Shep Hyken's Blog, page 95

The Loyalty Question 2.0

If you have been following my work, you may remember something I refer to as The Loyalty Question.

It goes like this: What am I doing right now to make sure the customer comes back the next time they need whatever it is we sell?

Most people think customer loyalty is about a lifetime. That’s a pretty big goal—making a customer stay for a lifetime. But if you break it down into smaller parts—as in the next time—it becomes much easier. As you ask yourself the loyalty question, think about the next time every time. Eventually, it can become a lifetime.

That question is still relevant, now more than ever, but let’s take it beyond people-to-people interactions. Let’s look at the bigger experience—specifically, the digital or technological interactions that our customers have with us.

One of the hot topics of the COVID-19 pandemic world we live in is a touchless experience. Often, touchless means a digital or automated experience—in other words, one that is void of the people-to-people experience.

For example, pre-COVID-19 I was at an airport gift shop and bought a book. There was no cashier; just two kiosks for customers to self-checkout. There was an employee to help people who couldn’t figure out the system, but I observed that nobody talked to her. Amazon Go is a convenience store chain that has automated or self-service checkout. You walk in the store, pick up what you want and walk out. When they opened their first store in early 2018, nobody thought that customers would not only want a people-less way to shop, but in the wake of COVID-19, desire and demand it.

In his 1995 book, The Road Ahead, Bill Gates predicted we wouldn’t have to carry cash in the not-so-distant future. We would pay for goods and services, even tip the valet, without having to physically exchange cash.

Today, customers want a touchless experience. They shop online so they don’t have to interact with people. They want delivery so they don’t have to go into a store. This is not about convenience, but about health and safety.

I still believe that loyalty is driven by emotion, which has always been about the personal connection. Today, the emotion expands to feeling safe. The emotion is confidence versus fear.

I could expand on this topic (and may in the future), but for now, I want you to consider your process. You may have the best people in the world for your customers to talk to. Do you also have a process—a customer experience (CX)—that makes them feel safe?

So, The Loyalty Question 2.0 has a minor change: Does the process our customer experiences make them want to come back the next time they need what we sell?

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 © MMXX, Shep Hyken)

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Amazing Business Radio: Jeffrey Hayzlett

Customer Service is Engagement 
Staying Focused on What Customers Want and Need 

Shep Hyken interviews Jeffrey Hayzlett, Chairman of C-Suite Network. They discuss strategies for persevering in business and providing amazing customer experiences in challenging times.

 

 

 

 

Top Takeaways: 

No matter what you’re selling, there will always be certain conditions of satisfaction. These will vary from situation to situation, but the basic underlying principle will always be the same: Does it meet the customers’ expectations? 
Get in the habit of having frank, transparent conversations with your customers. Communication is key! 
Customer service is all about engagement. That’s what people crave more than ever. 
Packaging is important and includes more than just what’s on the outside of a product. It could include word choice and tone or mode of delivery. Make sure the packaging is an accurate and positive representation of your brand identity. 
While packaging is important, it isn’t everything. The product still needs to do what it’s supposed to do and meet customer expectations. 


Customer service has always been about relationships and engagement. The number of followers you have on social media, for instance, doesn’t matter if those followers don’t have a relationship with you and aren’t truly engaged. 
Look for the people who are so fully engaged with you that they’ve become your biggest fans. Those people will organically drive more connections for you by telling their friends and family about you and the experience you provide. 
Your best innovations and insights can come directly from your engaged customers.  
Customer complaints can provide valuable information on how you can improve your products and services. 
Leaders and managers need to get on the front line and have discussions with customers to gain an accurate view of what’s happening within their company. 


Define and identify your “dream customer.” Recognize you can’t please everybody, but this will help you focus your company vision. 

Quotes: 

“Every executive should be the most strategic person in the room. You can’t necessarily be the smartest person in the room, but you can become the most strategic through education, motivation, inspiration and the chance for a little monetization.” 

