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Article Categories
Customer Focus and
Customer Service (10 articles)
Leadership (1 article)
Management Development and Supervision
( 4 articles )
Personal Financial Education
(1 article)
Customer Focus and
Customer Service Articles
To be (Customer Focused)
or not to be... What a Question
Most
of you will probably recognize this soliloquy from Shakespeare’s
Hamlet.
To be, or not to be: that is the question:
Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,
Or to take arms against a sea of troubles,
And by opposing end them?
To die: to sleep;
What has this got to do with Customer
Focus? Based on the unacceptably high levels of poor or mediocre
customer service, prevalent across North America and other parts of
the globe, it appears that many companies seem to favor “not to be”.
read more...
Why
Customer Focus Differentiates
Has this ever
happened to you? You're in a hurry. You want to complete your
business and the person serving you is preoccupied with something
other than serving you. Then when you are served, you might get an
insincere apology for the delay followed by the completion of your
transaction. If asked to describe this experience you would likely
respond "That's typical" or "It's nothing more and probably a little
less than I expected."
read more...
Customer
Expectations vs. Customer Needs
The first rule of stellar service
delivery is:
Service is all about expectations.
You buy a product; you expect it to work
the first time. You go to a discount supplier, you expect the
quality to be less than the high end dealer, but you still expect
what you buy to work, first time every time. When it comes to
products, expectations are pretty clear. People expect a good
quality product based on the price they are willing to pay for it.
When it comes to service, expectations can get a little fuzzy. When
a customer begins ...
read more...
FAST GUIDE: 10 Success Factors of Customer Focus
Customer Focus is more than Customer Service. It is an aligned
whole-organization approach to customer satisfaction and service,
leading to customer loyalty and advocacy. The result is sustainable
profitability.
read more...
Letter To The Editor
Isn't it curious that, despite all the articles and commentary about
the strategic importance of service quality and the empirical
evidence which concludes that building customer loyalty through
service quality is a profitable long-term business strategy, the
service that most of us receive is average at best, and indifferent
in most cases. Proof is found in the endless stream of horror
stories shared in the press, on the internet and around the dinner
table. The scary thing is that this low level of service is typical
and when there is a problem, all too often things just get worse.
read more...
Back
to top
Shocking Recovery!
"Submitted for your judgment, a business plan. This plan is mapped
out to the nth degree. It describes the particulars of how to do
business. But what can't be anticipated is the tension that washes
over a customer like a dense fog. This is the tension that is
inherent in registering a complaint. This particular tension,
registering prominently on the anxiety scale, brings a foreboding.
It carries with it a premonition of doom and is experienced,
unfortunately, too often...in the Service Zone."
read more...
Improving the Customer Experience through Customer
Journey Mapping
Today’s customers are becoming more demanding and often drive a hard
bargain. They utilize multiple channels and touch points to interact
with your organization during their life cycle (Customer Journey).
If you are serious about differentiating your organization, you
cannot ignore the negative impact that inconsistent and piecemeal
customer experiences will have on your business.
read more...
Using Information to Create Value for Your Customers
Ask most any employee at work today in American business the same
question: "What's our biggest problem?" and you're likely to get the
same answer: "Communication!" How can that be? Look at the
proliferation of technology that has vastly improved the way in
which information is sent and received in corporations. Consider the
inordinate amount of time we spend during the typical business day
in meetings. What about voice mail, e-mail, pagers, cell phones, fax
machines and computers? Yes, even with the multitude of
communications technology at our fingertips; even with the increased
knowledge base and education of the American worker; even with new
concepts in leadership and teamwork, most people will tell you the
major cause of problems in organizations can be attributed to
"communication."
read more...
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to top
No Theory. . .No Learning: A Requisite for Real
Change!
To quote an unheralded Deming phrase... "No Theory, No Learning."
Explained, it warns us that unless we fully understand the theory,
set of assumptions or thinking that we held true when we created
practices and procedures that we use presently, we will be forever
condemned to create different versions of what we have always done
in the future. The result...no real change, just different
manifestations of what we always used to do.
read more...
Would You
Do Business With You?
If more company presidents and their senior managers asked
themselves this question with the customers’ view in mind, many
would answer “probably not.” The reason? Customer service. Much has
been said, done and written about customer service during the last
decade. Millions of dollars have been spent on programs, training
and systems. However, the results have been disproportionate and
often outright disappointing. In a recent issue of Fast Company, the
cover story declare d “B e t r a y e d ! The biggest lie in business
is ‘the customer is in charge’… How could an idea so right go so
wrong?”
read more...
Back
to top
Leadership
Become a
Customer-Focused Leader
In
my recent article, “To Be (Customer-Focused) … Or Not To Be…”
and “Why Customer Focus Differentiates” I offer a number of
compelling reasons for the strategic importance of making Customer
Focus a critical business strategy.
If you found these
reasons compelling or you already knew in your gut that Customer
Focus is strategically essential, then your goal must be to create a
customer-centric culture throughout your company. If this is the
case then you will need to embed customer focus into everything you
do.
read more...
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to top
Management Development
and Supervision
Hey Coach? Bridging the skills gap one skill
at a time
Business Issue
One of our clients
passed along this training scenario that paints a strong mental
picture: “To illustrate the importance of feedback and coaching of
employees, ask for a volunteer from the group. Position the
volunteer in a standing position and place a large empty box at some
distance behind the person. Place about 20 pieces of wadded up paper
within reach of the volunteer. Explain to the group...
read
more...
Alphabet Soup—How to Become a “New School”
Leader
If you pick up a training or human resource magazine these days,
you're likely to find at least one article about how to work with,
maximize, engage and otherwise lead the "Millennials". Sure it
rhymes with perennials, but these people aren't just popping up in
the spring, they are with you day-in and day-out in the workplace.
read more...
