Best Buy Customer Service Failure Saved by Twitter
Showing posts with label Customer Service. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Customer Service. Show all posts
Meaning, customer service which is at the heart, if not the foundation of every business. This group represents your company. Anything a client walks away thinking about your company is largely on their shoulder. Right or wrong, it is a fact. These people can make or break your reputation. So it baffles me that they are often the least empowered.
When a customer has a problem, it should not take having to go to multiple people to have that problem fixed. In fact, it would not be wrong to say that the more people who have to be involved, the more your reputation goes in the toilet even if the issue is resolved.
Harrods in London has a different approach. They empower every employee to assist the customer. No need for a manager to have to come along to say the same thing. They are left to do what they were hired to do, manage.
The American approach has people running in circles, if they can get ahold of anyone at all. Some businesses, particularly online ones, have eliminated any direct contact with customers. They use a crowd sourced approach, which basically means customers answering each others questions. On some things, like how-to, this might work great, but on others it is a very dangerous approach.
People who make purchases have bought a solution, and usually it is because of a person behind it, so if you cut off the person, you are not building brand loyalty, but hard feelings. Just like people don't want to have to press a gazillion buttons to get to a human voice, they don't want to feel like they are no longer of value after a sale has been made.
To build a good reputation businesses are going to have to go to the one person direct approach. This way, they have a name to go with their solution. In it, there are also safe guards for businesses. They know who to deal with if something goes right or wrong versus trying to figure out who did what to provide a solution.
This make take some getting used to, but the personal touch is what customers want today. They are no longer satisfied with only getting great service until the sale is made, and then being left to fend for themselves afterward.
Building Customer Loyalty by Making Customer Service Personal
Meaning, customer service which is at the heart, if not the foundation of every business. This group represents your company. Anything a client walks away thinking about your company is largely on their shoulder. Right or wrong, it is a fact. These people can make or break your reputation. So it baffles me that they are often the least empowered.
When a customer has a problem, it should not take having to go to multiple people to have that problem fixed. In fact, it would not be wrong to say that the more people who have to be involved, the more your reputation goes in the toilet even if the issue is resolved.
Harrods in London has a different approach. They empower every employee to assist the customer. No need for a manager to have to come along to say the same thing. They are left to do what they were hired to do, manage.
The American approach has people running in circles, if they can get ahold of anyone at all. Some businesses, particularly online ones, have eliminated any direct contact with customers. They use a crowd sourced approach, which basically means customers answering each others questions. On some things, like how-to, this might work great, but on others it is a very dangerous approach.
People who make purchases have bought a solution, and usually it is because of a person behind it, so if you cut off the person, you are not building brand loyalty, but hard feelings. Just like people don't want to have to press a gazillion buttons to get to a human voice, they don't want to feel like they are no longer of value after a sale has been made.
To build a good reputation businesses are going to have to go to the one person direct approach. This way, they have a name to go with their solution. In it, there are also safe guards for businesses. They know who to deal with if something goes right or wrong versus trying to figure out who did what to provide a solution.
This make take some getting used to, but the personal touch is what customers want today. They are no longer satisfied with only getting great service until the sale is made, and then being left to fend for themselves afterward.
Online Customers Hold the Power?
The publication, return on investment in customer service the bottom line, is the result of 12 months quantitative and qualitative research by the Institute and Ashridge Business School.
While the research finds a weight of evidence proving the link between customer service and profit, it warns that organisations across all sectors of the economy are still using the easier to measure indicators, such as customer satisfaction.
“To position return on investment in the boardroom and establish customer service as a key strategic issue for all organisations, we must shift customer service away from just measuring simple customer satisfaction into much more complex areas, such as how customers perceive the value of their relationship with that organisation,” says Jo Causon, the chief executive of the Institute.
The research consisted of an online survey, case studies among some of the UK’s best known brands, including 02, Eurostar, Kleinwort Benson and T-Mobile, and a review of empirical research into ROI.
It found that 81% of respondents believed that gaining an understanding of service ‘from the customers’ viewpoint’ is very likely to lead to a positive return on investment, with 74% believing that gathering and acting on customer feedback will produce real business ROI.
The work also indicated that organisations needed to place more value the contribution of frontline customer facing staff who would become more important in the future.
“This should inform recruitment as well as remuneration of frontline staff,” said Jo Causon, “Currently they are under-rewarded compared to the impact they can have on financial performance and overall business efficiency.”
Cheryl Black, customer service director at 02, one of the report’s sponsors, added: “It is all too easy to say what’s good for the customer is good for the business and leave it at that. This report challenges us to start thinking about how we measure changing customer behaviours, and the role our staff have to play in it.”
The research was sponsored by 02, BT wholesale, and South Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive.
The report, return on customer service the bottom line is available to purchase online from http://www.instituteofcustomerservice.com
Resource
While the research finds a weight of evidence proving the link between customer service and profit, it warns that organisations across all sectors of the economy are still using the easier to measure indicators, such as customer satisfaction.
