Posts Tagged ‘Customer experience management’

Leveraging social media for customer service

By Ashley Jang

Social media is a great tool for engaging with your customers and spreading news about your company. But what happens when customers begin using your social media channels to express their not-so-great experiences with your organization? Here are five tips to ensuring your social media pages allow for a positive customer service experience.

1. Stay on top of all conversations. Conversations about your company and your customer service may be happening without your knowledge. Make sure you are monitoring blogs, tweets and Facebook posts so that you can participate in all conversations and ensure unhappy customers are heard and engaged. There are many social media monitoring programs that you can use to manage your social conversations.

2. Bad customer service can happen outside of business hours. While most businesses work standard business hours, customers don’t always stick to business hours to express their concerns with customer service. Make sure you are taking the time to occasionally check out your social media pages on evenings and weekends to ensure that any urgent issues are acknowledged. The issue doesn’t need to be resolved immediately, but at least the customer knows that you care enough to respond in a timely manner.

3. Try to take the conversation offline. You don’t want to crowd everyone’s newsfeeds and timelines with your customer service issue. Whenever possible, ask the customer to contact you directly so that you can chat with the customer one-on-one and find out the best way to resolve the issue.

4. Online complaints should be handled as a priority. The benefit of using social media is that whatever you write is published immediately for everyone to see. As a result, the expectation is that the customer will receive a response more quickly than they would through traditional customer service avenues. Once a customer service issue is made public, you want to make sure the concern is addressed publicly and resolved as quickly as possible to prevent further escalation.

5. A bad situation can easily be turned into a good one. If you handle the situation in a timely and positive manner, it is likely that the customer will be happy with the outcome. And if you’re lucky, the customer will use social media to talk about the positive customer experience they had with your company.

Ashley Jang currently works as a Social Media Community Specialist for Staples Canada. She has a background in journalism, social media marketing, blogging and strategic communications.

Posted by Ashley in Getting Organized, Marketing, Technology on November 14th, 2011

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Boosting your Business in a Slow Economy

by Jeff Mowatt

Question: what are two words that will become increasingly important to customers over the next decade? The answer, according to marketing guru Frank Luntz, is ”hassle free”.

Customers are fed up with being forced to jump through hoops. Yet bizarrely, even in a slow economy, companies are actually becoming more difficult for customers to do business with—before, during and after purchases. To see if your organization is creating these unnecessary hassles for your customers, take this mini-quiz. Then consider using the accompanying tips I talk about in my customer service seminars and speeches.

When customers arrive early

Do you force your customers to wait outside your establishment until the minute you are officially open? Worse, do you rush them out the door or bar them from entering as closing time approaches? Ever seen customers standing outside a business pointing at their wrists to store employees, trying to compare whose watch is right?

Fortunately, there is a helpful tip on avoiding this hassle that I learned at a convention where I was the opening keynote speaker and the other presenter was Roly Morris, CEO of Krispy Kreme operations in Canada. Roly explained they have a practice called ten before, ten after… meaning they are open for business (and answering phones) ten minutes before they are open, and they remain open (and answering phones) ten minutes after posted closing. Of course, you have to pay employees for the staggered times, but the good will and extra revenues you’ll generate make this a worthwhile investment.

When making buying decisions

Are your customers faced with too may choices? It’s fine to have a large selection to attract customers, but forcing customers to make too many decisions creates stress and buying resistance. As products and services become more complex, customers are increasingly afraid of making the wrong decision. Fortunately, your employees can reduce this customer stress while boosting your revenues, using the rule of three. Here’s how it works.

If you offer your customers only two choices, they may simply opt for the less expensive. However, using the rule of three, your employees would consider all the products and services you offer and narrow them to the top three most suitable for that customer. Interestingly, if you offer three choices from least to most expensive, customers will typically choose the middle option. That means that offering three choices not only helps your customer make easier buying decisions… it also helps steer them away from choosing the cheapest item. Less hassle, more buying. Everybody wins.

When there’s a problem

Can your customers return products to your location, or are they expected to have kept the original packaging and ship it to the manufacturer? Do they face a huge waiting line at the ‘customer service’ desk that’s understaffed and over-grumped? Do you give customers any compensation or even an apology for the inconvenience of having to return a defective product?

