Customerspective

Costco Concierge Service

Costco has long been appreciated by its members for its "no hassle" return policy. Recently, however, they've seen an increase in costly high-end electronics returns. Their response? Costco decided to launch a concierge service to provide expert installation and training.

Rather than implementing a company-centric cost-cutting measure of restricting returns, Costco took the time to examine the underlying causes for these returns. By talking with customers Costco learned that the main reasons for the returns was difficulty in set-up, installation and familiarization with advanced features/functions. Costco examined how to improve the experience for the customer and, as a result, found an opportunity to launch this service which:

1. Produces additional service revenues;
2. Reduces cost of returns; and
3. Increases customer loyalty.

Focus on the customer and see profits rise. What a concept!

Aetna Reaps the Rewards of a Customer-focused Turnaround Strategy

Being an avid reader of the Black Enterprise monthly publication, I am always encouraged to read articles where business executives of successful enterprises, big and small, testify and resoundingly insist that putting the relationship with their customers at the forefront of their company goals resulted in significant rewards.

And the September, 2006 issue was no exception. Black Enterprise featured an article on Ronald Williams the current CEO (and soon-to-be Chairman) of Aetna. In his 5 years of leadership at Aetna, Williams brought the organization from the verge of near bankruptcy to being one of the most successful healthcare organizations in the industry today. During his tenure, Williams and Jack Rowe (the current chairman), engineered one of the most successful corporate turnarounds in recent American history.

William's turnaround strategy? Along with good senior leadership and restoring employee pride at Aetna, his focus on targeting customer segments and developing new products within various lines of business contributed to Aetna's turnaround success. He insisted that understanding your customers' needs was an important component in succeeding in your product development.

"...Customers are at the center of what you do, and we win or lose by our willingness to listen to what they tell us. Lots of companies listen but don't do anything. If you listen and take action, then it could be extremely effective". (Pg 102).

Read more about the importance of listening to your customers and how you can win with this strategy.

Don't name customers after your coffee

There's a new employee at my usual Loop Starbucks that started a few months ago. He isn't like the rest of the coldly efficient staff—he's perky, talkative and relentlessly chipper. I'm an antisocial morning person, so for a couple of months I tried to avoid the line with him at the register whenever possible.

But then, one strangely outgoing day, I told him that the employees at a different Starbucks nicknamed me "Tall Mild" because that's all I ever ordered. He said "That's a shame. They should have learned your name, and called you that. What’s your name? I promise to try my best to learn it and call you that from now on." So I told him my name, and after a day of being reminded, he learned it, greeting me whenever I walked in the door.

And you know what? Despite my usual predilection for robotic efficiency, I kind of like the attention. It's pretty cool to be personally recognized in this usually anonymous coffee chain of interchangeable locations and rapid employee turnover.

But how do you feel? Would you rather be served in an efficient, polite yet detached manner, or a warm, personalized approach? And how does a business best accommodate both moods, especially when they may occur in the same person on different days?

Everyone's a Publisher

I was reading a recent study by the Patricia Seybold Group (posted on ATG's website) and was struck by a comment by Susan Aldrich:

"In 1995, unbeknownst to almost all of us, the majority of businesses in the world were catapulted into the publishing business."

It's true that burgeoning online communication channels make it more and more obvious which companies do not understand how to make it easy for customers to interact with them. And the wealth of self-service channels, and easily available content makes it imperative that companies put some strong analytical thought into publication systems, processes and measurements.

I would contend that, like a top-notch human resources practice, having a well defined publishing model for business information was a necessary competence for well-run companies prior to the internet. The internet merely made it more transparent and obvious when a company is not customer-centric. Both the digitization of information, and customer expectations of self-service empowerment, now, more than ever, require that companies continuously investigate customer goals, and the processes customers would like to go through to acheive those goals.

In other words, good companies think critically about the customer experience, and design processes, content and interfaces to make that the best experience possible. Is that such a surprise?