How to Make Employee Training Stick
Untrained employees present a bad image for your company. If your
workers understand your products or services but cannot communicate
effectively with customers, your business will suffer. If your
customers do not get the attention from employees that they deserve,
they will take their business elsewhere. And if employees can’t get
along with co-workers or work as a team, morale and productivity
will suffer.
read more...
What we have here is a failure to communicate!
Business Issue
Many people fail to realize their
effectiveness as a manager or supervisors stands or fails on their
ability to communicate. No matter what organization you’re in,
department you lead, team members you have, or person you are...to
manage is to communicate. The ability to communicate effectively
helps build a well-oiled and productive organization.
read more...
Back
to top
Personal Financial
Education
Pay Now or Pay
Later
Why employee
financial education should be a priority
Money — the more you make, the more it takes, or so it seems.
This statement applies to employers as well as employees. While most
businesses struggle with the challenge of doing more with less,
employees struggle with the same challenge and are drowning in debt
more than ever. While some debt may be necessary for both employers
and employees, too much debt is usually the result of poor money
management. Financial education, offered to employees by their
employer, can be one of the best investments employers can make.
read more...
Back
to top
To Be
(Customer-Focused) or Not To Be... What a Question
By Ray Miller
This is the first in a series of short articles about understanding
why customer focus is strategically important, what it means to be
truly customer-focused and how to create or improve customer focus
in your organization. This article presents a simple business case
for the strategic importance of creating greater customer focus.
. Many excerpts are taken from the book, That’s Customer Focus!
We hope you find in interesting and helpful.
Most of you will probably recognize this
soliloquy from Shakespeare’s Hamlet
To be, or not to be: that is the question:
Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows
of outrageous fortune,
Or to take arms against a sea of troubles,
And by opposing end them?
To die: to sleep;
No more; and by a sleep to say we end
The heart-ache and the thousand natural shocks That flesh is
heir to, 'tis a consummation
Devoutly to be wish'd.
To die, to sleep;
To sleep: perchance to dream: ay, there's the rub;
A popular interpretation of the speech suggests
that it is a debate on suicide. Hamlet considers the attractions of
death ("not to be"), which he refers “to a sleep”, over life ("to
be"), where pain seems unavoidable. But in the end he decides that
his fear of possible suffering in the afterlife as opposed to the
known evil that is life stops him from actively ending his
existence.
What has this got to do with Customer Focus?
Based on the unacceptably high levels of poor
or mediocre customer service, prevalent across North America and
other parts of the globe, it appears that many companies seem to
favor “not to be”. The evidence we have to support this view
surrounds us. Everyone of you, that has taken the time to read this
article, for which we thank you, has undoubtedly experienced poor or
mediocre service personally if not today, than very recently.
If you will allow me a little poetic license,
with the first few lines of Hamlet’s immortal speech;
To be Customer-Focused, or not to be Customer Focused that is
the question:
Whether it ‘tis better to do what is necessary to reap the
benefits of being truly customer-focused
Or maintain the status quo and do nothing but continue to handle
customer complaints, put up with customer churn and operational
inefficiencies
And by doing nothing?
Commit long-term corporate suicide...
Customer Focus Is Not an Option
Everywhere you turn, Corporate head Offices
extol the virtues of service but when it come down to it, most of
the time they are really paying accelerated lip service to the
importance of service.
This is very curious, particularly when you
consider the number-one reason why that small number of service
leaders, you know, those few companies where the service is almost
always really great, consider customer service a.k.a. customer focus
to be a critical business strategy.
What is the Number 1 reason you ask?
Customer Focus is a Profit Strategy!
This happens in a couple of ways. Truly
customer-focused companies have loyal customers. Loyal Customers:
-
buy more,
-
cost less to serve because they know your
processes,
-
tell you when things go wrong so you can
fix the problems and
-
tell their friends, family and associates
about how great you are and as a result you get more customers.
Also, customer-focused companies are more
productive. Employees are motivated, and perform their jobs more
effectively.
Re-work, duplication of effort and mistakes are
significantly reduced. These all cost you money in terms of time
spent, money spent, loss of productivity and loss of business.
Your turnover also reduces so you keep your
staff longer and don’t experience down-time, productivity losses and
employee morale related issues.
If you
are still not convinced, consider the following:
-
It’s 5 times more expensive to attract a
new customer than to keep an existing one.
It
is safe to say that it is far more profitable and far less costly to
keep the customers you have by building their loyalty, than it is to
keep replacing them with new customers.
Determining what it costs to acquire customers
is a bit intangible for most people. As you can imagine, at lot goes
into getting customers to walk into your place of business or call
you. Advertising, merchandising, promotions, premises expense, phone
systems, salaries and so on are costs associated in part with
getting customers.
Someone has to pay for this. Normally payment
comes through the proceeds of revenue you get from the sales of your
products and services. Sometimes we tend to take this for granted.
Research has proven that once you have a customer, your cost of
keeping him/her drops dramatically over time. When you lose a
customer you will inevitably incur a higher cost to replace the one
you lost.
Assuming your cost to acquire a customer is $250 and based on the
fact that it is 5 times more expensive to acquire a new one, your
new customer acquisition cost would be $1,250 for each new customer
required to replace one that defected. Based on the example above,
assuming you lost 20% of your customer base,
the annual cost to replace these customers would be
$62,500. Over five years this cost would be $312,500 and you would
have turned over all your customers in that period. Can you think of
any better uses for the $312,500?
-
About 75% will do business again if the
problem is resolved to their satisfaction.
-
90 to 95% will do business again if the
problem is resolved on the spot.
Since mistakes are guaranteed to happen, how
you recover from these mistakes will significantly impact on whether
the customer will do business with you again. It is important to note that research suggests that if you
recover well, your customers will stay with you. The faster you
recover, if you can resolve the issue “on the spot”, your customers
will be impressed and in all likely-hood reward you with their
continued business.
-
Customers are willing to pay for quality
service.
