Through the Eyes of the Customer

What’s the difference between customer satisfaction, and customer delight?

What’s the difference between customer satisfaction, and customer delight?

And does the difference matter?  

Well, let’s see… 

If you order a book from Amazon, and they tell you that you’ll receive the book between August 5 and August 10, you expect to find that book in your mailbox no sooner than the 5th and no later than the 10^th.  If the book arrives between those dates, you’ll probably be satisfied, because your baseline expectations were met.  But mere satsifaction can eventually lull your customers into a state of indifference.

However, if the book arrives on August 3, you’ll be pleasantly surprised, because you weren’t expecting the book for a few more days.  And a positive surprise triggers delight.

So here’s why it matters:

Delighted customers become loyal customers, while customers who are merely satisfied are easily distracted by a seemingly better offer from your competitor.

Surprise your customers in small ways, at every opportunity.  Each small surprise strengthens the bonds of loyalty.  Simply satisfying your customers are like driving in neutral.  Your competitors will gradually pass you by, and you’ll eventually come to a stop.

Go for the surprise.  Delight your customes, and they'll delight you.

 
 
 

Three Ways that Trader Joe's Makes it Fun to be a Customer

Grocery shopping isn't something that I do for fun.  I put it in the same category as buying gasoline for the car.  You go to the gas station, select your grade of gasoline, fill the tank, pay and leave.  It's all about getting what you came to get, and moving on to the next errand.  Buying gas or groceries isn't fodder for conversation.

But lately, my perspective on grocery shopping has changed, thanks to Trader Joe's. 

A few months ago, Trader Joe's opened in Portland, Maine.  The Portland area has been well-served by two regional chains, and more recently, a Whole Foods.  But Trader Joe's clearly delivers a more unique experience, which elevates grocery shopping from an errand to an event. 

There are three ways that Trader Joe's is different from other grocery stores.  And each of these three contribute to the fun factor in going there.

The Physical Environment & Store Decor
"TJ's" adds a regional flavor to the decor of every store.   It's starts out with the standard island theme through painted ocean scenes and island murals that you'll find in every Trader Joe's, but then adds murals of Portland-area sights, painted by local artists.  The local decor makes browsing the store a little like going to a local art show or farmers market.  You find yourself checking out the decor more than you normally would in a grocery store.

The Employee Culture
The second thing that Trader Joe's does is hire gregarious employees, and set them loose to create a shopping experience worth remembering.  Think of the customer experience leaders who've become household names - they all leverage the employees to make being a customer a memorable experience.

Disney doesn't call their employees employees; it calls them "cast members."  Disney cast members engage customers likes actors would, in live theater.  Every Disney employee is an actor on stage, staging an improvised show for the customer.

Ritz Carlton has its "Ladies and Gentlemen" who create opportunities to delight guests.

Zappo's employees are the core of the company's culture, which is all about creating happiness for the customer; delivering "Wow" through service.  The shoes are merely a product that's wrapped in service experience.

Similarly, when you go through the check out line at Trader Joe's, you'll be served and entertained not by a grocery cashier, but by what the company calls one of its "crew members."  That's right - that don't treat you like you're just shopping for groceries, but more like you're a guest on a cruise ship.  Every crew member at Trader Joe's has a flamboyant peronality, and a noticeable desire to make grocery shopping something that you'll consider fun.

The Inventory
The third thing that Trader Joe's does that's different is sell the way its customer want to buy.  If you don't want to buy an entire six pack of Mission Street IPA's, and instead want to substitute two White Hawk IPA's, two Mission Street Browns, one Fat Weasel and a Sierra Nevada, you can do it.  And the price will be practically the same as a single six pack. 

By decorating the grocery store more like a tropical retreat than a grocery store, by hiring employees who seem more like your fun college roomate than mundane cashires, and by eschewing standard inventory practices to allow customers to buy the way they want to buy, Trader Joe's has turned a otherwise dull chore into a 30-minute tropical vacation.

 

The Crew Members at Trader Joe's turn grocery shopping into a beach party.

Share Information to Improve the Customer Experience. (And an open letter to FairPoint Communications!)

A few weeks ago, I wrote about the Domino's Tracker - an application that appears on your computer screen when you order a pizza from the Domino's web site.  

The Tracker allowed me to see exactly when my pizza was going into the oven, and exactly when it would come out of the oven.  By watching the Tracker, I knew exactly when I should leave home to pick up my pizza.  No guessing and no waiting around.

Domino's is sharing information with its customers, for the customers' benefit.

UPS, USPS, FedEx and other shipping services do essentially the same thing, via tracking numbers.  Each time the bar code on the package is scanned during the shipping process; time-stamped information is captured about the whereabouts of a customer's package. 

