Creating the Ultimate Customer Experience: Be the Action Hero of Problem Solving

When your customers want action, you’re on the case, focused on getting results.  It should be so simple and basic, but sometimes, in the crush of too much, too fast, the basics get overlooked.  Not to malign any industry, but we’ve all spent too long on hold, or dealt with a rep who parrots a response without hearing our plea.  One company lost me for good last week, a  reality-check reminder of What Not To Do.

What does a customer hope for? Okay, a full-scale Congressional investigation, triple refund and lifetime discount may not be the best answers! But there are others…

A calm oasis: some customers themselves are so agitated, they’re loud, confusing, annoying. Instead of escalating to match their tone, take it down a notch. Let their waves of frustration wash out, and respond in the calmest, “I’m-a-supervisor-and-I’ll-fix-it” tone.  Oh, and please turn off the speaker phone, where the volume feels aggressive and less than personal.

Yes, the personal. The friendlier you are,  the easier it is to find out just what’s wrong, and make a connection. Simple way to do both: use the person’s name. In a respectful but friendly tone, remind that customer that you not only know his demand, you recognize his value.

The solution to his or her demand may be elaborate or easy, but instead of waiting for the customer to tell YOU…propose your own course of action. “I’d recommend we do this to resolve it,” you say. Once you state exactly what you believe will make that person happy, you’ve become the problem solver who saves the day.

If they hesitate, bring their input into the process.  “What would YOU suggest to take care of this?” puts them in the position of agreeing with your proposal, or telling you why they won’t. The dialogue gives you an added chance to personalize the solution—and keep them as a future customer who recalls the individualized attention of someone who believes in basic good business.

For more information on Dealing with Difficult Customers and Action Hero Problem Solving, contact Market Viewpoint.

Creating the Ultimate Customer Experience: Add On Selling Drops to the Bottom Line

If you’ve ever shopped at one of those bath and beauty stores, you’ve experienced the “add on” push at the cash register. Just buying one item? The sales clerk will suggest something else in the same scent.  Getting a collection of products for gifts? “But you need something for YOU,” comes the gently insistent tone.  Because those added, impulse “extras” tally lots more profit.

You can find an even better illustration at any big-name coffee shop.  Sure, lots of customers are ordering their standard caffeine-to-go, in sizes to fit the adrenaline lag. But many more are getting a sandwich, or pastry. The oversized to-go cups are popular too, not to mention the small plush teddy bears, greeting cards and even sets of colorful mugs. On a recent snowy morning, I sat in a suburban Starbucks and in half an hour, saw at least 12 customers who didn’t buy a coffee, tea or cocoa. To the musical accompaniment of quiet jazz, they purchased the “extras,” from CDs to gift cards, spending significantly more than they would have on a venti caramel macchiato.

By contrast, a local “independent” coffee shop a block away sat nearly empty, despite much lower prices.  Customers could buy only coffee or tea.  The floor bore traces of slush, and the silence—not even a radio— told me why the place wasn’t filled.

What struck me was the realization that the “big-time” coffee giant, not the struggling little guy, was the one offering an ever-expanding inventory of items. You’d think an internationally successful brand already profited nicely just from those coffee drinks. But rather than rely on the basics, they “added on,” displaying more and different products to keep customers interested.  You’d think the “little” coffee place would try to do the same, just as bookstores have added coffee bars.  But it just seems to shrug, “we sell coffee, take it or leave it.”

Do you go beyond the basics and offer customers an “add on”? Think about what “impulse” might appeal to them.  The lure of “something special” can be irresistible, and brings them back to see what else might be in store.

Creating the Ultimate Customer Experience: What Are You Wishing For?

As managers who are responsible for customer service, we’ve all got those To-Do lists.  There’s always at least one in our Blackberry.   And another in our heads, in constant revision mode.  Maybe a few more, from long range fitness to Friday’s grocery run.  And of course, the list of ways to increase our business, from attracting new customers to pumping up that cash flow.  We dutifully cross out each completed item, or try to.  Then we add more to-do’s to the ongoing to-do list. That turns it into more of a never-ending story than a list of tasks done. Because there will always be more to do! And honestly, we know too well, that to-do list is never going to be done.

