Creating the Ultimate Customer Experience: Unforgettable You!

“Unforgettable, that’s what you are.

Unforgettable, though near or far.”

These are the first two lines of the song, “Unforgettable” – one of Nat King Cole’s greatest hits. For those of your reading this blog who may not be familiar with him, Nat King Cole, was a musician who arrived on the music scene as a jazz pianist who also became know for his soft, smooth baritone vocals.  He was popular between 1935 and 1964, with a career that included a television show hosted by Cole in the late 1950s – a controversial move by NBC since no other television shows were hosted by African Americans at that time.  Nat King Cole died in February 1965 from lung cancer. His daughter, Natalie Cole carries on the music tradition and is a star in her own right. “Unforgettable” is one of my favorite Nat King Cole songs. No matter where I am or what I am doing, when I hear it, I stop and listen.  His voice, his grace in dealing with adversity, and his incredible talent made Cole an unforgettable entertainer.

I was waiting to meet with one of my clients the other day and as I sat in the lobby of his office, “Unforgettable” was playing in the background. The thought occurred to me of how nice it would be if all of our customers thought of us as “unforgettable” – encouraging repeat business that translates to profitability.

In order for us to be unforgettable to the customer, we need to make sure our customers are unforgettable to us.  As a CEO, it is your responsibility to encourage your staff to (1) call the customer by name, especially if he/she is a repeat client, (2) know something personal about the customer – a favorite hobby, pastime or interest,  and (3) know the preferences of your customer in terms of the products or services they buy from you. If your organization keeps a customer relationship management (CRM) database, getting and retrieving this data should be easy. If you don’t capture and store your customer data, perhaps it’s time to consider doing so. There are too many options out there for customers today and if you’re not developing and maintaining a relationship with your customers, I guarantee you…somebody else will be.

So the next time you engage with your customers, clients, patients, or members, make the transaction not only memorable, make it – unforgettable.

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: 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: 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: 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: The Olympics and the Customer Experience Vision

February may be the shortest month, but it’s always reminding us how strong it is, with icy fingers and frosty breath.  Never mind what the groundhog says, spring always seems at least six months distant. But this year, we’ve got the Olympics to brighten February’s horizon. Much more than the Summer Games, the Winter Olympics tend to mesmerize us, with daredevil ski champions and precision figure skating, not to mention, our once-every-four-years reminder of what “luge” is.  Secretly, some of us may wish we too could pull off a triple Salchow, or glide down a mountain at breakneck speed.  Never mind the gold medal, we’d just like the thrill and the appreciative applause, thank you.

But even if we’ll never zigzag down a slope or whirl around an ice rink, we can still borrow some of that Olympic stardust. Every athlete in Vancouver started with only a dream.  Without the dream, without seeing themselves fly down the mountain or land a perfect double-axel, they’d be watching the Games at home, no matter how many chilly hours they’d spent practicing.  Sometimes, you really have to see it to make it happen.  See yourself in a challenging situation. How do you handle it? Do you come through like a winner, choosing the right words to get your message out?  Walk through it again, adding as many details as you need, from the confidence-building outfit you wear to the way your customer addresses you. How can you change the picture to be sure you win in the end?   Athletes thrive on “visualization”, mentally watching themselves score goals, cross finish lines, achieve victory.  They’ll replay it endlessly, tweaking their performance until they see no other possibility but a win. If they falter, showing even a whisper of doubt, they’ll all tell you that’s when they lost their chance.

Practice seeing yourself win, in small conversations and on bigger stages. Like the Olympic athlete, you’ll soon see yourself strictly going for the gold.

Mystery Shopping: Happy Bing a Ling and Other Christmas Elf Stories!

Happy Bing-a-Ling

No, that is not the new politically correct way to greet during the holiday season – it is my elf name! I learned it at one of those cute websites you come across when doing research for blogs! A silly thing it is, of course, but something that got everyone laughing and joking in the office.

Are your employees laughing? Are they pumped up for the busy holiday rush, the end of year number crunching, or the planning for the new year marketing program? Employee perspective is as important as is customer perspective – for if you don’t have happy employees, you undoubtedly will not have many happy customers.

Take for example the young teen in the grocery store who would much rather be home playing on his video system than bagging turkeys and eggnog. Aside from the need for cash for more video games, what can an employer do to keep this individual returning to work with a smile?

If you only teach him to bag groceries, he will likely lose interest quickly. If he is trained to understand he is part of a larger whole, if he is taken through the process so that he know what goes on behind the scenes, as well as on the front end, if he understands that properly bagging for a customer according to their wishes brings that customer back, and if he knows for sure a smile and hello can go a long way to customer satisfaction, his outlook and performance can be very different. People like to know the job they do is important – and showing them that every link in your chain is a necessary part of the organization will make them feel that way.

Mystery shopping can help you to identify the people in your organization or areas of customer service that need a little TLC – Training, Listening, and Concern. Then include a training program or two in the new year so that all of your ‘elves’ will be whistling while they work all year long!

By the way – you can learn your elf name at: http://www.jokesunlimited.com/christmas_elf_name.php

Sincerely,

Happy Bing-a-Ling

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.

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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• Market Viewpoint …helping you see your business through your customers’ eyes.
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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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• Market Viewpoint …helping you see your business through your customers’ eyes.
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Creating the Ultimate Customer Experience: In the Dairy Section

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.

Ever find a new product you absolutely love, then suddenly you can’t find it anywhere? Sometimes, you CAN find it again, if the right person hears your plea. It happened to me, a longtime yogurt lover, when a company introduced a crop of new flavors.  A favorite prompted me to think about stockpiling as many as I could get, fearing it would vanish. “Oh it’s a regular flavor, not a seasonal one,” the cashier assured me. “It’s here for good.”

Two days later, no pear yogurt. Where’s the pear? I lamented. In three supermarkets, the same result. A fourth didn’t even carry that brand. “Please, is there anyone I can talk to?” I practically shouted.  A sympathetic customer service person listened as I poured out my yogurt tale. “We just don’t get that brand,” he said. “But we COULD, if there’s enough interest in it.”  I wasn’t sure if I’d need 1000 signatures on a petition—could I round up enough pear-yogurt-loving customers?

I didn’t need to. “Since you made the request,” the regional manager emailed me a month later,”I’m happy to advise you” that two area stores in his chain would begin stocking that brand. When I showed up to fill my cart,  I praised everyone in the dairy department. “You’re the lady with the pear yogurt!” said one. Such fame! And such a grateful me: I’ve got 11 containers of pear yogurt right now, and I’m happy to share.

• Like what you read? Digg, Stumble or Tweet this post!
• Market Viewpoint …helping you see your business through your customers’ eyes.
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