Some managers appear to believe that making dissatisfied customers run a gauntlet discourages product returns. Actually, it discourages your customers from returning. If you plan on keeping customers over the long term, you know that sooner or later they’re likely to have a problem. That’s an opportunity for you to demonstrate that you are indeed different from your competitors.

So how did your company do in this quiz? For most organizations, there are at least some opportunities to reduce the hassle factor for customers. The good news is these types of adjustments to customer service are simple. They reduce complexity and bureaucracy.

Our corporate clients report that the payoff is worth it in terms of strengthened customer loyalty, increased spending per customers, and enhanced team spirit. Not bad for simply making the customers’ buying experience hassle-free.

This article is based on the bestselling book, Becoming a Service Icon in 90 Minutes a Month by customer service strategist and certified professional speaker, Jeff Mowatt. To obtain your own copy of his book or to inquire about engaging Jeff for your team, visit www.jeffmowatt.com or call 1-800-JMowatt (566-9288).

Posted by Jameel in Growing Your Biz on May 13th, 2011

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Pay Attention!: How to Listen, Respond and Profit from Customer Feedback

By Ann Thomas and Jill Applegate
Published by John Wiley & Sons ISBN: 9780470563557
Copyright (c) 2010 by Ann Thomas
From the Book Jacket

Your customers are talking about you. Are you listening? Whether they use social networks, online tools, or a myriad of other media, your customers are reviewing you, rating you, and ranting about you to friends, peers, and perfect strangers. Disappoint your customers with poor service and they won’t take it quietly. Give them a great experience and they will become powerful and loyal advocates, pointing others your way. Customer interaction today is a whole new ballgame; are you prepared to play and win? Pay Attention! enables you to successfully navigate today’s customer feedback landscape and turn that feedback into your competitive edge. By outlining the complete Pay Attention system, this up-to-the-minute guide gives you a practical, step-by-step toolbox you can use immediately to achieve topnotch customer interactions. The fundamental customer-business relationship is changing. Companies that understand and adapt to the new rules will beat the competition and gain market share. Pay Attention! offers a proven system you can use to revitalize the way you approach your customers and customer service, while gaining major business insights in the process. The next level of customer interaction, acquisition, and retention awaits you; all you need is to Pay Attention!

Brief Excerpt

The Power of Online Megaphones

Long gone are the days when customers made their voices heard only through 800 numbers, email messages, or face-to-face interactions, or by telling neighbors over the back fence how horrible–or surprisingly wonderful–was the service they received at the dry cleaner, local restaurant, bank, or website. Now they more commonly speak through the virtual megaphones known as Twitter, Facebook, MySpace and other social networking sites, as well as by posting reviews of businesses they frequent on sites like Yelp or CitySearch. Many more make their voices heard through discussion boards and dedicated product review areas on company websites. Although accurate user numbers are hard to come by, it’s safe to say many millions of people are using these tools on a daily basis. “An entire generation is growing up that will never dial a 1-800 number to reach customer care,” says Amanda Mooney, a digital media strategist with Edelman Digital, a division of Edelman Public Relations. But it isn’t just teenagers or twenty-somethings using social media. According to a 2009 study from Pew Internet and the American Life Project, the median age of Facebook users is now 33, up from 26 in May 2008; the median age of Twitter users is 31 and LinkedIn users is 39. Businesses of all sizes also have become regular users of social networks to market products, keep tabs on consumer opinions and engage customers on the turf where they feel most comfortable.

When today’s customers are upset by customer service experiences, the first place many turn to vent their frustrations is the Web. A 2008 study by TARP Worldwide Inc., an Arlington, Virginia-based customer service research firm, found, for example, that twelve percent of dissatisfied online customers told their “buddy lists” about the experience–lists that average more than sixty persons. On average, four times more people on the Web hear about negative experiences than positive ones, according to TARP research.