 

“Find the people who are so super engaged that they’re super raving fans. Those are the people who organically go out and talk about you because they like you and believe in you. They’ve drunk your Kool-Aid.” 

 

“Don’t think of complaints as complaints. Those are opportunities for product enhancements.” 

About: 

Jeffrey Hayzlett is a global business celebrity, speaker, bestselling author, primetime TV host and podcast host. He is the Chairman of C-Suite Network, home of the world’s most trusted network of C-Suite leaders. 

Top Takeaways: 

No matter what you’re selling, there will always be certain conditions of satisfaction. These will vary from situation to situation, but the basic underlying principle will always be the same: Does it meet the customers’ expectations? 
Get in the habit of having frank, transparent conversations with your customers. Communication is key! 
Customer service is all about engagement. That’s what people crave more than ever. 
Packaging is important and includes more than just what’s on the outside of a product. It could include word choice and tone or mode of delivery. Make sure the packaging is an accurate and positive representation of your brand identity. 
While packaging is important, it isn’t everything. The product still needs to do what it’s supposed to do and meet customer expectations. 


Customer service has always been about relationships and engagement. The number of followers you have on social media, for instance, doesn’t matter if those followers don’t have a relationship with you and aren’t truly engaged. 
Look for the people who are so fully engaged with you that they’ve become your biggest fans. Those people will organically drive more connections for you by telling their friends and family about you and the experience you provide. 
Your best innovations and insights can come directly from your engaged customers.  
Customer complaints can provide valuable information on how you can improve your products and services. 
Leaders and managers need to get on the front line and have discussions with customers to gain an accurate view of what’s happening within their company. 


Define and identify your “dream customer.” Recognize you can’t please everybody, but this will help you focus your company vision. 

Quotes: 

“Every executive should be the most strategic person in the room. You can’t necessarily be the smartest person in the room, but you can become the most strategic through education, motivation, inspiration and the chance for a little monetization.” 

“Find the people who are so super-engaged that they’re super raving fans. Those are the people who organically go out and talk about you because they like you and believe in you. They’ve drunk your Kool-Aid.” 

“Don’t think of complaints as complaints. Those are opportunities for product enhancements.” 

About: 

Jeffrey Hayzlett is a global business celebrity, speaker, bestselling author, primetime TV host and podcast host. He is the Chairman of C-Suite Network, home of the world’s most trusted network of C-Suite leaders. 

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

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5 Top Customer Service Articles For the Week of November 16, 2020

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

3 Ways To ‘Innovate’ The Customer Experience by Sanjay Monga

(Forbes) Innovation has become a popular buzzword of the Digital Age. And today, in the experience economy, there is ample evidence to suggest a strong connection exists between necessity, innovation, and experience.

My Comment: What caught my eye in this short article was the second idea in the list of three, which was to focus on experience innovation over product innovation. Not that we should stop innovating our offerings, but the way we deliver them, which is the experience, is now the priority. This is what will help customers choose you over your competition.

20 Must-Learn Customer Service Skills in 2020 (Bonus: Tips to develop them faster) by Jared Cornell

(CustomerThink) This blog sheds light on the 20 essential customer service skills and how you can improve them.

My Comment: As we head out of 2020, this author shares a list of 20 skills that people in customer-facing roles should show proficiency. While the author refers to these as “skills,” some are actually traits. Either way, if I was working with a salesperson or customer service agent who was good at these, it would be hard for me to consider doing business with anyone else.

A 5-Step Plan to Change the Stereotype That Customer Service in Call Centers Has to be Terrible by Ellen Christenberry

(Sharpen) We’ve put together a five-step plan to help you eliminate the negative customer service stereotype from your call center. These steps will help you boost your agents’ performance and keep your customers coming back.

My Comment: Some people would rather go to the dentist than call customer support. They’ve experienced long hold times, being transferred multiple times, having to tell their story multiple times, and worse. This article sets out to right the situation by sharing five steps to help restore a customer’s faith in the support center.

