The Customer View

All (Good) Business is About Relationships

I've never met the man in person, but I've known him for several years now.  We met on the social media web site, Ryze.com, and have stayed in contact over the years.  I've always liked this guy, and he has always been very generous with his time in answering any web- or SEO-related questions I might have.  So when a client of mine needed a new web host, I was quick to direct him to Reg Charie of 0Grief.com.

We got the client's new site up on Reg's servers, and all worked well.  But then I needed to add some content to the site for the first time, and needed guidance.  Reg was able to instruct me in this endeavor.  But then a strange problem popped up.

I noticed that the web site looked fine in browsers like Firefox, Chrome, and Flock, but in Internet Explorer, the text was all centered, as opposed to justified left.  I contacted the web site designer, but he had no explanation for why or how that could happen.  I mentioned it to Reg  on a Skype chat, and he spent the next 45 minutes of his own time, trying to figure out and correct the problem.  As Reg is much more familiar with HTML code than I, he scoured it, looking for the root cause of this particular problem.  He managed to correct the home page, but then realized the problem carried over to the entire site.  At this point, he advised me that it might be easier just to reload the entire site.  I contacted the web designer and had him do just that, and the problem was resolved.

The point of this post is to show the value of relationships in business.  Your vendors don't all have to be your best friends, but if you have maintained a good relationship with them, you will find they will provide you with the Platinum level of service, even if you're only a Bronze level customer.  On the other side of that coin, if you are providing service, when you give that Platinum level of service to everyone you come in contact with, you will find yourself being referred to friends and colleagues of all your clients, and will build a reputation as a trusted adviser.  There's a reputation that will serve you well.  It's worked for Reg Charie!

  -- Chuck Dennis

Customer Retention - What is it, Really?

It wasn't so long ago, when people said "customer service," it meant a group of fairly low-salaried people in cubicles, wearing headsets, struggling to answer questions and complaints from customers.  Then came a period of enlightenment, when someone said "Customer Service is NOT a department!  It is a business philosophy and part of everyone's job!"  This is when businesses started realizing that service wasn't a nice-to-have, but something that customers expected as a baseline for engaging.  Businesses started seeing customer service as a differentiator.  This is not to say that the execution of customer service has gotten much better, but at least there is more of an understanding of its role in the business equation.

So now, in the midst of the Great Recession, the new (and misunderstood) buzzphrase is "customer retention."  And guess what?  History is repeating itself!  Surprise, surprise.  "Customer Retention departments" are popping up everywhere.  But they are often used like relief pitchers in a baseball game, brought in to "save" a situation.  This is NOT what customer retention is all about!

When a customer is irritated, frustrated, unhappy, or downright angry, he or she is now frequently transferred to a "customer retention specialist," whose job it is to placate the angry customer, perhaps throw him or her a bone, and salvage the business relationship.  Technically, I suppose, this does define customer retention in some sense.  But in reality, giving an employee a script on how to try to keep a customer from leaving your business is a far cry from what customer retention is all about.

Like customer service, customer retention is NOT a department, but a philosophy.  It is not about "salvaging" a business relationship.  It is about solidifying one.  It's not about having a closer in your bullpen; it's about having an entire great pitching staff who participate in every game.

Customer retention is the combination of things your business does for customers on a regular basis to make them not want to leave you.  Customer retention makes your business impervious to sales, discounts, deals, introductory offers, and the like from your competitors.  Customer retention is a combination of excellent customer service, regular and valuable customer communication, the anticipation of customer needs, and creating and maintaining an enjoyable customer experience.  Customer retention is something that is done all day, every day.

If you do it right, then your business won't need the "customer retention department," because customers will not be trying to close their accounts.  You may want to pick up a few more service-oriented personnel, however. Your staff will have their hands full, taking care of all the loyal, happy customers you have!

   -- Chuck Dennis

"You Can't Always Git What You Want...

... but if ya try sometime, you just might find, ya git what ya need."