 About the Authors

Ann Thomas is coauthor of 101 Activities for Delivering Knock Your Socks Off Service, and the senior consultant and lead facilitator with Performance Research Associates (PRA) since 1999. Her work focuses on improving service quality, diversity awareness, generational differences, sales, performance management, and professional development. Ann brings nearly thirty years’ experience in consulting and training to each of her clients, including Marriott ExecuStay, Accenture, the Securities and Exchange Commission, and many others. Ann is also a member of the faculty for the American Management Association and is a regular presenter for Progressive Business Conferences. Jill Applegate is project manager and client coordinator with Performance Research Associates. She served as right hand to the late Ron Zemke for nearly fifteen years and takes seriously the responsibility of wowing customers. Jill works closely with PRA clients to ensure that their efforts hit the mark. She is also a coauthor of 101 Activities for Delivering Knock Your Socks Off Service.

 

Posted by Jameel in Book of the Month on April 13th, 2011

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Customer service 101: People before profits

As the explosion in social media networks continues, word of mouth will have a more powerful effect than ever on whether your audience is hearing positive or negative things about your business.

That’s because the opinion of a friend or acquaintance is more trusted than any other type of communication or advertising and it can have a profound impact on how potential customers view your company – not to mention your bottom line. So it’s important that you not only provide quality products or services but that you also respond to queries or concerns with consistent and top-notch customer service.

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Entrepreneur.com suggests that you create a customer service policy early on in the life of your venture to ensure it becomes properly embedded in your company’s culture.

Here are some customer service basics to think about and move on right away:

· Put your customer service policy in writing: “It doesn’t have to be elaborate. Something as simple as ‘The customer is always right’ can lay the necessary groundwork.”

· Give employees clear instructions: “[Establish] systems [that] will help you outservice any competitor by giving more to customers and anticipating problems before they arise” and make sure your employees understand how good service relates to the success of your company.

· Measure and reward: Develop a measurement of what superior customer service is and reward your employees for following through.

Inc.com offers another smart and practical idea: react before the customer realizes anything is wrong:

“Let’s say a diner hasn’t touched his or her food. If the waiter asks specific questions (I noticed you haven’t touched your chicken. Did it taste okay?) and replaces the dish or removes it from the bill, it is ‘exponentially more beneficial,’” says customer service expert, Andy Fromm.

You’ll find seven more practical tips for basic customer service here.

Has a customer service experience left you exasperated? Write us!

Posted by Lynnette in Growing Your Biz on July 15th, 2010

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How to win customers and influence loyalty: Part II of IV

By Donna Marrin

clip_image002As illustrated in Dale Carnegie’s Winning Friends and Influencing People, and Robert Fulghum’s All I Really Need To Know, I Learned In Kindergarten, there is a basic formula for dealing with people that guarantees positive results: the degree of effort we invest in relationship-building with potential customers dictates the degree of loyalty they will return. One plus two equals three. The formula comprises one part basic psychology and one part common sense, yet relationship-building is one of the first areas to be neglected when we become consumed with the many other levels of multi-tasking required for running a business.

So many business owners forget the fact that making a sale is a bonus, not the ultimate reward—if you look at the big picture. Winning customer loyalty by ensuring they will want to deal exclusively with your business is a victory well worth capturing.

Consider your own experiences as a customer in the marketplace. What will convince you to choose one particular supplier over all the other similar suppliers out there? When a new competitor appears with a better offer, what action has your favored supplier taken to establish your loyalty? What past examples of customer service have driven you to sing praises about a particular business to your friends and associates?

Think back to those businesses that stand out positively in your mind. What did they do that made them shine?

The methods that these businesses used to attract and capture your interest are the same techniques that you can use to attract customers to your business services or products and engage their loyalty for the long haul.

Human nature is such that all people desire courteous, genuine customer service that works hard to accommodate their needs when and where they decide to spend their hard-earned money. Studies have shown that people are even willing to pay more for a product or service in return for white-glove treatment. Every human being has a need to feel special.

Be creative in your presentation to your customers. Try to think of ideas that your competitors haven’t considered. What unique approaches can you come up with that will make your customers feel truly good about spending their money on your services or products?

Visit tomorrow for Part III of this four-part series, where I’ll share the first of six valuable tips for winning customers and influencing loyalty.

 

Donna Marrin is a freelance Senior Writer/Editor specializing in corporate communications and advertising. She also founded and runs the Markham Village Writers. You can visit their website at www.markhamvillagewriters.com

Posted by Lynnette in Growing Your Biz on February 22nd, 2010

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