When the shippers make this information accessible to the customer, it's making the customers' lives easier.  For example, if my package requires a signature, and I can see that it left the shipping hub in Springfield, MA at 10:07am and it's now noon, I know that I still have plenty of time to run some errands, and be home in plenty of time to sign for the package. 

Domino's FedEx, UPS and USPS improve the customer experience by sharing information on line.

Not all companies are this forward-thinking, when it comes to the customer experience. As I type this, I have no dial tone on my office phone.  I called my phone service provider, FairPoint Communications, and they said that they'll send a repairman out to trouble shoot the line.  The Customer Service Rep told me that the repairman will be here before 6pm this evening.  (I spoke to her at 9:45am).

Me:    "Wow, that's a time span of over eight hours - can you be a little more specific?"

She:    "No, I'm sorry sir, but the driver has other stops to make, and we have no way of knowing how long those other calls will take."

Me:     "OK, I understand.  But does the driver normally call his next stop, when he's en route?"

She:    "No."

Me:    "Well, can you have him/her do that please?"

She:    "I can add a note to the ticket, but that's no guarantee that he'll be able to call beforehand."

Excellent irony!  A phone service provider that could improve the customer experience with a simple phone call, but doesn't do it!

So, FairPoint...  how about taking a page from Domino's and USPS, UPS and FedEx...

You have the technology and information to know the whereabouts of your drivers.  How about sharing that information with your customers as we patiently wait in our homes,   not knowing if the repairman will arrive in 10 minutes, or 10 hours? 

How about creating a little application like Domino's did, integrated with GPS and Google Maps, so that we can see on our computer  screen exactly where the repairman is, and allow us to live a normal day, knowing more precisely when to  return home, to meet the repairman?

If you're a business, think about the information that you use to manage your internal operations. What information would be useful to your customers, and improve their experience, why not share it?

Most companies have more ways than they realize, to improve the customer experience, right inside their own four walls.  It just takes a little creative thinking, through the eyes and the mind of the customer, to identify that information, and how it could be useful.

If NORAD can track Santa around the globe, why don't more service providers share more  information with more customers?

 

Five Steps to a Positive Return on Your CRM Investment

To some people, particularly those who were alive during the 90's and the dot.com days, CRM is a three-letter-word that means the opposite of ROI.  Sources reported a higher  than 50% CRM failure rate.  Back in those days, a lot of ships were sunk.  

The good news is that many expensive lessons were learned, and CRM is enjoying a higher success rate than ever.  CRM success needn't be rocket science, if some sound practices are followed:  

1. Establish clear executive sponsorship.
There must be a high-level executive with a clear presence, supporting the project; someone with authority.  And this can't be simply a Vice President who says a few words, or sends and email of endoresement, and then disappears.  The executive sponsor must be actively and visibly involved with the project.  If CRM is a priority for the executive sponsor, it will become a priority throughout the organization.  With no executive sponsorship, there's no priority.  And if there's no priority, there will be no results that matter.

2. Motivate the end user community.
This is highly-contingent on #1, and is enhanced by tying rewards to proper CRM utilization, with a "What's in it for the end-user" approach.  Telling people they have to use it won't get the job done.  Instead, show the end users how the system will make their jobs and lives easier, more productive, and more beneficial.  Taking a "What's in it for me?" approach is the most successful (with "me" being the end user; the person you're relying up to enter data, information and call notes into the system on a regular basis.  The success of CRM is highly dependent on the commitment of the end-users.

3. Clearly define your business outcomes (aka goals!)
Steven Covey said, "Begin with the end in mind."  In other words, define your outcome at the start.
For example, "We want to increase our lead generation by 50%, and reduce our cost per lead by 30%."  ROI means that you're receiving new business value, that exceeds the cost of the CRM solution.  In order  to determine "how much" return you're getting, you must first know what that return is.   Increased revenue from closing more opportunities?  Reduced costs through more efficient lead generation?  Know exactly what business value you expect to generate, before you begin.

4. Draw a clear roadmap, connecting the business goals with the system functionality/utilization.
Yogi Berra said it best: "If you don't know where you're going, you probably won't get there."  The sagacious hall-of-famer knew what he was talking about.  With CRM, if you expect the system to deliver results, you better know exactly how it's going to do that.  In other words, be able to trace your business goals all  the way back to specific functionalities in the CRM system.  For example:

Q: "What do we need to do in/with CRM in order to increase our lead generation, and reduce cost per lead?"

