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Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: client experience, customer experience, Customer Service, customer service conference, customer service consulting, John DiJulius, secret service, the customer service blog, The DiJulius Group
John DiJulius
On occasion, when I have been made to wait longer than typical, I have received this card from Starbucks. Every time I receive this card, I am more impressed with them than had they served me my coffee on time.
I use this example in my presentations with every audience I speak to, including professional service firms, (accountants, lawyers, etc.), and I ask, “Why would I share this example with you, when I realize you do not sell coffee?” I will not share an example just because it is a good story, every example I share, can be leveraged in their business. To my amazement, my audiences have difficulty bridging the gap between this example and how it applies to their world.
What I love about this example is Starbucks recognizes they have a reoccurring service defect (in this case service delay), that inconveniences their customers from time to time, that they cannot eliminate. They can ‘reduce’ but can never ‘eliminate’. Now, they do not know if it is going to happen today at noon, or 3 pm, but they do know it is going to happen a certain amount of times per week, per location.
Does your business have reoccurring service defects that you know are going to occur and inconvenience your customer? Are their tools your front line employees can use to recognize when a customer does not receive the experience they were hoping for, and demonstrates you are willing to make it up to them? It doesn’t always have to be giving away something or discounting. Below is a great example of an email apology that provides the customer peace of mind in future dealings with you.
Action Plan
Examine the areas you drop the ball the most and create some simple tools, your employees can utilize, to turn the service defect into a ‘WOW’ for your customer.
Letter:
Dear John,
I have to vent to someone who understands.
Yesterday was my 19th wedding anniversary. Saturday we had theater tickets, so we decided to go to dinner first. When I made reservations at a well known restaurant, the receptionist inquired if we were celebrating anything special. “Good.” I thought. “She’s gotten John’s message. This will be nice.” Of course I told her it was our anniversary, and when we showed up at 6:00, I expected perhaps a customized greeting acknowledging the event. Nothing.
OK, then perhaps the waiter will say something. Nothing. OK then, maybe a little cake for dessert. Again, nothing. We ordered dessert, and I thought, “OK, maybe it will come with a little candle or something.” Nothing. Just look at all those missed opportunities! Our meal was delicious, and it won’t deter me from going to the restaurant again, but as you say, they could have really WOWed us – but they didn’t.
Then, last night, our actual anniversary date, we just went to another well known restaurant for a quick bite since we celebrated on Saturday. At the table, Len and I exchanged anniversary cards with each other, and set them up on the table between us. It was clear the waitress noticed the cards, but said nothing. Then the manager came over to greet us and make sure we were happy – but never said a word with four cards sitting on the table. Again, another missed opportunity. Really, I just don’t get it!
You’d think in this crummy economy people would be looking for ways to secure business. I don’t get it.
Thanks for listening.
Susan
~Article written by John DiJulius
Filed under: Customer Service | Tags: client experience, customer experience, Customer Service, customer service conference, customer service consulting, secret service, The DiJulius Group
John DiJulius
In today’s world, the only thing that is separating companies from offering another commodity is the relationships they have with their customers. If you do not have a relationship with your customer, you better be the cheapest. Companies believe their product is superior, but there are a lot of smart professionals out there and comparable products. I have yet to have anyone disagree with the premise that relationships are what truly give us a distinct advantage. However, I believe that a high percentage of businesses do not know what a real relationship is. Just because you recognize your customer’s face or the sound of their voice does not mean you have a relationship.
Black & White
I am not a fan of platitudes unless they are backed by measurable action items. For instance, you tell me you have a relationship with your customer — great. Prove it. If you truly have a relationship with your customer, or anyone, then you should be able to tell me two or more things regarding F.O.R.D. about your customer.
F.O.R.D.
- Family
- Occupation
- Recreation
- Dreams
If you can tell me two or more things about their family, occupation, recreation, & dreams, you really do have a relationship. If not, then you are kidding yourself and you’d better be the least expensive because you have no emotional brand capital with your customers. I don’t care if you have to cheat and resource your CRM system or notes. Anytime you touch a customer via the phone, electronically or face-to-face, you should deliver one Customer Intelligence item about them. Customer Intelligence is what we know about our customers (i.e. F.O.R.D). One of the best ways we have found to obtain Customer Intelligence is through the Customer Intelligence notepads and desk pads (click images below for special discounts on these tools).
