Creating the Ultimate Customer Experience: The Library and Cell Phones!

I am so mad!! What has this world come to that we don’t seem to be able to live without our cell phones for even brief periods of time?

I was in the public library the other evening returning a book and borrowing two more. (Yes, despite the Kindle craze and the ability to download a book onto my Smartphone, I still prefer the feel of a good book in my hands.) So there I was, walking among the stacks and browsing the titles when I was suddenly jolted into an environment that made me very uncomfortable. The man next to me took a call on his cell phone and launched into a loud conversation with an individual who was his soon-to-be ex-wife. How did I know this?  He was ranting and raving about her lawyer and what he thought about the unfair settlement. I was embarrassed for him and uncomfortable to the point that I stopped my browsing and moved to another area of the library to get away from him. He was oblivious to my departure.

I was always under the impression that libraries were places that were quiet, where one could go to think, study, contemplate, explore, and focus. What I have found recently is that these quiet places may be disappearing. The libraries I have been in lately allow cell phone usage as long as the conversation is being conducted in hushed tones. What? Now, when was the last time you heard someone talking on a cell phone in a hushed tone? They also seem to allow people to yell to each other across the room. I’ve recently witnessed parents yelling to their children to “hurry up and pick out a book because it’s time to go home!”  I guess the  days of the librarian holding her index finger to her lips and shushing us are over. Maybe it’s politically incorrect to shush these days?

But what about me? What about my rights and those like me who want to read, browse, relax, or enjoy customer experiences without the intrusion of people talking on their cell phones? Have we come to the point where we are placating one group of customers at the expense of another? Maybe it’s time for me to spring for a Kindle!!

Here is my question to all of your subscribers:

Should libraries be “No Cell Phone Zones”?

Let me hear your thoughts and there’s no need to whisper!

Creating the Ultimate Customer Experience: Generational Motivation

Have you ever wondered what it takes to get and keep a staff motivated? We are hearing from more and more clients that it is becoming a challenge to keep individuals interested in their jobs and motivated to achieve high levels of performance. Your customers know which employees are motivated and which aren’t, so from a customer satisfaction perspective, it pays to focus on this issue.

Many of Market Viewpoint’s clients ask me how to keep their staff, especially their superstars, engaged and excited about their work. Most managers, if they truly see themselves as coaches, will take responsibility for motivating their staff. But this can be a difficult task. What works for one individual doesn’t seem to work for another. When I am asked why this happens, my question back to the manager is, “Have you ever really considered who you are trying to motivate?” Employees come from different generational groups – all inspired to achieve by different things. Is it possible that you are taking a “one size fits all” approach to motivation?

Consider these steps. Segment your staff into generational groups (Traditionalists, Baby Boomer, Generation X, or Millennial). Know that the motivational hot buttons are different for each group, so be prepared to be flexible with your approach.

The Millennials on your staff are motivated by tangible and intangible rewards that represent immediate satisfaction. Think gift cards and free meals.

Generation X values rewards that give them freedom. Think relaxed dress codes and flexible leave policies.

Baby Boomers, on the other hand, are motivated by financial rewards and job recognition. Think bonuses and corner office space for this group. While the Traditionalists, or World War II generation are motivated by things such as abbreviated work weeks and alternative work schedules.

All of the generations are motivated by recognition. That pat on the back that lets someone know they are doing a good job is important for all.

Meet with your employees on an individual basis to understand what they value and where they are at this phase of their lives. Use your mystery shops to determine the things people are really good at and explore these areas in depth.

To find out more about how Market Viewpoint can help you motivate your employees, contact us today. A motivated staff is just a phone call away!

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Creating the Ultimate Customer Experience: Why Aren’t You Asking for the Sale?

What is it that stops sales representatives in their tracks when it comes to asking the prospect if they are ready to buy? Here at Market Viewpoint, we see it all the time in the mystery shopping reports we compile for our clients – professional sales agents letting perfectly qualified prospects “escape”.  Now we all know why this happens. It’s the fear of rejection that holds sales consultants back from closing the sale but can we just stop for a moment and take a look at this from the customer’s perspective? It’s important to understand how this failure to ask for the sale impacts the customer experience.