A: "We need to connect each new lead to its source campaign in the CRM system, so that we can precisely measure campaign effectiveness. Then we will re-allocate our marketing dollars to those campaigns which are most effective. This will increase the number of leads, and reduce the cost of each lead."

5. Continually measure your results, and refine your processes.
Peter Drucker said, "If you can't measure it, you can't manage it."  Now, Drucker was no Yogi Berra, but he held some credibility in business management circles.  Remember those business outcomes that we defined in step 3?  Well, make sure you know exactly how you'll measure your progress.  Have reports defined, and run them on a regular basis.  If you're not on track to hit your goals, drill down into the process to figure out the root cause of the shortfall.  Then adjust the factors to put you back on track.  Measure and adjust until you find yourself on track to achieve the goals.

Customer Relationship Management  projects can be highly risky.  But they can also be highly successful, if you approach them methodically, by following the five steps outlined here.  Now, there are other ways, and other approaches that can bring about a positive ROI.  If you have other ideas, please share them in the comments section.

 
 A clear captain, committed crew, a well-plotted course,  frequent wind measurements and well-trimmed sails leads to a high ROI on any Sea R M.
 

Emotional Framing, and 3 Ways to Increase Customer-focus in the Call Center

Sometimes, business keeps the call center from doing its real job.

In this past Sunday’s New York Times, there was an inspiring editorial about a call center in a V.A. hospital in upstate New York. 

According to the article, at this Veterans’ hospital in Canandaigua, N.Y., “a staff of about 120 runs a national phone and Internet chat service for veterans in crisis. Its mission is to connect veterans to help as quickly and efficiently as possible.”

The editorial inspires by describing how the contact center helps deserving veterans who desperately need it. There’s no other motive, beyond helping the caller.

When we think of disabled war veterans, we don’t think of them as “customers.”  We think of them as good citizens who in the course of serving their country, were struck mentally or physically by the harsh realities of war.  The circumstances can be very emotional, and therefore raise the importance of helping the caller.

Companies often frame their contact centers as cost centers.  They manage their call centers using cost and efficiency metrics.  With this increased focus on cost and efficiency, there’s often a lesser focus on the customer.  The lesson from this V.A. hospital call center is that any call center must first focus on helping the customer.  And only when the customers’ needs have been addressed; when their lives have been made better in some way, does efficiency matter.  

So, what can a company do to increase customer-focus in the call center?

3. Hire and train for empathy.
Many of the call center agents at the V.A. Hospital in Canandaigua are themselves veterans, and therefore have an intimate understanding of the callers’ situations.  In your business, this may mean making your call center agents “customers.”  You can accomplish this by brining your agents as close to the customer experience as possible, by enabling them to use your products or services in their own lives, or spending time with the customers that do, so that they can understand first-hand what it’s like to be a customer.

2. Celebrate and spread emotional stories.
There are plenty of customer service moments when a problem is solved, and a customer’s life is made easier through the efforts of the call center agent.   Share and retell these moments in daily or weekly team huddles.  By broadcasting these emotional successes on a regular basis, empathy for the customer grows stronger.

3. Make your metrics more customer-focused.
Make customer satisfaction scores a higher priority on your contact center scorecards, than efficiency metrics.  If you measure first for efficiency, you’ll manage for efficiency, and you’ll lose customer focus.  Put greater emphasis on customer satisfaction than on efficiency. Without satisfied customers, efficiency doesn’t matter.

When the customer engagement is framed in an emotional context, the call center's core purpose becomes clear.  And that core purpose is to help customers who need help. 

 
A Postcard of the Veterans Hospital in Canadaigua, New York, where service stands tall and centered.

 

4 Good Reasons to Respond to Customer Feedback

When I was a child, my mother always had us write thank you notes when we received a gift.  And she was very particular about what we’d say in the note.  “Just saying ‘Thank you’ isn’t enough, she’d tell us.  “Make sure you tell them what you did with the gift.”

When a customer give your company feedback, they’re giving your company a gift – the gift of free consulting; advice on what you can do to make them a happier customer; what you need to do to make them more loyal; to buy more, and buy more often.   They're giving you a chance to keep the conversation going; to engage more with them, to learn how to grow your business.

But too many companies allow the feedback to die on the vine... at least in my experience.

Three decades after my mother gave me that advice; I was sitting in the waiting area at an auto dealership.  I was a bothered by the fact that I had to pay them 50 cents to get a cup of coffee,  especially since I would be soon paying them over three hundred dollars for brake repairs.  

So I expressed my frustration through a “customer feedback” card.  I wrote on the card, “Please don’t charge customers for coffee.  We give you our business; the least you can do is give us coffee while we’re waiting.”