Customer Experience Emerges as 2020 Bright Spot: Consumers See Positive Shift in Service and Signal Increasing Digital Engagement by MTS Staff Writer

(MarTech Series) The results of new research from Mitel, a global leader in business communications, offer encouraging signs for CX and point to areas where IT decision-makers should prioritize improvements as they look beyond today’s challenging business environment.

My Comment: What strange times we are living in. This article has some optimistic numbers pointing to CX improving through the pandemic. While retail leads the way in this, they also set the tone for all types of businesses (B2C and B2B). 60% of consumers interviewed said CX is better. The phone and email are still the top channels of communication. The retail industry is the leader, followed by healthcare. Government sits at the bottom.

7 Ways to Improve Customer Experience for Your eCommerce Website by Shardul Deshmukh

(MoEngage Inc.) Conversion rates can be boosted greatly by improving customer experience. In this article, we will look at 7 ways in which you can improve the customer experience for your e-commerce store.

My Comment: Earlier this week I read an article about a retailer that refuses to do any online business. They’ve never done eCommerce and claim they never will. I believe they will be playing catch-up if they even survive at all. Ecommerce cannot be ignored. This article has some good ideas on how to improve the eCommerce experience your customer has with you and your company.

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

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Guest Post: Ditching NPS for Real Feedback–Which is Better For Your Customer Experience?

This week we feature an article from Su Kaygun Sayran, a content writer for JotForm. He writes about what specifically makes feedback effective in helping you improve your customer service.

Feedback, the one thing that businesses know that they need but dread to receive it at the same time. But at the end of the day, it’s the feedback that makes or breaks a company. Actually, it’s the reaction of the company to the feedback that defines the outcome.

So, before we delve into the main topic, first let’s have a look at what makes feedback effective and how it ties into a solid customer experience strategy.

To categorize feedback as effective, we simply should look at the purpose of feedback. Feedback is collected in order to get an external, constructive view on basically anything. In our case, we’ll be looking at feedback from customers.

In order for feedback to be effective, it should help businesses improve their services and overall customer experience.

So, feedback such as: “This is great!”, “This product sucks”, or even, “Bad customer support, won’t suggest to anyone” is considered useless feedback. You might understand the first two examples, but what about the third? It tells a lot more about the experience of a customer. It signals that the support they received was weak. But still, it doesn’t provide what part of the service they received was bad. Without knowing that, you can’t possibly know how you can improve your service.

How Does Feedback Tie Into Customer Experience

Companies usually try to take a shortcut while collecting feedback to improve their overall customer experience forgetting that an overall look means nothing. So, when collecting feedback, you should aim at getting feedback about each unique point of your overall customer experience processes.

Learning which parts of your customer service need improvement, which parts of your product need improvement, etc. Will help you improve those weaker parts to improve your customer experience as a whole.

So, by collecting feedback for each of your customer experience elements separately, you can patch up your customer experience quality. Now let’s have a look at which methods you can use to collect feedback.

Net Promoter Score (NPS)

The Net Promoter Score (NPS) is a standard in measuring customer loyalty in almost any industry. It aims at quantifying how likely a customer is to suggest your services to a friend or colleague.

The NPS score is given out of 10 but the results are divided into 3 groups. Promoters, neutrals, and detractors. Promoters are people who are likely to suggest you to others and usually give a score between 9-10. Neutrals are people who are indifferent, these customers usually give a score between 7-8. Detractors are the most dangerous group. Not only are they reluctant to suggest your services or products to others but they pose a potential threat to you as they might sway other people away from your company.

Pros of NPS

There’s a reason why NPS is a gold standard for most businesses. First of all, it’s extremely easy to implement, collect, and make sense of. You simply ask people to rate the service they received on a scale from 0 to 10. Based on the results, you can easily see your average score and how many customers you have in each group. That simplicity and raw effectiveness have led it to be used so widely.

