As I sign off this week as a guest blogger on all things 'customer,' my head's hanging a bit low. Customer frustration is just so high. So I want to leave you with some basics that I know about treating customers right.
When I was at Lands’ End, Fortune Magazine did an article on us called, “Getting Customers to Love You.” The big revelation about why we were loved was that we could be counted on. We established peace-of-mind with our guarantee. We trained our telephone reps to not only know the products backwards and forwards, but to care why customers were buying them. Our graveyard shift operators were some of the busiest in the business because of the calls they’d receive in the middle of the night from insomniacs who, sure, would buy a turtleneck, but were also on the line to hear the friendly voice on the other end. Customers loved us because we respected them and their time. And we made sure that we translated that respect to actions they could see and feel.
In the time that’s gone by since then, I’ve experienced a multitude of cultures; some close to that of Lands’ End, but most far removed from that respect that we were able to weave into our operation and business decisions.
10 Ways to Love (and respect) Your Customers
1.Eliminate the customer obstacle course. If you asked customers they’d say that the obstacle course for figuring out who to talk to and how and when to get service is over-complicated, conflicting and just plain out of whack
2.Stop customer hot potato. He who speaks to the customer first should “own” the customer. There’s nothing worse that sends a signal of disrespect faster than an impatient person on the other end of the line trying to pass a customer off to “someone who can better help you with your problem.” Yeah, right.
3.Give customers a choice. Do not bind your customer into the fake choice of letting them “opt out” of something. Let them know up front that they can decide to get emails, offers or whatever from you and give them the choice.
4.De-silo your website. Websites are often the cobbled together parts created separately by each company division. The terminology is different from area to area, as are the menu structures and logic for getting around the site. What’s accessible online is frequently inconsistent, as is the contact information provided.
5.Consolidate phone numbers. Even in this advanced age of telephony companies still have a labyrinth of numbers customers need to navigate to talk to someone. Get people together to skinny-down this list and then let customers know about it.
6.FIX (really) the top ten issues bugging customers. It's likely you've been surveying your customers for years and know what's broken. Do something about those issues! Then tell your customers!
7.Help the front line to LISTEN. Let your front line be human, give them the skills for listening and understanding and help the frontline deliver to the customer based on their needs.
8.Deliver what you promise. There is a growing case of corporate memory loss that annoys and aggravates customers every day as they have to strong-arm their way through the corporate maze just to get basic things accomplished. They’re exhausted from the wrestling match, they’re annoyed and they’re telling everyone they know. And, oh, by the way, when they get the chance they’re walking.
9.When you make a mistake – right the wrong. If you’ve got egg on your face, for whatever the reason, admit it. Then right the wrong. There’s nothing more grossly frustrating to customers than a company who does something wrong then is either clueless about what they did or won’t admit that they faltered.
10.Work to believe. Very little shreds of respect remain, if any, after you've put customers through the third degree many experience when they encounter a glitch in products and services and actually need to return a product, put in a claim or use the warranty service. As tempting as it is to debate customers to uphold a policy to the letter of the law, suspend the cynicism and work to believe your customers.
Have a Great Week-End Everybody. Keep That Charge Up for Customers!
Related Stories: | Topics:Management, customers first 2006, 9, 3, C, W, F |
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Recent Comments | 15 Total
September 9, 2006 at 9:12am by Irakli
Interesting and helpful article. Yet it is still all about listening to customers with a negative mindset - some problems, some complaints.
Incidentally, this is also why marketers shun true dialogue with their customers: they are afraid.
The majority of customers will have a positive mindset, otherwise they wouldn't buy products and services. How about listening to them? How about installing mechanisms that will tap into positive customer energy?
There's plenty to be learned from compassionate customers, who will often have great ideas for new products or product improvement. Listen to them too. And talk to them.
September 9, 2006 at 9:15am by Jay Mangan
Hey if you're going to write for a national publication.... then please use proper grammer and spelling! It's too wordy and shifts person. I'll accept "robitized" but, it's "maze" not "maize". Edit, then simplfy and edit again. If this is how you plan make a living... then learn the ten things readers hate. There's a couple.
September 9, 2006 at 10:39am by "Pink Eyed" Jim
It's "grammar," captain spelling.
Sure, "maize" was a mistake. "RobOtized" is fine, in my opinion.
It's a good article, I just think the poster above was a little jealous that he doesn't write for a national publication. Though for someone who can't spell "grammAr" or figure out the gigantic dangling participle in his last sentence, perhaps he shouldn't be writing for anyone.