About ten days later, I received a phone call from the general manager of the dealership.  He told me that he read my suggestion, and that he appreciated me taking the time to write it.  He also told me that they would no longer be charging customers for coffee. 

I immediately had a more favorable view of the dealership, for a couple of reasons:

First, they reached out to me, and said “Thanks.” “Thanks for giving us your feedback.”  I complete a lot of customer surveys, but it’s rare that the company actually reaches out to me after the fact, to acknowledge it.  (And by the way, an automated email doesn’t count!)

Second, they told me how they used my ideas; that they made a change in the way they do business, because of my suggestion.  “Wow,” I thought.  They actually listened to me.”

We’re all human, and we crave acknowledgement and validation.  Your customers are no different.  Don’t pass up an opportunity to validate your customers!

There're two more reasons why you should tell your customers about the changes you made based on their feedback.  The third reason is that it’s a great opportunity to engage with your customers in a highly personalized and relevant way.  When you have an opportunity to engage with a customer, don’t let the opportunity pass you by!

The fourth reason is good buzz and publicity.  When you tell the customer who gave you the feedback you needn’t limit the communication to that single customer.  Tweet about it to all of your followers.  Share it with your Facebook fans. Let everyone know how responsive you are to your customers’ needs, and the customers will likely continue the conversation for you.

When your customers give you good advice through feedback, thank them for it.  And tell how you put their advice to good use.  They’ll feel good about that, and they’ll tell others.  And before you know it, there will be a lot of people saying great things about you.  And your mother will be awfully proud!

 

When customers give feedback, be a good business citizen, and make your mother proud!

What Can Customer Service Learn from the Atlanta Test Score Scandal?

There's an important lesson  that any success-based organization can learn from the Atlanta Test Score Scandal.

Sometimes, so much emphasis is placed on metrics, that the metrics become more important than the mission. 

At the risk of simplifying our educational system, I’ll say that its primary purpose is to educate children; and to prepare them well for their next stage of education.

When metrics are tied too tightly to the rewards of the people who are responsible for fulfilling the mission, those  same people may go to extremes to optimize the metrics, at the expense of the mission.

Just as the success of an educational system should be measured on how well students become progressively better educated from one year to the next, the success of a customer service organization should be based on the satisfaction and loyalty level of customers from one year to the next.

If we place too much emphasis on metrics like Daily Call Volume, or Average Call Closure Time, agents become more focused on getting the customer off the phone, than solving problems and delivering a satisfying experience to the customer.

Metrics are important; metrics are the milestones along the path that guide us in the direction of our mission.  We just need to make sure that we don’t get so focused on the metrics, that we lose sight of our true mission.

 

Don't become so focused on the marker, that you lose sight of the reason for the trip.
 
 
 
 
 

Smart Phone Apps Make Service Matter More than Ever.

The only real way to stand out from your competition is through customer service.  Everything else can be matched.   At the end of the day, service is all you have, so do all you can to make it the best, and most memorable service that you can.  

That's becoming more true, faster.  Here's an example of why:

Last week, I downloaded the Amazon App to my iPhone.   The app lets me search for any product sold by Amazon, add it to my wish list or order it - simply and easily through my phone.    

This past Saturday, I was in the Barnes & Nobles store on Boylston Street in Boston.  I was browsing through a copy of "Benjamin Franklin - An American Life" by Walter Isaacson.  I checked the price: 

$15.26.   A good deal for 608 pages of Ben Franklin.

Then I pulled out my iPhone, and I launched the Amazon App.  In just two clicks, I scanned the  bar code on the back cover.  Within 1.5 seconds, the Amazon price appeared on the screen, along with an option to order the book in one click:

$12.89,  including free Super Saver shipping.

Right then and there, Amazon was offering to sell  me the same book for less money, and deliver it to my home for free.  I wouldn't have to carry it around Boston all day.  All I had to do buy the Book from Amazon, was click...   from the comfort of the chair in Barnes & Noble.

Our digital devices give us immediate access to any information, from anywhere, at any time.  And the applications on those devices put the information into a very actionable context.  That removes any inconvenience of comparisson shopping, while still giving you the benefit.

Normally, I would have just bought the book from Barnes & Noble.  I was in their store, the book was in my hand, and I knew the price was reasonable.  No need to invest the time and effort to comparisson shop.   But having the application on my phone made it too easy for me to comparrison shop.  So I did. And I ordered the book from Amazon.  And I saved money.  All from inside the house of their competition.

Here's the message:

Our customers are rapidly getting easy access to any information at any time, from anywhere.  And most important, that information is being presented to them in a format that they can act on.   That's leveling the playing field in a big way.  So much so, that the only real  advantage we'll soon have is deliver a service experience that can't be copied. 