In
a series of polls we conducted last year with about 1000 course
participants, we asked where would you prefer to spend your money?
The results compare very favorably with research we have reviewed
that suggests that the vast majority -70%, of customers are willing
to pay for high quality service. Obviously price is a variable, but
service is a constant.
-
An increase in customer loyalty will
have a direct positive impact on your bottom line.
Harvard Business Review conducted research
which reveals that a 5% increase in customer loyalty can result in a
return of 25% to 125% directly to the bottom line depending on your
industry. It is safe to assume that investing time and resources to
retain even a small number of your clients would pay for itself. You
can do the math. Be conservative and take your gross profit and
increase it by 25%.
-
The cost of poor service has a direct,
negative impact on your bottom line.
Consider
the time and expense associated with fixing problems, dealing with
customer concerns, replacing product, re-working reports, and so on.
Research from TARP (Technical Assistance Research Programs)
indicates that, based on your industry, the cost can be significant.
Pick
one of these two and do the calculation.
Wouldn’t you like to have this as profit, rather than as an expense?
The
financial gains associated with creating a customer-focused
organization can be substantial and well worth the effort.
To quote our friend Hamlet once again
To sleep: perchance to dream: ay,
there's the rub;
In today’s highly competitive market place we
really cannot afford to take the easy way out. Creating customer
focus takes commitment, at all levels of your organization, a
comprehensive strategy which targets leveraged actions which will
positively impact customer perception, and the will, fortitude and
financial support to make the changes necessary to be truly
Customer-Focused.
Ray Miller is
Managing Director of The Training Bank, a Training and
Consulting firm specializing in Customer Focus, Service Improvement,
Leadership and fully customized training solutions. He is also
co-author of the book That’s Customer Focus.
You can get more
information about That’s Customer Focus by visiting
www.thatscustomerfocus.com ,
www.thetrainingbank.com or
www.cantrainonline.com
If you would like a
pdf version of this article, please
click here and we will send you one.
You can also find this article
published at these fine web sites
http://www.articlebiz.com/article/65735-1-to-becustomer-focused-or-not-to-be-what-a-question/
http://www.free-articles-zone.com/article/To%20be..%28Customer-Focused%29%20or%20Not%20to%20Be...%20What%20a%20Question
http://ezinearticles.com/?id=580081
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Why Customer
Focus Differentiates
By Ray Miller
Has this ever
happened to you? You're in a hurry. You want to complete your
business and the person serving you is preoccupied with something
other than serving you. Then when you are served, you might get an
insincere apology for the delay followed by the completion of your
transaction. If asked to describe this experience you would likely
respond "That's typical" or "It's nothing more and probably a little
less than I expected."
Welcome to the world
of the average consumer.
Most people will
probably tell you that good service is just common sense. They would
also invariably say "For something so common, it sure is hard to
find!" Edward R. Murrow said it very well: "What is obscure, we
eventually see. What is obvious usually takes a little longer."
Research from a
litany of reliable sources tells us that the primary reason that
customers switch their loyalty from one company to another, in the
range of 40% to 68%, is because of a perceived attitude of
indifference on the part of the service provider. Sure, some leave
because of price, or product quality, or other personal reasons; but
the vast majority leave because of Poor Service.
These days,
customers are really in the driver’s seat. The options and choices
of similar products at similar prices at similar quality levels are
greater than ever.
Advances in
technology, reductions in production time and access to global
distribution mean that products and services can be duplicated and
customized faster than ever before. And your customers know this!
Consumers have more
choices than ever before. This creates an interesting challenge. How
do you create value when customers today are not seeing much
difference in the choices they are offered?
Customers
tend to look at value from four
perspectives:
the
Price
of the product or service,
the
Quality
of the product or service,
the degree of
Innovation
offered by the product and
the
Service
provided to customers.
The quality of products continues to
improve universally and competitors have developed the ability to
duplicate even the most complex of those products. Innovation
attracts younger consumers but no sooner do we see one innovation,
than someone else comes along and clones it plus adds a few more
bells and whistles.
Consider the evolution of the flat screen
LCD TV. A couple of years ago, few could afford such a luxury item.
Now there are LCD TVs to fit a wide range of budgets. And in
addition to the traditional manufacturers of televisions, it seems
that any one who manufactures computers also has their own LCD TV.
Developing a competitive advantage based
solely on product quality and/or innovation is very difficult. And
sustaining it is very expensive. You will also find that there is
more price parity today than ever before. Very few companies can
compete for long using price as a differentiating factor. By
shifting your emphasis to service quality, you will find the
greatest room for differentiation.
For most companies, customer loyalty is
the key to future profitability and growth. Corporate newsletters,
national periodicals, and most executive speeches are peppered
with a litany of examples demonstrating
the relationship between customer loyalty and profitability. In
almost every market we've learned that retained customers:
-
Are less expensive to serve because they know their role in the
process.
-
Tend to lower marketing costs.
-
Often purchase more over time.
-
Are open to purchasing new and different products as they are
offered.
Clearly, customers
value service and whether they get good service or not, they expect
it. If they don’t receive service at a level that meets their
expectations, they will go elsewhere until they find it. Whether the
economy is on the down swing or the upswing, no one can afford to
lose customers.
Many companies still deliver lousy,
inept, shoddy service and even more deliver only average service.
This creates a
unique opportunity for those who dare to be different.
Simply stated:
Companies who differentiate themselves through their service have a
distinct competitive advantage.
Ray Miller is
Managing Director of The Training Bank, a Training and
Consulting firm specializing in Customer Focus, Service Improvement,
Leadership and fully customized training solutions. He is also
co-author of the book That’s Customer Focus.
You can get more
information about That’s Customer Focus by visiting
www.thatscustomerfocus.com ,
www.thetrainingbank.com or
www.cantrainonline.com
If you would like a
pdf version of this article, please
click here and we will send you one.