Customer Intelligence Memo Pads
Customer Intelligence Desk Pads
These tools dramatically increase our awareness of all the customer intelligence thrown at us each day, which we duck from, because we are too busy trying to execute the task at hand. The C.I. Notepads are ideal for professionals on the run, at meetings and networking events, when they are not working at their desk. As soon as you walk away from the customer or prospect, you write down everything they just told you, i.e. leaving for a vacation, alumni of Northwestern University, daughters on a traveling soccer team. The C.I. Desk pads are for when you are at your desk and accomplish the same thing. Then, when you have a moment later in the day, you enter this in your CRM system and are able to retrieve it when you contact that customer again.
No Time?
The C.I. pads are not meant to hamper your productivity. They are to enhance your listening skills and allow you to build relationships. I have a very large consulting client who hired us to work with their call center over the past 18 months. We rolled out these Customer Intelligence Desk pads and told their representatives not to ask any of these questions. Given the amount of calls they handle per day, we didn’t want to make them less productive, rather more effective. The first week we gave everyone the C.I. Desk pads, one of the call center reps went into her supervisor’s office and said, “I know you had Jim from ABC as a mystery shopper today. He told me more today than he has told me in the five years we have been having a weekly call.” Her boss responded with, “I have not spoken to Jim or any of your customers.”
The fact is, the call center rep heard more that day than she has ever heard before. For instance, when she said, “Okay Jim, I will talk to you next Wednesday.” Jim responded with, “No, that won’t work. My family and I will be on vacation in Orlando all next week. It will have to be in two weeks.” Bam! She heard it. Now she can do one of a few things: Tell him to have a great vacation, follow up with him in two weeks and ask him about his vacation, or if he is a VIP customer, (one of their top customers) she may want to get approval to have some surprise (i.e. fruit tray, bottle of wine, etc.) waiting in his hotel room upon his arrival in Orlando.
Show me you care more about helping my business than just getting my business
It doesn’t matter how you collect customer intelligence. The critical piece is that you create a system that helps you pay more attention to hearing and obtaining your customer’s information so you can document and follow up to demonstrate that you are not like anyone else with whom they do business. Personally, my Customer Intelligence Notepad is always with my wallet, car keys and cell phone. I don’t leave home without it, so I can learn more about F.O.R.D. on each of my customers.
I learned about the F.O.R.D. acronym from one of our new Secret Service Agents, Mr. Don Thorpe, who lives Secret Service in his daily life.
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: client experience, customer experience, Customer Service, customer service conference, customer service consulting, John DiJulius, the customer service blog, The DiJulius Group
In an article titled Customer Satisfaction and Stock Prices: High Returns, Low Risk, author Claes John DiJulius
They are consistent with previous studies that firms who have higher customer satisfaction are more likely to enjoy both a higher level and more stable net cash flow. Their study proved investing in the leading ACSI companies consistently outperformed the market by considerable margins.
The Smoking Gun
Several studies were used, comparing the top ACSI organizations to the market, regarding stock performance for over a six years, from 1997 to 2003; a period where the stock market had both ups and downs. The results were astonishing. You may have known the importance and benefits of providing consistent superior customer service, but I doubt, you realized how significant it really is. The top customer satisfaction companies (based on their ASCI scores) outperformed the:
- Dow Jones (DJIA) by 93%
- S&P 500 by 201%
- NASDAQ by 335%
The top customer satisfaction companies beat the Dow Jones by 93%, S&P 500 by 201%, and NASDAQ by 335%. The results conclusively show that customer satisfaction pays off in up-markets and down-markets. When the stock market dropped in value, the stock prices of firms with highly satisfied customers seemed to have benefited from some degree of insulation.
No one can argue that these results are extraordinary. There are very few actions or strategies a business can take, if any at all, that can produce this kind of financial results. This is proof that there is a significant return on investment, in improving an organizations level of customer service. In the accounting world, the economic value of satisfied customers seems to be systematically undervalued even though these customers generate substantial net cash flows with low risk. Firms that do better than their competition in terms of satisfying customers (as measured by ACSI) generate superior returns at lower systematic risk.
