Filed under: Customer Service | Tags: client experience, customer experience, customer loyalty, Customer Satisfaction, Customer Service, customer service conference, customer service consulting, customer service process, John DiJulius, secret service, the customer service blog, The DiJulius Group
Without execution, systems in manuals are nothing more than ideas on paper. This is where most companies fail – the execution of these systems.
The two most important words in the success of implementing systems are consistency and continuity. Nearly every company has more ideas than it knows what to do with. Here’s a scenario familiar in every company: Some executives attend a fantastic seminar, get dozens of great ideas, and return to work all fired up to start executing. A month later, not one idea is being executed even 10 percent of the time. The managers are either preoccupied with a crisis or have moved on to a new focus. Managers are not short on ideas; they are short on strategy that will result in successful implementation.
Select a path and stick with it
I can’t tell you how often I hear the same thing from the companies I consult: “A few years ago, our theme was ‘fish,’ last year our theme was ‘raving fans,’ and this year our theme is your book.” It’s no wonder nothing sticks. There’s no continuity from one generation of employees to the next because they joined under a different theme. There is nothing wrong with using any of those books and concepts as themes. What I am saying is pick a path.
The world-class customer service companies focus on one concept and build their training program around it. Over the years, every new employee goes through the same training, learns the same underlying concept and theme, reads the same book, and hears the same message. That doesn’t mean the training doesn’t evolve. But you have a consistent foundation on which everyone has been trained. And it can’t just be new employees who go through intensive training; existing employees need to be retrained and re-energized on at least an annual basis. Beyond that training, world-class customer service companies advertise superior customer service to their employees on a daily, weekly, monthly and quarterly basis.
Implement slowly and properly
Let’s assume you have just successfully completed the Customer Experience Cycle Workshop with your entire organization. You should now have the buzz. Stop right there. This is when the train wreck so often happens. The workshop was easy; the hard part is implementation. Yes, you are excited about the buy-in to being world-class. Yes, you want to maintain the enthusiasm and the momentum. But now you must crawl before you can walk. A worst practice is to allow managers to roll out the implementation on their own or to introduce many new concepts every week. If you do either, in about 45 days, all of those great ideas will be a distant memory because not one of them will stick. The only result will be a loss of credibility. Employees will feel that all their work was just a bunch of rah-rah and hot air because nothing ever came of it. Customers will be disappointed by the inconsistency between your promises and their experiences.
Both your front-line managers and employees already have too much on their plate to digest and manage the execution of more than a few things at once. You need to create a roll-out calendar of new customer service systems. Never introduce more than two or three things per 120 days to any one department. This may sound like a slow process, but wouldn’t you be doing cartwheels if I told you that a year from now, you will have introduced 10 new initiatives that are all being executed consistently?
Manage the Experience
It is imperative that every manager is uncompromising about the execution of your standards. Your employees have to know that they cannot pick and choose. That is why it is very important NOT to have too many standards for every stage of interaction. Less is more, so keep it realistic to achieve. As soon as employees start to think no one is really paying attention or cares, the standards go from nonnegotiable to optional. To avoid this, managers have to routinely do audits of the standards and recognize when they are being executed and immediately coach when they aren’t. You can have the greatest customer experience on paper, but it is the leadership’s responsibility to make sure every employee is well aware of the importance of consistent, continuous execution.
Filed under: Customer Service | Tags: client experience, customer experience, customer loyalty, Customer Satisfaction, Customer Service, customer service consulting, Jeff Nischwitz, John DiJulius, revolutionists, the customer service blog, The DiJulius Group
To better introduce you to our new Revolutionists, I am excited to share with you an article by Jeff Nischwitz. Find out how your industry can benefit from Jeff’s airport experience. ~ John DiJulius
5 Hours of “Service” ~ By©Jeff Nischwitz
Recently, I had the “pleasure” of traveling back from a long weekend in Charlotte and I experienced the “best” (apparently) that the air travel industry had to offer. Unfortunately, my day ended with a missed flight out of Philadelphia, and I was forced to spend the night at the Philadelphia Airport. But that’s not what I take issue with. I understand that stuff happens. My issues are with the various “experiences” that I had along the way.
The shining moment actually came right at the beginning. I was checking in at the Charlotte Airport, and my bag was under the weight limitation. I told them that I wanted to put my jacket in my bag (if it didn’t go over the weight limit), but my jacket put the bag one pound over the limit. To my pleasant surprise, they said “Go ahead; we’re not sticklers.” A little thing, but a pleasant surprise to have my desires accommodated rather than following the one-pound over rule. However, everything thereafter took a turn for the worse.
As I approached a confusing intersection, I asked one of the airport employees (who was clearly tasked with directing people) which way I needed to go to get to my gate. Seeming annoyed, she gave me a quick explanation, and I started to head off in that direction. When I immediately saw a sign that suggested that I was heading the wrong way, I went back and asked her to confirm her directions. With a sarcastic and edgy tone, she responded, “Didn’t I tell you to go that way?” A swing and a miss for this employee whose job it is to help people find their way. Apparently, there’s a one ask rule in effect.