Cons of NPS

While it’s easy and convenient to collect feedback purely in the form of NPS, it’s nowhere near perfect. Easy implementation and evaluation come at a price. More often than not, feedback collected through NPS lacks substance. It can tell you that your customer service over the phone is more successful than emails but doesn’t tell you why.

Should You Ditch NPS for “Real Feedback”? 

Yes and no. Relying solely on NPS can be harmful to your overall customer experience strategy. As we have stated at the start of this article, effective feedback is the feedback that matters and in most cases, a simple score is not considered effective.

But ditching it entirely is not a great idea either. The great thing about NPS is that it can quickly identify pain points in your overall customer experience. And after that, you can start running a  more focused campaign to collect effective feedback. Let’s assume that the NPS of your customer service over email turned out to be weaker than other channels. So, you have an idea about where your service is failing, but you don’t know exactly why. Maybe it’s because the response times are slow, or maybe because the format of your email support is off.

The only way to find out is to dig deeper. That’s where effective feedback comes into play. Running a more detailed survey targeted at users who were dissatisfied with your email service will reveal why it received a lower NPS score and you can work on improving it to the betterment of your overall customer experience. You can ask what parts of the service they received were lacking and how you should improve it. The best way to go about that is to use a survey maker to create specific surveys to collect feedback about each place you need effective feedback to improve the customer experience.

The Bottom Line

All in all, using popular scoring systems such as NPS can help a great deal to quickly collect feedback about your customer experience. Despite its efficiency and easy implementation, such scoring systems lack depth. So, utilizing such methods to quickly identify and then do the in-depth analysis once you know where you lack will most probably save you tons of time while increasing the results you deliver.

Su Kaygun Sayran grew up in Melbourne and has lived in various corners of the world. Su loves writing about all things tech and his experience with various SaaS businesses has enabled him to carry his passion for writing into the tech industry. Currently working at JotForm, helping people become more productive, one blog post at a time. 

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

Read Shep’s latest Forbes article: How To Eradicate Mediocrity

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The Mike Moment

We’ve all heard the old adage: “It’s better to give than to receive.” That’s what customer service people do. They give and give and give.

They help solve problems and resolve complaints. What they get in return—hopefully—is a nice thank you, which, when you think about it, is fairly insignificant, though appreciated, for the work they do. Yes, they are paid for the job they do, but the people who are amazing at this role aren’t doing it just for the money. The opportunity to serve is fulfilling. They are customer service heroes.  

This brings me to a story about Mike, a teenager I met back in the 1980s when I was still doing magic shows. Mike is a hero of sorts. He watched me do a show and came up to me afterward to talk. He was an amateur magician and wanted to “talk shop.” We chatted for a few minutes. He came back the next day to watch the show again, and we talked some more. After the show, I was heading to the airport and he asked if he could give me a ride. I took him up on his offer and we had a few more minutes to chat. 

His car was old, and one might call it a “clunker.” He was just “a kid,” and probably didn’t have a lot of money, and that’s an important part of this story. When he dropped me off at the airport, the baggage handler came over to check my bags. I tipped him what I thought was appropriate and generous. Mike then reached into his pocket and gave him another $20.  

As we said our goodbyes, I said, “Mike, you didn’t have to do that.” Mike replied, “It’s just money, and I’ll get more. He needs it more than me.” Here we are, 35 years later, and I remember that moment, which I call a Mike Moment. I have always tipped well because I know it is the right thing to do. However, when Mike said, “He needs it more than me,” I realized how fortunate we were, not just to have money, but to have the choice to give it away. It might be to a baggage handler at the airport, a server at a restaurant or an important cause or charity—it doesn’t matter. It’s about giving and not expecting anything in return. Mike is one of those unsung heroes who is fulfilled through the simple act of giving.  

Back to customer service. That agent on the phone who takes the extra time to help answer a question or resolve an issue never brags about what they did for you, never expects a gratuity, or asks, “Aren’t you going to thank me?” They give a little extra because that is who they are. They are our customer service heroes. They are like Mike. 

