Creating Devoted Customers with Imaginative Service

IMAGINATIVE SERVICE: HAPPY PROCESSES

What is a service process?  A service process can be defined from two perspectives.  From the inside looking out, it is a collection of procedures and practices that govern a complete operation.  Bottom line, it is the means that organizations use to deliver service to customers. From customers’ viewpoints, however, it is what an organization puts them through to get what they need or want.  Given the high level of importance that customers today place on their experience, making certain your processes are “happy” is critical for service success.

The term “happy process” originated with one of our international clients.  We were grappling for a way to explain the meaning of process alignment as a part of developing company wide service standards and norms.  Our client thought about the end result and suggested that one outcome of alignment might be “happy processes.”  The label proved to be a powerful metaphor that vastly contributed to understanding and efficiency in the company-wide alignment effort.  

Customers do not generally desire a service process.  Most would prefer to simply snap their fingers and instantly get the product or outcome they desire. Granted, some organizations have created processes so delightful customers look forward to going through the hoops.   Yet, the primary rationale for installing processes is to insure that service is delivered consistently, efficiently and productively.  

My wife and I recently encountered a very unhappy process from our cellular provider. I have been generally pleased with our cellular provider’s customer service so the recent experience was a bit surprising. As so often happens, the company changed a policy that impacted the customer but failed to effectively communicate the change to customers. The result?  An extreme inconvenience for my wife and I.  When I spoke with a manager about the policy change the situation got uglier. The manager instantly threw the organization “under the bus.” “I am sorry for the inconvenience,” he began. “They changed the policy and I don’t know why. It doesn’t make sense.”

The secret to maintaining processes in a state of “happiness” is to remember they are means, not ends.  They are the ultimate servant in the quest for customer loyalty and devotion.  Treating them as a common slave may give you process acquiescence and ultimately customer distain.  But treating them as a contributing partner will yield you process alignment and customer devotion.

In this case the front line and the customer agreed on the degree of unhappiness of the process. Where’s leadership? What other processes have been turned into unhappy ones? Have you analyzed your processes from the employee and customer’s perspective?  Are your processes in sync with the type of experience your organization strives to deliver?

Twenty Five Ways to Show Your Loyalty to Your Customers

 

Most customer relationships don't end in conflict.  Most vanilla to death.  Neglect is more dangerous than strife; indifference more costly than error.  Great relationships are fueled by affirmation.  Nurturing the bounty of customer loyalty requires more than proper cultivation and seeding.  It must be fertilized with attention and care.  

Courting the customer does not end with the sale or transaction.  Superior service providers never take a valued relationship for granted and remain ever vigil for ways to celebrate the joy of the partnership and express gratitude for the return it provides.    

Below are twenty-five ways to show your loyalty to your customers.  Use this list to jump start  your own list.  Amplify the items to suit your situation and customer.  Remember, what turns on one customer may be a turn off to another.  Recognition comes from the root  word "cognoscere" meaning "to know."  Tailor your affirmation.

• Invite a customer to an important staff meeting
• Arrange for a special learning experience for customers
• Hand write a thank you note to a key customer
• Send customers greeting cards on all key holidays
• Name a policy, building, or conference room for a key customer
• Provide a special parking space for a key customer
• Start a fund or scholarship in the name of a key customer
• Provide a donation in the name of your customer to his/her favorite charity
• Provide a special discount for loyal customers
• Create a forum that allows for public recognition of customers
• Remember a customer's birthday in a unique and personalized way
• Send customers a subscription to a magazine they value
• Buy helpful books for key customers (like this ours, just kidding.)
• Invite customers to you home for a cookout
• Provide tickets to an event valued by the customer
• Nominate your customer for a special award
• Find a way to compliment your customer to their customer
• Put up pictures of your customer in the cafeteria
• Invite customers to your facility to talk about their needs and goals to all    employees
• Feature key customers in your organization's newsletter
• Give your customer a gift that you won; like a weekend at __.
• Poll your customer for their input on important changes you plan to make
• Ask your customer for advice on how to better run your organization
• Purchase an ad in a key publication to thank your customers
• Have an executive write a thank you letter to a key customer

 

Five Things We Know For Sure About Today's Customers

 

Customers today are Picky--more cautious in their choices (and they have many more choices) and interested only in getting obvious value for their money.  They are well-informed about choices, smarter in choice-making, and selective in whom they elect to join. 

 

They are Fickle--much quicker to leave if unhappy.  They not only show a lower tolerance for error, they will exit just on account of plain old indifferent service. The hype of a brand name means little in deterring the disappointed customer's exit.

 

Customers today are Vocal--more apt to rapidly (and loudly) register concerns with their higher standards for value and their expectation of getting a tailored response.  They assertively tell others their views of service; they also listen to fellow customers' reviews and make choices without even giving the organization a chance.

 

Finally, they are Vain--expecting treatment that telegraphs they are special and unique, not just one of the masses.  This customer narcissism has been forged both through the pampering provided by service providers as well as their new found muscle to get their way in the marketplace.