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Customer
Expectations vs. Customer Needs
By Ray Miller – An excerpt from That’s
Customer Focus.
The first rule of stellar service
delivery is:
Service is all about expectations.
You buy a product; you expect it to work
the first time. You go to a discount supplier, you expect the
quality to be less than the high end dealer, but you still expect
what you buy to work, first time every time. When it comes to
products, expectations are pretty clear. People expect a good
quality product based on the price they are willing to pay for it.
When it comes to service, expectations can get a little fuzzy. When
a customer begins a relationship with you he or she already has a
specific set of expectations. These expectations are based on their
perceptions of you, your company and your industry. They are formed
through personal past experience, and the experience of others with
whom the customer interacts.
Consider
the last time you went into a self-service gas station. What did you
expect? Other than the pump to be working, not much else right?
After all - you are doing all the work.
You have the opportunity to Satisfy, Dissatisfy or Impress–and two
of these are bad. Delivering below expectations is obviously bad,
but in the context of creating loyalty, so is simply satisfying
customers, because they are getting nothing more or less than they
expect.
Creating customer value and loyalty comes from consistently
exceeding expectations.
Prof. Benjamin Schneider and Prof. David E. Bowen published an
article called "Understanding Customer Delight and Outrage".
Delight and outrage?
That may sound a bit melodramatic but
this concept is critically important to providing basic customer
service. Consider this hypothetical bell curve measuring the quality
of service delivery in general:
Basically, most service falls into the
median of the curve - the take it or leave it level of service. If
you provide this level of service the customer will be satisfied.
You at least met their expectations. Schneider and Bowen actually
break the bell curve distribution into four levels along a
continuum:
Customer loyalty is the degree to which customers will patronize
your business and your business alone because you've developed or
created an emotional bond with them. You've gone beyond their
expectations and addressed something more innate - their emotional
needs as a consumer. Customers have come to expect fast, friendly
service. They expect to get an answer to their questions. They
expect you'll answer their call promptly and return their messages.
Do those things well and you'll be in the game.
But will you win their loyalty? Not necessarily. If you fail, have
you lost them forever? Again, not necessarily.
Research shows customers are willing to accept some failure in terms
of these expectations. Fail continuously and that's a different
story. This is the "ambivalence" part of the model. Next time they
need your product or service they may, if it's convenient, patronize
your business. But they won't seek out your business purposefully.
To do that, they must be delighted with your service. They must be
so impressed with your service that they become a dedicated
follower.
Schneider and Bowen refer to these customers as "apostles". They
will sing the praises of your business to friends, family and
coworkers.
At the other end of the spectrum it's possible to so utterly offend
the basic needs of your customers that they'll willfully take every
opportunity to sabotage your business. They become a terrorist
according to Benjamin and Bowen. They'll tell every person who'll
listen about the time your business, yada yada yada. Each time,
they're likely to embellish the story.
So what creates such an extreme emotional reaction to service in
some customers? According to Schneider and Bowen these reactions
occur when you surpass the needs of a customer (delight) or you
offend those needs. Not just fail to meet them - you (in the mind of
the customer) intentionally deprived them of those needs.
What are these powerful dynamics?
-
Deprived of equity / justice
-
Lack of respect
-
Deprived of equity / justice
Customers want to be treated fairly. They
want to know that the service and product they receive is as good as
that received by any other customer. Consider a study done by a
consumer advocate group. They asked samples of airline passengers
from numerous airports what they'd paid for their ticket. They found
less than 10% of passengers paid the same price for their ticket
even though they flew from the same city. The results incited
outrage among travelers who saw no justification for paying more,
when they had received the same seating and service.
Equity and justice is even more at issue
when companies resolve customer problems. At times service or
product experience is so bad customers will seek compensation for
their time, effort and inconvenience. A participant in one of our
customer service workshops shared the following:
."I
purchased a large screen TV from one of those
audio-video-electronics mega stores. The first one just did not
work so we had to bring it back. The second one, which we had to
wait two weeks for, had a large crack along the bottom of the
screen. Again, we didn't know until we unpacked it. I'd already
lost a day of work going to pick it up and unpacking it. When I
brought it back they tried to charge me $37.00 because I
returned it without the box. It was destroyed unpacking it. I
was stunned. Even after explaining the circumstances to the
retail associate he made me talk to the store manager who acted
like he was doing me a favor waiving the charge."
Equity and justice means making customers
feel they're getting a comparable service and product at a fair
price. It also means problems are resolved to their satisfaction and
that companies consider the cost of the customer's time and
inconvenience when making amends.
-
Lack of respect
Nothing is more basic and
elementary to effective service than the need for customers to feel
respected. In fact, studies show merely respecting customers does
not distinguish your business or service. That's because customers
expect it. It's when they perceive a lack of respect that things get
volatile.
For example:
Rachael brought her car into a repair shop to get new tires put
on. After looking the vehicle over the mechanic recommended new
brakes. Rachael was puzzled since she hadn't noticed any problem
with the brakes. In fact, she had gotten it inspected just two
months earlier. "Well they don't look 'em over the way we do."
He rattled off some automotive terms to convince her. Rachael
was still hesitant. "Why don't we call your husband," he said.
With that Rachael told him to put the tires back on her vehicle
- she'd be taking her business elsewhere.
Respect means treating
customers the same - regardless of gender, race or age. It means
listening to the customer's problem and responding in an empathic
tone. It means your non-verbal behavior demonstrates concern and
attentiveness.
When it comes to
service, clearly understand what it is your customers want, expect
and need and shape your people and processes to deliver a level of
service which reflects these.
Ray Miller is
Managing Director of The Training Bank, a Training and
Consulting firm specializing in Customer Focus, Service Improvement,
Leadership and fully customized training solutions. He is also
co-author of the book That’s Customer Focus.
You can get more
information about That’s Customer Focus by visiting
www.thatscustomerfocus.com ,
www.thetrainingbank.com or
www.cantrainonline.com
If you would like a
pdf version of this article, please
click here and we will send you one.