Organizations that consistently deliver superior customer service generally enjoy repeat business, high levels of customer retention, strong customer loyalty, lower price elasticity, higher prices, more cross-selling opportunities, greater marketing efficiency, and a host of other things that usually lead to earnings growth. In addition, several research studies find that higher customer satisfaction has a positive impact on employee loyalty, cost competitiveness, profitable performance, and long-term growth.
Sure you’ve heard this before, but now people are finally believing it and wishing they had bought into it a long time ago. When times are good, too many organizations focus on selling and marketing versus delivering an experience. The best thing about economic uncertainty brought about in 2009, is that the value of a great experience has never before received so much recognition by customers, clients, patients call them what you may. Our proof comes over these past two years when The DiJulius Group has grown considerably. We’ve been forced to offer additional services, products, add additional speakers and consultants to our organization just to handle the increase in demand for help by organizations seeking to join the customer service revolution.
Over the years, I have been extremely fortunate in two areas:
1) I have had the honor of presenting at large conferences with some of the most successful speakers and consultants whom I have looked up to and mirrored in my business model.
2) I’ve worked with some of the most amazing organizations who, long before hiring me, were world-class customer service organizations, and since have adopted my ideas and systems and made them even better.
I am extremely proud to tell you that we’re bringing the 2010 Secret Service Summit back to Cleveland, Ohio this November 4&5. If you thought last year’s was an incredible learning experience, you’ll love this year’s. Leading experts and executives from organizations of different sizes, and across industries, will share best practices and systems on how to build and operate world-class customer experience organizations.
Here is what makes this two-day conference unlike any other:
- For over two days, four of the most respected authorities, best-selling authors, most sought after consultants to fortune companies all over the world will be together on the same stage sharing their wealth of knowledge and experience and telling how and why they’ve achieved what they have.
- Presenting will be six executives who run world-class customer service organizations and are NOT professional speakers or consultants. So why would you want to listen to them? Because there’s value in knowing what it takes to build and run the day-to-day operations of World-Class customer service companies such as The Ritz Carlton Hotel, The Melting Pot, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Carter Mario Law Firm, and more. No one knows better what it is like to be at the pointy end of a spear, dealing with budgets, staff buy-in, economic highs and lows, and countless other demands. Yet all of them and their organizations are best in class in their sector and have ignored traditional wisdom in their own industry. They’ve made a superior customer experience their single most competitive advantage.
- We’ll have experts from virtually every major industry including manufacturing, hospitality, professional services, and healthcare.
- There will be a panel discussion made up of the executives and employees from these leading world-class customer service organizations, allowing every attendee an opportunity to ask tough questions on the “how to do, what to do, and what not to do” issues.
If you take your service seriously, you need to be part of this event. The content shared will be a necessity to any organization that wants to raise the bar and compete on service. The networking opportunities, in addition to this line-up, create immeasurable value. We’re quite proud of the partnerships and business dealings that have taken place between our attendees (as well as 1 marriage!). Missing this event could cost you millions in clients, sales, and staff! Don’t wait to be part of the revolution. It’s happening now!
Filed under: Customer Service | Tags: client experience, customer experience, Customer Service, customer service conference, secret service, the customer service blog, The DiJulius Group
John DiJulius
I recently I was in a busy restaurant/diner on a Saturday around 12:45 in the afternoon where the waitress was telling me how slow they were, except on Saturdays. Then almost on cue, a couple walked in and was told that the restaurant was closing at 1 pm, and they were turned away. I found it comical that a restaurant is not taking advantage of peak times and is turning business away.
Blind Sheep
Then I started thinking about my salon & spa business and wondered if we were fishing when the fish were biting. I realized we were not optimizing our own peak times. In the salon & spa business, we have extremely customer-friendly hours, 8 to 8 Monday through Friday, and 9-5 on Saturday. However, on Saturdays, like most retail businesses, we could add 20% more staff and still not accommodate the demand we have. Yet we are open only 8 hours compared to 12 hours we are open the other five slower days. Why? Because that is the way the industry has always done it. As a result, we changed our hours on Saturdays to 8 am to 7 pm, thus adding almost 40% more revenue opportunity to our peak day.