Instead of always running the To-Do marathon, why not change the scenery? Make a wish list for yourself.  We associate those with kids writing to Santa, and starry-eyed brides-to-be, or even our own birthdays. Usually a wish list is defensive: we compile a list of gifts we’d enjoy getting to make sure we don’t end up with  drugstore perfume in a bottle shaped like Hannah Montana, or eleven crock pots.

But those wish lists are for others.  A wish list for ourselves should come from the heart, not the accessories department.  Instead of “I wish I had a new pair of Ugg boots,” try “I wish I could polish my public speaking skills.” Rather than wishing for a new tennis racket to improve your serve, you may wish you could emulate a colleague’s organizing ability. Then look for a way to make that wish come true, whether it’s making practice presentations, or asking a co-worker’s help.  When you get your wish, you’ll feel  energized, confident—and capable of tackling any To-Do list on the planet.   Keep adding new wishes to your private list. You’ll find that “wishing” can boost “doing” every time.

Creating the Ultimate Customer Experience: A Little Freedom, A Lot of Responsibility?

Freedom—it’s a truth we all take way too much for granted.  Freedom to___ : Fill in your own blank. It’s what we all want, at some level.   Freedom to book a vacation anywhere, never mind the cost.  Or just to take a midweek day off, no questions, no guilt. Freedom from a specific corporate mindset has been the goal of everyone who ever started a business. Your cubicle-bound friends sigh in frustration / admiration, wishing they could be free to do whatever THEY want, too, using their own splendid ideas instead of answering to the Boss of the Year, Evil Variety.  YOU have the freedom to be your own boss and answer to no one.

As they say in New Jersey, yeah right.  Freedom in business means you’re at the epicenter, but you’re often answering to a hundred bosses, better known as customers. The freedom to pursue your own instincts has to balance with that demon bottom line. You already know that if you really want that day off smack in the middle of a workweek, you’ll do more work in advance, and endlessly check emails or messages while you’re ‘off.’ That freedom comes with a price tag.  If you crave some extra freedom, in the form of family time, or taking a class, how much responsibility are you willing to bear in exchange?

Reba McEntire, the entertainer, once told an interviewer that although she loved skiing and riding horses—she’d been a rodeo champ as a teen—she no longer indulged in either hobby. “I’m responsible for too many people trying to make a living,” Reba said. “If I get injured, it’s not fair to all of them.”  Instead she’s chosen a new freedom from routine: designing business casual clothing for women. Her outfits are aimed squarely at those who buy her CDs or watched her TV series. She’s responsible—there’s that word again!—for choosing the colors and fabrics, calling it more fun than she imagined.

Seeking some freedom from your routine? Sometimes the price tag comes with the bonus of new creativity. Worth its weight in responsibility.

• Want a little freedom from the worry about how your customers are being treated? Schedule your mystery shopping program now!
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Creating the Ultimate Customer Experience: Make It a Garden Party!

You may have heard of that old ballad by the former teen idol Ricky Nelson. The tune, called “Garden Party,” told of a concert at Madison Square Garden, where Nelson was jeered by displeased fans who preferred his old songs, not the new numbers he performed. “You can’t please everyone, so  you gotta please yourself,” Nelson sang.  Easy for him to say: he got a solid gold hit record out of a mocking swipe at his former fans.

In business, as in life, you really can’t please everyone.   If one customer likes a chatty, friendly approach, another wonders why you can’t  just “cut to the chase.”  Another may need nonstop maintenance while his opposite is practically hands-off.  And there YOU are, like a den mother taking a troop of Cub scouts to the zoo.

So who are YOU trying to please, and can you serve all of them well? Naturally the answer isn’t easy.  If it was, we‘d all have Donald Trump’s bank account (please, keep his hair!).

It’s like when the oxygen mask drops on the plane. You put it on first, and then help your child or seatmate.  As long as you can breathe, you can function, and juggle. If you aren’t pleasing yourself first, you can’t possibly cope with anyone else’s wants and needs. You’ll be too unhappy to see that one business associate needs nurturing, another needs a good joke and a third needs a crisp, just-the-facts rundown.

The cliché tells us the customer is always right. Our daily reality tells us that, sometimes, that is true. But without you staging the show, there is no customer.  And if you’re unhappy while trying to appease too many others, customers will pick up the signals and head for the exits.  Borrow Ricky Nelson’s songbook and make your theme “Me First, Then How May I Help You?”