Consider this example. A prospective renter  calls to make an appointment with a leasing agent at a popular apartment community. The prospect and leasing agent spend roughly an hour together touring model apartments and common areas of the community. They spend time talking about the prospect’s life style, the application process and fees, and the financial qualifications for living in this community. During the process, the prospect is giving strong buying signals. They are nodding their head in agreement, smiling, asking pertinent questions, and developing a relationship with the leasing agent. Then something weird happens. The leasing agent ends the transaction with a handshake and a, “thank you for stopping in today”- as if the prospect was making a social call! It’s almost as if the leasing agent is saying, “We don’t really want your business here”, when they don’t invite the prospect to complete the sales transaction. Psychologically, this has the potential to take the prospect back to the days on the school yard when they weren’t picked to be on the baseball team.

In today’s marketplace, many prospects are left to wonder why they are not being asked to buy, purchase, rent, participate, join, or belong. This is especially true if the prospect sought out your product or service. Keep in mind that during the sales transaction it’s all about the prospect, or at least it should be! If this is the case, it’s no wonder that many prospects are left to guess if it’s something they said or did to not be asked to buy. Disappointment and frustration are terms I’ve heard used by potential customers who walked away empty-handed from a sales encounter. It doesn’t surprise me when these potential customers described it as “poor” when ask to evaluate their experience.

If more sales agents saw things from the customer’s perspective, maybe they wouldn’t be so shy about asking for the sale. What’s holding back your sales team from improving that closing ratio? Consider introducing the customer experience component into your sales training to see if it makes a difference and don’t forget to mystery shop your sales team to make sure they are the best in your industry!

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Mystery Shopping: What Do Mystery Shopping and Dancing with the Stars Have in Common?

When the results come in from your latest round of mystery shops, some of your employees are going to feel like the latest contestants who won Dancing with the Stars. Others…not so much. Ok, I am officially busted. You now know that I am a huge Dancing with the Stars fan. I am a devotee of the beautiful costumes, fabulous music, and very talented professionals who coach the celebrity contestants to become the best dancers they can possibly be. But the thing I am impressed with the most are the professional judges who rate each routine.  They love lavishing praise, (and as managers and supervisors, don’t we all?). But when it comes to rating those dancers who are clearly not going to seeing the mirror ball trophy anytime soon, you can actually see how difficult it is for them. I think it’s the same for us as managers when it comes to meeting with our staff and sharing the results of the latest round of mystery shops. It’s easy to share the news when it’s good and much more difficult when improvement is necessary.

Here are some things to think about as you approach these employee meetings.

• Think of the data contained in the mystery shopping reports as the starting point of a conversation. The data allows you to approach staff performance problems from a third party perspective.
• Lavish praise where employees have done well just like the judges. Be specific with the things you know the staff is doing well and spend time coaching your staff on how to improve. The mystery shopping reports will give you specific examples to cite.
• Give you staff specific things to work on until the next round of shops. This is what the judges do on Dancing with the Stars. They tell the competing couples what they want to see the following week in the way of improvement. It helps to know what your coach or the judge expects.

Are there any tips you care to share when it comes to having those tough discussions with an employee?

As you’re enjoying the next season of Dancing with the Stars, take a tip from their panel of judges and add some new techniques as you coach your staff on their way to delivering the ultimate customer experience.

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• Market Viewpoint …helping you see your business through your customers’ eyes.
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Creating the Ultimate Customer Experience: When I Was a Kid…

It’s happening. I am becoming one of those people who looks back in time with fondness and wishes we still did things certain ways. I’m not saying I’m not open minded and willing to change with the times. No, I’m not saying that at all. What I am saying is that we are losing sight of some of the things that make for strong business relationships and great customer experiences.

When I was a kid…

If you placed a call to someone and left a message, they called you back, usually the same day. Today, I am lucky if I get a call back at all. We seem to be playing a game of professional hide and seek. The important point here is that business can only be conducted through good communication, productive conversations, and mutual agreement. When we don’t connect, the business process gets stalled and frustration sets in.

When I was a kid…

People made eye contact. They sat in meetings paying attention and looking each other in the eye. Today, we find professionals slouched in their chairs, eyes downcast and focused on whatever electronic device they happen to be “plugged” into. Business is about trust and, as humans, we establish this on a very basic level with our ability to make and maintain eye contact and our use of body language.

When I was a kid…

People cared about their appearance. It was a sign that they respected themselves. I know that corporate casual is in vogue and I am not saying that I need my business meetings to be black tie affairs but at least be clean and neat with an appearance that says you care.

Do you ever wish we did things the way we used to? If you could turn back the clock, what business behaviors would you bring back that seem to be missing today?