Return to
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FAST GUIDE: 10
Success Factors of Customer Focus
By Eric Fraterman
(Eric is a friend and strategic partner.)
What is
Customer Focus?
Customer Focus is more than Customer Service. It is an aligned
whole-organization approach to customer satisfaction and service,
leading to customer loyalty and advocacy. The result is sustainable
profitability.
In a
Customer Focused organization, Leadership, Processes and People are
customer-aligned. In broad strokes this means that:
-
Every
action is shaped by a relentless commitment to meeting and
exceeding customer expectations regarding product and service
quality.
-
Customer
touching
and supporting internal processes
are
constantly evaluated
and improved
to meet or exceed those expectations.
-
Employees
are aware of their role in maintaining a valued relationship
with their external and internal customers.
My experience based 10 Success Factors
-
Use a piloting approach. Learn, adjust and then roll out, while
using managers involved as internal change agents and catalysts.
-
Allocate role of Senior Sponsor for the initiative.
-
Create a balanced set of customer-based measures as key
indicators to manage the business and enable real accountability
for them.
-
Design Customer Focus from the outside in (driven by the Voice
of the Customer) and deliver it from the inside out (using the
Voice of the Customer to drive internal deployment, culture
change and alignment).
-
Conduct external measurements and surveys first and act on them
with clear priority setting and assigning accountability for
outcomes.
-
Do not conduct internal climate or employee satisfaction until
the Customer Focus initiative is well underway, organized,
structured, resourced and communicated.
-
Ensure that your People/HR team translates the customer needs
into Customer Focused hiring specifications.
-
Ensure that the performance management system is aligned to the
Customer Focus initiative, and measures and rewards to desired
Customer Focused behaviors and skills.
-
Ensure that middle managers and senior leaders lead by example
and do what is said; avoid the Say-Do gap trap.
-
Make communications into a forethought and harness it to support
the required cultural transformation.
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Letter to The
Editor
By Ray Miller
(I sent this to the editor of one of our local papers awhile ago.
Thought you might find it interesting.)
Letter To The Editor
The Toronto Star
Toronto, Ontario
Isn't
it curious that, despite all the articles and commentary about the
strategic importance of service quality and the empirical evidence
which concludes that building customer loyalty through service
quality is a profitable long-term business strategy, the service
that most of us receive is average at best, and indifferent in most
cases. Proof is found in the endless stream of horror stories shared
in the press, on the internet and around the dinner table. The scary
thing is that this low level of service is typical and when there is
a problem, all too often things just get worse.
Canadian
business should be put on alert status. Swapping bad service stories
has become a national pastime. I have never met someone who, after
hearing a bad service story rushes right down to the offender to be
subjected to the same abuse. For that matter, I have never heard of
anyone rushing to deal with a business when the experience they
encounter is nothing more or less than they expected either. The
reality is that businesses have within their control the ability to
generate bad stories, good stories or no story at all. Potential
customers are significantly influenced by the stories they hear when
choosing where to spend their overtaxed dollars.
Every
time I conduct one of our service quality training programs, I am
inundated with a litany of tales of horror, and on rare occasions, a
gem which renews my faith that service quality is indeed possible.
The
good news is there are a few Canadian companies who have backed up
their strategic commitment to service quality with real action and
the delivery of extraordinary service. The bad news is that these
seem to be the exceptions to the rule. The most relevant news for
any organization in the public or private sector is that the
strategy which offers the greatest room for differentiation with
consequences such as customer loyalty and long-term profitability,
is service. Not to be confused with services (the stuff you offer to
your customers) but rather the way in which your products and
services are delivered to the customer. We call it adding value
through people.
I have never met a CEO who did not
articulate that service is important. I have never met a front line
service provider who purposely came to work to irritate customers.
Yet bad service exists. Why do we hear corporate leaders and their
advertising espousing the importance of customers and service yet we
are disappointed when we go to the check-out counter or try to call
the customer service department? The business reality is simple:
customers are becoming more sophisticated and the majority have
realistic expectations when it comes to the quality of service they
want and feel entitled to, and these customers are voting with their
wallets.
Companies
that view service quality as a front line issue are regrettably
stuck in the era of "smile training" and the happy faced - have a
nice day syndrome. It has been our experience that a service
imperative is the responsibility of everyone in an organization
regardless of his or her role. At its very core, service is a
leadership issue involving leaders at all levels of an organization
from a front line or support staff supervisor to the CEO. Poor
service is the typical outcome when leaders are unwilling or unable
to make the changes necessary to create an environment where service
quality flourishes.
As
I read your article on March 12, a number of horrific stories came
to mind. I then thought, rather than share this bad news, what small
contribution could I make to your readers who may be unknowing
offenders in the creation of bad stories. I offer below a brief
assessment questionnaire which may give leaders responsible for
service delivery some insight. I have a few recommendations for
anyone with the courage to take the test. First be brutally honest,
you're the one who will benefit. Second, ask yourself, "Are my
responses based on facts or assumptions?" If the answers are based
on assumptions, how can you find out for sure? Finally ask yourself,
"How would my customers answer questions A., C., and E.?"
Responses
of 3 and below in any of the 5 questions indicate that improvement
is critical. Responses of 4 in any of the questions indicate that
improvement is necessary to achieve an excellent service reputation.
Responses of 5 or 6 would indicate above average performance. These
assessment questions serve to allow reflection on the service
quality of your organization in a general sense and focus further
investigation into service improvement.
Sincerely;
Ray Miller
Author of That’s Customer Focus
And Managing Director of The
Training Bank
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Shocking
Recovery
By Rick Tate
(Rick is a highly regarded expert in the world of customer service.