September 9, 2006 at 1:10pm by jeanne bliss
Irakli,
You are so right. This advice was about first working on RELIABILITY of the customer experience. I focused on that aspect because most customers are walking away from companies today because they are dropping the ball on the basic blocking and tackling. But you are right about using the energy of your customer advocates. Absolutely understand who would recommend you and who loves you and engages with you and get them involved in understanding what they value and in responding and guiding product development and other forms of customer experience development. This energy source is powerful and can really boost the soul of the organization.
Jay and 'Pink Eyed' Jim:
Thanks also for your feedback. I sure have 'egg on my face' with those issues you pointed out! Thanks for the feedback. I've made the corrections.
Jeanne
September 9, 2006 at 7:15pm by roger fulton
blah, blah...enuf of the grammar lessons: I'm tired of all this chest beating on what-to-do in the PR enclaves.
I want to hear FROM A CUSTOMER who had a great first person trip through the "system" that served well in the gee-this-is-great-service cycle from our favorite company.
Enuf with the "how-to" articles, already.
Roger Fulton
Yuma, Az
September 10, 2006 at 6:21am by Teri Calhoun
Poor customer service is a signal of competition and apathy at the grass roots level. But what causes this situation. Companies need to start paying people according to production levels again instead of just an hourly wage. That way the employee can see a direct correlation between the quality and efficiency of his work and his income. Let's say
you are working for a franchise and your manager can run labor at 40% of gross sales not including her own salary and bonus. What if that manager could run labor at 30%, which would mean fewer people working but at full capacity and in cooperation with each other. Then those people could divide the other 10% equally among themselves in direct proportion to the number of hours each of them worked. For example, if the company grossed 90,000 in sales, 10% of that would go to the employees based on the number of hours
that employee worked. Employee A worked 200 hours and makes a bonus of 200hrs/total number of hours
equals a percentage of the total 10% or 9,000 to be divided among the employees. Employee B worked
only 80 hours/total number of hours = his percentage of the 9,000 bonus. In a system like that employees would drive themselves and cooperate in order to make more money. Their managers would be less likely to have to drive them and they would be more concerned about customer service realizing that customer service is what their production levels depend on to begin with. If the product and service isn't good people will not buy it. As a customer I take it as an affront and an insult to my intelligence to get shody merchandise and indifferent service. I thought it was a great idea to ask the customer what he/she would like to get from the company.
It is said that it is more blessed to give than to
receive, so please let's make them feel blessed.
We also need to let them know what our company is doing for the community and how we are involved in
the community. The more our community feels that we love then, the more they will love us and perhaps, if we correct our mistakes, they will forgive us for having feet of clay. I'm not sure about my mathematical formula, but you get the picture.
September 10, 2006 at 6:30am by Teri Calhoun
P.S. No matter where I shop; whether I'm at Taco
Bell, Sonic, Kentucky Fried Chicken, Walmart, Kroger, Cricket, wherever; I always either tip the
person taking my order or if I get good service I ask to speak to their manager and let their manager know that I got good service and what exactly I liked about the service. And if I don't like the service; well, a time or two I have scolded them, but I try to let them know what makes me unhappy without mirroring their rudeness or apathy.
September 10, 2006 at 1:08pm by John Howes
Jay, why not "simplfy" your life? Stop posting snotty comments that provide little value to anyone. Think of how much time you'll save!
September 10, 2006 at 1:47pm by mahendrakumardash
The best way to know and retain or make more customers is to think from their angle and act keeping company/office objective in mind.
September 10, 2006 at 1:50pm by mahendrakumardash
What ever trade one is in,to grow,one has to think from customer's angle,their difficulties in solving the office problem or problem with a product.Faster one is,faster the result will come and every customer will look for tht particular person in the company.
September 12, 2006 at 11:35am by Brian Miller
Point #6 is one of the best...we marketers survey the heck out of the market and then wring our hands corporately with what to do about issues the customer has. One of the most frustrating things is the corporate constipation that hits when criticism from the customer base comes in...makes for either a cost impact evaluation, another survey, or a justification. Point 6...just fix the issues...is not only usually the right thing to do, but the best course. The money follows the companies that put the customer first and then trumpets the hell out of it.
Good example...look at the website from Canadian retailer Loblaws. Their line of private brand products is generally viewed as the best of the best example of how a private brand should work. As you dig through the website, you'll see that they surveyed...for better or for worse...their customers on what they felt about the products. Not only are they sharing the results, they are also telling exactly what their cource of action will be. Can you imagine the market impact organizations with poor customer service reputations (hello airlines) could make to publicly admit what people like and don't like about their product and what they are going to do about it...and then do it?
JMHO....out
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