Creating the Ultimate Customer Experience: Hit the Ball. Drag Charlie.

This post is for all you golf lovers out there! Unfortunately, I don’t have a whole lot of time to spend on this sport, but when summer rolls around, I often think of a good friend of mine who is a scratch golfer. Now, for those of you who may not be interested in, or know much about this sport, suffice it to say, my friend Jim is a very very very good golfer. He practices daily. When he is not playing a round of 18 or 36 holes, he is at the driving range or putting green continuing to perfect his swing and his short game. Jim is so intent on this sport that it is actually painful for him to play with someone who is not as good as he is. If I happen to be talking to Jim and I know that he played that day, I’ll often ask him how his game was. If Jim had been playing with someone with only meager ability but a huge love of the sport, he will often say, “Any day playing golf is great but today, I hit the ball and then…I had to drag Charlie.” I guess it’s tough for some people who are really good at what they do to tolerate those who struggle.

As I think about good golfers and the lesson they have to teach us, I am reminded that in our own corporations, we have people like this. Most of our staff, for example, is performing adequately. They do their jobs, no more – no less. Then there’s that smaller percentage who struggle. They may have been selected to do a job for which they are not prepared or in which they have no interest. And then finally, we have our “Jims”, the superstars who seem to excel no matter what we throw at them by way of a task or challenge. I really worry about this group, because the superstars, like my friend Jim, have a tendency to get really frustrated when they see management accepting less than the best from their employees. We run the risk of losing this group if we are not managing all three areas of the skill set spectrum. Superstars, in particular, do not want to spend their day “hitting the ball and dragging Charlie.”

As managers, know that you have tools available to you to help you with the skill set management task. Mystery shopping, for example, is a great tool to use to qualitatively and quantitatively assess the performance of individual staff members. It will allow you to recognize and reward your superstars and at the same time, it will give you the information you need to identify those who may need more training or coaching. It is also a useful tool to help you determine if you have the right people in the right positions on your staff. You may need to consider moving some people to jobs that better suit their skills and talents. Your mystery shopping reports will help you determine this.

How do you keep your superstars from getting frustrated?

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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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• Market Viewpoint …helping you see your business through your customers’ eyes.
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Creating the Ultimate Customer Experience: Cheers to All the Quirky Waitstaff Out There!

Customer experiences and breakfast are not usually two topics that I would logically pair, but I have to share the experience I had at a networking breakfast the other morning with a good friend and colleague of mine. We went through the usual mechanics of emailing each other trying to find a day, place, and time that worked for both of our schedules. We finally decided to meet at one of the popular national chains that specializes in breakfast because it was conveniently located at a half-way point for both of us. We had been there before and while we had a productive meeting we found the food to be bland, the waitstaff to be sleepy and disinterested, and the general decor and environment to be “corporate blah”.

At the last minute, something happened that was going to take one of us in the opposite direction after we met for breakfast so we decided to change the venue to a little mom and pop place that serves up breakfast and lunch and a fabulous customer experience.

Here’s how they do it:

This great little cafe understands the value of food that has personality. They have items on their menu that are different, unique, fresh, and fun.

The other thing that the owners of this cafe understand is the importance of having a fun quirky waitstaff. Our waitress, on this particular morning, was memorable in a very good way. Her appearance and personality were fun and funky and her demeanor indicated that she is as definitely a “morning person”.

And the environment…what a great place to hang out! The decor of this cafe is “island shabby chic”. It’s a visually enjoyable environment that invites the customer to chill out and relax.

My friend Jane and I left that cafe and meeting feeling a sense of accomplishment and so much more. It affected the rest of our day. The infusion of delicious creative food, a beautiful environment, and that quirky waitress into my day was so memorable that I can’t wait to go back for more! The choice of the national chain is out and the quirky cafe is in!

So let me ask you…what are you doing to be a little bit quirky in your business? What are you doing to be memorable?