I doubt that Mick & Keith had customer service in mind when they penned that song.  Nonetheless, it does apply. 

I write a lot about customer service issues, and its enormous contribution to an organization's customer retention.  In this blog, I like to use real life examples to underscore my points.  Like these:

1. I have a subscription to a music downloading service called eMusic.  I received an email from them, saying they were sorry I had CANCELED my subscription, and that if I would re-activate my account, they would give me 75 FREE downloads.  Wow.  Pretty cool stuff.  But I hadn't canceled my account.  I realized this about the same time eMusic did, because about six hours later, here comes an email from eMusic instructing me to disregard that last email.
   
   Talk about deflated. I had already started plotting out which obscure jazz & blues CDs I would get for FREE.  Now I'm told, ehhhh...you there... not so fast.  As Muddy Waters told us, "ya can't miss nothin' ya never had."  But, with no expectations, I decided to see what, if anything, eMusic would do for me if I acted kind of put out about this.
   
   My first email (sort of tongue-in-cheek) was strategically turned around on me, and I was cheerfully thanked for my feedback, and assured that it would be passed on to the director of marketing.  But nothing about sorry for getting your hopes up, here have a couple on us.  Nothing like that.
   
   My second email was met with a sort of shrugging "sorry" response from a different eMusic rep.  Hey it was a technical glitch that resulted in you receiving an errant email, and no freebies for you.  Sorry.
   
   So, clever man that I am, I responded, asking what if I canceled my account.  And THEN re-activated it, just like the email said?  Would I qualify then?
   
   One can almost hear the deep sigh and see the rolling eyes of the third member of the eMusic customer service team to have to deal with me.  Lilly told me that she would, "as a one time courtesy" add 10 free downloads to my account, but they were going to expire in 30 days, and only good if I kept my eMusic account activated.
   
   So, ultimately, after 6 days, they did the right thing.  Kinda.  But look, if they can afford to throw out 75 freebies to every defector in a customer retention campaign, then they can afford to throw out 10 freebies to loyal customers who were sent an offer - an offer that eMusic has no intention of honoring - in error.  Ya know? 
   
   This could have been handled a lot smoother. They could have taken the high road, made some humorous comment about mistakenly delivering bad news, and then thrown in the 10 freebies as a "no harm, no foul" gesture.  THAT's how you build customer loyalty.  THAT's how you retain customers.  (Plus, your CSRs wouldn't have to go back and forth with a nut like me for a week!)
   
2. Now, the other side of this coin is a company called Hydropool.  I regularly order the chemicals for our hot tub from them.  They have a regular email campaign, touting their latest specials, and their latest mentioned free shipping for orders over $75.  Well, I placed the order, but neglected to add the special "free shipping" code.  As a result, my invoice had a charge for $8.00 for shipping.
   
   
   Now, this is not the biggest issue in the world, but eight bucks is eight bucks.  So, after placing my order, I get the email confirmation of the order.  Immediately, I respond to that email, saying I messed up and failed to include my free shipping code.
   
   First thing the following morning, I get an email from Ryan at Hydropool, who assures me that as soon as the order ships, he will credit out the delivery fee.  True to his word, the following day, I received notification that my order had shipped.  The next day, I received an email from Kameel at Hydropool, providing documentation of my $8.00 refund.  SIMPLE.  Beautiful.
   
   The only thing Hydropool could do to make this better is really embrace this 21st century and the technology it has given us.  What I am referring to is using shopping cart software where rewards for purchase amount-based incentives are applied automatically.  The whole code thing is so 1990's, ya know?
   
     -- Chuck Dennis

Customer Relationship = Customer Retention

In a good blog post, called It's the Relationship, Stupid, the author (one of the principals from My Creative Team, in Charlotte, NC) talks about the difference one new manager made in turning a local restaurant from good to great.  This manager inherited a restaurant where the author had experienced pretty good food, but pretty spotty service.  The new guy took it upon himself to meet his customers, learn their names, learn what they liked, offered some freebies, and most importantly, REMEMBERED all this stuff the next time the author and his wife returned.  Suffice to say, they return much more frequently now.

