Survey says…?
What do your customers think of you? It’s a vitally important question for any business, one we’re willing to spend lavishly to have answered. Yet few companies go about it right. …And getting this wrong can seriously damage your relationship with your customer.
There’s a great story in “Branded Customer Service,” by Janelle Barlow and Paul Stewart, about a cruise line that really delivered personalized service throughout a cruise, only to ruin the entire feeling of intimacy they had created with the customer by slipping a survey under each door that asked for the customer’s name, cabin number, and the date.
There goes the special relationship they had successfully built all week long.
We recently moved, and decided we’d try out Comcast’s bundled Internet/phone/cable TV services. Everything’s fine, and the local operation here in Naples is surprisingly pleasant to deal with – it’s a world apart from the experience I wrote about in “Five-Star Customer Service.” However, I am disappointed with the follow-up phone survey I received about a week after installation. It was conducted by an outside firm, and was just about their new phone service. I had a comment to make about installation of our cable TV lines, but too bad: this wasn’t about cable TV.
To me, Comcast was calling, and I had a Comcast issue to report. But Comcast didn’t see itself the way its customer does, as one entity. From their perspective, the Phone Division was calling.
I love my convertible Saab. I’ve test driven other convertible sports cars, including Lexus, Jaguar, and two models of Porche, and none has outperformed the car I currently drive. It’s my second Saab, but it will be my last (I’m leaning toward Porche right now). Why am I turning my back on this car that I love so much? The dealer that I bought it from, the only one near our house, gave horrendous service in its “service” department: really, really terrible. GM, owners of Saab, sent me a survey, and I told them my feelings in no uncertain terms. That was almost two years ago, and I’m still waiting for a reply.
If you ask your customer a question and he’s kind enough to answer, you are obligated to address any questions or concerns he shares with you. This isn’t optional.
This last point – not responding to surveys – is a form of customer abuse that even good companies routinely get wrong. How many times have you received a personalized reply, addressing your specific comments, from a company that asks your opinion? How loyal has that made you feel?
Coine Training works with two companies that get surveying right. In both cases, the surveys are online, the results instantaneous, the information easily manipulated so that managers can focus on one particular item out of eight, say, or they can track answers according to demographics – they’re both amazing tools. Our favorite part? Managers can also reply to these emailed surveys instantly – how’s that for personalized attention?
Instant feedback. Now that’s Spoiling your customers Rotten!
If you’re interested, you can reach me through my email, and we can discuss which company is best for your needs.
Monday, November 20, 2006
Want Top Talent?
Here is a question I am often asked as I present around the country: “How can my company attract customer service all-stars when the pickings are so slim in the job market? We’re lucky just to find someone with a pulse!”
The success to any endeavor is to follow our H.I.T. model: Hire for attitude, Inspire through pride (in company, job, and self), and Train for skills. Training is the easy part when you’ve got H. and I. down.
Hiring the right people is essential if you ever plan to create an Inspirational company. As Jim Collins so aptly puts it, “Get the right people on the bus.” Only then should you worry about where the bus is going – about what your company is all about.
Who’s on your bus? And where do you find the people you want to join you?
The last time I heard the plaintive, “Where do I find quality people?” question was right here in Naples, Florida (our new home) just last week. Over 120 members of the Chamber of Commerce were collected to discuss customer service, and this query received a large number of nods from the audience. My answer? Go to Chick Filet, right here in town.
Chick Filet. I’d never been to one, but Jane took the girls there and told me how refreshingly wonderful it was. Of course she was right: they surprised and delighted me with smiles, attentive help, and an internal ethic of going the extra mile as if that mile were not extra at all, but standard. They nailed five-star service on the head, right in the very town where all of these employers were bemoaning the dearth of customer service talent.
Here’s my question for employers: How come Chick Filet can get Five-Star Service right using high school kids, immigrants, working moms, and retirees, all at or near minimum wage?
Employers, you’ve got two tasks: One, find the answer to that question. (I’ve got that answer, by the way, so give me a call and we can set up a consulting session).
Two, go out there and steal ’em! Recruit these folks away from their current employers. Why not? If you can swing it – if you can offer some of Chick Filet’s staff something that induces them to join your firm, then by all means, get in your car and do it!
If you’re not in Naples? Find someone else to pilfer from. Chicago’s Miracle Mile has a great operation in Chipotle, a burrito spot that blew me away when I was there. Louisville has a whole host of folks working at the Marriott Downtown. Boston has five-star heroes working at Jordan’s furniture, as well as a few other spots around town. Wachovia is a great source of talent, and they’re located in numerous cities.
Every area has at least a few great service spots. It’s time to spread the word that you’re serious about hiring, and you’re looking for the best.
That’s what Nordstrom does when they enter a new market. The managers fan out across the city and secretly “shop” talent anywhere they can find it. (That’s in new areas. Because Nordstrom is such a phenomenal company, once they’re established in an area, they attract more than enough talent.)
If you’ve got something special to offer these potential recruits, you’ll win some of them away from their current employers. If not, you won’t. And if that’s the case, then again, it’s time to give us a call. You’re going to need some help before your company is sufficiently Inspirational to get that job done.
Happy hunting.
Here is a question I am often asked as I present around the country: “How can my company attract customer service all-stars when the pickings are so slim in the job market? We’re lucky just to find someone with a pulse!”
The success to any endeavor is to follow our H.I.T. model: Hire for attitude, Inspire through pride (in company, job, and self), and Train for skills. Training is the easy part when you’ve got H. and I. down.
Hiring the right people is essential if you ever plan to create an Inspirational company. As Jim Collins so aptly puts it, “Get the right people on the bus.” Only then should you worry about where the bus is going – about what your company is all about.
