Follow Chip on:
Twitter
Follow John on:
Twitter


Posted at 04:09 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Social media like blogs,
Facebook, and Twitter provide evidence we are changing the way we define
marketplace—in some ways a return to the village. Only the new village is a global community
but with old village features. In a small
town merchants knew you and catered to your specific needs. They acted on history, patterns of previous
purchases. They relied on neighborly
practices. They’d even opened the shop
after hours if you needed something.
Over the last fifty years commerce has been distant, impersonal, and one-size-fits
all. Social media is helping connect
customers with businesses in ways more tailored, personalized, open,
around-the-clock and valued.
But, villages need a Buster. A village without Buster is a boring
town. Be the Buster in you commercial
village.
Does your customer service make your customers smile? Does it have a unique imaginative twist that makes it distinctive? Do you create experiences for your customers they would describe as lively, fun and positively memorable? How many customers did you make laugh this week?
Posted at 06:10 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
“When the going gets tough, the
tough get going.” The line is often
misinterpreted to favor some macho sentiment.
The real meaning has nothing to do with being strong and everything to
do with being feisty.
We are in an era of subtraction
and reduction. Those who succeed embrace
such times as an opportunity for investment and generosity. “Give to the world the best you have and the
best will come back to you,” goes the familiar adage. This is particularly true of passion.
Passion is all about
feistiness. It is the source of
initiative, drive and growth. It gets
people out of bed and off to work early despite the gloomy news on the tube. It turns sleep walking and indifferent service
people into joy carriers. It puts a
smile on your face and a skip in your step even in moments of uncertainty. And, it is the expression of who you are to
all around you.
Dissect the word—it is three words in one. Pass-I-on. It is you passing you on to others. When you pass on your best, you change the equation from less to more; from worry about the denominator to excitement about the numerator.
Posted at 04:56 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
What is a service process?
A service process can be defined from two perspectives. From
the inside looking out, it is a collection of procedures and practices that
govern a complete operation. Bottom
line, it is the means that organizations use to deliver service to customers. From
customers’ viewpoints, however, it is what an organization puts them through to
get what they need or want. Given the
high level of importance that customers today place on their experience, making
certain your processes are “happy” is critical for service success.
In
this case the front line and the customer agreed on the degree of unhappiness
of the process. Where’s leadership? What other processes have been turned into
unhappy ones? Have you analyzed your processes from the employee and customer’s
perspective? Are your processes in sync
with the type of experience your organization strives to deliver?
Posted at 04:51 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Technorati Tags: consistency, customer experience, customer service, devoted customers, imaginative service, processes
We had our granddaughters visit one weekend at our lake home. There is absolutely nothing more jarringly creative than a five-year-old or more innocent than a three-year old. Grandparents wonder why their grandchildren can’t stay “puppies!!”
One morning we decided to stage an elaborate backyard treasure hunt. The girls decorated their treasure boxes while we drew each a detailed map of the yard. While the two were off on a boat ride with their parents, we hid the “treasurers”—foreign coins from a business trip abroad, old costume jewelry, shells from a beach trip, etc.—and marked their locations on the respective treasure maps. We even included a few silly treasures. When the girls got back they took their decorated treasure boxes, their different treasure maps, and set out to locate the loot. It was a joy to watch them squeal with each discovery.
What could you do to make your service like a treasure hunt for your customers? How can you hide special treasures for your customers to discover?
Posted at 04:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
The Columbia Tower Club in downtown
Posted at 05:07 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
A major hospital in the Midwest
Four Seasons Hotel Austin
Posted at 06:57 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
We have had recent media examples of beloved companies leaving customers disappointed due to service hiccups. Whether the foibles were caused by a process failure, human error or unfriendly gremlins is irrelevant to customers already angry over a mean economy. Organizations that turn the oops into an opportunity are those that practice great service recovery.
Great recovery starts with recognition that disappointing service requires emotional repair, not just problem resolution. Too many organizations focus on damage control; too few practice betrayal management. Effective service recovery starts with a sincere and quick apology from the top of the organization. Apology does not mean “we goofed”; it means “I care.” It includes obvious speed and agility to stop the cause of the disappointment.
Great service recovery includes communicating empathy—words that let customers know the organization is fully aware of the impact of their service breakdown. Sometimes customers need symbolic atonement—a “gesture of sorrow” that helps dramatize the fact the organization is not treating customers’ disappointments as frivolous. They also need to know the organization has learned from the incident and is taking steps to minimize reoccurrence.
Customers do not expect service to be perfect. But, they do expect when things go wrong that organizations will demonstrate they care. Do you have an effective plan for service recovery—one that insures everyone handles the next service breakdown with confidence and consistency? Are you tracking customer complaints to determine if there are patterns pointing to a need for service process surgery, not just a band-aid for each flare-up? And in addition to tracking complaints are you assertively tracking the new and very powerful interactive social media (Facebook, Twitter, blogs, etc.) to insure you know very quickly what is being said about your organization?
Posted at 05:47 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Posted at 07:02 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Cult-like
brands have devoted customers. They don’t just recommend you; they insist to
their friends that they do business with you, too. What’s more, they not only
forgive you when you make mistakes, they defend you to others who have had bad
experiences with you. They give you candid feedback when they spot a problem, and
that’s feedback on which you can build a better business.
Posted at 07:55 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
