but the employees themselves may not know it. Your employees probably have no idea of all the time and effort you’re spending thinking about making payroll, advancing their careers, and making sure people don’t suffer burnout. Share it with them, but when you do, spend a little less time telling and a little more time showing.
Plus, Joey shares two of the eight phases of the employee journey that every organization needs to ace. Tune in!
Quotes:
About:
Joey Coleman is the creator of the First 100 Days® methodology for improving customer and employee retention. He is the author of Never Lose a Customer Again: Turn Any Sale into Lifelong Loyalty in 100 Days and Never Lose an Employee Again: The Simple Path to Remarkable Retention .
Shep Hyken is a customer service and experience expert, New York Times bestselling author, award-winning keynote speaker, and host of Amazing Business Radio .
This episode of Amazing Business Radio with Shep Hyken answers the following questions and more:
What are the benefits of employee retention?
How are customer experience and employee experience related?
Why are the first 100 days of an employee’s experience crucial?
Why do employees tend to leave the company they work with?
Why do employees stay long in a company? (Is this the way we want to word the question?)
You can only expect to deliver a remarkable customer experience if you have remarkable employees. People think that customer experience and employee experience are two different silos. The better way to look at it is that they are two sides of the same coin because we need to work on both.
The first 100 days are the most important time in the entire relationship with an employee. This is where the foundation is laid. How we onboard employees and make them feel part of our organization’s community can differentiate whether they will be long-time employees or leave as fast as they came.
When onboarding and acclimating your employees, the number of days you’re willing to spend teaching them, showing them the ropes, and “holding their hand” is directly proportional to the number of months they will stay as an employee.
Work Institute did a massive survey of exit interview investigations, and here’s what they found – Top 5 reasons why employees leave:
Reason #1 Career – 24% of the employees leave because they couldn’t see a clear career path.
Reason #2 Job – Stress, lack of resources, training, and empowerment.
Reason #3 Health and Family – Their personal health or a responsibility to care for kids or aging parents.
Reason #4 Work-Life Balance – Travel, commute, or scheduling.
Reason #5 Rewards – Only 9% of employees leave for a bigger paycheck.
Employers may care about their employees, but the employees themselves may not know it. Your employees probably have no idea of all the time and effort you’re spending thinking about making payroll, advancing their careers, and making sure people don’t suffer burnout. Share it with them, but when you do, spend a little less time telling and a little more time showing.
Plus, Joey shares two of the eight phases of the employee journey that every organization needs to ace. Tune in!
Quotes:
“If you’re not painting a clear path for your people and expecting them to manage and figure out their careers on their own, then you deserve to lose them.”
“If employees are experiencing stress outside of work that will impact their nine-to-five, as employers, it’s our responsibility to look out for them. Be empathetic of what they are going through, and create a safe environment where they can share what’s going on.”
“As a leader, you have the opportunity to establish the culture in your organization and set the norms. You can do that by leading by example and talking about things in your personal life that might impact how you show up in the workplace.”
“If you’re only going to spend a day bringing them on board, don’t be surprised when they leave 100 days later.”
“Employers say, ’I wish my employees cared as much about the business as I do.’ However, your employees wish you cared as much about them as you do about the business.”
About:
Joey Coleman is the creator of the First 100 Days® methodology for improving customer and employee retention. He is the author of Never Lose a Customer Again: Turn Any Sale into Lifelong Loyalty in 100 Days and Never Lose an Employee Again: The Simple Path to Remarkable Retention .
Shep Hyken is a customer service and experience expert, New York Times bestselling author, award-winning keynote speaker, and host of Amazing Business Radio .
This episode of Amazing Business Radio with Shep Hyken answers the following questions and more:
What are the benefits of employee retention?
How are customer experience and employee experience related?
Why are the first 100 days of an employee’s experience crucial?
Why do employees tend to leave the company they work with?
Why do employees stay long in a company? (Is this the way we want to word the question?)
Top 5 Customer Service & CX Articles for the Week of June 26, 2023
Each week, I read many 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.
Customer Experience Insights From Fast-food Chains by Brittany Hodak
(Brittany Hodak) In today’s experience economy, customers are no longer comparing you to your direct competitors. They’re comparing you to every experience they’ve ever had, anywhere. With intense competition and ever-increasing customer expectations, it’s crucial for brands to seek inspiration from unexpected sources, including those completely outside of their industries.
My Comment: Brittany Hodak is one of my favorite CX experts. In this informative and entertaining article, Hodak takes her SUPER model and uses well-known brands from the fast-food industry to illustrate her points. There is something here for every type of business, large and small, B2C and B2B.
9 Tips For Having A Customer Spotlight At Your Next Customer Advisory Board Meeting by Eyal Danon
(Forbes) One of the more popular attendees at customer advisory board (CAB) meetings is the customer speaker, or more accurately, customer “session owner” as they will (hopefully) do much more than merely speak. CAB members—as evidenced by their post-meeting surveys—like to learn and benchmark how their colleagues’ departments are set up, fit within their organizations, resourced and measured by their management. Most of all, CAB members are especially keen to hear how a fellow CAB member attacked and solved a similar challenge they all face; the lessons learned can be taken immediately back and applied to their own companies.
My Comment: Do you have a CAB (Customer Advisory Board)? If not, this is something to give serious consideration to doing. Imagine a meeting with various customers sharing their feedback at a level that is far beyond a traditional focus group. This short article has some good ideas that will get you started (or perhaps improve) your CAB.
The Art of Customer Service: Lessons From History’s Master Painters by Mark de Bruijn
(MyCustomer) From the Mona Lisa to The Starry Night, art masterpieces live in our minds for the emotion they make us feel. Just like art, the best customer service is about making emotional connections with customers. The need to create customer service masterpieces is increasingly important as businesses face rising customer expectations.
My Comment: What do customer service and the painting masters like Rembrandt and Leonardo da Vinci have to do with customer service? Let’s start with this quote from the article: “A masterpiece is defined as ‘work done with extraordinary skill’. True customer service is an art masterpiece.” I love that! Read this article and learn from the “masters.”
Beyond CX: Deliver a Total Human Experience by Michael Manfredo
(CMSWire) Between employees quiet quitting, customers frustrated by delays and business partners struggling to meet demand, it’s no surprise that companies are struggling to provide a great customer experience (CX). The problem? Their CX initiatives are failing to move the needle — and at the same time — are lending leadership teams a false sense of security. Case in point: Nearly nine in 10 companies believe they provide excellent CX — but only 11% of customers agree.