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Creating the Ultimate Customer Experience: Piece of Cake with the New Media

A pale pink truck glides to a halt outside a downtown building, while a cluster of people push forward, clutching dollar bills.  Eager for an afternoon sugar fix, the office workers quickly snapped up cupcakes, from key lime to plain chocolate, happily parting with $3 for the privilege.  The cupcake craze,  hugely popular in some cities, has a new flavor in Washington, D.C., where one entrepreneur opted to keep it moving  instead of opening a standing-still store. What a nice twist…the product coming to the consumer!

Besides a distinctive truck, this cupcake business relies on instant communication to, excuse the pun,  drive traffic. Tweeting her locations and the day’s flavor choices, adding a personal touch—“don’t cry, Joan, you didn’t miss us and we’ll see you very soon”—the cupcake provider brings her sweet wares to  customers  hungry for more.

They could choose a vending machine,  a nearby coffee shop for a pastry, into a deli or drugstore for a packaged snack—for less cash. Why head for the cupcake van, like kids chasing an ice cream truck on an August day?  “When I want a fresh cupcake, I can tweet her and run out to get just what I need,” said one woman. “I was at off-site meetings last week and felt I really l missed something. Not just my cupcakes, but someone catering to ME.”

There’s the key.  By interacting with customers, making them part of the process—“We’re offering red velvet and vanilla tomorrow, what’s your favorite flavor?”—the cupcake maker pulls in support and enthusiasm.  Advertising reaches out, but the new, two-way connection pulls in, as a speedier way to take the pulse. Need to add stops to your route, or cut a slow-seller? Those tweets and texts will tell you.  Customers may offer suggestions, or place advance orders, and feel you’re doing them a favor.

Tapping a simple want and adding trendy twists baked up in a business boom.

What’s the fresh ingredient in your own taste for success?

Creating the Ultimate Customer Experience: Gem of a Sale

You know when you’ve just gotta have it now, whether it’s pizza, a new outfit or an answer? Instant gratification is everywhere.  Why wait, when you want—NEED—it faster than five minutes ago? I spotted a prime example of instant gratification in action just last week.  A new item, advertised as the perfect accessory for spring, created a buzz in the stores that make up a small chain.

The item, a delicate pendant spun from multicolor threads and embellished with tiny silver charms, was a surprise hit for the chain.  The buyer who liked it, underestimated its appeal, so the small order quickly sold out.  The trendy “gotta have it now” item of the moment was on backorder, much to the annoyance of those who fell in love with its design.

“We’ve been to every store,” one customer said. “They all say to place an order and we might get it in a month.” At the store where I stood, one saleswoman wore the necklace, its pastel-toned shadings enhanced by her simple black blouse.  “How many could you sell, if you had them in stock?” I asked, and she rolled her eyes. “No one wants to even look at anything else.  We could move hundreds, along with coordinating accessories. It’s like trying to sell pink flowers for Fourth of July.”

I watched as she patiently explained to yet another young teen that no, there were no more in the back.  “She really wants one,” the girl’s mother pleaded, waving a platinum credit card. “But not for herself.  It’s for her friend’s birthday.” The teen explained, “Jen’s dad‘s been out of work since summer, and she’d never be able to afford one. “

The saleswoman unclasped her own necklace, discreetly placing it in a small box, while the teenager’s face lit up like a sunrise.  When the happy sale was complete, I looked at the clerk, who shrugged. “I really hate disappointing customers,” she said.  “My grandfather ran a clothing store, and he always said, if you make the customer happy today, he’ll come back happier tomorrow.”

True, no matter what you’re selling—even, or especially, when it’s a surprise order of instant gratification.

Have you ever done anything really special for a customer? We’d love to hear about it!

Creating the Ultimate Customer Experience: Simply the Best?

A business acquaintance recently told me she dreaded having to fire an employee.  “She’s the best assistant I’ve ever had,” Leah said. ”Except that she has no business sense. She argues with the suppliers, and tells them they’re overcharging us.  She tells customers to write a letter, or to call back next month.  And two years after I asked her to file our monthly reports in a new format, she’s still using the old one, so I have to go back and correct them all. She wanted more responsibility, so I let her handle two new accounts,” Leah continued. “But she ended up losing both of them. That was right after I gave her a bigger raise than all the other assistants got.”