The next time you have an opportunity to do something extra for your customer, with no real agenda other than you want to do something nice for them, recognize that this is why people love doing business with you. They know you will always take care of them – that you’ll always be there for them. In your role, you are their hero! 

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 © MMXX, Shep Hyken)

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Amazing Business Radio: Josh Liebman

Optimize Your Feedback Loop
Collecting, Responding and Reacting to Customer Feedback

Shep Hyken interviews Joshua Liebman, founder of BackLooper. They discuss strategies for collecting customer reviews and feedback and what to do with it after you collect it.

 

 

 

 

Top Takeaways:

First you have to get customer feedback. Next you must respond to it. Then you should do something with it—as in, use it to improve internally.
Customer ratings and reviews can be a powerful employee motivator. If they know their performance will be graded, they may strive harder to achieve good results.
It’s important to ask for feedback or reviews while the experience is fresh. Optimize your request so that it occurs either during or after the customer’s experience with your brand.
42% of companies don’t actively collect feedback from their customers. This represents a huge opportunity across the board to implement a survey program to help improve a brand’s experience.
Set up an automated system that collects on an ongoing basis. It is easy to do this using the tools and technology available today.
Making surveys quick and easy will increase the number of customers who complete them. Be upfront and honest about how quick and easy you’ve made the process.
Quantitative surveys should be no longer than 10-12 questions long—ideally shorter. Sometimes it’s good to offer a qualitative (free response) question to allow your customers to tell you how they truly feel in their own words.
After you get the feedback, you must respond to it. Ideally, you should respond to every single review (positive and negative), but if you have limited resources, prioritize responding to the negative reviews. These are opportunities!
Remember, when you respond to a negative review, you’re not only talking to the customer who wrote it, but all potential customers who may read the review. One bad review could turn away up to 30 potential customers if not handled correctly.
After responding to feedback, you must react to it inside your organization. This could mean fixing a broken process or improving an aspect of your service.
Dig deeper than the surface of what a bad review is telling you. For instance, if someone complains about the price, the right thing to do isn’t necessarily to drop the price. Instead, ask if you’re providing the value customers expect.

Quotes:

“Strike while the iron is hot. Ask for feedback or a review while the experience is still very fresh in your customer’s memory. Take a proactive approach and incorporate asking for feedback into the hospitality component of your business.”

“42% of companies do not actively collect feedback from their customers or do any type of survey program. We need to work on that stat as service professionals as a whole. With the tools and the technology that we have today, it is very easy to automate a system to request feedback from our customers.”

“The more you’re doing to collect feedback through internal channels, then the less negative reviews you’ll have online. Just one negative review has been shown to turn away 30 prospective customers. That adds up.”

“When you’re responding to a review, know you’re not just talking to that customer directly; you’re talking to anyone who might be turned away from your business by reading that review.”

“When we talk about responding to feedback, we’re talking about that connection with the customer. When we talk about reacting to feedback, we can turn it internally toward the business. Respond is to the customer; react is what we do inside.”

About:

Joshua Liebman is the founder of BackLooper, a consumer insights tool that helps businesses optimize their feedback loop and foster customer loyalty. His passion for customer experience comes from his background in hospitality and tourism.

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

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5 Top Customer Service Articles For the Week of November 9, 2020

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

The experience equation: Happy employees and customers accelerate growth by Vala Afshar

(ZDNet) Research shows the relationship between employee experience (EX) and customer experience (CX) and its impact on accelerated growth.

My Comment: Vala Afshar has seen this weekly roundup of the best customer service and CX articles a number of times. He is a prolific writer, and I could feature him every week, but that wouldn’t be fair to the others. Here is one of his latest articles. To get you interested in reading more, consider this stat: 89% of executives with revenue-growth companies agree that better EX leads directly to better CX. In other words, if you want to grow and create a better CX, focus on the EX (employee experience) first.