• Want a fresh perspective on what your customers are thinking about your operations? Let Angela’s company, Market Viewpoint, help you see your business through your customers’ eyes. ”
  

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Creating the Ultimate Customer Experience: Sounds of Smiling

A friend who worked in radio once told me how she achieved what she called her “radio voice.”  As soon as she entered the studio, “I said oh, this’ll be fun, and started smiling,” she said. She kept the smile in place so her face felt relaxed, no matter what the content of the news or feature story she was about to read into a microphone.

“The audience can’t see you, so that’s a great advantage in working on how you sound,” she said.  “I listened to tapes of myself speaking on the air and I always sounded better if I was smiling. Tension or fatigue comes through in your voice, either on the air or on the phone. If you smile, you can rise above that.”  The very act of smiling sends a message to your facial muscles, and your mindset instantly improves:  something fun is afoot!

How often have you made a phone call in a hurried manner and the person on the other end says, “What’s the matter?” Your tone, your distracted mindset, travels loud and clear, whether via Verizon, AT&T or even a string and tin cans.  It’s not natural to smile all the time, so we don’t. But the smile in your voice warms your tone, relaxing your listener, inviting real attention.  Something to sell? Great, they’re on board.  It takes energy, especially if you’re tired, or dreading a call, or distracted by something unrelated. Do what my radio friend did: wave a hand in front of your face, to symbolically banish everything else but this.

Think fun, put on that megawatt smile—you’ll sound like a friend. And your customers will stay tuned.

• Want to know how your employees are coming across to your customers on the phone? Mystery shopping can help!
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Creating the Ultimate Customer Experience: Promises, Promises!

If you made a resolution by the dawn of January 1’s early light, it was likely a self-improvement promise. To walk another mile a day, or hit the gym twice a week.  To cut the caffeine, learn to love green tea, and bypass the fast food.  These promises to ourselves usually come after some overindulging prompts us to start a new, healthy habit.  If we’re vigilant, we’ll carry through for at least a few weeks. If we’re really determined, we’ll turn a resolution into a regimen.

Did you make any similar promises in business?  Even the most successful among us—you know who you are, lucky you!—can always improve the bottom line.  The simplest way is communication. Customers love to know you’re not only listening to what they say but looking at what you can do about it. The promise by auto-email to ‘get back to you within 48 hours’ is standard communication-speak for most companies now. Customers who are really frustrated will continue to simmer for those 48 hours, and be ready to unload anew when they finally hear from you.

But what if you ditch the standard pitch? Instead of the random blanket promise to “get back to you,” freshen up the wording, and the emotion behind it.  Promise to examine their concerns, address their individual ideas. Remember on the show “Frasier” when Kelsey Grammar’s character would sincerely say “I’m listening” to his radio callers—while doing something else? Not multi-tasking, just Frasier-tasking.  Good for sit-com laughs but not for business.

If you promise customers a new level of attention, not just to the details in your day-to-day dealings, but in their concerns and suggestions, you’ll open a dialogue that adds weight to your promises.   And if you’re honest about what you’re promising—that a concern will be addressed and there will be follow-up, no matter the outcome—the customer will be inclined to make his or her own promise to you. The promise of continued business.

• Want to know if your staff is following through on the promises your business makes? Consider mystery shopping as a way to accomplish this task!
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Creating the Ultimate Customer Experience: Seek and Ye Shall Find…Maybe

Our thanks this month to guest blogger, Kathy Blumenstock. Kathy currently writes Animal Planet’s “The Mole” blog http://blogs.discovery.com/the_mole.  A career journalist, she has been a reporter and writer for The Washington Post, Sports Illustrated, USA Today,  NBC News and Entertainment Tonight.  Kathy also contributes feature stories to Knitchmagazine.com and Knit ‘N Style magazine.

The Rolling Stones told us you can’t always get what you want. But I beg to differ with Mick and the guys.  Sometimes you CAN—you just have to shop in the right place.

A weekend sale plus a discount coupon should add up to savings and satisfaction, right? I was poised to make the score, pick up that brand new printer-scanner combo and head for the cash register, and victory at the Big Box Store.

Except the shelves, filled with many other printers, scanners, copiers and fax machines, did NOT have one single box with the model I wanted, the one on sale, the one compatible with my new computer. Not ONE,  and not even a form for a rain check.  “When are you getting more of them in?” I asked the salesclerk. “No idea,” he said. “Maybe next week, maybe never. And the price may go up.” At least he was honest.