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• Market Viewpoint …helping you see your business through your customers’ eyes.
• Follow Angela Megasko, president of Market Viewpoint on Twitter today! www.twitter.com/AngelaMegasko

Creating the Ultimate Customer Experience: Seeing Your Business From The Customers’ Point of View

Regarding the customer experience, a friend once told me about a legendary shop in her neighborhood—legendary not because it was beautifully run, filled with bargains or fun to visit. “It’s a miracle she stays in business,” my friend said, describing the dusty store, tucked on an out-of-the-way street. Only a tiny, hand-lettered sign indicated that this plain stucco house was actually a business “open since 1947.” Each room was overcrowded with stock, some still in original, yellowed cellophane wrappings. Boxes and picture frames obscured a tall window, where winter sunlight strained to beam through.  The owner was a stern woman who repeatedly and loudly told her few customers “don’t touch!”   I wondered how she’d react to such treatment if she were on the other side of the counter, planning to make a purchase. How did she turn a profit?  Well, she didn’t:  she ran it strictly as a hobby, reluctantly serving those who braved her stony stare. Why open the doors at all?

The store is still there, now run by the late owner’s daughter. She cleared out the clutter, rearranged the stock and held a grand re-opening; hoping some of the loyal, longtime customers would come around. “My mother never looked at her store from an outsider’s eye,” she told my friend, who was amazed at the transformation. “If she had, she would have seen how tired the place looked, and how she could have treated people better. But she always said she did everything her own way, not someone else’s, and she didn’t care what it cost her.”

Imagine running a business with such arrogance. By ignoring the absence of customers, the outdated materials and even her own negative energy, she lost every opportunity to make her business thrive and grow rather than stagnate. Opportunities lost, since 1947! It takes such a small effort to walk around to the customer’s side of the counter. Do a little window shopping in your business.  Are you in the “don’t touch!” category with customers, or even employees?  Instead, invite them to share what brings them back to you—and what you could do that would inspire others to do the same.

Creating the Ultimate Customer Experience: What the Super Bowl and Mystery Shopping Have in Common

Will you be watching the Super Bowl on Sunday? Of course you will you and many millions of others.  No longer “just” a football game, this winter TV ritual is a feel-good medley of sports and entertainment, advertising and snacking.  If football isn’t your thing (or your own team isn’t playing!) you tune in for the clever commercials, or the extravagant halftime show.  As the daylong pregame show always proclaims, there’s something here for everyone.  On Super Bowl Sunday, how can anything top the Big Game in all its glory? Nothing can touch it, which is why competing networks run old movies and marathons of crime shows. Why burn something original when no one’s looking?

Still, there’s another event, on a different network, riding along for the hype to score points of its own. The annual “Puppy Bowl” on Animal Planet is just lots of cute footage of frolicking, adorable dogs, airing every Super Bowl Sunday.  It’s no ratings rival for the game, but instead enhances the day with some laughs and the “awwwww” factor.  Fans of both events routinely wander from one TV set to another, enjoying two kinds of fun.

Given the mega-success of the Super Bowl, you have to wonder why anyone outside the stadium, so to speak, would seek to grab any of its spotlight.  But the upstart Puppy Bowl, which has added new stunts and surprises each year, simply basks in the Super Bowl’s shadow. Rerunning the same sweet shots of pups, plus halftime-cheering kittens, even an anthem-singing parrot, the program never tries to outshine the NFL’s crowning moment.  And yet without the gaudy Super Bowl, Puppy Bowl wouldn’t exist, couldn’t provide the smiling extra points that parallel the Super Bowl’s dramatics.

Even if the competition looms large in your life, you don’t have to use all your artillery to outscore it. You can offer an alternative, something perhaps smaller, but strictly unique and separate from that other experience. Whether it’s personalized service or a revised bid for attention, those extra points will point up YOUR value, no matter what’s happening in the big game.

Contact Market Viewpoint today for a quote on mystery shopping your competition. You may be surprised at what you learn!

Mystery Shopping: A New Year – Time to think about THE END

This final week of the year tends to be a time of reflection for many and we would like to add one more thought to that list. The End result.

Eureka! You’ve decided to run a mystery shopping program so that you can see your business through your customers’ eyes. But what will you do with the data you receive?  Who is receiving it? How will it be distributed? Which departments can utilize the information? Are you going to share it with the individual employees – and use as a reward and recognition program for them? Or will you keep the information for senior management to understand what the customer likes and does not like? There are countless ways to make use of the information the shoppers provide.