“To position return on investment in the boardroom and establish customer service as a key strategic issue for all organisations, we must shift customer service away from just measuring simple customer satisfaction into much more complex areas, such as how customers perceive the value of their relationship with that organisation,” says Jo Causon, the chief executive of the Institute.
The research consisted of an online survey, case studies among some of the UK’s best known brands, including 02, Eurostar, Kleinwort Benson and T-Mobile, and a review of empirical research into ROI.
It found that 81% of respondents believed that gaining an understanding of service ‘from the customers’ viewpoint’ is very likely to lead to a positive return on investment, with 74% believing that gathering and acting on customer feedback will produce real business ROI.
The work also indicated that organisations needed to place more value the contribution of frontline customer facing staff who would become more important in the future.
“This should inform recruitment as well as remuneration of frontline staff,” said Jo Causon, “Currently they are under-rewarded compared to the impact they can have on financial performance and overall business efficiency.”
Cheryl Black, customer service director at 02, one of the report’s sponsors, added: “It is all too easy to say what’s good for the customer is good for the business and leave it at that. This report challenges us to start thinking about how we measure changing customer behaviours, and the role our staff have to play in it.”
The research was sponsored by 02, BT wholesale, and South Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive.
The report, return on customer service the bottom line is available to purchase online from http://www.instituteofcustomerservice.com
Resource
Attitudes to Return on Investment from Customer Service Must Change
The publication, return on investment in customer service the bottom line, is the result of 12 months quantitative and qualitative research by the Institute and Ashridge Business School.
While the research finds a weight of evidence proving the link between customer service and profit, it warns that organisations across all sectors of the economy are still using the easier to measure indicators, such as customer satisfaction.
“To position return on investment in the boardroom and establish customer service as a key strategic issue for all organisations, we must shift customer service away from just measuring simple customer satisfaction into much more complex areas, such as how customers perceive the value of their relationship with that organisation,” says Jo Causon, the chief executive of the Institute.
The research consisted of an online survey, case studies among some of the UK’s best known brands, including 02, Eurostar, Kleinwort Benson and T-Mobile, and a review of empirical research into ROI.
It found that 81% of respondents believed that gaining an understanding of service ‘from the customers’ viewpoint’ is very likely to lead to a positive return on investment, with 74% believing that gathering and acting on customer feedback will produce real business ROI.
The work also indicated that organisations needed to place more value the contribution of frontline customer facing staff who would become more important in the future.
“This should inform recruitment as well as remuneration of frontline staff,” said Jo Causon, “Currently they are under-rewarded compared to the impact they can have on financial performance and overall business efficiency.”
Cheryl Black, customer service director at 02, one of the report’s sponsors, added: “It is all too easy to say what’s good for the customer is good for the business and leave it at that. This report challenges us to start thinking about how we measure changing customer behaviours, and the role our staff have to play in it.”
The research was sponsored by 02, BT wholesale, and South Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive.
The report, return on customer service the bottom line is available to purchase online from http://www.instituteofcustomerservice.com
Resource
While the research finds a weight of evidence proving the link between customer service and profit, it warns that organisations across all sectors of the economy are still using the easier to measure indicators, such as customer satisfaction.
“To position return on investment in the boardroom and establish customer service as a key strategic issue for all organisations, we must shift customer service away from just measuring simple customer satisfaction into much more complex areas, such as how customers perceive the value of their relationship with that organisation,” says Jo Causon, the chief executive of the Institute.
The research consisted of an online survey, case studies among some of the UK’s best known brands, including 02, Eurostar, Kleinwort Benson and T-Mobile, and a review of empirical research into ROI.
It found that 81% of respondents believed that gaining an understanding of service ‘from the customers’ viewpoint’ is very likely to lead to a positive return on investment, with 74% believing that gathering and acting on customer feedback will produce real business ROI.
The work also indicated that organisations needed to place more value the contribution of frontline customer facing staff who would become more important in the future.
“This should inform recruitment as well as remuneration of frontline staff,” said Jo Causon, “Currently they are under-rewarded compared to the impact they can have on financial performance and overall business efficiency.”
Cheryl Black, customer service director at 02, one of the report’s sponsors, added: “It is all too easy to say what’s good for the customer is good for the business and leave it at that. This report challenges us to start thinking about how we measure changing customer behaviours, and the role our staff have to play in it.”
The research was sponsored by 02, BT wholesale, and South Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive.
The report, return on customer service the bottom line is available to purchase online from http://www.instituteofcustomerservice.com
Resource
One successful young man I interviewed at a financial planners' meeting told me, "I used to be in another industry. I went into financial planning when I was thirty-three years old, joining my father's small firm. He'd been in the business for years, but I had to go out and get my own customers."
He drew up a list of twenty movers-and-shakers in his community, twenty affluent people with large spheres of influence who were eagerly pursued by everyone in the investment community. This young man had very little experience. He hadn't yet "earned their business."
He called on each of these people and said, "I am new to this business. I know you know about my father, but you don't know me. I am not trying to sell you. I know I haven't earned the right yet. However, could I please have a ten-minute interview? Would you, as a leader in the community, tell me what I should do to earn the right to do business with people like you?"