I asked another clerk to please check in the back, just in case a lone printer was hiding there. She was cheerful, if unable to help. “None,” she said, then glanced around before whispering, “Why don’t you go to to OtherMart? THEY carry it.  And you can use the coupon.” Her voice dropped even lower. “My daughter got the same one there yesterday. Five dollars cheaper than here.”  I felt like the shopper in “Miracle on 34^th Street,” when the Macy’s salesman sends her to Gimbel’s to find the toy she’s seeking. Sending a customer to the competition?

Isn’t that the truest definition of Customer Service? The salesclerk wanted to help a frustrated shopper find what she sought, even if it was in another store.  She served her customer, not the seller—oops, her employer. (And yes, I did get the printer. In the Other Mart. )

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Creating the Ultimate Customer Experience: Phoning It In

Our thanks this month to guest blogger, Kathy Blumenstock. Kathy currently writes Animal Planet’s “The Mole” blog http://blogs.discovery.com/the_mole.  A career journalist, she has been a reporter and writer for The Washington Post, Sports Illustrated, USA Today,  NBC News and Entertainment Tonight.  Kathy also contributes feature stories to Knitchmagazine.com and Knit ‘N Style magazine.

Reach out and touch someone: remember that ad campaign for what was once known universally as The Phone Company? Now if we want to reach out, we IM, we Tweet, we text, we leave a voicemail.  And at times all of those communiqués seem annoying, even intrusive, to the recipient. Is it any wonder we no longer anticipate a phone call with, well, anticipation? And how many times do you get Good News from a phone call anyway? But some savvy companies realize the power of the personal call—not one of those robotic taped ones from a politician or fundraiser. The Phone Call as a service device may be returning.

My car was the subject of a massive recall. Some part could possibly burst into flames, or fall off on a highway. The car maker would of course replace the defective part at no cost. All I had to do was take it to any dealership. Except every dealership I spoke to in a 40 mile radius refused to deal with me because I hadn’t bought the car there.  I wrote a heated email, backed up with an actual snail-mailed letter, to the manufacturer. I stopped short of saying “If my car bursts into flames, you’ll be sorry.”  Expecting a formula email or a postcard, I was stunned to receive two phone calls. One from the vice president of something, apologizing  for how the dealers had treated me. The other from customer service, offering to book an appointment at the most convenient dealership. They did—and after the car was fixed, they called again.  Just reaching out to stay in touch.

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Creating the Ultimate Customer Experience: On the Case

Our thanks this month to guest blogger, Kathy Blumenstock. Kathy currently writes Animal Planet’s “The Mole” blog http://blogs.discovery.com/the_mole.  A career journalist, she has been a reporter and writer for The Washington Post, Sports Illustrated, USA Today,  NBC News and Entertainment Tonight.  Kathy also contributes feature stories to Knitchmagazine.com and Knit ‘N Style magazine.

When a computer is involved, most of us non-tech types cringe. I’m no different: replacing my long-serving ibook, I braced for the worst, fully expecting to fumble through new programs and finding the shortcuts and pathways to get me back on track. I was pleasantly surprised—okay, speechlessly shocked—when my worst fears were cushioned by understanding, helpful customer service professionals.

They talked me through setting up the laptop, even when I couldn’t figure out which purple cord belonged with which yellow port. With their guidance, the laptop morphed into an autopilot dream. Of course, all was going too smoothly.  That’s why the new modem decided to rebel. State-of-the-art, speedy and sleek, it’s designed to plug into multiple computers and phone lines.  The compact black box blinked on, grew hot to the touch, then quit. “Shouldn’t happen,” said the cheerful rep on the line. “I’m shipping you a replacement overnight.”

Okay, the new modem appeared a day later. And didn’t respond at all.  Another replacement was sent out,  while I wondered if I’d be the modem junkyard for the free world. When Modem #4 balked,  the service rep on the phone gave me her direct line, home and cell phone numbers. “From now on, I’m on this personally, if there is a problem, don’t go through the main number,” she said. “I’ll come out there in person if I have to.”

She didn’t: Modem #5 was the magic number, linking me to the cyberworld with green lights blinking. I was so glad it worked, and my personal service rep still emails me once a month to make sure I’m still happy with the modem; she has offered to send a backup just to keep on hand. “We want this to be a customer success story,” she says.  For me, it’s been one all along.

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