This is such a simple concept, and not just for the restaurant or hospitality industry, but for ANY business.  EVERY business.  This is not rocket science.  This is Basic Humanity 101.   If you get to know someone, they will get to know you.  If that someone is a customer who purchases product or service from you, they will purchase more from you the better you get to know them, and they get to know you.

For some reason, this common sense idea is often overlooked in the business world.  Not enough effort is made, because not enough thought is put into it.  Not enough incentive is created for the customer-facing personnel to make this effort - something that they would likely do instinctively in their own home - at their job. 

Management needs to decide how they want their customers treated, right down to the specifics.  Then they need to reward the employees who treat their customers in this way.  And they need to NOT reward any other kind of treatment of their customers.  This is the tricky part: drawing the line in the sand between ideal service behavior and everything else.  Businesses who are serious about retaining customers long term will take this to heart.  Businesses who don't get it will not want to raise the fuss and risk causing resentment between the unrewarded employees and the ones who get rewarded for doing the right thing.  Those businesses will continue to get spotty service delivery from their employees, and will not generate customer loyalty.

  -- Chuck Dennis

Bank of America Comes Through with Great Customer Service

Great blog post from our colleague, Rob Leavitt: 

Bank of America Comes Through with Great Customer Service

US Airways' Heroic Customer Service

By now, everyone knows about the heroic efforts of the captain and crew of US Airways flight 1549, which had to make an emergency landing in the Hudson River after its engines had been immobilized by a flock of geese.  The captain, Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger, and his crew became instant celebrities in the aftermath of this incredible event, and rightly so.  We read interviews, and we watched them on morning and late night television.  We saw them in parades and at ballgames.  These were true American heroes.

But one thing we did not hear so much about was the heroic efforts in customer service that the extended team of US Airways personnel to care for the passengers, all of whom survived, following the emergency landing.  This was practically as amazing as the flight crew's actions.

Recently, BusinessWeek ran an article on how the airline immediately put teams into play, to assist the passengers and their familes.  The article called the airline's performance "a model for crisis management."  After reading the article, I must agree.

Here are some of the things that US Airways did right:

• Activated a special 800 number for families of passengers and crew to call
• Scott Stewart, managing director for corporate finance, brought a bag of emergency cash for passengers and credit cards for employees to buy medicines, toiletries, or personal items that were needed
• Others arrived with suitcases full of prepaid cell phones and sweatsuits for any passengers who needed dry clothes
• Staffers escorted each passenger to a new flight or a local New York hotel, where it arranged for round-the-clock buffets
• Arranged train tickets and/or rental cars for those who did not wish to fly
• Some passengers lost their driver's licenses, so US Airways reached out to high-level executives at Hertz and Amtrak to ensure they had no trouble getting a rental or a ticket
• Retained the services of locksmiths to help passengers who had lost their keys get back into their cars and homes
• Sent three letters providing updates to customers, along with a ticket refund to each passenger and a $5,000 advance check to help cover the cost of replacing their possessions
• Employed claims adjusters to compensate passengers whose losses were higher
• Did NOT require recipients to waive their legal rights, "an unprecedented exception to the industry norm."

US Airways has not been known as a provider of world class service.  In fact, oftentimes, their service has left a lot to be desired.  But this time, during and after this crisis, they shined.  Their employees should be proud, the public should be aware of their efforts, and anyone who has anything to do with customer service should take note.  This is how you care for customers.

  -- Chuck Dennis

Are Generic Testimonials Any Good?