See what he did? He made it safe. He told them up front that he wasn't going to try to sell them anything. He only wanted ten minutes.
Frankly, I think you have to be very lucky to get ten minutes of an important person's time. But he presented it in such an appealing way that no one turned him down. And he kept his side of the bargain. After ten minutes, he left unless they invited him to stay longer.
At the end of his first year, three of those people actually gave him a small portion of their portfolio to manage to see how he would do. At the end of three years, seven out of the original twenty people had placed a portion of their investments with his firm. He'd earned the right.
I used to say that there are two kinds of people to market to: those who know and love us and those who never heard of us. You can advertise traditionally and on the Internet, network and join organizations, send out direct mail, and do a combination of activities to get new business. But please don't think these methods substitute for keeping in touch with the people who now know you and love you. These are people who've inquired, whom you've met at a meeting, who've done some business with you in the past. Keep in touch with these valuable resources!
When Homer Dunn was an up-and-coming salesperson at IBM, he told me there are actually three kinds of people that he calls on. "First, there are the people I've already made a sale to." (This was in the mainframe days, so it was a big sale.) "I keep calling on these customers, making sure they are satisfied with the product and the service." That's maintaining a sale.
"Then there are the people I'm calling on, those that are in the sales cycle which can be a long-term process." (And, with really high-ticket items, this can be a really long-term process!)
"Finally, there are the people I want to do business with. I have not earned the right yet to do business with these people, but I am maintaining a relationship, letting them know of my progress and success. So when I have finally earned the right to the sale, they are all mine."
HOMEWORK
1. What are you doing this week to earn the right to people's business? Write it down.
2. What more could or should you do? Devise a strategy and timetable.
3. Who have you targeted in your community? Who else should you cultivate? Make a list.
Patricia Fripp, CSP, CPAE is a San Francisco-based executive speech coach, sales trainer, and award-winning professional speaker on Change, Customer Service, Promoting Business, and Communication Skills. She is the author of Get What You Want!, Make It, So You Don't Have to Fake It!, and Past-President of the National Speakers Association. She can be reached at: PFripp@Fripp.com, 1-800 634-3035, http://www.fripp.com
Earn the Right to do Business with People
One successful young man I interviewed at a financial planners' meeting told me, "I used to be in another industry. I went into financial planning when I was thirty-three years old, joining my father's small firm. He'd been in the business for years, but I had to go out and get my own customers."
He drew up a list of twenty movers-and-shakers in his community, twenty affluent people with large spheres of influence who were eagerly pursued by everyone in the investment community. This young man had very little experience. He hadn't yet "earned their business."
He called on each of these people and said, "I am new to this business. I know you know about my father, but you don't know me. I am not trying to sell you. I know I haven't earned the right yet. However, could I please have a ten-minute interview? Would you, as a leader in the community, tell me what I should do to earn the right to do business with people like you?"
See what he did? He made it safe. He told them up front that he wasn't going to try to sell them anything. He only wanted ten minutes.
Frankly, I think you have to be very lucky to get ten minutes of an important person's time. But he presented it in such an appealing way that no one turned him down. And he kept his side of the bargain. After ten minutes, he left unless they invited him to stay longer.
At the end of his first year, three of those people actually gave him a small portion of their portfolio to manage to see how he would do. At the end of three years, seven out of the original twenty people had placed a portion of their investments with his firm. He'd earned the right.
I used to say that there are two kinds of people to market to: those who know and love us and those who never heard of us. You can advertise traditionally and on the Internet, network and join organizations, send out direct mail, and do a combination of activities to get new business. But please don't think these methods substitute for keeping in touch with the people who now know you and love you. These are people who've inquired, whom you've met at a meeting, who've done some business with you in the past. Keep in touch with these valuable resources!
When Homer Dunn was an up-and-coming salesperson at IBM, he told me there are actually three kinds of people that he calls on. "First, there are the people I've already made a sale to." (This was in the mainframe days, so it was a big sale.) "I keep calling on these customers, making sure they are satisfied with the product and the service." That's maintaining a sale.
"Then there are the people I'm calling on, those that are in the sales cycle which can be a long-term process." (And, with really high-ticket items, this can be a really long-term process!)
"Finally, there are the people I want to do business with. I have not earned the right yet to do business with these people, but I am maintaining a relationship, letting them know of my progress and success. So when I have finally earned the right to the sale, they are all mine."
HOMEWORK
1. What are you doing this week to earn the right to people's business? Write it down.
2. What more could or should you do? Devise a strategy and timetable.
3. Who have you targeted in your community? Who else should you cultivate? Make a list.
Patricia Fripp, CSP, CPAE is a San Francisco-based executive speech coach, sales trainer, and award-winning professional speaker on Change, Customer Service, Promoting Business, and Communication Skills. She is the author of Get What You Want!, Make It, So You Don't Have to Fake It!, and Past-President of the National Speakers Association. She can be reached at: PFripp@Fripp.com, 1-800 634-3035, http://www.fripp.com