Right or Wrong, Please Just Listen

When "the customer is always right" mantra is called into question, it can throw you. When I moved recently with a local moving company, I was apparently not charged enough for my move (the movers made a mathematical error) and the company decided to charge me for the mistake. “But, it’s your error,” I explained, as I continued to debate the payment situation with the company. They told me that their movers worked a “really long day” and therefore, could not be blamed for the error.

As the customer, I’ll admit: I’m not always right. It was an honest mistake on the mover’s part. But what really irked me was that I felt like the company didn’t listen to me or even try to see the problem from my perspective. Rather, they threatened to send out a collections agency after me.

I don't have to be right.  However, I do want to develop a new mantra:  the customer always deserves your ear.  What do you think?

Less Can Be Better...

At least in terms of product marketing information and packaging design...

... that is unless you're making sure your product's features are not forgotten.

Customer Experience would be easy if it wasn't for customers...

I always understood that it can be difficult to please a customer, but I never gave much thought about why.  Seth Godin has some curious insights though on that matter in two of his recent blog entries: What People Want and The Thing About the Wind.

My two cents to companies: Listen very carefully to your customers and understand them as if you were in their shoes.  Without that, you may be catering to your customers’ every whim without ever giving them what they really want.

Luis Serpa – Customer Experience Consultant
Vox Inc – www.voxinc.com

Geek Marketing

The fine folks over at Creating Passionate Users have some interesting thoughts on marketing and dispell a few "geek marketing myths".  To many geek types marketing means selling out, but is moral superiority just an excuse they use when nobody buys their stuff? The writer, Kathy Sierra, reaches out to the geeks and makes the analogy that a good marketer is like a good lover.

"The real issue is about how you define "authentic", "honest", "real", and "selling out." That's where the marketing-as-good-lover model comes in. A good lover is NOT afraid of finding out what his (or her) partner wants. A good lover does NOT view it as "selling out" if he does things simply because it's what the other person wants. A good lover does NOT believe it's a compromise to try to be more popular, if being popular means making things more stimulating, exciting, sexy, enticing, compelling, appealing, and attractive. A good lover respects that our perception matters. A good lover respects and trusts us. A good lover takes a shower and puts on a clean shirt."

Read the full blog.

 

How to Create A Very Unsatisfied Customer in 10 Easy Steps

1. Tell your customer when they call you to upgrade their service that everything is no problem and at the end of the call, prompt your customer to answer the leading question, "Were you very satisfied with your service today?

2. Don’t implement the changes to their service.

3. Take a 2nd call from your customer who’s asking why upgrades weren’t made and explain what they wanted actually couldn’t be done but you’ll do it another way.

4. Before ending 2nd call, ask your customer to answer the leading question, "Were you very satisfied with your service today?

5. Don’t implement the changes to their service.

6. Take a 3rd call from your customer and tell them that yes, their changes were made and send their call to your help desk.

7. At the help desk, tell your customer that no, your upgrades weren’t made but I’ll pass you onto a salesperson who can place the order.

8. Take the service order from your customer for a 3rd time. Ask your customer to answer the leading question, "Were you very satisfied with your service today?

9. When your customer says, no, they aren’t not very satisfied with the service and why, boldly tell them that they will be satisfied because the service will be upgraded within the day.

10. When the customer tells you that you are the 5th person they have talked to in 3 weeks about an upgrade that should have been done within 24 hours, raise their blood pressure by proclaiming, "But you are very satisified, right?" Quote. Unquote.

11. (Optional): Listen to the silence of the very unsatisfied customer hanging up on you. Look at the clock to see when your next break is.

Sigh.

A Customer Service Standard?

Last week I came across an article, Microsoft Backs GetHuman Customer Service Plan, discussing Microsoft's support of an initiative to standardize automated service on telephone-based customer support systems.

Supposedly this would provide a better experience for customers and you would be able to recognize GetHuman "compliant" businesses via a set of audio tones that a customer service system can play to indicate this standard to callers.

I must admit that I doubt the future success of this effort... Until it - and companies - go so far as to pledge that customers can, at any time during a call to customer service, hit "0" and have a live person within 60 seconds (max!), it will do little, other than maybe offering better hold music to our ears.

Will this GetHuman-Microsoft effort really help?  What are your thoughts?