Business Record - Iowa Biz

"Ink" the Deal with Exceptional Service

I'm a pen guy. The proper nomenclature would be to say "I'm an aficionado of fine writing instruments." While I appreciate the ease of e-mail and the power of processing text on a computer, I believe there is still a place for personal, handwritten correspondence. Love letters to my wife don't have the same impact when I tap them out on my keyboard and spit them out on an inkjet (guys, trust me on this one). A handwritten line from my own hand adds an important measure of personal intimacy to the message.

It was this interest the led my wife and I to pay a visit to Barry Rubin last week. Barry owns a pen store called Ink on the 45th floor of the IDS Tower in downtown Minneapolis. He takes an interesting approach to selling pens. There are many stores that sell writing instruments, but Barry considers himself a matchmaker. While you can find him at his store during normal hours, it's best to make an appointment. He wants you to make an appointment. Why? As his website says...

...to assure that every customer who walks through his door will be given the time and attention they deserve. At Ink, there are none of the hassles, distractions and interruptions you find at other stores. There's only you, Barry, a roomful of pens, and a world of possibility.

I called Barry and he arranged to meet me at his store on Saturday morning (see picture). True to the advertising, we spent a peaceful hour browsing the wide assortment of pens, arranged by price point, which ranged from a few bucks to much more money than you ever thought a pen could possibly be worth. Barry provided us refreshments and let us browse. A naturally jovial spirit, we were soon talking pens and he was showing us different pens to try. We each walked out with a new pen.

Ink is a great example of the power of customer service. I could buy pens from many stores. I could probably get them on-line for a buck or two cheaper. However, neither of these options would come close to replicating the experience of sitting in Ink's breathtaking 45th floor showroom. Neither option would allow me to enjoy the personal attention of a man who is passionate about his products, and equally passionate about his customers.

In these economic times, many companies are focusing on cutting corners, like employee training. Merchants are trying to preserve the bottom line at the expense of their customers' service experience. Perhaps a few companies will learn that weathering the current storm might be easier if you provide what will drive customer loyalty and what your competitors will find most difficult to copy: an exceptional customer experience.

Customer Service Beyond the Traditional Marketplace

We all expect good customer service in the marketplace. But what about applying customer service principles in organizations that aren't traditionally dependent on customer loyalty or satisfaction? Government agencies, civic offices, or libraries aren't normally competing for your money or attention. They aren't going to lose you to the competition. Health care is another area that has traditionally had a "take it or leave it" attitude towards customer service principles. There are signs, however, that this is beginning to change.

My wife and I had an appointment at the University of Iowa Hospitals last week. My wife experienced acute pain walking into her appointment. It may, or may not, have been related to the reason for her visit. Nevertheless, we were concerned. During one of her tests, the technician did something that exacerbated her discomfort. Meeting with the doctor after her test, we mentioned that she'd experienced this pain and we were concerned. The doctor did not appear concerned in the least, said that it could be almost anything, and ignored it altogether.

My wife was so distraught by the doctor's lack of concern that she had to leave the room. We left the appointment angry and frustrated. "If we were shopping for a hospital," my wife said later, "I would have walked out and never returned."

That night I went to the University of Iowa Hospital's Web site where I read that, listed among the patient's rights we should expect to "receive a timely response from your doctor or nurse whenever you report pain or discomfort."

What would I do if this had been a hotel or a department store where I received poor service? I would write and make my displeasure known! So, I scoured the hospital's Web site further to find that they had a patient representative. I wrote an e-mail detailing our experience that day, our resulting frustration and what we had expected. I sent the email late that same night.

The following morning my wife promptly received a call from the patient representative who had received our e-mail. She apologized for our experience the previous day, affirmed that my wife had every reason to be upset, and explained exactly what she was going to do to address the situation. She even asked my wife how she was feeling and asked about her pain. That afternoon the doctor with whom we'd had our appointment the previous day called to personally apologize and discuss the situation. We discussed my wife's pain and agreed on a follow up plan to try and identify and address the source of her discomfort.

Customer service should be the concern of more than just businesses hawking goods in the traditional marketplace. Any organization who serves other human beings should endeavor to apply basic customer service principles in everything they do.

The Importance of Service in Uncertain Times

The economy is what we've all been thinking about the past few weeks. How is it going to affect my clients? What's the bottom-line impact on my business? Perhaps we all should have been considering how to build customer loyalty a year or two ago. Nevetheless, there's no time like the present to start giving more than lip service to our customers.