My Comment: Here’s a sobering statistic: “Nearly nine in 10 companies believe they provide excellent CX — but only 11% of customers agree.” This is mentioned toward the top of this article. I agree with the author’s idea that CX is about managing every moment or interaction the customer has with the company or brand. Manage each of those moments the right way, and the customer comes back.
Your CX Altitude Change: Customer Centricity to Life Centricity by Julia Ahlfeldt
(CMSWire) It’s high time that businesses realize customers aren’t one-dimensional. They are humans just like us, balancing priorities and navigating a world filled with different forces and influences. For too long, customer-centricity has relied on the oversimplification of customer needs and boxing them into neat little segments. This doesn’t always work because customer needs are fluid — and sometimes even contradictory — which makes building static customer segments that accurately reflect preferences difficulty.
My Comment: This article spins the concept of customer-centricity into a new concept the author refers to as life-centricity. As I read this short article, I quickly realized the point was to go beyond typical transactional interactions. In this brief description, I can’t articulate this as well as the author did in her article, so here’s a quick example. Starbucks doesn’t just sell coffee. They sell an experience that crosses over into other areas of their customers’ lives. Hence, Starbucks’s strategy and product decisions go far beyond the products they sell to how its brand connects with their customer on many other levels.
BONUS
The Value of Retail Customer Experience: 10 Quotes from Industry Leaders by Zac Francis
(eduMe) Ever since the customer took center stage, retailers have consistently asked themselves the same question: What does the customer want? Over the years, answers have ranged from higher quality products to more affordable pricing. For today’s consumer, it’s all about the experience, and 1 in 3 consumers will leave a brand after one bad experience. They expect outstanding service throughout the entire customer journey, starting with initial contact and finishing with post purchase support.
My Comment: I love thought-provoking customer service and CX quotes. Here are ten from some of the best-known – and not so well-known – experts and thought leaders in the industry.
Shep Hyken is a customer service/CX expert, award-winning keynote speaker, and New York Times bestselling author. Learn more about Shep’s customer service and customer experience keynote speeches and his customer service training workshops at www.Hyken.com. Connect with Shep on LinkedIn.
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Customer Experience Insights From Fast-food Chains by Brittany Hodak
(Brittany Hodak) In today’s experience economy, customers are no longer comparing you to your direct competitors. They’re comparing you to every experience they’ve ever had, anywhere. With intense competition and ever-increasing customer expectations, it’s crucial for brands to seek inspiration from unexpected sources, including those completely outside of their industries.
My Comment: Brittany Hodak is one of my favorite CX experts. In this informative and entertaining article, Hodak takes her SUPER model and uses well-known brands from the fast-food industry to illustrate her points. There is something here for every type of business, large and small, B2C and B2B.
9 Tips For Having A Customer Spotlight At Your Next Customer Advisory Board Meeting by Eyal Danon
(Forbes) One of the more popular attendees at customer advisory board (CAB) meetings is the customer speaker, or more accurately, customer “session owner” as they will (hopefully) do much more than merely speak. CAB members—as evidenced by their post-meeting surveys—like to learn and benchmark how their colleagues’ departments are set up, fit within their organizations, resourced and measured by their management. Most of all, CAB members are especially keen to hear how a fellow CAB member attacked and solved a similar challenge they all face; the lessons learned can be taken immediately back and applied to their own companies.
My Comment: Do you have a CAB (Customer Advisory Board)? If not, this is something to give serious consideration to doing. Imagine a meeting with various customers sharing their feedback at a level that is far beyond a traditional focus group. This short article has some good ideas that will get you started (or perhaps improve) your CAB.
The Art of Customer Service: Lessons From History’s Master Painters by Mark de Bruijn
(MyCustomer) From the Mona Lisa to The Starry Night, art masterpieces live in our minds for the emotion they make us feel. Just like art, the best customer service is about making emotional connections with customers. The need to create customer service masterpieces is increasingly important as businesses face rising customer expectations.
My Comment: What do customer service and the painting masters like Rembrandt and Leonardo da Vinci have to do with customer service? Let’s start with this quote from the article: “A masterpiece is defined as ‘work done with extraordinary skill’. True customer service is an art masterpiece.” I love that! Read this article and learn from the “masters.”
Beyond CX: Deliver a Total Human Experience by Michael Manfredo
(CMSWire) Between employees quiet quitting, customers frustrated by delays and business partners struggling to meet demand, it’s no surprise that companies are struggling to provide a great customer experience (CX). The problem? Their CX initiatives are failing to move the needle — and at the same time — are lending leadership teams a false sense of security. Case in point: Nearly nine in 10 companies believe they provide excellent CX — but only 11% of customers agree.
My Comment: Here’s a sobering statistic: “Nearly nine in 10 companies believe they provide excellent CX — but only 11% of customers agree.” This is mentioned toward the top of this article. I agree with the author’s idea that CX is about managing every moment or interaction the customer has with the company or brand. Manage each of those moments the right way, and the customer comes back.
Your CX Altitude Change: Customer Centricity to Life Centricity by Julia Ahlfeldt
(CMSWire) It’s high time that businesses realize customers aren’t one-dimensional. They are humans just like us, balancing priorities and navigating a world filled with different forces and influences. For too long, customer-centricity has relied on the oversimplification of customer needs and boxing them into neat little segments. This doesn’t always work because customer needs are fluid — and sometimes even contradictory — which makes building static customer segments that accurately reflect preferences difficulty.
My Comment: This article spins the concept of customer-centricity into a new concept the author refers to as life-centricity. As I read this short article, I quickly realized the point was to go beyond typical transactional interactions. In this brief description, I can’t articulate this as well as the author did in her article, so here’s a quick example. Starbucks doesn’t just sell coffee. They sell an experience that crosses over into other areas of their customers’ lives. Hence, Starbucks’s strategy and product decisions go far beyond the products they sell to how its brand connects with their customer on many other levels.
BONUS
The Value of Retail Customer Experience: 10 Quotes from Industry Leaders by Zac Francis
(eduMe) Ever since the customer took center stage, retailers have consistently asked themselves the same question: What does the customer want? Over the years, answers have ranged from higher quality products to more affordable pricing. For today’s consumer, it’s all about the experience, and 1 in 3 consumers will leave a brand after one bad experience. They expect outstanding service throughout the entire customer journey, starting with initial contact and finishing with post purchase support.
