Dear Reader,
Thank you for visiting, but please visit my new customer service blog and article website at http://www.Hyken.com/blog This Blogspot blog was incorporated into my new website in March 2011. The new website has all of the resources you see here, plus a whole lot more. As you visit the new location for this blog, I hope you will update your bookmarks and share the new location (http://www.Hyken.com/blog) with your friends.
New Customer Service Blog and Articles Website: http://www.Hyken.com/blog
Tuesday, March 08, 2011
Thursday, March 03, 2011
Keeping the Customer Satisfied with Recovery
Someone once said…
“99% customer satisfaction is meaningless when your customer is in that lone 1%.”
In my speeches I talk about making NO MISTAKES! But, is that realistic? I don’t think so. “No mistakes” is a goal. Making mistakes is part of life and business. It is how the mistake is handled that makes the difference. Here is the goal. If you have a mistake – and hopefully it isn’t very often – you not only fix it, but give the customer a renewed confidence to continue to do business with you. It is about “recovery.”
Example: Let’s say you are in a restaurant. The meal you ordered isn’t cooked the way you like it. The server will usually take the meal back to the kitchen and replace or “fix” it. Next time they bring it to you it is hopefully fine. That brings it back to okay. What could make it better? If the server does it with an excellent attitude.
Sometimes restaurants feel compelled to take the price of the bad meal off of the bill. Not only do they fix it with the right attitude, but they also give it to you free. Sounds like an expensive strategy to me!
I’m not saying that the restaurant shouldn’t give something away for free. Many of my clients in many different types of businesses do. But most of the time I will tell clients that it is not necessary to give anything away at all. Charge the full price! Just do it with the right attitude!
By the way, if your business does feel inclined to give something away for free, if possible give it away the next time. This gives the customer even more of a reason to want to come back.
The bottom line is this: No matter how good you are, at some point you are going to have a mistake, complaint, etc. It is the way you handle the situation that renews customer confidence. In spite of the mistake, you want customers to want to come back. And when they do, you had better make sure you do it right!
Shep Hyken, CSP, CPAE is a professional speaker and Wall Street Journal best-selling author who works with companies who want to develop loyal relationships with their customers and employees. For more information on Shep's speaking programs, books, dvd's and learning programs please contact (314)692-2200. Email: shep@hyken.com – Web:http://www.hyken.com – Click here for information on The Customer Focus™ customer service training programs http://www.TheCustomerFocus.com).
Someone once said…
“99% customer satisfaction is meaningless when your customer is in that lone 1%.”
In my speeches I talk about making NO MISTAKES! But, is that realistic? I don’t think so. “No mistakes” is a goal. Making mistakes is part of life and business. It is how the mistake is handled that makes the difference. Here is the goal. If you have a mistake – and hopefully it isn’t very often – you not only fix it, but give the customer a renewed confidence to continue to do business with you. It is about “recovery.”
Example: Let’s say you are in a restaurant. The meal you ordered isn’t cooked the way you like it. The server will usually take the meal back to the kitchen and replace or “fix” it. Next time they bring it to you it is hopefully fine. That brings it back to okay. What could make it better? If the server does it with an excellent attitude.
Sometimes restaurants feel compelled to take the price of the bad meal off of the bill. Not only do they fix it with the right attitude, but they also give it to you free. Sounds like an expensive strategy to me!
I’m not saying that the restaurant shouldn’t give something away for free. Many of my clients in many different types of businesses do. But most of the time I will tell clients that it is not necessary to give anything away at all. Charge the full price! Just do it with the right attitude!
By the way, if your business does feel inclined to give something away for free, if possible give it away the next time. This gives the customer even more of a reason to want to come back.
The bottom line is this: No matter how good you are, at some point you are going to have a mistake, complaint, etc. It is the way you handle the situation that renews customer confidence. In spite of the mistake, you want customers to want to come back. And when they do, you had better make sure you do it right!
Shep Hyken, CSP, CPAE is a professional speaker and Wall Street Journal best-selling author who works with companies who want to develop loyal relationships with their customers and employees. For more information on Shep's speaking programs, books, dvd's and learning programs please contact (314)692-2200. Email: shep@hyken.com – Web:http://www.hyken.com – Click here for information on The Customer Focus™ customer service training programs http://www.TheCustomerFocus.com).