Our group has completed countless customer satisfaction research surveys for clients over the past 20 years. While each client and each project is unique to a particular business, I have had the unique opportunity to see trends across many different businesses and customer segments.

Certain customer expectations are penalty variables. "Resolving the issue" is a great example. If I have a problem, I expect you to resolve the issue. If you don't resolve my issue, then I will penalize you by being unsatisfied. However, if you do resolve my issue I'm not going to give you much of a reward in my satisfaction. It's what I expected you to do. Period.

Other customer expectations are reward variables. These tend to be "soft skill" dimensions like "courtesy," "friendliness," and a "personable service relationship." If you perform well in these dimensions, I'm going to reward you by being even more satisfied than if you had just resolved my issue. The more I reward you, the more likely I will be a loyal customer. I want that pleasant, relational service experience along with buying my widget or receiving the services you provide.

In tough economic times, companies who have built customer loyalty tend to feel dips in the market less acutely. Wise businesses have prepared for the storm by finding out what drives their customer's satisfaction and loyalty and then delivering on those dimensions of service that keep customers wanting to come back. Even if we don't have much money to spend, we still all "want to go where everyone knows my name."

Cheers.

Creating a Customer Experience Framework

Every company is going to struggle to create and deliver a consistent customer experience. It only gets more complicated when you have a wide range of employees from competent to clueless. To that end, many companies adopt a quality program designed to make sure employees interact with customers a particular way.

One common mistake that companies make is to recognize the difference between creating a "framework" for delivering a common experience and creating a minion of impersonal robots.

Let's take greeting a customer, for example. Let's say your goal is for each customer to be greeted in a friendly, personable, invited way. If possible, you want to build on your brand recognition.

A "framework" for your employees would include certain elements that you'd like them to consistently include when greeting customers:

• A salutation ("Good morning", "Hi", "Welcome to...", "Good afternoon!" et cetera)
• Use customer's name (if it's a familiar customer)
• Inviting question ("What can I get you?" "How can I help you today?")
• Personalization (e.g. Telling a mom with kids "Looks like you've got your hands full today!" or a customer dripping from the rain "It's tough to stay dry on day like today, isn't it?")

The key with providing your employees a "Framework" of behavioral elements is that they can find a way to apply the "Frame" while letting their own personality and style shine through. Each employee can find phrasing and style that is comfortable for them and gives it their own personal twist.

The "robotic minions" style of service delivery is to give your employees a script and ask them to parrot it to every customer no matter who walks in the door and no matter what the circumstance:

"Welcome to Wenger Widgets where our widgets create a wonderful world. My name is Tom. It will be my pleasure to assist you. Could I interest you in our "Winsome Widget" today?"

Yuck! Even the best employees with the most positive of attitudes will tire of such a script - not to mention the customers who must sit and endure it.

To create a consistent customer experience, throw the script away. Provide your employees with a well-constructed framework of behaviors and then help them personalize it.

A Tale of Two Trip-Ups

My wife, daughter and I were in Colorado Springs last week. I hooked up with an old college roommate and our families went to lunch together at a local Mexican place called El Padrino. My former roommate said the place had a pretty good reputation.

As the waiter brought the tray with all of our drinks, he slipped and the drinks crashed to the table. Water, soda and salsa flew everywhere. We were completely soaked and stained. It was very uncomfortable since our pants were soaked clear through every layer. We're talking nasty soaked. Nevertheless, we moved to another table and placed our order. After mumbling a "Whoa, my bad," the server and a few other co-workers busied themselves cleaning up the mess. No one offered us an apology.

About half-way through the lunch, the manager stopped by our table. He said he'd heard that there was a little mishap, and that we should save room for dessert because he was buying.

As he walked away, we sat and stared at each other. We were dumbfounded. "Dude," I wanted to say, "your server soaked all of us so badly that we have to immediately go somewhere and change as soon as we leave. This wasn't a little spill. This was a major accident. You need to comp the lunch, not just offer to buy dessert that none of us want. Your dessert will only keep us here in our wet clothing."

Compare this experience with another "trip-up" at a different Mexican restaurant. This recently came to me in an e-mail:

My boys love going to Panchero's. They love their burritos! For a high school graduation gift this year, one of my sisters gave Zach a Pancehro's gift card. He was very excited. It was for $150.00! He saved it all summer. When he went to use it his first week of college, they told him that there was a zero balance on the card.