My Comment: I love thought-provoking customer service and CX quotes. Here are ten from some of the best-known – and not so well-known – experts and thought leaders in the industry.
Shep Hyken is a customer service/CX expert, award-winning keynote speaker, and New York Times bestselling author. Learn more about Shep’s customer service and customer experience keynote speeches and his customer service training workshops at www.Hyken.com. Connect with Shep on LinkedIn.
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June 20, 2023
Two Ridiculous Customer Service Debacles and What We Can Learn From Them
In 1996 the U.S. hosted the Summer Olympics. I’ll never forget reading about this story. Wade Miller, a Santa Fe, New Mexico, resident, tried to buy tickets to the volleyball match from the Summer Olympics ticket office in Atlanta. When the agent found out he lived in New Mexico, she refused to sell him a ticket. She claimed she couldn’t sell tickets to anyone outside the United States. He appealed to the agent’s supervisor, who also believed that New Mexico was not part of the United States, even though New Mexico became the 47th state in 1912.
There is a happy ending to the story. Miller eventually bought tickets, and Scott Anderson, managing director of the games, promised it wouldn’t happen again. He said, “Obviously, we made a mistake, and we want to apologize to everybody out in New Mexico. The good news is that of all the mistakes we could make, this one is at least easily fixable.”
And there is a similar story that happened just a few weeks ago. A Puerto Rican family traveling from the United States to Puerto Rico was denied boarding a plane because their infant child did not have a U.S. passport. Despite the family pleading their case, the most the agent offered to do was refund the ticket or reschedule them to a later flight after they could acquire a passport for their child. The family eventually walked over to the JetBlue ticket counter, where they were told what they already knew: passports are not required to travel between the U.S. mainland and U.S. territories, such as Puerto Rico.
From these stories – and there are plenty more just like them – here are a few lessons we can take away:
Customer Service Training: Many problems can be avoided with good customer service training. There is the soft-skill side of customer service, being friendly and empathetic. Then there is the technical side that covers anything specific to what the company does, which can include basic geography. That makes me wonder, how can someone in the airline industry not understand the requirements for different countries – or at least know where to go to get the correct information?
It’s Okay to Get Help: If a customer and agent are at an impasse that doesn’t look like it can be resolved, the agent needs to know when to say, “I’ll be right back,” and find someone who can help. It’s okay to get help!
Recovery is Key: While not part of these two stories, it’s still important to recognize that how someone apologizes, and the actions they take do two things. First, it shows empathy and care for the customer and the situation. Second, when the problem is resolved to the customer’s complete satisfaction, it may renew the customer’s confidence in the company to come back next time.
There are more lessons and examples like these. I wanted to share these two for two reasons. One, they are entertaining examples that not only make you smile but also make you think. And two, it proves a point that I often make: common sense isn’t always so common!
Shep Hyken is a customer service/CX expert, award-winning keynote speaker, and New York Times bestselling author. Learn more about Shep’s customer service and customer experience keynote speeches and his customer service training workshops at www.Hyken.com. Connect with Shep on LinkedIn.
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June 19, 2023
Customer-Centric Marketing with Mich Hancock
Top Takeaways:
Social media is called “social” for a reason. It’s more than posting branded content. It is about communicating with your customers, getting feedback, responding to comments, and taking action based on what your customers tell you.
Respond thoughtfully to every comment, positive or negative. Instead of replying with a generic “thank you” each time someone leaves a comment, respond in a way that makes the customer feel heard as an individual.
Customers are watching you on social media. They are especially watching how you handle negative comments or complaints. When you handle negative comments effectively, it gives customers tremendous confidence to want to do business with you. Remember, you are not trying to win an argument, you are trying to win the customer – and in the world of social media, everyone can watch
Social media is a way for businesses to bring people into their community. It is a way for brands to tell a story about their business so customers can get to know them better and understand how they work.
When you offer customer care through social media, educate your customers to go to that channel, and make sure you are monitoring those channels and engaging with your customers promptly.
Plus, Mich shares how companies can share their values, message, and authenticity with their customers. Tune in!
Quotes:
About:
How can you use social media for customer service?
How should brands respond to negative comments on social media?
What role does social media play in building a community and telling brand stories?
How can brands be more authentic online?
Why is it important for companies to share their advocacies with their customers?
Social media is called “social” for a reason. It’s more than posting branded content. It is about communicating with your customers, getting feedback, responding to comments, and taking action based on what your customers tell you.
Respond thoughtfully to every comment, positive or negative. Instead of replying with a generic “thank you” each time someone leaves a comment, respond in a way that makes the customer feel heard as an individual.
Customers are watching you on social media. They are especially watching how you handle negative comments or complaints. When you handle negative comments effectively, it gives customers tremendous confidence to want to do business with you. Remember, you are not trying to win an argument, you are trying to win the customer – and in the world of social media, everyone can watch
Social media is a way for businesses to bring people into their community. It is a way for brands to tell a story about their business so customers can get to know them better and understand how they work.
When you offer customer care through social media, educate your customers to go to that channel, and make sure you are monitoring those channels and engaging with your customers promptly.
Plus, Mich shares how companies can share their values, message, and authenticity with their customers. Tune in!
Quotes:
“Customers like to do business with companies that care about the same things that they do. If you support an amazing cause, you should talk about it because it says a lot about you.”
“Meet your customers where they are. If your customers prefer social media as a customer care channel, let them know someone is there to answer their questions so they don’t have to move to other channels.”
“Be authentic; this is the most important thing with marketing – and anything you do.”
About:
Mich Hancock is the CEO of 100th Monkey. She is the Co-Founder and License Holder of TEDxStLouis and the host of Michmash Podcast, where she helps individuals and organizations raise their voices and be heard.
Shep Hyken is a customer service and experience expert, New York Times bestselling author, award-winning keynote speaker, and host of Amazing Business Radio.
This episode of Amazing Business Radio with Shep Hyken answers the following questions and more:
How can you use social media for customer service?
How should brands respond to negative comments on social media?
What role does social media play in building a community and telling brand stories?
How can brands be more authentic online?
Why is it important for companies to share their advocacies with their customers?
Top 5 Customer Service & CX Articles for the Week of June 19, 2023
Each week, I read many 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.