He is an extraordinary speaker, trainer, author and human being)
"Submitted for your
judgment, a business plan. This plan is mapped out to the nth
degree. It describes the particulars of how to do business. But what
can't be anticipated is the tension that washes over a customer like
a dense fog. This is the tension that is inherent in registering a
complaint. This particular tension, registering prominently on the
anxiety scale, brings a foreboding. It carries with it a premonition
of doom and is experienced, unfortunately, too often...in the
Service Zone."
The Musings of A
Customer
As a customer, I know things will never
be perfect all the time, no matter how hard someone tries. Mistakes
will happen now and then. There will be several reasons, some
avoidable, some not. For me it's not the mistake that is of utmost
importance...it's usually the way mistakes and problems are handled
that have that get my real attention.
I know it is
admirable to do things right the first time. But, while a company
can take care of a product mistake or defect before I experience it
and thus never know the error occurred, with service issues, most
times the error occurs with me present. As a customer I'm not part
of the food preparation process, but I'm actively involved in the
service process. So I'm very impressed when, after the first time
wasn't pleasant, the second time is exceptional.
In many ways I'm
really surprised at myself. I find myself being drawn to and more
loyal to those companies who have recovered from mistakes and
handled my complaints in an excellent fashion than to any others.
It's not that I enjoy situations where I have to complain or when
there is a problem. But, possibly, it's such a relief to have a
company deal with those situations in a positive manner that it
makes the value of that company much higher than what it would
normally be. Or maybe it's because the way many companies handle
complaints isn't so great.
A Rat or a Mouse? Who
Cares?
I remember another hotel experience. I
was in my room, sitting on the bed reading a newspaper, when I
noticed a rat scampering across the floor of the room. Concerned and
moving to the center of the bed, I called the front desk and asked
if I could change rooms. The clerk asked what the problem was, and I
told her there was a rat in my room.
I'll never forget
her response. "How big was it?" she asked. I was taken aback. (I
guess they do come in sizes.) I asked if that really mattered. In a
very terse tone of voice she replied, "Yes sir, it does. I can
assure you this hotel does not have RATS!" Well I didn't think this
was the time to debate rodent characteristics. I asked her what she
thought I might have seen. She responded, "Sir, it was probably just
a mouse."
Just a mouse, I
thought. Well that makes all the difference in the world. I asked if
we could agree that there was a big mouse in my room. With very
little emotion at all, she said she would send someone up. Within
two minutes two bell people arrived and helped me move to a new
room. They were very polite and helpful. Upon returning later in the
afternoon, I found a large basket of fruit, crackers and cheese (the
cheese was probably an oversight) and a personally signed note of
apology from the manager. Later that night I got a personal call
from the night manager apologizing again.
However, while all
that happened after the initial request was very positive, I was
still angry and I'll never return. You see how the situation was
handled at the first contact was so poor this hotel got no return
for its subsequent recovery efforts. The clerk had to tell me I was
wrong! Why? I don't know. Maybe she was just defending her company.
Or perhaps she was right... the hotel had no rats. From my point of
view...who cares? Rat, mouse, mule, moose or raccoon...there was an
uninvited life form in my room, and I just wanted out.
Even though the
specific incident with a rat in my room was an isolated event, the
type of response I got from the complaint was not. Many attempts at
recovery only offer the customer something tangible, a buy off. Yet,
how people handle the situation is just as important, if not more so
to me. It seems that in most cases when a problem arises or I
complain, I get immediately put into a confrontational or
uncomfortable position.
The Pain Of Complaining
First, many times there is a list of
arbitrary rules I must have obeyed in order for my complaint to have
any validity. Being asked if I have a sales receipt when the company
name and price tag are in place seems silly. (I guess I could have
stolen it...but then again if that were the case I figure a
competent crook would say it was a present.) The 30 day rule is
mind-blowing. What if I couldn't return it within 30 days? Does that
make the satisfaction level or the problem I encounter any
different? It must be to satisfy some internal accounting procedure
because it certainly does not relate to my issue or possible future
loyalty.
The questions like
"What did you do to this?", "How many times has this been used?",
"Did you follow the instructions?" "That's the way you order
it!"...all seem to suggest that I caused the problem. I love the
question, "Did you get that here?" Again, I have often wondered what
the crook would say..."Oh no, I was just attempting to rip you off."
It seems many of the hoops the customer must jump through are
designed to either influence the customer not to bother to complain
or to make the customer prove his or her complaint valid. And all to
what end? It merely creates an adversary relationship which makes
the customer want to do business somewhere else.
Second, I find that
in many places it is very hard to complain. For whatever reason,
many people don't want to handle the problem or complaint. Also, the
complaint process is usually a hassle that entails forms to be
filled out and/or several different people to be dealt with. I find
myself repeating the situation many times. I can't understand why
the sales process is fine tuned with prolific customer courting
behaviors, yet the return or problem handling process is a
fragmented and time-consuming adversarial event with behaviors
reflecting outright contempt.
My Next Purchase Is New
Business
I guess I see things a little
differently. Why would I come back if I'm treated poorly and dealt
with like I'm a pain in the rear? Don't they see my next purchase as
new business? I really don't believe there is any such thing as old
business. Every purchase I make is based somewhat on my past
experiences. I think good customer service is a great sales
technique, especially when I encounter a mistake or a problem as a
customer.
I'm really like
most; I don't often complain anymore. Yes, if the product I buy is
defective or the invoice charge is incorrect I will let someone
know. But, to complain about the way I'm treated, about the
inconvenience, the lack of response, the hassles...is not a good use
of my time. Why? Well, for one thing I don't think it will do any
good. Many past experiences have taught me that.
Another reason is
that it is time consuming, and my time is valuable. Also, I believe
it will be confrontational, and I don't wake up in the morning and
relish looking forward to confrontations. Altogether it just seems
like a big waste of time and effort, especially when I can simply
just take my business elsewhere.