Later during my travels I learned that my flight was going to be delayed, which put me at risk for missing my connection out of Philadelphia. Obviously, I was concerned and asked the service (interesting word) representative if she thought I would be able to make my connecting flight. After asking me what time my connecting flight was, she responded simply, “You might not make it.” Nothing more. She did not check what gate my flight was leaving from or ask where I was flying. It was a simple statement that I might miss my connection with no further input or assistance. Another swing and a miss for this airline.
After a longer delay than even expected, we finally boarded the plane to Philadelphia and the pilot told us, “We will have you at the gate in Philadelphia by 9:45 p.m.” This was hopeful news to me, since my connecting flight was scheduled to leave Philadelphia at 9:50 p.m. I was optimistic that I might make my flight. Unfortunately, the pilot had apparently been telling us what he thought we wanted to hear, rather than the truth. We arrived at the gate in Philadelphia at 10:00 p.m. At the time, the pilot certainly knew how long it would take his crew to ready the plane for take-off and he knew where he stood on the take-off priority list. I understand that delays happen, but I would rather get accurate information than be further disappointed when they do not meet their stated commitments. Yet another swing and miss when it came to the service experience.
Lest you think me merely a complainer, let’s look at the opportunities to easily get this right.
- The first airport employee could have politely (and with a smile) repeated her directions, or perhaps clarified them, to make sure that I understood. After all, my need was for directions and that was her job.
- The desk person could have asked a few more questions to better understand my challenge and offered to check to see if my connecting flight was on schedule. Several little things that would have demonstrated to me that she cared about my plight even if she couldn’t fix it.
- Instead of giving me an overly optimistic estimate of our arrival time, the pilot could have given me a realistic estimate so that I would know that making my connecting flight was not a likely scenario. I understand that delays happen, but I don’t like to be misled.
Five hours of mostly horrible service which all could have been averted with some simple, common courtesy and just a tad more proactive attention to me, the customer. None of these “fixes” would cost more money and at most they would have taken a few more seconds to execute, but it would have changed everything regarding my experience.
But what’s the airport experience have to do with MY business you might ask?
- Who in your firm has the most contact with clients regarding mundane or basic topics (e.g., directions, schedules, basic follow ups, etc.)? Do they ever have a bad day or a day when they’re bored with the job … which might result in clients feeling like they’re “bothering” your team member? I’m just saying…
- When clients or prospective clients call into the office, do your front line team members ask questions to understand their needs (to see if they can help), or do they quickly transfer the call to someone else?
- Do you or your team members ever provide overly optimistic time frames which result in your client being disappointed because something didn’t go as promised?
No matter what your business, we all have opportunities to connect with and engage our clients based upon the experience that we provide. We also have the same opportunities to “miss” with our clients, which may cause them to feel like they don’t matter.
What are your customers and clients experiencing that’s causing them to feel neglected, unimportant, and not cared about? More often than not it’s the little things that matter the most in how your customers and clients “see” you and your value. When it comes to the customer experience, you must sweat the small stuff. The cost of missing the small stuff can be substantial.
Filed under: Customer Service | Tags: client experience, customer experience, customer loyalty, Customer Satisfaction, Customer Service, customer service consulting, John DiJulius, the customer service blog, The DiJulius Group
John DiJulius
Are we starting to come out of the recession? Is the worst over? Am I the only one a little sad about this? Don’t hate me for saying this: I know it has been a long recession and I know it is not over yet. But I truly believe there have been so many benefits to this recession that have made all of us much stronger and our organizations much better today — and especially in the future.
The recession is a horrible thing… to waste
Customer service is finally getting the attention it deserves
Okay. So this might sound a little self-serving coming from a customer experience consultant. However, good customer service has been considered a “nice to have” amenity by the majority. So many of those companies are no longer around. The rest of us have both appreciated our commitment and realized that customer loyalty is an organization’s greatest asset in any economy.
The recession is like a business enema
Less competition
Most industries have 1/3 fewer players today. I truly believe there are very few victims of the recession. Most of the businesses that failed to withstand these times were benefiting from a tidal wave that they were not responsible for creating. They were bringing down the professional reputation of our industry.
There are two factors which determine a company’s size and growth:
- Size of market – a.k.a. the size of the pie. How many customers are out there to fight over, and what they can spend.
- Market share – the amount of the pie we have.
This is repeat customers, loyal customers, customers who refer us, customers who are not looking for the best deal and shopping us to the lowest bidder. We have little control over size of the market. If it shrinks due to economic constraints and government regulations — it shrinks. But we do control market share. That is driven by the customer experience that produces customer loyalty, which results in price becoming less relevant.
Show me you care about my business rather than just getting my business
People are creative and working harder than they ever have before, and sometimes for less! Business is earned. Nothing is on autopilot. Professionals are returning phone calls, people are following up, demonstrating they care, customers are being thanked. There is a genuine authenticity happening.
Organizations have also had a rally cry that has forced employees and departments to come together, support each other, and fight the battle to survive. This has created teamwork and a renewed sense of purpose.
Get yours before it is too late
We may have seen the worst of the recession. It probably will be awhile before we are fully back, but the clock is ticking, the opportunity is fading, and the window is closing.
Ask yourself, have you truly benefitted from this recession like others have?
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: 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: 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