I had a similar experience with one of my restaurant franchise clients. Back a few years ago when times were good, their Friday and Saturday business was slammed, so they tried to push business toward the weekdays, which was understandable. However, as a result they realized they were under resourced in hours and staff for weekends and were not capturing all the business that they could during their peak times.
Are you competing on Price or Experience
Today so many companies are abandoning who they are and getting caught up in the price wars. Stop!! Reconsider what you are doing. There are other ways to compete. Last year we had a new salon open up across the street from us that advertised this:
Some of our staff panicked. They feared we would go out of business since our prices can be as much as $100 for a haircut. Our management team reminded them that we don’t get caught up in the price wars. We will continue to focus on the value we deliver, increase that value, and ensure we are providing the experience that we promise. Instead of worrying about lowering our prices, we advertised this:
I am sad to report that salon didn’t stay open 10 months.
Need more proof?
In the Wall Street Journal last July, this article ran:
Here is a sample of what the article said:
The deep discounts that restaurant chains have been offering to lure cash-strapped customers out of their kitchens are coming back to bite them. Restaurant chains ranging from Denny’s to Applebee’s this year have been giving away food or offering deals to boost traffic slowed by the recession.
But as several chains prepare to report second quarter earnings in coming weeks, Wall Street is bracing for news that price cuts not only ate into profits but also failed to bring in as many customers as hoped.
Be careful not to get lured into the price wars. Many times it isn’t profitable at all. At the end of the day, you just compromised the perception of your brand that possibly took you decades to build.
Filed under: Customer Service, What's the Secret? | Tags: customer experience, Customer Service, secret service, The DiJulius Group
Cal DiJulius
This is a very common question I am frequently asked. Actually many times it is not a question, but rather a statement: “Employees have to be incentivized to go Above & Beyond, otherwise they won’t do it regularly.” I totally disagree. Actually, I do not want employees that need incentives in order to be “day makers.” I want genuine people who enjoy making other people’s day.
Think about the most passionate, committed people? The ones I have come across are anyone associated with:
- Volunteer Groups
- Charity groups
- Campaigns
- High school & college athletes
Think about those groups. You have people who commit a ridiculous amount of time and energy to something other than themselves. They work tirelessly for days and days, building homes, donating their time, knocking on doors, and raising money. Think about a student athlete competing in volleyball, wrestling, or soccer; training year round, off-season, getting up at 6 am, working double sessions. For what? Rarely is there any monetary opportunity.
Many times these exact same people are constantly late and have zero passion for their paying jobs. What is it that causes these types of people to sacrifice so much for so little? It is because they are part of a cause that is something bigger than themselves, and somehow, someone constantly shows them their direct impact on the outcome.
My middle son, Cal, at 11 years old, worked on a political campaign. This was not a result of his parents doing. I am embarrassed to say that neither of his parents had any political knowledge of any kind or interest. However, Cal read a book and decided he wanted to help get this politician elected. I remember the weeks leading up to the election. Cal and I would constantly get into arguments because he insisted he be allowed to knock on doors and make phone calls on school nights way past his bedtime. He was convinced if I didn’t let him, his candidate would lose. I couldn’t argue with his passion. Yet this is the same kid I sometimes have to beg to clean up his cloths, put his toys away and take the trash out every week. But he had conviction. There was something he believed in and he was convinced he impacted the outcome.
World Class Leadership
John DiJulius
Ask yourself, if as a leader, your employees clearly know your vision. Have you made them part of a cause, something bigger than themselves, and are you showing them that their direct contribution impacts the outcome.
Filed under: Customer Service | Tags: customer experience, Customer Service, customer service conference, John DiJulius, secret service, The DiJulius Group
I recently visited a company that I do a lot of business with, and the receptionist knows me quite well from being a “regular.” Upon my arrival
John DiJulius
Two things were wrong with this:
If you know something — use it. Knowledge is worthless unless you use it. She knows my name and me, so why wouldn’t she say, “Hello, John. Great to see you again.”
Her company could have, should have, informed her of on-site appointments for that day. If you have less than 30 appointments at your location, the front receptionist should have a schedule of everyone who is coming in and with whom they are meeting.
This way she could have really provided Secret Service by greeting me this way:
“Well, hello, John. It is great to see you! We have been expecting you, so let me tell Melissa that you are here. Can I get you something to drink while you wait?”