7 Tips to Simplify & Improve Employee Journey Mapping by Jeannie Walters

(Experience Investigators) If you’re familiar with customer journey mapping, then you may know more about employee journey mapping (EJM) than your realize.

My Comment: Following up on Vala Afshar’s stat that focuses on employees, here’s one from Jeannie Walters, who has also been featured here a number of times. We’ve probably all journey mapped our customer experience (If not, do it soon!), but have you journey mapped the employee experience. Here is the resource to get you started. Remember, what happens on the inside of an organization is felt by the customer on the outside.

5 Customer Experience Trends to Use for Ecommerce Growth by Sophia Smith

(Women Love Tech) Customer experience is the foundation of success in the competitive e-commerce world, so let’s take a look at the five trends and tips that will guide you to long-term growth and success.

My Comment: Let’s turn to eCommerce. Here are some CX trends that you should pay close attention to. I’ll also suggest you consider some of these, regardless of the type of business you are in; online, brick-and-mortar, B2B, etc. Most customers want to be able to talk to a human when they need to. They also want a personalized experience. Our research has shown that online companies (eCommerce) are setting a new bar for all companies in every industry, including those that have zero online or eCommerce presence.

3 B2B Marketers Delivering Customer Experiences That Rival B2C by Rhoan Morgan

(CMSWIre) While B2B companies may be behind their B2C peers, many are starting to catch up by taking ideas from the B2C playbook and applying them to the B2B experience.

My Comment: It’s hard to believe that a B2B enterprise could out service and create a better CX than a B2C type of business. Well, maybe not that hard, especially if they do any one or more of the ideas from this article. Usually, it is the opposite, we learn from B2C, but not today!

5 Steps for Improving Your Customer Service Process for 2021 by Ronita Mohan

(CustomerThink) We share a step-by-step guide on how to improve the customer service workflow.

My Comment: This article goes deep into the customer service process. A quick review of how your process works today is the place to start. Follow that up by studying your KPI’s (Key Performance Indicators), from there… well you should read the article. The author shares good detail that will help get you started on this process (no pun intended).

BONUS

Are You Using a “Boy” or “Girl” Cup? by Chip Bell

(Forbes) The problem with too many customer journey mapping applications is failing to get customers to verify the map.

My Comment: There were so many great articles, and even though this is a “TOP FIVE” list, we have to give you a bonus from Chip Bell. This week he writes about anticipatory innovation, where you come up with customer-focused ideas, such as (one of his examples), the Advil package that has a collapsible paper cup in the package. This is what happens when innovation intersects the customer experience.

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

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Guest Post: How To Collect Marketing Insights That Can Improve Customer Service

This week we feature an article from Michael Magnus, a Strategic Communication lecturer and marketing consultant at Magnus Opus. He shares the process of conducting consumer research and how to implement your findings into the customer experience.

Have you ever been inside a Whole Foods that sells Louis Vuitton bags? Most likely no. Whole Foods understands what drives their customers’ purchase behavior. Their customers go to Whole Foods for organic grocery items and not a whole lot else, which allows them to own their niche. Whole Foods analyzes their consumer’s purchase behaviors to arrange the store for the optimal (while most lucrative) customer experience.

Understanding your consumer is a key piece of customer service and developing loyalty to your brand. If Whole Foods suddenly prioritized selling luxury leather handbags, their customers might feel betrayed and start going elsewhere for their produce. Though an unlikely scenario, investing time and resources into understanding your consumer is essential for perfecting the customer service experience.

Consumer research helps businesses or organizations understand customer psychology and insights, which in turn allows businesses to learn what they can change, implement or improve.

How Do We Conduct Consumer Research?

Consumer Research is not merely asking your customers what they want; although there are some valuable insights here, they may also falsify the results because they often provide feedback on what they think they want, which doesn’t always correlate to how they spend their dollars. In order to receive the full benefits of consumer research, one must be methodical about how to approach their inquiries.

This discussion goes a little bit more in-depth than your third grade “scientific method” lessons however, the principles are similar. By following the process, you can use the results given to improve customer service.