Wait—this is the best assistant ever? Imagine the worst one! Why did Leah call her “the best”? “Well, she is a very nice person, eager and pleasant to be around” was the answer.  Suppliers and customers might have a different description. “Really, she tries very hard, and I think eventually she’ll learn more about dealing with people,” Leah said. “The other assistants have been there longer and don’t show as much promise.”

I wanted to double over in pain. Leah’s view of her “best assistant” said as much about her as it did the person she needed to terminate.  This was not an unpaid summer intern absorbing life lessons about the workplace, but an employee drawing a regular paycheck—with a recent raise.  Imagine how many suppliers have soured on Leah’s company, or what her former customers say, thanks to her “best assistant.” What about the other assistants—the “internal customers”— who see someone fumbling the job and being rewarded.  Think they’ll embrace a serious work ethic, or start dissing the vendors?

If the customer is always, or often, right, how about those customers closest to home, the employees? They’re the most obvious selling point for any business.  Keeping them in the loop, showing how pleased you are by their effort, reinforces pride and ensures they’ll do it right.  And their positive attitude will attract and bring home those paying customers.

What kinds of behavior are rewarded in your organization?

Creating the Ultimate Customer Experience: Business Plan

Unless your work takes you to the far side of the moon, you recall how the late-night talk show shuffle turned Jay Leno and Conan O’Brien into players in a melodrama.  Whether you prefer Jay, Conan, or an early bedtime, you know the fallout was ultimately about business decisions. Bad business moves are easy to see in hindsight, but sometimes, they’re defended as “taking a chance on a new idea.”

It all reminded a reporter friend of what her former newspaper tried. “For some reason, it was decided that merging three distinct, successful, weekly sections would be a great idea,” she said. Each section—separately featuring travel, food and entertainment– carried ads skewed to a specific readership.  The paper’s sales force fretted over pitching the new product, advertisers protested the blurring of their niche markets, and focus groups suggested that the paper might lose readers.

When prototypes of the “super section” appeared, staffers from every department offered feedback. ”But management didn’t want critiques, just compliments,” said my friend.  Negative comments were brushed aside and the new section was launched, amid expensive, extensive promotion.

The super section was a super disaster, disliked by readers and shunned by advertisers. Less than a year later, after tweaking its format and shrinking its staff, the paper quietly dropped its “great idea.”  The disappointment could have been dodged, along with resources saved. Yet those in charge ignored all instincts but their own.

Ever been so wedded to an idea that you overlook the caution flags from colleagues or customers? One last look before taking the plunge may bring an early glimpse of welcome hindsight —and the foresight for success, not regret.
Consider using a focus group of your customers before the launch of a new idea, product, or service, or survey customers to see if there is a need and interest in what you are trying to sell. Your customers will be happier and your bottom line, more robust!

Creating the Ultimate Customer Experience: Share Some Sunshine

With spring in the air, who wouldn’t welcome a little extra brightness? If only we could bottle sunlight and shake out a handful or two.  But if natural sunshine is in short supply, offer some of your own, by sharing something new that you’ve done.
Excitement over any accomplishment is contagious.  Just hearing about someone’s long-sought promotion or a great new business deal makes us feel energized, almost as if it’s happened to us, too. Oh, but you hate to brag about your business savvy or personal smarts, right? What would people think of someone who’s so full of himself?  So channel a favorite celebrity.  Bold-face Hollywood names are masters at sounding sweetly modest while blowing their own horns. When they talk up their most recent roles—even if it’s in a box office bomb headed straight to the DVD bargain bin—they’ll sing its praises as if it’s an Oscar-contender, a forgotten Shakespearean masterpiece.  And they’ve always got a ready-made answer when asked “What have you done lately?” No self-effacing doubters on the red carpet. They’re always eager to shine that light, giving themselves, and their listeners, a lift.
When you let others know what you’ve done and are doing, you’ll get an instant boost of confidence in yourself, crowding out any little doubts that edge in.  Focusing on what you’re proud of sparks others’ confidence in you, too.  About to add a new promotional slogan? Solved a thorny problem, big or small? Even if you baked a cake that drew compliments all around—congratulate yourself, out loud!  And then let others know, from your staff to your customers.  They’ll feel special upon hearing it, and glad they’re wise enough to do business with you. And they’ll carry that sunny state of mind forward, recalling what you described, and perhaps tallying some bragging rights of their own..

So what accomplishments have you realized lately? Let us know! We want to be as excited as you are for your success!

To learn more about how spreading a little sunshine translates to your customer service efforts, give Market Viewpoint a call and we’ll be happy to help!

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