Wouldn’t I have felt like a VIP? Would this have taken any longer or hurt her productivity? No. Create some Secret Service systems that allow your front-line employees to personalize your customer’s experience.
World Class Pet Service
Petco
Well, I recently visited a Petco store and saw they had a welcome sign with all the names of the Pets that had appointments scheduled that day. I have always wanted to offer a “pay what you think is fair” guarantee at our salons, similar to my speaking and consulting businesses. I have talked about it, but was scared to pull the trigger. Finally, May 1st, we decided to roll out our new “Experience Guarantee” at our salons.
Experience Guarantee:
“IF, FOR ANY REASON, YOU ARE NOT 100% SATISFIED WITH YOUR JOHN ROBERT’S EXPERIENCE TODAY, YOU CAN PAY WHAT YOU FEEL IS FAIR OF YOUR SERVICE CHARGES”
“We are people’s local trip to Paris — their 60 minute vacation,” says John R. DiJulius III, President of John Robert’s Spa. “Our haircuts, manicures, and facials are only a by-product of what we sell. What our guests truly come to us for is fashion, escape and rejuvenation. We feel if we don’t hold up our end of the agreement, why should we expect our guests to hold up their end?”
“It doesn’t surprise me at all. This is why I love going to John Robert’s. They are the best at hair care and pampering. They always provide a world-class experience. And if, for some reason, they drop the ball, I know they will do whatever they have to, to make it right,” says long time customer Sherri Blaushild of Moreland Hills.
Is it any wonder why John Robert’s Spa’s five locations in Northeast Ohio are repeatedly selected one of the Top 20 Salons in the US? In the midst of a customer service crisis, organizations need to be willing to stand behind what they promise.
~John DiJulius is President and Chief Visionary Officer of The DiJulius Group
Filed under: Customer Service, What's the Secret? | Tags: client experience, customer experience, customer loyalty, Customer Service, customer service conference, customer service consulting, customer service process, non-negotiables, secret service, The DiJulius Group
The Fourth Commandment for creating a world-class customer experience is creating Secret Service systems that allow front-line employees to engage and interact with customers. This enables them to personalize the customer’s experience by anticipating their needs and 
delivering satisfaction.
Customer intelligence is customer data (buying habits, purchasing history, referrals, personal preferences, where they live or work) that fuels secret service.
Many companies leave Secret Service driven by customer intelligence to chance: typically a few long-term employees create relationships with regular customers and this naturally happens. You have a high degree of inconsistency when it is only contingent on long-term employees and regular customers. The best customer service companies train all their employees, even their newest employees, to collect and utilize customer intelligence. A good system with the proper training allows even the newest employees to personally engage and recognize even those occasional customers.
Here’s how it should work: When a customer calls in to place an order, within seconds the call center representative should be able to pull up the database and historical information and be able to personalize the experience, citing things such as, “I know you like your orders to arrive at the beginning of the week,” or “How’s the weather in Portland?” Thus, all your customers feel like they are your only customer. None of these ideas cost anything or hurt the productivity of your front-line people.
Additional “non-negotiable” standards that businesses rarely implement but can be considered ‘low-hanging fruit’ are:
- Warm-call transfers – The best customer service organizations answer their calls in the following manner.
- (Receptionist) – “Thank you for calling TBS Enterprise. This is Susan. May I assist you?”
- (customer) “Can I please speak to James Burns?”
- (receptionist) – “Certainly, may I tell him who is calling and your company?”
- (customer) “Bruce Wells, from Wells Supply.”
- (receptionist) – “My pleasure, Mr. Wells”
- (James Burns) – “Bruce!!! Great to hear from you, and tell me, how did your son’s soccer team make out at nationals?”
- How do they take their coffee? As simple as that sounds, that is a perfect example of Secret Service. When making a sales call and you are meeting with the decision maker, (aka – CEO), how impressive is it when you walk in to your 15 minute meeting with his Venti Skinny Carmel Latte?
Altruistic Secret Service
John DiJulius
My favorite Secret Service is when the customer service that is provided has no apparent hidden agenda, meaning it’s done with no expectation of the act directly benefitting the giver. For example, my accountant, Mike Trabert, from Skoda Minotti & Company, Cleveland, Ohio, out of the blue one day dropped off an autographed picture of Notre Dame football legend, Rudy, personalized to my oldest son, Johnni. I don’t recall telling him, but somehow he remembered that because of his size, that was my son’s nickname when he played youth football.