1.  Mission Statement

Most businesses have mission statements, a mantra, credo, or M.O. of some description, and if not, it’s high time you fix that. Your business’ mission statement provides direction for your team, and also directs what decisions are important for your business to prioritize. It’s hard to create goals for your company without having a vision or direction.

2.  Develop Objectives

Before any research, we need to clearly define our research’s purpose- what is your objective? What are your goals? What are we trying to change or improve upon? Why are you doing the research in the first place?

Research for the sake of research can be time-consuming and costly, so make sure you have an understanding of why you need the insights and a clear idea of what action having this information will help you take. With the objective in mind, we can ask directed questions and perform tests that will help us find answers to the problem.

Objectives, in this case, might include learning about consumer habits in your stores, understanding user navigation trends on your website, or learning more about if the names of your brand, products or services are intuitive to the consumer experience.

3.  Secondary Data

Secondary data includes any research from other organizations, consumer insight studies, data previously collected, or customer information. Simply, secondary data has already been collected. Broad insights, such as social media usage habits by generation, may be available for free from reputable research sources, however industry-specific information is likely guarded behind a paywall.

Some of these research institutions may give you a bit of sticker shock, but the cost to replicate their findings independently is arguably substantially more expensive. If you discover a study that has valuable insights, you’ll likely find value in investing in some secondary data to better guide your more extensive proprietary, primary research.

4.  Primary Research

In 2008, consumer research helped customer service at the world’s largest coffee chain. Starbucks released its “My Idea Platform” within its app, where employers, customers, and potential consumers can submit ideas on what needs to change as well as ideas about new editions. Starbucks uses this as primary research to find out what their customers want and boosted its brand when dairy-free milk alternatives were added to their line of products, making its customers happy by catering to their needs.

Maybe you don’t have an app, but you are likely already collecting data and a little bit of training in database systems makes these spreadsheets much more manageable. Through this, you can pull together insights to discover what items, products or services to package together for a better customer experience while yielding increased purchase patterns.

The key is, find what works best for you. For instance, if you are changing something major, like product packaging, the offerings of a service, or your website’s domain name for better usability, ask the people that actually use it what works best for them. Whether that’s a survey on what they like best or an interview to receive the optimal level of feedback is for you to figure out with your unique business challenge.

5.  Analyze Data

A lot of companies collect data, not everyone does something with it.

Too often, brands will take their data and look for specific trends to confirm their own biases about what customers want. This isn’t really analysis and can be potentially detrimental to the customer experience by making uninformed decisions. It also means that the research was pretty useless to have done in the first place.

We need to try to prove ourselves wrong as much as proving ourselves right. When analyzing data, find the trends and patterns from your research. Again, having a team member or consultant who understands at least the fundamentals of Excel or SQL is vital for making sense of your results.

6.   Prepare Report

The last step in the process is to create a report about your consumer research. Reporting is also often an afterthought when developing research, but it’s usually not enough for only one person to understand the findings. Reporting your findings will help make important decisions about when to change, or perhaps when not to. Using the consumer research process, we can find out what exactly our customers want or need.

Once you have tangible results, you can potentially even take it a step further to create graphs and charts, which help visualize the data for key stakeholders on your team, particularly the number crunchers. If you can show them why customer service is profitable, you’re more likely to be able to champion your services initiatives.

Michael Magnus is a Strategic Communication lecturer and marketing consultant at Magnus Opus. Throughout his career, he’s found the most direct methods of success are to understand your customer and then reach them with impactful, measurable storytelling.

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

Read Shep’s latest Forbes article: Leadership Lessons From A Motivational Speaker During Covid-19

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Winner! Winner! Chicken Dinner!

This is a crazy idea, but hear me out. When I was a kid, we had home-cooked meals almost every night.