As a "valued customer," I was recently asked by VistaPrint if I would be willing to provide a testimonial.  I'm a big believer in the power of testimonials.  Because I have used the service many times in the past, I said yes.  I think there is a bit of an art to getting and giving a good strong testimonial.  So, I took the time to write a meaty one with some specific points that I thought would make it more powerful.  Here is what I submitted:

Quick turnaround, great quality, and low cost is always a winner. But service is the glue that makes things stick.  VistaPrint has been a terrific resource for both my company and my clients.  I’ve used the service to produce materials for my own business – but being in the marketing services arena, I’ve also had needs for my clients that need to be addressed.  Everything I’ve done for them using VistaPrint has turned out perfectly.  Tracking and service have been great. And the ability to go to production when I want to, at any time of the day or night, has been key. I’m submitting another customer order next week! The website is well designed and very easy to use.  I’ve been using VistaPrint for several years and will continue to turn to you to help me deliver high quality work.

Now, I'm both a marketer and seller, and think I do understand the need for getting to the point.  But I also know that many testimonials could be said by anyone - and often don't have specifics that sound like they came from an actual customer.  The last think you want is someone asking "did the customer really write this, or did the marketing department do it?" 

VistaPrint later got back to me and said they, "wanted to thank you for your reply and interest in becoming a VistaPrint customer testimonial! We’re thrilled with the overwhelming number of replies and are enjoying reading all the comments.  I’m interested in using your quote and will be in touch with you again soon, as we work out the details."

So far so good.  When something nice is said about you, mom always says to say thank-you quickly and enthusiastically. Two weeks later, they got back to me with an edited version of my quote for approval.  Due to space limitations, they wanted to use some pieces of the original quote.  So the new quote looked like this:

Quick turnaround, great quality, and low cost is always a winner.  But service is the glue that makes things stick.  VistaPrint has been a terrific resource for both my company and clients.  I've been using VistaPrint for several years and will continue to turn to you to help deliver high quality work.

We marketers love to edit, it's true. But sometimes we go too far.  Take a quick quiz with me.  If you remove the name "VistaPrint" can you actually tell what the company does?  Hmmm. How many other companies do you think could use the exact same quote? 

So instead of approving it as is, I commented on the heavy editing, and the issue of boiling it down so it sounded generic, and invited them to take the same quiz.  I also asked them to correct the misspelling of my company name after the quote.  (a DEFINITE testimonial No-No!)  I approved it as is if generic was their goal, but suggested they reconsider.  They responded diligently and said they were sorry and wished they could use the full quote, but had a 300 character limit (which they never informed me of in the original request).   They might have another spot for it, but would have to talk to their developers about it.  (Marketing & IT - that's a whole other post!)  They invited me to re-edit or or submit a new quote.  All of that sounds reasonable, but as a customer who took the time to actually write a testimonial, it was a bit of a turn-off.  A testimonial should speak to what the customer experience was like - specifically.  The important part of the quote was the description of my experience: 

Everything I’ve done for them (my customers) using VistaPrint has turned out perfectly.  Tracking and service have been great. And the ability to go to production when I want to, at any time of the day or night, has been key. I’m submitting another customer order next week! The website is well designed and very easy to use.

Instead they latched onto the basics:  Quick turnaround, great quality, and low cost. Is that enough?  Maybe for some - but as a customer myself, it's not the whole enchilada.  So, as you think about your own customers, and how they might read and write a testimonial for you - what's important?  The experience of being a customer, or the standard and generic descriptors that anyone could say about any company?  I know what gets my vote!  So, I dare you:  take your company name out of your testimonials.  Would they apply to Joe's Pizza just as well as to your company? 

  --Lisa Dennis

My Neighborhood Knows More about Customer Service than Your Company

If all companies were as concerned about service as my neighbors proved to be, the business world would be in a lot better shape.

Our home is a short distance from the harbor.  This means we have a perpetually damp basement.  So we have a dehumidifier and a sump pump that are integral parts of our lives.  But in the midst of last week’s snow storm, the sump pump quit working.

While out shoveling the snow and talking with two of my neighbors, I mentioned my predicament.  One neighbor explained a couple of things that could be the problem, and how to address it.  The other neighbor said he had a colleague who did restoration work around town, and probably had a few extra used sump pumps in reserve, and he would try to get hold of one.