Prioritize These Five Things to Drive Exceptional Customer Experiences by Annette Franz
(CustomerThink) In a world where products and services are becoming more and more commoditized, customer experience is the only true and sustainable differentiator. That means that customer experience leaders have a lot of pressure on them to “get it right” from a variety of angles.
My Comment: Annette Franz is a customer experience and journey map expert. This excellent article lists five essential areas an organization must focus to have a successful CX program. The first one is about executive commitment. Without that, the CX program will fail. Unfortunately, I’ve seen organizations make an effort, but not all executives are aligned with the program, and it ultimately fails. A strong CX program starts at the top with leadership!
Organizations Should Focus on NPS by Dave Michels
(No Jitter) There’s a lot of change occurring in Customer Service. AI is disrupting just about every workflow and process, but there are some things that shouldn’t change. NPS, or Net Promoter Score, is a highly effective, yet misunderstood metric that makes sense to keep.
My Comment: If you’ve followed my work, you know I’m a big fan of NPS. If you aren’t using it to measure customer satisfaction, this article will get you started. For more insights, check out my interview with Fred Reichheld, the man behind this powerful metric, on my Amazing Business Radio podcast.
How to Develop a Winning Customer Experience Strategy by Mahnoor Sheikh
(Sprout Social) The customer experience (CX) is all about how your customers perceive their interactions with your brand. A positive CX can turn casual browsers into loyal customers, while a negative one can send them straight to your competitors.
My Comment: If you combined the first and second articles of this week’s roundup, you would come up with a version of this excellent article from our friends at SproutSocial. The focus is on CX, metrics, and much more.
Harnessing the Customer Experience to Recession-proof Your Small Business by Brandi Marcene
(America’s Small Business Network) Whether your business has just started or completed its fifth anniversary, we understand that you are worrying about how to reflect on the ever-changing economic situation and how it can affect your company. In recent years, these worries have increased due to the rising global inflation that is more likely to follow with recession. You need to find ways to recession-proof your small business to retain your position in the market.
My Comment: Want to recession-proof your business? Of course, you do! Even if you don’t believe there will be a recession (or we are already in one), this article is important to read. Whether you have a small business or a large brand, some tips and ideas in this article will help you attract and keep your customers.
Apple’s Vision Pro and Steve Jobs’ Legacy of Customer-Centric Innovation by Justin Racine
(CMSWire) Steve Jobs was known for his unwavering commitment to what he believed was best for consumers. He was a visionary who constantly pushed boundaries and left a lasting legacy. Now, the Apple Vision Pro enters the arena, carrying on his vision. Will it have a transformative impact on the world?
My Comment: This isn’t the typical article I share in the Top Five roundup, as it isn’t specifically about customer service and CX. If you haven’t heard about Apple’s newest (and very cool) product, Vision Pro, this is your introduction. The author shares his take on how Apple is rolling it out and how it may impact CX in the near future.
Shep Hyken is a customer service/CX expert, award-winning keynote speaker, and New York Times bestselling author. Learn more about Shep’s customer service and customer experience keynote speeches and his customer service training workshops at www.Hyken.com. Connect with Shep on LinkedIn.
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Prioritize These Five Things to Drive Exceptional Customer Experiences by Annette Franz
(CustomerThink) In a world where products and services are becoming more and more commoditized, customer experience is the only true and sustainable differentiator. That means that customer experience leaders have a lot of pressure on them to “get it right” from a variety of angles.
My Comment: Annette Franz is a customer experience and journey map expert. This excellent article lists five essential areas an organization must focus to have a successful CX program. The first one is about executive commitment. Without that, the CX program will fail. Unfortunately, I’ve seen organizations make an effort, but not all executives are aligned with the program, and it ultimately fails. A strong CX program starts at the top with leadership!
Organizations Should Focus on NPS by Dave Michels
(No Jitter) There’s a lot of change occurring in Customer Service. AI is disrupting just about every workflow and process, but there are some things that shouldn’t change. NPS, or Net Promoter Score, is a highly effective, yet misunderstood metric that makes sense to keep.
My Comment: If you’ve followed my work, you know I’m a big fan of NPS. If you aren’t using it to measure customer satisfaction, this article will get you started. For more insights, check out my interview with Fred Reichheld, the man behind this powerful metric, on my Amazing Business Radio podcast.
How to Develop a Winning Customer Experience Strategy by Mahnoor Sheikh
(Sprout Social) The customer experience (CX) is all about how your customers perceive their interactions with your brand. A positive CX can turn casual browsers into loyal customers, while a negative one can send them straight to your competitors.
My Comment: If you combined the first and second articles of this week’s roundup, you would come up with a version of this excellent article from our friends at SproutSocial. The focus is on CX, metrics, and much more.
Harnessing the Customer Experience to Recession-proof Your Small Business by Brandi Marcene
(America’s Small Business Network) Whether your business has just started or completed its fifth anniversary, we understand that you are worrying about how to reflect on the ever-changing economic situation and how it can affect your company. In recent years, these worries have increased due to the rising global inflation that is more likely to follow with recession. You need to find ways to recession-proof your small business to retain your position in the market.
My Comment: Want to recession-proof your business? Of course, you do! Even if you don’t believe there will be a recession (or we are already in one), this article is important to read. Whether you have a small business or a large brand, some tips and ideas in this article will help you attract and keep your customers.
Apple’s Vision Pro and Steve Jobs’ Legacy of Customer-Centric Innovation by Justin Racine
(CMSWire) Steve Jobs was known for his unwavering commitment to what he believed was best for consumers. He was a visionary who constantly pushed boundaries and left a lasting legacy. Now, the Apple Vision Pro enters the arena, carrying on his vision. Will it have a transformative impact on the world?
My Comment: This isn’t the typical article I share in the Top Five roundup, as it isn’t specifically about customer service and CX. If you haven’t heard about Apple’s newest (and very cool) product, Vision Pro, this is your introduction. The author shares his take on how Apple is rolling it out and how it may impact CX in the near future.
Shep Hyken is a customer service/CX expert, award-winning keynote speaker, and New York Times bestselling author. Learn more about Shep’s customer service and customer experience keynote speeches and his customer service training workshops at www.Hyken.com. Connect with Shep on LinkedIn.
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June 13, 2023
Manage the Moment Right Now to Get the Customer to Come Back Tomorrow
I just heard an excellent motivational speaker, Antonio Neves, and one of his messages was called “The Last 30 Days.” He talked about visiting a marriage counselor with his wife, where they were asked to consider the question: Looking back over the last 30 days, if you asked your spouse to marry you again, would they say yes? He then spun that question to business and specifically talked about employment. That version goes like this: Looking back over the last 30 days, would your boss rehire you?