I thought my mom was the greatest cook in the world. She could make the best chicken. As a matter of fact, she made chicken almost every night. It turns out she could follow a recipe and had bought a book that had 365 chicken recipes—one for each day of the year. I remember the day she came home with the cookbook. As a kid, I never tired of the taste of chicken. Can’t say my adult pallet would enjoy such monotony, but I digress.

I started thinking about all those chicken recipes. There were so many: fried chicken, baked chicken, stuffed chicken, chicken with carrots, chicken with broccoli, chicken in orange sauce…. You get the idea. As different as each of those meals tasted, it was still chicken.

What if business was like a chicken dinner? So many ways to serve chicken—so many ways you can amaze your customer. And like chicken, customer service—no matter how you serve it to your customer—is still customer service.

There are many ways customers connect with the companies they do business with, be it in person, on the phone, via text, with email, on social media and more. There are many ways to respond to their inquiries based on their needs. They may have a question. They may have a complaint. They may need support. Then there is the solution or resolution to the customer’s issue. In some cases, there are multiple ways to manage the outcome. It’s like my mom’s chicken recipe book. There are many options. Depending on what’s needed, you adjust to those options and give the customer what they are hoping for—an experience that makes it worth coming back to do business again.

The point of all of this is that there is more than one way, as the old saying goes, to skin a cat—or cook a chicken. It’s about versatility. A good customer service representative—or anyone in a customer-facing role—can manage the customer’s experience in numerous ways. It doesn’t matter as long as the end result of the experience is positive.

The ingredients are simple. Start with good people. Train them well. Empower them to make good decisions on behalf of the customer and the company. Let them do their job.

Winner! Winner! Chicken dinner!

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 © MMXX, Shep Hyken)

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Amazing Business Radio: Daniel Rodriguez

Eradicating Mediocrity in Customer Service
How to End “Good Enough” Customer Service

Shep Hyken interviews Daniel Rodriguez, CMO of Simplr. They discuss Simplr’s latest CX research report and strategies for collecting and utilizing customer feedback to eliminate mediocre customer service.

 

 

 

 

Top Takeaways:

Don’t fall into the trap of thinking your service is “good enough.” “Good enough” service is never good enough.
Customer expectations are evolving so quickly that companies don’t even realize they are failing their customers. By not meeting those expectations, brands will let down and lose customers.
Companies must utilize AI and technology alongside a human element in the customer experience. Technology alone won’t work.
Think of your customers in terms of the classic iceberg metaphor. There is so much more going on underneath the surface than what is clearly visible. Work to understand those behaviors and motivators you don’t immediately see.
NPS and CSAT scores are not enough to get the big picture of your customer base. Not enough customers fill out surveys (even one-question surveys) or provide enough details to allow for global projections of customer satisfaction.
Customers who have a less than amazing service experience with you may not fill out a survey, but they will tell other people. This will affect your brand reputation and could result in missed opportunities and lost revenue.
We are in the age of the “now” customer. Customers are no longer willing to wait for answers or products, but companies still believe they are.
It’s crucial to mystery shop your own business so you can get real data to help you understand what is truly happening with your customer base and how your company can improve areas of weakness.
Deflection is not a customer-centric concept. You can offer your customers alternatives, but always give them the option to come back.
For more, read Simplr’s report, “The State of CX in 2020” and attend (or rewatch) Simplr’s webinar, “How to WOW the NOW Customer” featuring Shep and Daniel!

Quotes:

“‘Good enough’ is not good enough. A ‘good enough’ mentality causes you to rest on a laurel that is a false presumption of loyalty by your customers and future customers.”

“The customer expectation has evolved and changed so quickly that we are unaware that we are failing our customers left and right. We think we’re doing good enough, but the reality is that brands are at major risk of letting customers down and losing them.”

“Technology alone is not the solution to interacting with your customers. You need to have the best people and the best technology.”

About:

Daniel Rodriguez is the CMO of Simplr and an experienced marketing executive, entrepreneur, family guy and musician. Before Simplr, he served as VP of Marketing for Seismic and co-founded multiple other companies.

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

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