Take a moment to consider some of the application of your mystery shopping program:

Human Resources:

Development of training programs

As a companion to the review process

Understanding staffing needs

Marketing:

Defining customer wants/needs for product

Development of marketing venues that the customer notices & prefers

Compliment to market research data

Operations:

Monitor facility conditions

Improve customer retention methods

Ensure product/service quality

Inclusion of a mystery shopping program into your organization can benefit all areas of the company, not just one management need.

We all look forward to a new year, a new start, a new perspective. Make 2010 the one where your organization will focus on the customer perspective – and watch sales and customer satisfaction grow to new heights.

Wishes for a Happy New Year to all!

Our thanks this month to guest blogger, Diane Sweeney. Diane has been with Market Viewpoint for 10 years and is currently VP of Operations. Diane has worked in marketing and human resources for all of her career. She also runs a nutrition consulting firm, Healthy Solutions. Her life-long love of writing now has a venue as a she blogs for Market Viewpoint, her own website, and those of friends. The service industries and the health of the human spirit are topics close to her heart.

Mystery Shopping: Is there a Scrooge on your staff?

The holiday season revolves around beliefs, traditions, and stories. Many are true and some have been fabricated; woven and expanded through years, some have become more than the originator expected them to be.

As managers, we believe we hire good, nice, honest people to service our customers. We spend time training them, showing them the ropes and teaching them what customer service is all about. Our belief is that they will present to our customer the true nature of our business and intent. People, however, are human after all, and many like to weave their own version of your business.

From our treasure trove of mystery shopping stories, we present you with:

Mythbusters of Mystery Shopping:

Real stories from actual mystery shoppers

Myth #1: Our staff is honest!

FACT: I was doing a fast food shop once and asked “what’s good?” to the crewperson. He replied “I wouldn’t eat anything here are you kidding me?” If that wasn’t bad enough, as I proceeded to a table to drink my coffee/eat a breakfast item, the manager’s wife came in with their baby. She handed it across the counter to an employee who waited on the next customer as she was holding the baby. This went on for about 15 minutes and the crewpersons kept handing off the baby behind the counter from one to another while the manager’s wife had something to eat in the dining room. If they only knew who was sitting there taking it all in….

FACT: I was sent to evaluate a bar. It was an age compliance shop, meaning, I was supposed to sit at the bar and order an alcoholic beverage. If the bartender didn’t card me, I was supposed to immediately ask to see his manager, and give then a red “try harder” card. If the bartender were to card me, he would be rewarded with a green “congratulations” card on the spot. I sat down and ordered a light beer, the bartender began pouring and didn’t card me. I asked to see the manager and presented the red card. The bartender turns to his boss and says, “Well, look at her. Come on.”. I was very insulted and the bartender was extremely rude with his statement. I’ve never been back and don’t plan a return visit any time soon. I’m young, I tell you!

FACT: Once I was doing a bar shop and things were going as to be expected.  Suddenly, the bartender pours himself a shot and does it.  He then hands one to a customer (whom he apparently knew) without ringing it in, and that customer did a shot.  The bartender ended up consuming three shots while I was at the bar – who knows how many he did after I left!  Needless to say, it was an interesting write up.

BUSTED: Honesty is good to a point! Used to enhance your staff, your business and your customers.  In all likelihood most of your staff is honest and discreet, no matter what their real opinion may be . . . but mystery shopping on a regular basis will uncover those who take it up on themselves to reveal a bit more than necessary!

Our thanks this month to guest blogger, Diane Sweeney. Diane has been with Market Viewpoint for 10 years and is currently VP of Operations. Diane has worked in marketing and human resources for all of her career. She also runs a nutrition consulting firm, Healthy Solutions. Her life-long love of writing now has a venue as a she blogs for Market Viewpoint, her own website, and those of friends. The service industries and the health of the human spirit are topics close to her heart.

Mystery Shopping: Do You Hear What I Hear? Listening In On the Competition

The holiday season brings to us endless stories in the media about what is going on in various industries, parts of the country, online and in retail stores. Our minds are bombarded with statistics, pictures, and facts – some true, and some not so true. What is a manager to do to determine where his or her establishment fits in among the rest? What is really making people go to the bank down the street – CD rates or the customer service? Does Superdupermart really have that much more inventory of the latest, hot gadget or toy?