 

This Picky-Fickle-Vocal-Vain moniker represents a dramatic shift in what is required to insure customer loyalty--the stuff of growth and profits.  That shift has resulted in customer requirements for value being very out-of-sync with the tried and true methods organizations have relied on for years.  When front line employees deliver service that fulfils the customer's stated needs, they are taken aback when customers give them less than satisfactory grades.  When a small gaffe triggers volcano-like customer uproar, front line employees believe they have met a deranged deviant with an attitude problem, not just a typical customer acting on instincts honed from countless disappointments. 

 

And now, for the big kahuna!  Today's Picky-Fickle-Vocal-Vain customers are also wired.  Word of mouse has replaced word of mouth as the most viral means of gossip, grousing and groaning about last night's slow restaurant service, yesterday's rude sales clerk or this morning's glitch on Acme.com.  Today, internet connections, whether blogs, tweets or other forms of social media, have five times the impact of traditional word of mouth.  The average post is read by over 45 people today.  And, the viral effect is enormous.  When songwriter Dave Carroll had a run-in with United Airlines over damage to his guitar in their baggage handling, he penned a song and hung it on YouTube.  Over nine million people watched.  The Economist blog estimates it cost United Airlines about $180M. 

 

What steps are you taking to more effectively deal with today's customers?  Ignore it and you become a has-been; treat it as an opportunity and your create advocates.

 

Adapted from Wired and Dangerous:  How Customers Have Changed and What To Do About it by Chip R. Bell and John R. Patterson (SF: Berrett-Koehler Publishing, 2011--due in bookstores and your favorite e-tailer in May, 2011).

Imaginative Service: Are you allergic to service recovery?

I am allergic to just about everything that is green and grows as well as to my favorite pets – two yellow labs. For as long as I can remember I have taken monthly shots of magic serum to combat the nasty symptoms.

On a recent visit to the business end of a needle, I witnessed amazing service recovery in action. I arrived and signed in as usual. Amy, one of my favorite nurses, was on shot duty.  We exchanged a warm greeting. But, I knew something was out of whack when I waited more than five minutes. I could hear the doors of the serum cooler open and close.   The sound of serum vials being moved echoed across the waiting room.  It sounded like a search for a lost vial.

“John, we are having trouble finding your vials,” Amy exclaimed with an upset tone in her voice. “I am getting some help to look for it and wanted to let you know that I am going to take the next two people while we try to find your serum. I wanted you to know what had happened and I wanted to explain why these people were being treated before you,” she said with great concern. “I am so sorry you have to wait and I am sure we will find your vials.”

Amy had followed the service recovery prescription we teach our clients:  she quickly informed me of the problem, apologized for my inconvenience, alerted me she was serving others while they worked to remedy the situation, and informed me she was calling in reinforcements to help solve the problem.

I worked on my iPhone for a few minutes.  Suddenly, Amy appeared to warmly exclaim that they had found my vials. “Someone had placed them in the “Ms” instead of the “Ps”” she sternly stated. I clearly got the impression that the guilty party would be dealt with!

When I went to get my shots I was treated like a king.  There were apologies from all of Amy’s helpers, extra stickers for free parking, and more assurances that it wouldn’t happen again. “Thanks for being so understanding,” Amy stated.  I thought to myself: it wasn’t hard to be understanding after watching these service recovery pros in action.

Is your organization allergic to service recovery? Does your organization have a plan for service recovery? Do your employees know how to fix a disappointed customer as well as how to fix their problem?

Imaginative Service: Is Your Service Edgy?

The weather was the type that drives you indoors on a Saturday afternoon.  It had been a hard travel week and I needed some unwind time; perfect conditions for two back-to-back Academy Award winning best picture movies.  The first was the 1995 winner—Braveheart;  the second was the 1996 winner--The English Patient.  

The order of movie viewing was a big mistake.  I only watched 2/3rds of the second movie.  Now, before you play the “Guy Movie” card, you should know I actually prefer movies with more plot and less gore.  But, Braveheart was so “in your face,” heart-pounding edgy that The English Patient seemed plain vanilla by contrast.  The first movie made me ready to go out in the front yard and charge something; the second made me ready for bed.

I was on the Zappo.com website buying my wife a pair of shoes.  I needed to get a bit of help from their call center smart person.  The experience was terrific…and, a lot of fun.  Then, I tried to order a shirt from another well-known e-tailer, including a conversation with their call center helper.  The second experience was as unexciting as The English Patient.  

Customers are generally bored with service these days.  They long for Braveheart edgy. They want sparkly and glittery; a cherry on top of everything.  And, when they get edgy, every other service provider is compared to that memorable experience. 

So, what are you doing to stimulate all your customer’s senses?  Think of the service provider with the most passion, most pizzazz, or greatest boldness.  What if you invited them to reinvent your service experience?  How can you decorate your customer’s experience in a way that makes it exciting, original, fun, entertaining, unusual, special, different, amazing, or any other descriptor that can take your customer’s breath away? 