He came home to Ankeny this weekend and stopped into the local Panchero's
where the card was purchased. There was no manager on duty, but the young man working the counter called his manager at home. The manager asked Zach to come back in on Monday and he would take care of it. Zach walked away thinking that nothing would come of it.

Monday came and Zach returned to Pancerho's . He told the manager that he had stopped in on Saturday. The manager knew exactly what Zach was talking about and checked the balance on the card which did, indeed, read zero. Without a question, the manager rang up a new $150.00 gift card and thanked Zach.

We both looked at each other in shock. Granted, someone in our family eats in this restaurant at least twice a week, but at no time were we questioned or did he try and tell us  “this couldn't happen”.  This manager treated Zach with respect and dignity and has won our  business for life.

When mistakes happen, how you respond is critical. Avoidance, excuses and denial will drive customers away. Taking responsibility, sincerely apologizing and making things right may end up earning you a customer for life. Don't count what it's costing you to make it right. Count the cost of losing a customer for life and the negative word-of-mouth it will create.

How will you respond?

What's in a Job Title?

I have a client who has given their receptionist a name plaque for her desk. It reads "Director of First Impressions." I never cease to get a kick out of seeing it when I walk in. I have to believe that it provides the receptionist with a gentle reminder each day as she walks in to sit at her desk. Creating first impressions has got to be more motivating than "answering calls."

For some time, I've noticed that there has been a movement in many business circles to provide creative and motivating titles for their employees. While some are silly and somewhat meaningless, others are quite inventive. They motivate, inspire and remind associates of the underlying importance of their position.

ICMI recently created a post about titles given to Customer Service Representatives (CSRs). Some of the titles provided have been:

Customer Advocates

Customer Solution provider

Specialist (subject matter experts)

Asset managers (One financial service company used this -- their call representatives came up with it -- they said they protected the company's greatest assets, the customers!)

RSR (response services representatives)

Customer Care Executive

Customer Care Co-ordinator

Customer Consultant

Customer Liaison Officer

Customer Service Executive

Customer Service Professional

Telebusiness Executive

Telebusiness Professional

Telecare Executive

Telecare Professional

One company used titles to provide a sense of increasing expertise:

Service Trainee

Service Apprentice

Service Representative

Service Specialist

Senior Service Specialist

Elite Service Specialist

What about your company? Can you come up with a more creative title that will make front-line service providers smile and give them a sense of motivation, inspiration and worth? Post a comment and share your own ideas or examples you've encountered.

Great Customer Service is Personal

On a recent business trip, I found myself standing at a remote gate in the far reaches of Denver International Airport. The Des Moines flight is often at B95, a gate that is within a stone's throw of Canada. I was hoping to get on as a stand-by flier, so I showed up plenty early and waited.

As I was waiting, I watched as a girl was pushed to the gate in a wheel chair. I surmised that she had a bum leg from some sort of athletic injury and she was accompanied by, what appeared to be, her mother and sister. The wheelchair was being pushed by a small woman who was obviously not a native of the United States. If you spend any time in airports, you know that pushing passengers in wheelchairs is a menial job that is commonly performed by immigrants. I imagine that it is an entry-level position for people entering the workforce. The pay must be low and the hours must be long.

As the girl with the bum leg got out of the wheel chair, she intentionally turned to the little woman and gave her a big, long hug. Then the sister and mother gave the little woman hugs, in turn. I could tell from the body language that they were truly grateful and appreciative of this woman who was half their height and spoke broken English.

What does a diminutive woman who barely speaks English bring to her job to make these girls and their mother shower her with hugs? I have watched many wheelchairs getting pushed in airports. I don't see passengers smiling and doling out hugs very often.

The woman made a personal connection with her customers. They weren't just another "passenger," another "pick up," or another "drop off." In the time that she picked them up at their arrival gate and pushed them to B95 (Granted, it's a long hike. Plenty of time to chat.) she had become a friend.

Great Customer Service requires that you serve people. You can't serve a number in line, a phone call, an order, or a transaction. While your interaction may last seconds or minutes, you should treat each customer as a human being with a name and a worthwhile story. You should approach each customer as a person of inherent worth.

When you serve people your job begins to make a difference, even if a minor one, in a person's day. Your monotonous tasks take on new meaning. You're not just pushing passengers, you're lifting spirits. You're not just getting a tip, you're getting a hug along with it.