People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care
On the lead sales call with a CEO, he mentions to you how his company’s focus this year is improving their customers’ experience. The next day he receives a gift from you: a new copy of What’s The Secret? To Providing a World-Class Customer Experience with a note saying, “I know how important customer service is to your organization and thought you would enjoy this book.”
Don’t you think that would make you stand out from every other business person who’s making pitches, asking for orders, trying for more business and never finding out what is important to him and his business? And you simply send him a gift that has nothing to do with what you do or can do for him, but demonstrates you have genuine concern for helping him hit his business goals. Powerful!
Secret Service creates an emotional bond between customer and company that transcends the product or service. That bond, that feeling, becomes sought after again and again. It requires a personal connection between customer and employee, and often the lowest paid and least appreciated employee is the best source of this bond.
~John DiJulius is the Chief Visionary officer of The DIjulius Group
Filed under: Customer Service | Tags: client experience, customer experience, Customer Service, customer service conference, secret service, The DiJulius Group
Advantages to Providing World-Class Service
John DiJulius
Are you willing to ask your customers to pay what they think is fair for your services? Whenever I get to this section of my presentation, I get the biggest moans. Right away my audience starts thinking how badly their customers could take advantage of them. For years now, I have had it in my contract and final invoice, “Please pay what you think is fair of the invoice.” This ensures I work extremely hard to bring my “A” game to each organization for which I am working. Otherwise a client of mine can pay me $1.00. Of the few hundred clients who have had the chance to “take advantage of an opportunity,” not only has no one ever paid me less, but recently one organization paid me $5,000 more! When we inquired whether it was a mistake, they responded, “The invoice said to pay what we think is fair.” Instead of worrying how badly you are going to get ripped off, maybe you should be considering how well you can be rewarded for being World-Class.
Beat the Greet
Hotel Del Coronado
This past spring break, my family and I enjoyed a week’s vacation at one of the resorts I work with– the beautiful Hotel Del Coronado in Coronado Island, San Diego. The Del is one of the finest resorts in the United States, and one that prides itself on legendary customer service. One of my takeaways was how every associate greeted us as we passed them by — before we could greet them. I have always preached the “10 feet greet.” When you come within 10 feet of a customer, you should greet that person. But after my experience with The Del, I came home with a new, non-negotiable standard: Always Greet First. Never allow a customer to greet you first.
Think about it. If every one of your employees were trained to beat the customer to “The Greet,” it would create a pretty strong service culture. At many businesses, some employees do not even greet at all, let alone first or second. I even told my three sons that no one should ever say hello to us before we say hello to them, not only people we know, but strangers on an elevator or passing by on the street.
~John DiJulius is the Chief Visionary Officer of The DiJulius Group
Filed under: Customer Service | Tags: customer experience, Customer Service, secret service, starbucks
John DiJulius
The Slight Edge
One of the best books I have read in a while is The Slight Edge, by Jeff Olson. The “slight edge” means doing those little things correctly today that have a huge impact down the road. In other words, whether you work out today or you don’t really doesn’t matter — today. Whether you save a dollar today or you don’t, really doesn’t matter today.
Success is a habit of making the right, un-dramatic, insignificant choices that compound over time to create a progression of substantial growth.
One of the biggest reasons companies do not put nearly as much emphasis into customer service as they should is because there seems to be no immediate impact. We live in an “instant” society that demands immediate results. Marketing, sales promotion and cutting expenses provide immediate results that executives can see. However, many times those things do not have a lasting positive business impact. If your organization provides World-Class customer service today or it doesn’t really doesn’t matter — today. If you go above and beyond today for a customer, it really has no impact on the bottom line — today. If you resolve a customer challenge or if you don’t really doesn’t matter — today. However, nothing will impact the health of your customer retention, sales, profits, morale, and turnover as much as providing superior service consistently over a period of time. To get managers to be disciplined, patient, not to cut corners or stray away from the plan for a short-term gain is the true underlying obstacle.
Can’t Afford Not To
You say your customer service isn’t where you would like it to be? You say increasing the training for company-wide commitment isn’t in the budget this year? I am telling you; you can’t afford not to invest in improving your customers’ experience and create a world-class customer service organization!