Imaginative Service: Injecting TLC into the Experience

“I just love to fly” exclaimed Roxie our flight attendant on Delta 5482 from Atlanta to NW Arkansas Regional Airport. “Can you believe they pay me to do this continued Roxie?”  We were greeted warmly as we entered the plane but we began to notice a difference as Roxie helped everyone get seated and came back to instruct those of us in the Exit Rows.  Roxie went way beyond the FAA mandated eye contact and verbal response that is now required. “I really appreciate you all helping me out” stated Roxie in her warmest southern tone. “Now please look carefully at the instructions and let me know if you have any questions. And thanks again for helping us out today.” Instead of the few lucky passengers with extra leg room we now felt as thought we were officially Roxie’s deputies empowered to assist in an emergency!

As the safety announcements for the small jet began we saw more of the same. Roxie stopped the normal script at the seat belt instruction and told us she would be watching closely to make sure we not only fastened our seat belt but that we also pulled it snug and kept it low. She then provided extra instruction on the use of the oxygen masks that would deploy in the event of an emergency. It was amazing how much Roxie had boosted our experience with extra instruction and an obvious extra large dose of TLC!

As Roxie began the typical refreshment service the TLC continued. Although our flight was only an hour and a half, Roxie was up and down the aisle several times refilling everybody’s soda and making sure whoever was hungry got a snack. When we stopped Roxie to tell her what a great job she was doing, she could only exclaim how lucky she was to be flying with Delta! Our guess is that Roxie is a very young mid sixties and she told us she had just started her new career! Her TLC affected everyone in the airplane. As we left the plane there were a number of us who stopped to say a special thanks to Roxie and got a sincere hug in return!

Roxie’s attitude, warmth and commitment were inspirational! She is a true professional and she touched all of the passengers with her special brand of TLC! She made our experience an exceptional one that we will remember warmly for a long time. We are on Delta again today but without Roxie and the flight attendant just doesn’t get it. We are back to feeling like passengers rather than the special people Roxie flew with! Our experience today will not be memorable unless you like bad memories!

How many “Roxie’s” do you have in your organization who deliver a great experience to your customers every time with their special brand of TLC? Or are your customers suffering through their experience with one of your employees who clearly is there just because “it’s a job”?

Short Stories for National Customer Service Week

Bob Miller, manager of the First Watch Restaurant in Kansas City, purchased a large supply of umbrellas for his customers.  Attaching his business card to each one, he put them in a large container at the front door along with a sign that read:  "If you need an umbrella, please take one.  If you bring it back, we will  give you a free cup of coffee."

 

New Mexico Tea Company owner David Edwards' was staring at bankruptcy.  He needed a six months loan to get him from slow summer sales to profitable December.  An SBA loan would take months, the bank turned him down, and he needed cash fast.  He turned to his customers for help.  He created a clever gift card that could be purchased on PayPal--a $50 gift card purchased in the Summer but held until December could be used to buy $55 worth of tea.  A $100 gift card bought $115 worth.  The micro-lending concept was a huge success.  And, his loyal customers felt even more loyal.  People care when they share.

 

Michael Graze had been looking forward to his birthday party.  He and his mom had planned it out in great detail, inviting many of his school pals.  So when the six-year oldie's Power Rangers birthday cake from the local H-E-B grocery store arrived with Michael spelled "M-I-C-H-E-L-E" he was distraught.  The great centerpiece of the party had turned to an object of derision through a spelling error!  He swore he could never show his face in school again.When H-E-B'er Julie McCoy heard of Michael's plight from his mother, she didn't hesitate.  First, she was completely honest and took full accountability for the error.  Knowing that apologies and refunds would be small solace for a little boy's crushed spirit, she arranged for a new cake and a new party - this one at a local children's amusement park, with Michael as host and H-E-B footing the bill.

This is National Customer Service Week. What are you doing for your customers the other 51 weeks of the year?

Imaginative Service: Be Your Personal Best

When I was a boy my parents encouraged me to “be the very best.”  Back then, only the best got a trophy!  Nowadays the Wheaties® cereal box mantra has changed to “just do your very best” and all the teams get a trophy just for playing.   It’s been a source of discomfort for me for years.

Now before you jump on the “promoting self-esteem” band wagon, let me say that I do not believe a young sand lot baseball player has failed unless he or she makes it to the World Series.  But, I keep remembering hearing an interview with Olympic gold medal gymnast Mary Lou Retton in which an interviewer said: “We honestly didn’t know you had it in you.”  Smiling, she responded, “Me either.”  Mary Lou didn’t stop at some definition of her personal best—she went beyond.  When the customer service director of a client company spent a night at a Ritz-Carlton Hotel, she returned saying, “What we thought was A level service is only a C+.  We need to get much better and we didn’t even know it!”   Are you striving to be the very best or are you settling for what you think is your best?