So, while Neighbor #2 called his colleague, I went and tried the things that Neighbor #1 suggested.  Neighbor #2 came with me, and brought an arsenal of tools, including a wet/dry vacuum, which cleaned up the overflowing water.  It was a messy job, but unfortunately we did not fix the pump.  Meanwhile, Neighbor #2’s colleague called back and did have some extra pumps, but he could not guarantee that they would work, so he would go and take a look and see if he could get one in working order.  In the meantime, Neighbor #1 called to see if I had any luck fixing the pump.  When I told him it still didn’t work, he called Neighbor #3, who happened to have an old pump that worked, but he no longer used.  He said I could have it if I needed it! 

So I went over, got the pump, installed it, and presto!  It worked like a charm!  Dry basement!  Money spent: $0.

Here’s what my neighbors did right, customer service-wise:  First and foremost, they wanted to help.  That, in and of itself, goes a long way.  They made my problem their focus.  They tapped into years of experience in fixing household appliances, and suggested actions that could address the problem.  When that didn’t work, they pursued other means of help.  Calls were made, people were contacted, and a solution was found.  They didn’t leave me hanging.  And all three neighbors checked in with me later, to make sure the pump was still working.

The moral of this story is, the best kind of service you can provide is the kind that a real friend would provide.  While it may be true that you don’t have the same relationships with your customers that you have with your friends, you can certainly emulate the caring and helpful nature of those relationships.  Your customers will recognize that effort as the kind of effort that real friends and family do for one another, and that positive experience will make a profound impact on them.  This is how businesses retain their customers for life.  Loyalty.  If your customers know that you care about them, they will not be inclined to leave you.

-- Chuck Dennis

The Future of Customer Care has Arrived

I continue to be fascinated by the possibilities of Web 2.0 applications.  Things that were initially developed as amusement and entertainment are now being mined for business applications.  This explains the proliferation of geezers such as myself on Facebook (wanna be my friend?), YouTube, MySpace, etc. 

Now, YouTube, the Internet's favorite video site, is being used by some progressive businesses to enhance their total customer experience.  T-Mobile has created a YouTube channel where customers can get video answers to their specific questions, demos for various products, tips and hints for users to get the most out of their new phones.  This, good people, is where customer service must be headed.

Businesses need to keep up with the applications most favored by their customers.  And ultimately, they all will.  It's just that some are doing it now, and that is pretty cool.

 - Chuck Dennis

Customer Service Saves the Day

Readers of this blog know that we are champions of businesses that provide excellent service for their customers.  We believe that making customers feel welcome and appreciated is simply the best way of growing a business, regardless of industry.

But here is another benefit of providing attentive customer service: defense against robbery and shoplifting!

A recent Seattle Times article discussed how two area banks thwarted robbery by identifying a suspicious-looking man, and treating him like a top customer.  By lavishing attention on this man, the banks took away the suspected robber's initiative and frustrated him into leaving without committing a crime.  Brilliant!

I recently did some work with a major book/CD/DVD retailer who takes the same approach to suspected shoplifters.  Instead of discreetly keeping an eye on the suspect, they train their employees to turn on the service charm. "Hi!  Can I help you find anything today?  Say, that sure is a nice parka you're wearing.  Must be hot today, though.  What is it, 90 degrees outside?" 

The beauty of this approach is, of course, you are simply providing the level of attentive service that all businesses should provide all customers.  There's no trickery involved, no covert spying, nothing but good old fashioned friendly service.  As thieves typically like to operate in anonymity, oftentimes this attention directed at them is enough to derail their plans.

So, if you needed another reason to provide top-notch customer service in your business, add theft-prevention to the list.  No, it's not 100% foolproof, but it doesn't cost anything extra to do.  And your non-thieving customers will appreciate the attention, and maybe even buy more from you!

  -- Chuck Dennis