When I do annual reviews of my team, one of the questions I ask myself is, “Based on the past year, would I be excited to hire this employee again?” It’s the same type of question. The point is that we validate our decisions based on our experiences in both our personal and professional lives.
So, let’s take it to the customer service and CX world. However, we aren’t going to look back for a year or even 30 days. We aren’t going to look back at all. We’re going to look at what’s happening right now, at this very moment. My version of this is what I refer to as the
Loyalty Question : What am I doing right now that will make this customer want to do business with us again the next time they need what we sell?
Every interaction with a customer becomes your CX judgment day, especially when there is a problem or complaint. It doesn’t matter how long you’ve done business and how perfect the experience has been. The moment there is a negative issue, it becomes judgment day. Someone could have done business with you for 10 years, but when a problem or friction arises, that moment is your opportunity to earn the right to continue to do business with that customer for another 10 years.
The point of all these ideas – 30 days, one year, or even today – is about managing the moment, whether it be multiple moments over an extended period or the moment you’re experiencing right now. We must be focused and attentive to what’s happening at that moment. Jan Carlson, who I’ve written about and talked about since the beginning of my career, came up with the ultimate concept for successfully managing these interactions. He calls it the Moment of Truth, and this is how he defines it: Anytime a customer comes into contact with any aspect of a business, however remote, they have an opportunity to form an impression.
Manage every moment! These are the interactions that make our customers say, “I’ll be back!”
Shep Hyken is a customer service/CX expert, award-winning keynote speaker, and New York Times bestselling author. Learn more about Shep’s customer service and customer experience keynote speeches and his customer service training workshops at www.Hyken.com. Connect with Shep on LinkedIn.
June 12, 2023
Creating Confidence Building Communication with Justine Tavares
Top Takeaways:
TextExpander allows you to access all of the things your team needs at their fingertips. It empowers teams to access the information they need to do their day-to-day, such as support responses, e-mail replies, sales pitches, and many more. It also enhances communication internally and externally, making it easy for your team to delight your customers with less effort in less time.
Up-to-date and consistent messaging ensures customer delight. Whenever an update is implemented within your organization, ensure it is communicated from the frontline to the back office so that everyone can access the same information.
You don’t always make decisions that are going to make the customers happy, but always keep them in mind when making them.
Proactively communicate changes that could impact customer experience. Provide transparent and open communication with your customers. When there’s a change that a customer may not be excited about or happy about, it is received better.
Over-communication is better than no communication. Having information gives customers a sense of control and confidence even when they are facing problems or delays.
When you want to create loyalty and an amazing experience, the word you want to hear the customer use is “always” in front of something good. For example, “They always take care of me even when there’s a problem.”
Plus, Justine shares how TextExpander uses “white glove onboarding” to meet customers where they are.
Quotes:
About:
What is Proactive communication?
How is communication important to customer delight?
How can efficient communication achieve customer satisfaction?
What is white glove onboarding?
How do you deliver bad news to customers?
TextExpander allows you to access all of the things your team needs at their fingertips. It empowers teams to access the information they need to do their day-to-day, such as support responses, e-mail replies, sales pitches, and many more. It also enhances communication internally and externally, making it easy for your team to delight your customers with less effort in less time.
Up-to-date and consistent messaging ensures customer delight. Whenever an update is implemented within your organization, ensure it is communicated from the frontline to the back office so that everyone can access the same information.
You don’t always make decisions that are going to make the customers happy, but always keep them in mind when making them.
Proactively communicate changes that could impact customer experience. Provide transparent and open communication with your customers. When there’s a change that a customer may not be excited about or happy about, it is received better.
Over-communication is better than no communication. Having information gives customers a sense of control and confidence even when they are facing problems or delays.
When you want to create loyalty and an amazing experience, the word you want to hear the customer use is “always” in front of something good. For example, “They always take care of me even when there’s a problem.”
Plus, Justine shares how TextExpander uses “white glove onboarding” to meet customers where they are.
Quotes:
“The customer should be at the core of everything that we do. We think about the customer first in every decision we make and every product we release.”
“Customers don’t like to be kept in the dark. Whenever a customer is waiting for an answer or a solution, and there is an update, provide it. If there are no updates, let the customer know that, as well.”
“Active listening builds trust. It is how you uncover your customer’s pain points and goals. It ensures that you are on the same page and are aligned on the next steps.”
“Speak to your customers. Use your client-facing team who speak and learn from your customers every day to better understand what they want.”
About:
Justine Tavares is the Director of Customer Success at TextExpander. She empowers her team to create customer-centric strategies to help individuals and teams achieve productivity goals.
Shep Hyken is a customer service and experience expert, New York Times bestselling author, award-winning keynote speaker, and host of Amazing Business Radio.
This episode of Amazing Business Radio with Shep Hyken answers the following questions and more:
What is Proactive communication?
How is communication important to customer delight?
How can efficient communication achieve customer satisfaction?
What is white glove onboarding?
How do you deliver bad news to customers?
June 11, 2023
Top 5 Customer Service & CX Articles for the Week of June 12, 2023
Each week, I read many 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.
B2B Customer Experience Examples: Think Like A B2C by Dan Gingiss
(Dan Gingiss) While B2B businesses are technically providing products and services to companies, they are selling to individual buyers who are consumers. In other words, they are marketing their services to humans. And most B2B companies have a leaky bucket – customers that are leaving them regularly without telling them why. This means B2B firms should also focus on customer experience. CX results in more customers who spend more, stay longer and refer others.
My Comment: Even if you’re in the B2B world, your customers are going to compare you to the best service they have had from any company or brand. And most likely, that will be to a consumer experience. Companies like Chic-fil-a and Amazon have taught customers what a great experience looks like. Dan Gingiss is often featured in this weekly roundup (because he writes excellent content). This week he emphasizes B2B must think like B2C.
5 Things Clients Won’t Tell You Before They Leave by Dawna Jarvis
(Salon Today) As service providers, we often wonder why clients choose to leave without providing any feedback. Most of the reasons can be traced back to one key factor: communication. Here are five things your clients might not be telling you.