Who’s on your bus? And where do you find the people you want to join you?
The last time I heard the plaintive, “Where do I find quality people?” question was right here in Naples, Florida (our new home) just last week. Over 120 members of the Chamber of Commerce were collected to discuss customer service, and this query received a large number of nods from the audience. My answer? Go to Chick Filet, right here in town.
Chick Filet. I’d never been to one, but Jane took the girls there and told me how refreshingly wonderful it was. Of course she was right: they surprised and delighted me with smiles, attentive help, and an internal ethic of going the extra mile as if that mile were not extra at all, but standard. They nailed five-star service on the head, right in the very town where all of these employers were bemoaning the dearth of customer service talent.
Here’s my question for employers: How come Chick Filet can get Five-Star Service right using high school kids, immigrants, working moms, and retirees, all at or near minimum wage?
Employers, you’ve got two tasks: One, find the answer to that question. (I’ve got that answer, by the way, so give me a call and we can set up a consulting session).
Two, go out there and steal ’em! Recruit these folks away from their current employers. Why not? If you can swing it – if you can offer some of Chick Filet’s staff something that induces them to join your firm, then by all means, get in your car and do it!
If you’re not in Naples? Find someone else to pilfer from. Chicago’s Miracle Mile has a great operation in Chipotle, a burrito spot that blew me away when I was there. Louisville has a whole host of folks working at the Marriott Downtown. Boston has five-star heroes working at Jordan’s furniture, as well as a few other spots around town. Wachovia is a great source of talent, and they’re located in numerous cities.
Every area has at least a few great service spots. It’s time to spread the word that you’re serious about hiring, and you’re looking for the best.
That’s what Nordstrom does when they enter a new market. The managers fan out across the city and secretly “shop” talent anywhere they can find it. (That’s in new areas. Because Nordstrom is such a phenomenal company, once they’re established in an area, they attract more than enough talent.)
If you’ve got something special to offer these potential recruits, you’ll win some of them away from their current employers. If not, you won’t. And if that’s the case, then again, it’s time to give us a call. You’re going to need some help before your company is sufficiently Inspirational to get that job done.
Happy hunting.
Wednesday, November 01, 2006
A Sure-Fire Test
Want to run your own customer service test? The next time you’re at the supermarket, ask them for Knorr Spanish Rice Mix.
I did this recently at the store down the street, and boy, what a great litmus test I unwittingly discovered! Here’s how it went:
The first person I asked told me to try aisle five. Strike one: In any form of retail, always take your customer to the item they ask for.
The second person I asked had no clue on earth, but he very cheerfully guided me from aisle to aisle in the store as he explored for me. Strike two: if you don’t know, admit it – and then find someone who does know, fast!
The third person was a manager. She took me right to where it should have been, but it was missing – they were out. That’s strike three: don’t run out of stuff. This store was out of dozens of items, I noticed as I wandered the aisles. I can’t imagine how much money that must cost them.
Here’s the thing: fixing these problems is a cinch. So why doesn’t everybody do it? I have a couple of answers to that question. Here goes.
1. The people at the top don’t have any idea. Odd as this may sound, even well-paid executives often have no clue that a higher standard of service exists. “So nobody took you to the item,” they might say. “Big deal?”
2. Even when top dogs are familiar with great customer service, they often think it is the province of luxury hotels and ultra-retail stores. It isn’t for the masses who shop at their stores. “At our prices, what do you expect?” they might ask.
3. The company has a terrific training department with wonderful standards of service. It’s just that there aren’t enough trainers, and also managers aren’t given incentive to support training. So the winning practices that are on the books never really happen.
4. “Nobody’s perfect,” the bosses might say. “We do a pretty good job, over all.” Um… Well, as your customer, I’d beg to differ. If one company can do it right time after time, then any company can.
Excellence is a matter of will. If you want it bad enough, you will make it happen. If you’re content with mediocrity, you will just as assuredly make that happen.
Want to run your own customer service test? The next time you’re at the supermarket, ask them for Knorr Spanish Rice Mix.
I did this recently at the store down the street, and boy, what a great litmus test I unwittingly discovered! Here’s how it went:
The first person I asked told me to try aisle five. Strike one: In any form of retail, always take your customer to the item they ask for.
The second person I asked had no clue on earth, but he very cheerfully guided me from aisle to aisle in the store as he explored for me. Strike two: if you don’t know, admit it – and then find someone who does know, fast!
The third person was a manager. She took me right to where it should have been, but it was missing – they were out. That’s strike three: don’t run out of stuff. This store was out of dozens of items, I noticed as I wandered the aisles. I can’t imagine how much money that must cost them.
Here’s the thing: fixing these problems is a cinch. So why doesn’t everybody do it? I have a couple of answers to that question. Here goes.
1. The people at the top don’t have any idea. Odd as this may sound, even well-paid executives often have no clue that a higher standard of service exists. “So nobody took you to the item,” they might say. “Big deal?”
2. Even when top dogs are familiar with great customer service, they often think it is the province of luxury hotels and ultra-retail stores. It isn’t for the masses who shop at their stores. “At our prices, what do you expect?” they might ask.
3. The company has a terrific training department with wonderful standards of service. It’s just that there aren’t enough trainers, and also managers aren’t given incentive to support training. So the winning practices that are on the books never really happen.
4. “Nobody’s perfect,” the bosses might say. “We do a pretty good job, over all.” Um… Well, as your customer, I’d beg to differ. If one company can do it right time after time, then any company can.
Excellence is a matter of will. If you want it bad enough, you will make it happen. If you’re content with mediocrity, you will just as assuredly make that happen.
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