Invest in customer service.  Get known for customer service.  In the end, that's the only way to be different.

 

Is Advertising as We Know it Doomed?

I was watching the Red Sox game last night, and an ad came on for car insurance.  I wasn't thinking about insurance, and I already have insurance.  So the fact that a caveman appeared on my TV screen in my living room to tell me about something that I didn't care to hear about, bothered me.  If I want to learn about car insurance, I'll do it on my terms and my time.

I was reading the business section of the on-line edition of the newspaper this morning, and an ad popped up about a bank.  I was trying to read the news, but this bank was trying to stick their name in my face before I had my second cup of coffee.  Besides being plain rude, that's dangerous.

Getting in my face, and interrupting me is hardly a way to earn my business.  But so many companies still do it,  as if it's the only way to win customers.  And the more they do it, the more disturbing it becomes.

I was in a restaurant last week, and the server recognized me from the previous time I was in.  She remembered that I love good microbrews - strong IPA's, to be precise.  And she made a point of telling me about a new IPA they since put on tap.  Hardly an interruption - just attentive, personalized service, and information I consider relevant.    Come to think of it, I've told at least six people about that restaurant over the past five days.

Interrupt me, and I'll avoid you.

 Treat me well, and I'll return for more.

Earlier today, I read a blog post titled  "Customer Experience is More Important than Advertising."  It presented some very compelling statistics about why companies should invest more in the customer experience.

The argument becomes clear that perhaps companies should reduce their budgets for traditional advertising to free up funds to invest in improving the customer experience.

Advertising is the old way of communicating to customers.  Perhaps Advertising was invented, because there was no Internet, and no Social Media.

Now  that we have the Web and Social Media, how companies serve and engage their customers becomes public knowledge much faster than any ad campaign has ever been approved and produced.  And the Coconut Telegraph of Social Media has far more credibility than an Ad campaign ever did.

Is Advertising Doomed, as we Know  it?

What do you think?

 
 
 

2 Keys that will make your Customer Service Guildelines Stick and Deliver!

People like shortcuts.

Shortcuts save us time, and make our lives easier.  Shortcuts require less thinking, less effort, and take us to results sooner.

Management teams often construct mission statements and vision statements as corporate north stars; a set of guiding principles to lead the organization toward its desired results.  But the problem with most of these mission or  vision statements is that they're virtually useless to the average employee. 

Let's talk about mission and vision statements from the perspective of delivering a great customer experience...

Much of the customer experience is delivered by the actions of those front-line employees; the employees who are  often the farthest from those verbose authors of those tomes that are intended to serve as guidelines.

The HBR Blog Network recenlty published an article with some ideas that can be applied to a vision statement, that  will turn it inot a set of useful  guidelines that can serve as communication "shortcuts" to more effective customer service.

Their premise is simple:  Guidelines should be memorable at a glance and actionable at a relevant decision point or unit. 

Let’s take a minute to examine those points individually, and apply them to a real-world customer service example:  The Vision Statement of the Intercontinental Hotel in Bali.

Memorable at a glance:

Can you understand it, without investing time to read it, or think about it every time?  In other words, does it make use of symbols or economy of  words, so that you can take a quick look, and immediately “get it?”

The Vision Statement at the Interncontinental contains a total of five easy words, that project and inspire an understanding of customer delight.  "Our Guests Want to Return."

Are your customer service guidelines “memorable at a glance” or does an employee have to take a moment to read them and think about them, before understanding them?  Can they easily write it out, or draw it on their own, from memory?  Or can they look at it, and remember it.  Forever?

Actionable at the decision points that matter:

Despite the high-level planning which often occurs, the customer experience is created one interaction at time.  Single face-to-face, nose-to-nose, knee-to-knee, belly-to-belly or voice-to-voice interactions between one employee and one customer.  Guidelines must be useful to the employees at these levels, by guiding them to make the kinds of decisions while interacting with the customers, that will cause the customers to want to come back again and again.   And to encourage their family, friends, neighbors and associates to do the same.

The Vision Statement at the Bali Hotel contains enough meaning to make it applicable at the level of the front-line employee at the front desk, or the member of the housekeeping staff.  As an added bonus, it continues to be relevant in guiding the decisions of mid and upper-level management,  toward actions that will have a positive impact on the customer.

When you craft guidelines that are intended to improve the customer experience, make sure those guidelines follow these two criteria: 

1. Memorable at a glance
2. Actionable at a relevant decision point

Life doesn’t need to be so complicated.  In fact, sometimes it’s best if it’s kept simple.  Simple is memorable, and simple is useful.