My Comment: Let’s take a lesson from the salon industry. It doesn’t matter what industry you’re in; customers leave you, and often they don’t want to tell you the truth if they tell you anything at all. Not all of the reasons shared in this article will resonate with you unless you run a salon, but I want you to use it as a conversation starter with your team. After reading the article, ask, “What do you think our the customers that don’t do business with us anymore didn’t tell us?” You never know what kind of insight you’ll get from brainstorming this question.
9 Building Blocks Toward Exceptional Customer Experience by Olga Potaptseva
(CMSWire) What do Amazon, Starbucks, Tesla, Airbnb and Zappos have in common? They’re big companies, yes, but they’re also guided by a customer-centric approach to business, which is built on a foundation of customer service excellence.
My Comment: There are a number of ideas here, some better than others, but what I like about this article is how it begins. The author states right up front that “CX isn’t a one-time deal…” I agree. Some companies consider a CX initiative as a short-term plan. It must be ongoing and continuously improving.
Four Tips for Keeping Your Employees Happy by Retail Technology Innovation Hub
(Retail Technology Innovation Hub) Having happy employees brings a business many benefits, and it ensures that you’re not going to have a high employee turnover. Having to constantly hire new employees will cost your business a lot of money and time, so it’s important that you’re doing everything you can to ensure that your employees are happy where they are and that they’re not going to have a better time working for another business.
My Comment: If you want happy customers, start with happy employees. There are dozens of ways to make that happen. Here are four of them. If nothing else, these are an excellent primer for a good conversation about keeping your best employees.
Cultivating Customers: Top 5 Marketing Strategies for Small Business Success by Noah Miller
(Tech Times) In today’s competitive business landscape, customer loyalty is more significant than ever. It’s no longer enough to merely attract new customers; retaining existing clients and turning them into brand advocates is vital for long-term success. Loyal customers not only provide a steady stream of revenue but also help spread word-of-mouth marketing, which is the most trusted form of advertising. In this article, we will delve into the importance of customer loyalty and the top five marketing strategies small businesses can employ to cultivate and enhance customer loyalty.
My Comment: Customer service and CX is marketing! Even though the five ideas shared are focused on small businesses, I can’t see why any brand couldn’t take advantage of a version of these five ideas.
Shep Hyken is a customer service/CX expert, award-winning keynote speaker, and New York Times bestselling author. Learn more about Shep’s customer service and customer experience keynote speeches and his customer service training workshops at www.Hyken.com. Connect with Shep on LinkedIn.
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B2B Customer Experience Examples: Think Like A B2C by Dan Gingiss
(Dan Gingiss) While B2B businesses are technically providing products and services to companies, they are selling to individual buyers who are consumers. In other words, they are marketing their services to humans. And most B2B companies have a leaky bucket – customers that are leaving them regularly without telling them why. This means B2B firms should also focus on customer experience. CX results in more customers who spend more, stay longer and refer others.
My Comment: Even if you’re in the B2B world, your customers are going to compare you to the best service they have had from any company or brand. And most likely, that will be to a consumer experience. Companies like Chic-fil-a and Amazon have taught customers what a great experience looks like. Dan Gingiss is often featured in this weekly roundup (because he writes excellent content). This week he emphasizes B2B must think like B2C.
5 Things Clients Won’t Tell You Before They Leave by Dawna Jarvis
(Salon Today) As service providers, we often wonder why clients choose to leave without providing any feedback. Most of the reasons can be traced back to one key factor: communication. Here are five things your clients might not be telling you.
My Comment: Let’s take a lesson from the salon industry. It doesn’t matter what industry you’re in; customers leave you, and often they don’t want to tell you the truth if they tell you anything at all. Not all of the reasons shared in this article will resonate with you unless you run a salon, but I want you to use it as a conversation starter with your team. After reading the article, ask, “What do you think our the customers that don’t do business with us anymore didn’t tell us?” You never know what kind of insight you’ll get from brainstorming this question.
9 Building Blocks Toward Exceptional Customer Experience by Olga Potaptseva
(CMSWire) What do Amazon, Starbucks, Tesla, Airbnb and Zappos have in common? They’re big companies, yes, but they’re also guided by a customer-centric approach to business, which is built on a foundation of customer service excellence.
My Comment: There are a number of ideas here, some better than others, but what I like about this article is how it begins. The author states right up front that “CX isn’t a one-time deal…” I agree. Some companies consider a CX initiative as a short-term plan. It must be ongoing and continuously improving.
Four Tips for Keeping Your Employees Happy by Retail Technology Innovation Hub
(Retail Technology Innovation Hub) Having happy employees brings a business many benefits, and it ensures that you’re not going to have a high employee turnover. Having to constantly hire new employees will cost your business a lot of money and time, so it’s important that you’re doing everything you can to ensure that your employees are happy where they are and that they’re not going to have a better time working for another business.
My Comment: If you want happy customers, start with happy employees. There are dozens of ways to make that happen. Here are four of them. If nothing else, these are an excellent primer for a good conversation about keeping your best employees.
Cultivating Customers: Top 5 Marketing Strategies for Small Business Success by Noah Miller
(Tech Times) In today’s competitive business landscape, customer loyalty is more significant than ever. It’s no longer enough to merely attract new customers; retaining existing clients and turning them into brand advocates is vital for long-term success. Loyal customers not only provide a steady stream of revenue but also help spread word-of-mouth marketing, which is the most trusted form of advertising. In this article, we will delve into the importance of customer loyalty and the top five marketing strategies small businesses can employ to cultivate and enhance customer loyalty.
My Comment: Customer service and CX is marketing! Even though the five ideas shared are focused on small businesses, I can’t see why any brand couldn’t take advantage of a version of these five ideas.
Shep Hyken is a customer service/CX expert, award-winning keynote speaker, and New York Times bestselling author. Learn more about Shep’s customer service and customer experience keynote speeches and his customer service training workshops at www.Hyken.com. Connect with Shep on LinkedIn.
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June 8, 2023
Guest Post: Could Customer Experience Gaps be Limiting Your Profitability?
This week, we feature an article by Sage, an international company that helps organizations of all sizes with accounting, payroll, and payment solutions. It discusses customer experience gaps that hinder profitability and how to close them.
Are you providing as good of a customer experience as you think you are?
Customer experience gaps refer to the disconnect between what your customers expect from your brand and what your brand actually delivers.
Even gaps that we might consider small can cause gulfs in your customer experiences. A confusing checkout process or lack of personalization can be just as hindering to your customer as long customer service wait times or unresponsive mobile websites.