Tuesday, March 01, 2011
The Real Customer Experience through the Eyes of Your Customers
You may have watched the CBS hit TV show “Undercover Boss.” If you aren’t familiar with the show, each week the cameras follow around a corporate executive who goes “undercover” to participate in various jobs. They get a first hand look at how their decisions impact the employees and their morale – and much more.
Yes, it a bit of “Hollywood,” but don’t miss the incredible lesson it can teach us. I read an article in the Detroit Free Press (www.Freep.com) that featured David Dillon, the chairman and CEO of Kroger, one of the largest grocery store chains in the world. Dillon gets out from behind his desk and spends time in the stores, standing in lines with customers and listening to their comments. He gets a view from his customers’ perspectives with the intention of learning how to make their experience even better.
According to the article in Freep.com, Dillon tells Wall Street analysts that Kroger gets sophisticated data from Dunnhumby, a marketing company based in London. However, the data can only tell part of the story, which is why Dillon chooses to “go undercover” to mingle with his customers and get first hand consumer experience.
Do you need to go undercover? Of course not! This is just one way of gathering important customer information. Twenty plus years ago I wrote about how Anheuser-Busch executives took time to ride in the delivery trucks to see what was happening in the field. They would talk to the owners of grocery stores, restaurants, convenience stores – anywhere that sold Anheuser-Busch products. They didn’t go undercover, but they had the right idea. They wanted to get first hand information from their customers. Perhaps that is why they are at the top of their industry.
This type of program shouldn’t be reserved for high-level executives. What if you developed a program where key employees spent time mingling with their customers? I bet they would bring back some very insightful comments that could help all employees understand the importance of what they do.
The goal is simple: Learn through the eyes of your customers.
Shep Hyken, CSP, CPAE is a professional speaker and Wall Street Journal best-selling author who works with companies who want to develop loyal relationships with their customers and employees. For more information on Shep's speaking programs, books, dvd's and learning programs please contact (314)692-2200. Email: shep@hyken.com – Web:http://www.hyken.com – Click here for information on The Customer Focus™ customer service training programs http://www.TheCustomerFocus.com).
You may have watched the CBS hit TV show “Undercover Boss.” If you aren’t familiar with the show, each week the cameras follow around a corporate executive who goes “undercover” to participate in various jobs. They get a first hand look at how their decisions impact the employees and their morale – and much more.
Yes, it a bit of “Hollywood,” but don’t miss the incredible lesson it can teach us. I read an article in the Detroit Free Press (www.Freep.com) that featured David Dillon, the chairman and CEO of Kroger, one of the largest grocery store chains in the world. Dillon gets out from behind his desk and spends time in the stores, standing in lines with customers and listening to their comments. He gets a view from his customers’ perspectives with the intention of learning how to make their experience even better.
According to the article in Freep.com, Dillon tells Wall Street analysts that Kroger gets sophisticated data from Dunnhumby, a marketing company based in London. However, the data can only tell part of the story, which is why Dillon chooses to “go undercover” to mingle with his customers and get first hand consumer experience.
Do you need to go undercover? Of course not! This is just one way of gathering important customer information. Twenty plus years ago I wrote about how Anheuser-Busch executives took time to ride in the delivery trucks to see what was happening in the field. They would talk to the owners of grocery stores, restaurants, convenience stores – anywhere that sold Anheuser-Busch products. They didn’t go undercover, but they had the right idea. They wanted to get first hand information from their customers. Perhaps that is why they are at the top of their industry.
This type of program shouldn’t be reserved for high-level executives. What if you developed a program where key employees spent time mingling with their customers? I bet they would bring back some very insightful comments that could help all employees understand the importance of what they do.
The goal is simple: Learn through the eyes of your customers.
Shep Hyken, CSP, CPAE is a professional speaker and Wall Street Journal best-selling author who works with companies who want to develop loyal relationships with their customers and employees. For more information on Shep's speaking programs, books, dvd's and learning programs please contact (314)692-2200. Email: shep@hyken.com – Web:http://www.hyken.com – Click here for information on The Customer Focus™ customer service training programs http://www.TheCustomerFocus.com).
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