However, there are
some companies I will definitely complain to. Those companies who
have handled complaints and problems well in the past, I give the
opportunity to do so again. Could it be the better companies get
more complaints than others because the complaint experience isn't
punishing for the customer? I know I lower the complaint load for
those companies I believe have lousy recovery practices. It's easy
to get me not to complain...make it uncomfortable. Maybe there's
something to think about here.
There are some
companies that really blow me away. Why? They perform their promise
really well and they also have superb recovery practices. I'm an
avid Nordstrom customer. Why? Never a problem with a return or an
exchange. Never! And it is handled by the clerk at the first point
of contact.
L.L Bean...simply
the best. Why? Again, if I'm dissatisfied with anything for any
reason, send it back. No problem. Never! Never!!! And when they are
late or out of stock, a personal letter makes me feel like they are
bending over backwards to keep me informed and get my order ASAP.
Got to love 'em.
P.F. Chang's, the
fast growing Chinese bistro! They go out of their way to ensure you
have every opportunity to be completely impressed with the food and
the service. Complaints are P.F. Chang's opportunity to ensure you
will return for another meal!!!
Wal-Mart? Even as a
discount store Wal-Mart treats the customer with the utmost respect,
the staff is always helpful and the complaint and return process is
by far the easiest in their industry. Could be a result of a Sam
Walton quote I saw recently...
"There is only one
boss: the customer. And he or she can fire everybody in the company,
from the chairman on down, simply by spending their money somewhere
else."
Thank you Sam!!!
It's a Matter Of True
Character
Why are recovery efforts and problem
solving practices so important to me? Because during these times a
company demonstrates its true character. Like any human
relationship, it's not how we treat each other when times are good
that is the measure of the relationship. It is in troubled times
that the relationship is put to the test.
With excellent
recovery practices, a proactive approach to stand behind everything
a company does, and a philosophy to make things right when they
aren't, my loyalty becomes very attainable.
In business, when
complaints of offered, the ledger of character is opened and
examined. The tally is made, and then the reward or the penalty
paid. This is the comeuppance that awaits us all. Many pay the
penalty, the loss of the customer. This is justice meted out for
poor recovery.
This is judgment
day- in the Service Zone.
Key Principles:
-
How we handle
complaints and problems for customers demonstrates who we really
are and the values of the organization. This is an integrity
issue and the customer will react accordingly. The best of the
best recovery better than their competitors.
Thoughts &
Questions:
To have a
positive impact recovery efforts should be;
-
fast and
distinctive
-
never burden
the customer
-
proactive -
planned out in advance (hesitation sends the wrong message
to the customer)
-
recorded and
used as a data base for future business improvements
-
Recovery is a
test of character!
-
Build or destroy the relationship
with the customer by how you handle complaints and problems.
-
There is no cost
of recovery, there is only an investment in the customer's
future business.
Thanks Rick
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Improving the
Customer Experience through Customer Journey Mapping
By Eric Fraterman
(This is short and to the point. Eric is a friend and strategic partner.)
Today’s customers are
becoming more demanding and often drive a hard bargain. They utilize
multiple channels and touch points to interact with your
organization during their life cycle (Customer Journey). If you are
serious about differentiating your organization, you cannot ignore
the negative impact that inconsistent and piecemeal
customer experiences will have on your business.
Mapping the Customer
Journey helps you understand the customer’s touch points. If the
customer experiences these as consistent and positive, and you
occasionally exceed expectations, you create value and set the
conditions for nurturing a long-lasting and profitable relationship
with loyal and committed customers. Since such customers often also
recommend your organization to others, managing the customer journey
and experience is a key profitability driver.
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Using
Information to Create Value for Your Customers
By Rick Tate and Michele Richards
(Rick is a highly regarded expert in the world of customer service.
He is an extraordinary speaker, trainer, author and human being)
Ask
most any employee at work today in American business the same
question: "What's our biggest problem?" and you're likely to get the
same answer: "Communication!" How can that be? Look at the
proliferation of technology that has vastly improved the way in
which information is sent and received in corporations. Consider the
inordinate amount of time we spend during the typical business day
in meetings. What about voice mail, e-mail, pagers, cell phones, fax
machines and computers? Yes, even with the multitude of
communications technology at our fingertips; even with the increased
knowledge base and education of the American worker; even with new
concepts in leadership and teamwork, most people will tell you the
major cause of problems in organizations can be attributed to
"communication."
We
wonder just how much information we are communicating is really
relevant to what people actually need to do their jobs in a way that
creates value for our customers? Perhaps it's time to consider that
our communications problems lie not in "how" we communicate, but
rather in "what" we communicate. Is the customer's voice and
evaluations the core of the information we channel through our
organization, or are we simply using the progress in hardware and
software to create better ways to communicate the same information
we have in the past with new methods?
Would
we have a different type of organization if we made the theme of our
information processes "what the customer wants us to know" instead
of "what does management want to tell and how do they want to tell
it?" How much more effective would we be if everyone knew what was
on the customer's mind when doing business with us, what the
customer truly valued, and what real experiences the customer deals
with?
How
Far Have We Come, Really?
One
of the reasons the "mom and pop" organizations of the 1920's and
1930's worked is because there was very little distance in time and
space between a company's employees and its customers. Communication
was easy because there were fewer organizational layers which
separated employees from understanding what their customers really
wanted, needed, and expected.
During
the next two decades, American organizations grew in size and scope,
adding layers and layers of organizational structure between their
employees and customers. Information flowed from the top,
"filtering" through the middle management funnel and was eventually
delivered to people at the bottom of the pyramid. There was no
sinister plot to withhold information from people. Management simply
felt that employees were uninterested and didn't have a need to know
certain information critical to the business
In
the 1960's, we became concerned about the morale and motivation of
the workforce and began to see the need to improve the way we
communicated with employees. Company meetings became a thing to do.
Cross-functional staff meetings became normal. The "corporate
newsletter" went to press all across the nation. Middle management
was encouraged to "pass the word" down and keep people informed
because we had learned that open communication positively impacted
employee morale and motivation.