According to Salesforce, your brand’s overall experience is just as important to 88% of your customers as the product you’re selling.
From high churn rates and missed upselling opportunities to a ruined brand reputation, failing to address customer experience gaps can have detrimental revenue consequences.
Impact of Customer Experience Gaps on Profitability
So, let’s explore the main ways that customer experience gaps negatively impact profitability.
Customer churn and loss of repeat business
59% of customers will reduce or completely terminate their spending after a poor interaction. So, if your customer journey is littered with poorly-optimized touchpoints, you’re going to experience high churn rates.
Even if a customer continues to make a purchase after a negative experience, chances are they won’t come back. If you’re really unlucky, they might even leave a negative review.
Negative word-of-mouth and brand reputation damage
When customers have negative experiences with your brand, they complain about you to their friends and family. They also leave negative reviews online for the world to see. This can critically damage your business’s reputation. As you can see below, prospective customers trust word-of-mouth and online reviews over any other form of information.
If your business starts gathering lots of negative reviews or has a poor star rating, potential customers are more likely to distrust and avoid your company. BrightLocal found that a huge 87% of customers will not consider a company with a rating below 3 stars. For 38% of customers, you need a 4-star rating, minimum.
Once again, that’s a huge chunk of potential profit lost. So, aim to deliver a 5-star customer experience to everyone who interacts with your brand.
Reduced customer lifetime value
Beware the loyalty gap! Repeat and loyal customers have high customer lifetime values, making them your most profitable customers. But even the buyers you think are loyal customers may be tempted to switch brands if you fail to provide an exceptional experience.
Some studies report that 73% of customers will switch brands after multiple bad experiences—and over half will switch after just one bad experience.
A reduced average customer lifetime value can be financially crippling for your company. It’s much easier to sell to existing customers than new customers, so keeping loyal customers happy with great brand experiences is critical for your financial stability.
Missed cross-selling and upselling opportunities
Customers like receiving personalized recommendations—so much so that upselling and cross-selling can be accredited to a significant portion of your business’s revenue.
Hubspot, for example, found that for almost half of the companies surveyed, upselling accounted for between 11-40% of their total revenue.
But if there are gaps in your customer experience—such as departmental silos, knowledge gaps within sales teams, and a lack of consistent personalization—you’ll miss out on lucrative cross-selling and upselling opportunities.
To cross-sell and upsell effectively, aim to understand your customers wants, needs, personal preferences, purchasing history, and buying behaviors.
Strategies to address customer experience gaps
Ready to bridge your customer experience gaps? Here are some tips to get you started.
Your customers don’t just crave personalization anymore—they demand perfectly individualized customer experiences. According to Salesforce, 56% of customers expect offers to always be personalized, while 73% expect brands to understand their unique needs and expectations at every point in the customer journey.
To meet demands for personalized experiences, prioritize staying in tune with your customer’s needs, pain points, and personal history with your company.
On top of this, remember to acknowledge cultural differences between different markets and how this will affect a customer’s perception of your brand. It’s only when you combine all of these considerations that you’ll be able to provide an exceptional experience.
To achieve this, ERP software can unify your customer data and maximize its accessibility across marketing, sales, and customer service teams. With synergistic access to real-time customer information, teams can deliver consistently personalized messaging and experiences that align with expectations for whichever market your customer is in.
Improve product quality
Remember that for 88% of customers, the quality of your product is just as important as your customer experience.
A low-quality product forms a mammoth gap in the customer experience that no amount of efficient customer service or personalization can fill. So, continuously improving your product’s quality should be a top priority for growth.
Here’s another instance where utilizing ERP in ecommerce can drive improvements. With the capability to collect and centralize volumes of data, ERP systems facilitate the in-depth analysis of valuable customer feedback.
Ideally, what you want to be doing is eliminating silos, so customer feedback reaches all corners of your business. Software and data collection allows for this, as feedback is collected from marketing, sales, and customer service teams which can then be shared with product development to drive customer-informed product improvements.
Streamline user interfaces
A streamlined user interface (UI) is intuitive, consistent, and optimized to help users efficiently reach their goals. The easier it is for a user to navigate your ecommerce channels, the more likely they are to become a paying customer.
Here are some quick tips for streamlining your UI:
Simplicity: Avoid over-complicated and unnecessary design elements.
Consistency: Using common elements across your website improves ease of use and familiarity.
Visual hierarchy: A structured, organized website leads users down a logical path.
Frictionless navigation: Intuitive navigation can be achieved by adding menus, search bars, links, etc.
Responsiveness: Ensure that your website displays correctly across mobile devices.
Increase your profits by bridging customer experience gaps
The digital age provides so many choices for customers that there’s nothing stopping them from switching to a competitor that better meets their needs. So, prioritize identifying and bridging customer experience gaps that might be limiting your profitability.
By understanding your customers on a deeper level and delivering individualized customer experiences, you can align improvements with their expectations and needs to create experiences that drive sales, customer loyalty, and revenue growth.
Sage is a global software company that provides accounting, payroll, and payment solutions for businesses of all sizes.
Read Shep’s latest Forbes article: Do You Know What The VERY BEST Customer Service Is?
[image error]
Are you providing as good of a customer experience as you think you are?
Customer experience gaps refer to the disconnect between what your customers expect from your brand and what your brand actually delivers.
Even gaps that we might consider small can cause gulfs in your customer experiences. A confusing checkout process or lack of personalization can be just as hindering to your customer as long customer service wait times or unresponsive mobile websites.
According to Salesforce, your brand’s overall experience is just as important to 88% of your customers as the product you’re selling.
From high churn rates and missed upselling opportunities to a ruined brand reputation, failing to address customer experience gaps can have detrimental revenue consequences.
Impact of Customer Experience Gaps on Profitability
So, let’s explore the main ways that customer experience gaps negatively impact profitability.
Customer churn and loss of repeat business
59% of customers will reduce or completely terminate their spending after a poor interaction. So, if your customer journey is littered with poorly-optimized touchpoints, you’re going to experience high churn rates.
Even if a customer continues to make a purchase after a negative experience, chances are they won’t come back. If you’re really unlucky, they might even leave a negative review.
Negative word-of-mouth and brand reputation damage
When customers have negative experiences with your brand, they complain about you to their friends and family. They also leave negative reviews online for the world to see. This can critically damage your business’s reputation. As you can see below, prospective customers trust word-of-mouth and online reviews over any other form of information.