I didn't make my flight that afternoon, but for once the wait at the gate was worth it. I was blessed to watch a woman getting hugs from her customers. I was reminded of what great customer service is all about.

Can You Measure Service Quality in Time?

Bill Hogg, author of the blog Customer Service that Astonishes recently posted about a new initiative by Avis to provide rental service in three minutes or less. The program, launched in Europe, provides preferred customers with a stop watch when they enter the door. If Avis doesn't complete the rental in three minutes the customer receives an apology followed by a discount voucher for a future rental in the mail.

Bill's went on to ask the question, "Can you reduce service quality into a time equation?"

It's a worthwhile question, as many companies measure quality in their contact centers based on the average call time. Customer Service Representatives (CSRs) are often held accountable to a number of "quality" metrics including average call time, number of holds, average hold time, or calls per hour. Service quality, however, can't be reduced to a simple set of metrics.

A client recently hired our group to provide an objective assessment of service quality in their contact center. However, they wanted to limit the assessment to calls between five to seven minutes in length. To agree to the request would undermine the legitimacy of providing an objective assessment of the customer's experience because it would eliminate a significant number of customer experiences that fell outside the time constraint.

I have regularly witnessed client's internal quality teams who will not listen to calls that are less than a minute in length or longer than ten minutes. However, a 30 second call could have been a significant customer experience if the CSR had hung up on the customer to reduce their average call time. A call that went on for fifteen minutes may be time consuming to assess, but it could be an important call to analyze to find out why it took so long to resolve the customer's issue.

Quality customer service must be measured by more than just an element of time or a numeric metric. Avis might rent me a car in three minutes, but if the Avis agent is rude, they give me the wrong class of car, or I am overcharged then I am certainly not going to be satisfied. Make sure you are measuring all of the service elements that are important to your customer.

Creative Commons photo courtesy of Flickr and Elliott Cable

Great Service is an Internal Issue

I was analyzing the calls of a Inside Sales Representative (ISR) for one of my clients today. The ISR took a call from a fellow associate from whom they needed information in order to answer the customer's question. The conversation contained a profanity laced tirade and the ISR's associate was not helpful in providing the needed information.

We all know that Customer Service is critical to Customer Satisfaction. To that end, most companies train employees on customer service skills, monitor calls with customers, and coach Customer Service Representatives (CSRs) on what to say to customers as well as how to say it.

Unfortunately, the training, monitoring and coaching usually ends with front-line representatives and their conversations with the customer. Resolving the customer's issue, however, may require the assistance of internal associates. The customer may be getting the brunt of internal conflicts between individuals and departments. Instead of working together and treating each other as internal customers, there are internal conflicts and turf wars which only hurt the customer and the company.

Three suggestions for improving your service to internal customers:

1. Begin at the top. Managers should lead by example and treat their associates the way they expect their team members to treat customers. Be courteous. Use your employees names. Offer to help with other questions or needs. Apologize when you can't meet your associate's expectations. Walk the talk. Treat your employees the way you want your customers to be treated.
2. Define "customer". The customer of many employees may be internal, but they don't recognize their fellow associates as a customer. Use team meetings, team mission statements and performance management initiatives to communicate this fact. Changing perceptions requires an extended time of consistently reinforced messages.
3. Wear each other's shoes. Internal division is often reinforced by ignorance and misconceptions. If a front-line CSR is dependant on systems that aren't working, have members of the IT team spend a half-day sitting with CSRs and seeing how system issues effect the customer experience. If poorly documented orders create nightmares for the shipping department, have the inbound sales representative spend a day in the shipping department.

Exceptional Customer Service starts internally.

Every customer has a choice

Do you exercise your freedom, your right, to choose?

I do.

• When QuikTrip forced me to pay at the pump, I chose not to do business with them anymore.
• When the Smokey Row rewarded my frequent visits with continually poor, impersonal service, I stopped frequenting the place.
• When the Geek Squad responded to my problems, I went back and bought another laptop and service agreement.

Businesses that don’t listen to customer concerns or to feeds will eventually have to listen to a loss of revenue. Businesses that do a great job deserve the reward of our loyalty. Only when we choose with our feet and our pocketbooks will some companies hear the message.

Have you exercised your choice?

Post a comment and tell us about a business you’ve chosen to reward with your loyalty, or a company you’ve chosen to avoid.