By
the early 1980's the emergence of a totally new economy would make
our past practices ineffective. A major lesson learned was that in
order to compete in an era that demanded quality products and
quality performance, it was critical to have the active involvement
of people. As a result, the need for better employee communications
structures emerged as the need for information sharing between
departments was becoming a critical business strategy. Here is where
we saw the growth of the global employee newsletter, employee
forums, meetings with management, problem-solving teams, advanced
quality circles, TQM initiatives, etc. Like never before, employees
had access to an overwhelming amount of information from a multitude
of sources.
But
the nature of the information passed along didn't really change that
much. People were better informed about organizational "events," pay
and benefits issues, who was being recognized for exceptional
performance, new business ventures, who got promoted, and so on.
There was improvement in data about the quality issues with regard
to product production. There was some business news, but it was
normally just a report on sales, profit, earnings and budget. And,
it was communicated in a macro sense which still left employees
(with perhaps the exception of those in sales and marketing) in the
dark about just how they individually connected with the company's
success.
But,
Where Did the Real Customer Go?
By
the end of the 1980s, we saw the "internal customer" concept take
hold. By introducing the idea of serving an internal customer,
organizations were attempting to bring each employee down the line
closer to the user of its products or services. "I'll serve the
customer, you serve me, and your internal customer will serve you.
In the end, we'll all be working toward the same goal."
It
was a new and impressive concept, but unfortunately one that
delivered some unintended consequences. In many cases, a new
hierarchy was created that merely replaced the old one. Support
functions such as Human Resources, MIS and Engineering now perceived
that they were less important than those who were in direct contact
with the paying customer and it was their job to be at the mercy of
the Sales and Marketing and operational functions. Many times this
situation created more hostility and lack of cooperation than what
we had before. And all it took was for one function in this linear
organizational structure to be out of focus on what the primary
objective was to sub-optimize the results of the whole organization.
Anyone who has ever struggled with the ritual stringing of Christmas
lights knows all too well what happens when one bulb goes awry...
the entire string doesn't work and we fail to meet the ultimate
goal. Further, the time it takes to solve the problem of "one small
bulb" is great and the agitation is profound. Much like the weak
link in a chain, when people move in different directions, the
effect is disastrous.
The
"internal customer" also failed to create the support employee's
connection with the paying customer. Many times internal customers
were demanding fulfillment of requirements merely because they were
now in a position to do so, not because demands created value for
the paying customer. In many instances, the paying customer was once
again lost due to the internal struggles raging within a company ...
ironically all in the name of serving the customer!
Yes,
by the mid 1990's, we were incrementally better at communicating
with employees and understanding customers. But, the external
environment had not changed incrementally over the past 30
years...it had changed fundamentally! And our efforts were not
paying the dividends in bringing about the type of change that was
really needed, or that most business leaders really desired.
Massage Therapy
But
what to tell employees? The truth? Unfortunately, the "message due
jour" was massage therapy...candy coated information which presented
a view of things through "rose colored glasses." "Times are tough;
we have challenges, but we're the best, always have been, and
everything is under control." Messages about the realities of the
new economy were massaged to the point that many did not see the
urgency and importance of individual change. We still held on to the
dependency model of the 1940-50's in which the employee sensed that
they would be taken care of and that the organization had things
figured out.
And
without a shared sense of what was really happening and the
consequences of not changing fast enough, we labored through times
in which credibility was lost as many suffered those consequences
without being duly prepared. How many employees in the 1990's have
been victims of corporate downsizing without even understanding the
real business issues which caused them to lose their jobs?
Moving Forward?
To
be successful in the future, we must look to another model of
communication. One which will have at its foundation that shared
sense of reality, the shared knowledge of the real threats to
business success that are needed to galvanize employees and create
and a sense of urgency to tackle those threats. What we so
desperately need in business today is a revolution in the way we
gather and disseminate information in our organizations. We have the
tools, but we've been focusing on the wrong information. It's time
that we take a good hard look at "what" we communicate in our
organizations and decide that what we've been doing for the last
half decade will not cut it for the future.
Believing
in and talking about a customer-driven approach is one thing;
delivering it is quite another. Being really customer-driven hinges
on one critical business factor...every single thing we do must be
centered on bringing the customer back to do business again!
Many
people long for the past when businesses were smaller and the link
between the store operator and the customer was unfiltered.
Relationships between owner and manager with their customers were
strong because the separate parties had more personal knowledge of
each other. Today, technology allows us to return to the advantages
of relationships past, while simultaneously utilizing the advantages
of being big. We're now able to put information into the hands of
those employees who serve customers directly and indirectly.
Customer information put into the hands of employees allows them to
perform their jobs in extraordinary ways.
So
knowing this, why are we so reluctant to share valuable customer
information with all employees? Perhaps we're holding on to the old
beliefs of our corporate ancestors who felt that employees didn't
need to know certain information and were uninterested. Or, maybe we
don't trust our employees with customer information. It's also quite
possible that we don't spend time on a customer agenda because we
don't have enough "real" information about customers. We may have at
hand customer statistics and numerous reports about customer
purchases. But do we really have the type of customer information
that lets us truly understand what the customer values when they do
business with us?
In
any case, we must begin to examine these assumptions that serve as
the foundation of our actions and rationalizations. If we do not
change our fundamental theories and beliefs we will be severely
hampered in our attempts to improve our business practices and
capture the involvement of employees. We must move towards a "right
to know" theory of customer information. We must have a "shared
sense of reality" theory when it comes to deciding what information
people should have. With the right philosophy, we can move toward
implementing the tactics necessary to improve the customer value our
organizations offer.
Usher In Customer-Centered Communications©
If
the goal is clear...to focus organizational insights, efforts and
talents on creating value for the customer...then there is an
effective approach: Customer-Centered Communications© .
Customer-Centered