Expense or Investment?
Let’s look at Starbucks, already the service leader in their industry. In an online article written by Shareef Mahdavi, President of SM2 Consulting, Mahdavi shows how Starbucks does not rest on their laurels. Starbucks closed all 11,000 locations in the US one afternoon in February for a 3-hour training session involving 150,000 workers. What most businesses would view as a huge blow to revenue, Starbucks sees as a focus on longer-term sustainable results.
By John DiJulius
Filed under: Uncategorized
John DiJulius
Fortune Small Business’ cover story in the October 2007, issue is titled “Extreme Customer Service.” It opens by pointing out that overall, customer satisfaction is getting worse and customer rage is rising. Get this: “Fifteen percent (15%) of ticked-off customers entertain fantasies of revenge.” The article cites several examples of outstanding customer service by companies who are “stealing sales from the bigger, impersonal stores.” Both John Robert’s Spa and I are featured in the article. Read the entire article here.
Is Customer Service Making a Comeback?
This is great news because in the last 15 years, customer service has gotten lost. The focus for businesses has been artificial growth based on acquisitions, first-to- launch novelty products, and marketing gimmicks. But none of this has resulted in customer loyalty! Recently there have been numerous findings demonstrating the correlation between customer satisfaction scores, customer loyalty, same store comparable (comp) sales and profit. All of this has resulted in the re-emergence of customer service as a critical benchmark — like it was just invented.
Spiral Effect
You probably have heard me talk about how the rise of e-commerce in the last 10 years has resulted in our society having 1/20 the human interactions of 20 years ago. There are fewer relationships as customers are now seen as an account number and/or a transaction. A bigger problem has resulted in the rapid decline of people skills in the younger generations. It is a spiral effect that is hard to slow down or correct. E-commerce exploded due to the fact that consumers were getting tired of lousy customer service from retailers, sales reps, etc. Since they didn’t see the value in dealing with a human being, they cut them out and did it themselves online, and in most cases saved money (i.e. travel agencies). Businesses recognized the growing trend and put more money and resources into their e-commerce presence and less toward customer service training. In fact, with more customers going online, businesses were able to dramatically reduce their front-line payroll. All of this has caused an even larger reduction in face-to-face interaction and an increase in dissatisfaction for the consumers who choose to deal with employees at brick and mortar merchants versus online shopping carts. Now at the stores, with fewer people working, there is less assistance in finding product and longer checkout times.
GOT SERVICE?
Recently I was boarding a Continental flight in Phoenix. Just as we were about to board, the gate agent did the usual pre-board announcements. However, this time it was different. He said, “Hello. My name is Gregory and I REALLY want to thank you for being here with me today. If you weren’t here, I wouldn’t be here.” As I was boarding I noticed Gregory saying hello to the two people ahead of me, by name, and then he thanked them for flying with Continental. As he did that, he touched both on their elbows. I assumed they knew one other. As he took my ticket he said extremely enthusiastically, “Hello, John,” and before he returned my ticket, he further scanned it, then handed me my ticket, put his hand on my shoulder and said, “I really want to thank you for all the business you give to us and for being one of our best customers.” Wow! He made my day! I watched as he engaged everyone by name and genuinely thanked each person. Stunned, I boarded the plane and light-heartedly asked the stewardess, “What is wrong with that guy? What the heck is he doing working for the airlines?” As if to say, why isn’t he at Disney or The Ritz-Carlton? She laughed and said, “Who, Greg? He’s always like that. He is crazy!”
Both of our comments were a sad commentary. While it wasn’t my intention, my remark should have offended her. Instead she views him as “crazy” or an anomaly. I saw a client of mine, Ilana Isako, from SS&G Financial on the flight and I asked, “Was the gate agent as nice to you as he was to me?” Her eyes lit up and she said, “He was so nice. He asked me if I pronounce my name I-la-na and then he said, ‘thanks Ilana for traveling with us today’ and touched my arm.” We were both shocked at how personable this gate agent was to everyone who boarded. Continental needs to video tape Gregory and make it a training video. If this was the norm, do you think http://www.orbitz.com or http://www.cheaptickets.com would be so popular?