We all know there are commodity items in each of our marketplaces that can be bought, purchased, rented and leased at similar prices. What separates you from the rest? More importantly, what is your competition down the street or across town doing differently than you? When you learn what that is – you then have real information about your actual competitors that will allow you continue to train and develop your staff to stay ahead of the pack, or to notch it up and find ways to stand out from the “other guys”.

Mystery shopping your competitors is a great way to get current information about your competition from the customer’s perspective. After all, isn’t the customer the one you are truly trying to please?  You will then be hearing straight from the customer what they hear at your place and your competitors – and what they want and expect from your business.

Our thanks this month to guest blogger, Diane Sweeney. Diane has been with Market Viewpoint for 10 years and is currently VP of Operations with our firm. Diane has worked in marketing and human resources for all of her career. She also runs a nutrition consulting firm, Healthy Solutions. Her life-long love of writing now has a venue as she blogs for Market Viewpoint, her own website, and those of friends. The service industries and the health of the human spirit are topics close to her heart.

Mystery Shopping: Shine the Lights! Trim That Tree! (Really, Cut the Branches, So I Can Get Past!)

Have you ever walked into a store with so much merchandise displayed that you didn’t know where to look? Or the seasonal decorations were so overwhelming, that you had no idea if they had the product you were hoping to buy?

Recently I stopped in at a local novelty, home decorating type of store. This is the type of store that you expect to have lots of ‘stuff’, but I literally could not get a cart down most aisles. Maneuvering around the merchandise and holiday displays was similar to getting oneself through an obstacle course, and not something I had planned on that day. I abandoned my cart, picked up what I had come in for, and headed to the checkout. A few other things caught my eye, and had the conditions been more welcoming, that final tally at the checkout likely would have been a bit higher.

Mystery shoppers can not only shine the light on your customer service issues, many companies also use it to understand what works or doesn’t work about their store environment, including parking, odors, and more. What appears to be pretty or easy to an architect or planner, is not always the same to a customer.

Holiday decorations make everyone smile – to a point. Remember, the purposes of your displays are to get customers to purchase and to create  interest in your service or product. If the amount of merchandise or information is too overwhelming, you may be losing valuable sales. So shine the lights on those items that are of most interest to your customer, but don’t make them trip over it!

Our thanks this month to guest blogger, Diane Sweeney. Diane has been with Market Viewpoint for 10 years and is currently VP of Operations with our firm. Diane has worked in marketing and human resources for all of her career. She also runs a nutrition consulting firm, Healthy Solutions. Her life-long love of writing now has a venue as she blogs for Market Viewpoint, her own website, and those of friends. The service industries and the health of the human spirit are topics close to her heart.

Mystery Shopping: Should You Mystery Shop During the Holidays?

It’s upon us! THE HOLIDAYS! Remember when you would say that with glee? Now many of us take a deep breath, poise in starting position, and approach December as a race to make it through. If your business is retail, delivery or catering, some of your staff may not think there is anything gleeful about these next few weeks – just a lot of work dealing with your needy, impatient customer base. However, for many businesses, it is also the month that means the most to your bottom line. So how are those customers being treated?

We can’t tell you how many clients have said, “It’s not fair to mystery shop our people in December – things are not normal.” “Exactly!” we respond. For many consumers, this might be the only time of the year they step through your door in an attempt to find the perfect gift for Aunt Olga or Cousin Ted. Or your dining establishment is convenient to where they are shopping, and they decide to ‘try you out.” Or because they have time off, they decide to open a new savings account or start a search for day care for their child for next year.

Now is your time for you to identify that bright star of the season on your staff who dares to deliver excellent customer service to those weary, information over-loaded people who are seeking your product. The kind of customer service clients will remember and tell others about. The kind of customer service that you want to recognize and reward.

Just because your staff is in holiday mode does not mean that service should suffer or the client should ‘understand that it’s the holidays’.  Do you know if your employees are making your clientele sing “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year?”

Our thanks this month to guest blogger, Diane Sweeney. Diane has been with Market Viewpoint for 10 years and is currently VP of Operations with our firm. Diane has worked in marketing and human resources for all of her career. She also runs a nutrition consulting firm, Healthy Solutions. Her life-long love of writing now has a venue as she blogs for Market Viewpoint, her own website, and those of friends. The service industries and the health of the human spirit are topics close to her heart.

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