If your business starts gathering lots of negative reviews or has a poor star rating, potential customers are more likely to distrust and avoid your company. BrightLocal found that a huge 87% of customers will not consider a company with a rating below 3 stars. For 38% of customers, you need a 4-star rating, minimum.
Once again, that’s a huge chunk of potential profit lost. So, aim to deliver a 5-star customer experience to everyone who interacts with your brand.
Reduced customer lifetime value
Beware the loyalty gap! Repeat and loyal customers have high customer lifetime values, making them your most profitable customers. But even the buyers you think are loyal customers may be tempted to switch brands if you fail to provide an exceptional experience.
Some studies report that 73% of customers will switch brands after multiple bad experiences—and over half will switch after just one bad experience.
A reduced average customer lifetime value can be financially crippling for your company. It’s much easier to sell to existing customers than new customers, so keeping loyal customers happy with great brand experiences is critical for your financial stability.
Missed cross-selling and upselling opportunities
Customers like receiving personalized recommendations—so much so that upselling and cross-selling can be accredited to a significant portion of your business’s revenue.
Hubspot, for example, found that for almost half of the companies surveyed, upselling accounted for between 11-40% of their total revenue.
But if there are gaps in your customer experience—such as departmental silos, knowledge gaps within sales teams, and a lack of consistent personalization—you’ll miss out on lucrative cross-selling and upselling opportunities.
To cross-sell and upsell effectively, aim to understand your customers wants, needs, personal preferences, purchasing history, and buying behaviors.
Strategies to address customer experience gaps
Ready to bridge your customer experience gaps? Here are some tips to get you started.
Implement personalization initiatives
Your customers don’t just crave personalization anymore—they demand perfectly individualized customer experiences. According to Salesforce, 56% of customers expect offers to always be personalized, while 73% expect brands to understand their unique needs and expectations at every point in the customer journey.
To meet demands for personalized experiences, prioritize staying in tune with your customer’s needs, pain points, and personal history with your company.
On top of this, remember to acknowledge cultural differences between different markets and how this will affect a customer’s perception of your brand. It’s only when you combine all of these considerations that you’ll be able to provide an exceptional experience.
To achieve this, ERP software can unify your customer data and maximize its accessibility across marketing, sales, and customer service teams. With synergistic access to real-time customer information, teams can deliver consistently personalized messaging and experiences that align with expectations for whichever market your customer is in.
Improve product quality
Remember that for 88% of customers, the quality of your product is just as important as your customer experience.
A low-quality product forms a mammoth gap in the customer experience that no amount of efficient customer service or personalization can fill. So, continuously improving your product’s quality should be a top priority for growth.
Here’s another instance where utilizing ERP in ecommerce can drive improvements. With the capability to collect and centralize volumes of data, ERP systems facilitate the in-depth analysis of valuable customer feedback.
Ideally, what you want to be doing is eliminating silos, so customer feedback reaches all corners of your business. Software and data collection allows for this, as feedback is collected from marketing, sales, and customer service teams which can then be shared with product development to drive customer-informed product improvements.
Streamline user interfaces
A streamlined user interface (UI) is intuitive, consistent, and optimized to help users efficiently reach their goals. The easier it is for a user to navigate your ecommerce channels, the more likely they are to become a paying customer.
Here are some quick tips for streamlining your UI:
Simplicity: Avoid over-complicated and unnecessary design elements.
Consistency: Using common elements across your website improves ease of use and familiarity.
Visual hierarchy: A structured, organized website leads users down a logical path.
Frictionless navigation: Intuitive navigation can be achieved by adding menus, search bars, links, etc.
Responsiveness: Ensure that your website displays correctly across mobile devices.
Increase your profits by bridging customer experience gaps
The digital age provides so many choices for customers that there’s nothing stopping them from switching to a competitor that better meets their needs. So, prioritize identifying and bridging customer experience gaps that might be limiting your profitability.
By understanding your customers on a deeper level and delivering individualized customer experiences, you can align improvements with their expectations and needs to create experiences that drive sales, customer loyalty, and revenue growth.
Sage is a global software company that provides accounting, payroll, and payment solutions for businesses of all sizes.
Read Shep’s latest Forbes article: Do You Know What The VERY BEST Customer Service Is?
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June 6, 2023
Nothing Is Free, Even Free Shipping
Free is often an illusion. It looks free and may be advertised as free, but it’s not free.
I’m not saying a company that claims something is free is lying. As consumers, we must be careful and understand the difference between what is truly free and what is perceived as free. And as businesses, we must be cautious about what we promise.
Let’s use free shipping as an example. I think we can all agree, free shipping is not free. Somebody is paying for it, and it’s usually the consumer. Typically, free shipping is built into the price.
Sometimes, free shipping is part of a membership fee, such as an Amazon Prime membership. You pay the annual fee to get something for “free” – as in free shipping. It’s not free, no matter what you call it. And when consumers pay a fee to do business with a company, they typically want to take advantage of the perks the company offers. For Amazon, it’s free shipping, access to video content, and more.
A different way to say free is no extra charge. Isn’t that the same as free? It has the same impact.
So, what is actually free in business? Here’s a scenario. Try something free for a month. If you like it, the company will begin billing you the following month. If you choose not to continue, you could say you received a month’s worth of whatever the company sells for free. But it’s still not free – at least not to the company’s paying customers who, whether they realize it or not, are covering the cost of the marketing program that gives away a month’s worth of product while the prospect decides whether they will buy or not.
This article is an example of free. Each week we send it to thousands of subscribers. We post it to my website. I create weekly videos based on these articles. And I don’t charge a penny for them. Most people who read or watch these have no intention of ever buying anything from me. I’m more than okay with that. If something I write or put in a video makes a difference in someone’s life or business, that’s good enough for me. Of course, business is business, and I hope these free offerings lead to someone saying, “I want to book Shep as our customer experience keynote speaker for our next meeting.” (Okay, I admit that was a shameless plug!) But I must emphasize that this is truly a free offering even if you never buy. No strings attached!
I’m a big believer that the more you give, the more you get. I like the idea of free and encourage you to embrace it – give it a try. It might lead to business or sales, but if not, that’s okay too!
Shep Hyken is a customer service/CX expert, award-winning keynote speaker, and New York Times bestselling author. Learn more about Shep’s customer service and customer experience keynote speeches and his customer service training workshops at www.Hyken.com. Connect with Shep on LinkedIn.
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