Who are your customers?

Thursday, September 30th, 2010

It is essential for any business to know and understand its customers. This knowledge is crucial in setting price points, refining products and services, and in delivering exceptional customer service.

How well do you know your customers?

First, an organization has to have a sense of who its target audience is, that is, who is most likely to buy/use its products or services. In target audience terms, the customer is defined by a series of demographics: age, gender, geographic location, household income, and various other psychographic indicators, including media usage, and other preferences. This is helpful in helping an organization with marketing.

For customer service, organizations need to learn about their target customers contact preferences. Do they prefer speaking to someone in person? over the phone? via email? All of the above? Will your customers often call customer service in the middle of the night? Is daytime coverage sufficient? Organizations should also learn about what types of issues are customers most likely to contact customer service about: billing issues, product or service repair, complaints.

Additionally, it would be useful to create an individual customer profile. The individual profile could be accessed whenever that person (or organization, in the case of organizational customer service) contact customer service. It could list customer service contact (what, why, when);  service or products purchased; individual preferences (prefers to be addressed as Mr. X, or first name only) and other personal information that would help customize the customer service transaction.

To further refine your knowledge of your customers, you may want to conduct periodic surveys.

How well do you know your customers? How can you know them better?

Tags: customer preferences, individual customer profile, target audience in customer service
Posted in Customer service, How to improve customer service | Comments Off

What is behind customer service decline?

Tuesday, September 28th, 2010

Unfortunately, many businesses are not passing the customer service test. People are complaining. A Los Angeles Business Journal poll found that 61% of respondents felt that customer service has gotten worse since the recession started. Only 12% thought it had improved.  This mean that more than half the population is experiencing bad customer service. What is causing this?

We can speculate that with tighter budgets, businesses are cutting back on the number of customer service reps, or they are cutting back on proper training and support for customer service.  This is most likely in retail and customer-facing operations like hotels. Just the other day, we tried to contact a guest at a Washington, DC hotel and the front desk phone rang unanswered for twenty rings or more. When we finally got someone to answer, we were placed on hold for three minutes. When we told the front desk attendant  the situation, her comment was that she was alone at the front desk (on a Friday evening…presumably a busy night in the hotel industry). Clearly, this is a case of cutbacks.

Perhaps another factor is the increasing complexity of service offerings (wireless companies offer many different and complicated cell phones, cable companies have several tier of services, etc.). This is what Australian telecommunications companies are arguing. According to an article in the Sydney Morning Herald, after a national customer care survey:

Submissions from large telcos defended customer service, saying it was hard to maintain good service when there were more products, services and bundles than ever before, and even suggested customer expectations were too high or that customers used complaint systems to get free phones.

Budget pressures, overworked (and possible underpaid) staff, too much to keep track of–all can be behind the decline in customer service. However, if companies want to improve customer satisfaction, and perhaps even increase sales, they must pay attention to the problem.

Tags: customer service and the recession, customer service decline
Posted in Customer service | Comments Off

Is customer service about having compassion or efficiency?

Thursday, September 23rd, 2010

Recently, the travel advocate Christopher Elliott  interviewed Alison Ausband, Delta Airline’s vice president for reservation sales and customer care. Ausband said to Elliott that:

Customer service is the core of what we do. We’re proud of the Delta culture of customer service and are always working to improve it every single day.

Elliot then asked her what has changed for the average customer, and she responded:

Probably one of the most positive steps we have taken over the last few months is the creation of two new options for our customers to get their feedback to us in a faster, easier way.

It seems that for Delta’s  Ausband, the emphasis in customer service should be on efficiency. Efficiency is certainly important, but not the first priority for customers, according to this blog post on Entrepreneur.com.  Customers have chosen L.L. Bean as having the best customer service. The blog post says this about why this is so:

How does L.L. Bean keep its customers happy? President and CEO Chris McCormick says it’s all about compassion.

L.L. Bean’s philosophy of customer service: Treat customers like human beings. How refreshing that the company has retained this, in our age of “please fill out this e-mail form on our website, and maybe we’ll respond to you sometime.”

McCormick quotes company Chairman Leon Gorman: “A lot of people have fancy things to say about customer service, but it’s just a day-in, day-out, ongoing, never-ending, persevering, compassionate kind of activity.”

In an era of cost-cutting, customer service that has a heart wins the day (and it doesn’t have to cost more). As the post on Entrepreneur.com says:

But McCormick’s words bring home a truth of retailing: Ultimately, it’s an opportunity to serve people. And to treat those people in a way that is uplifting and makes them feel you care.

Efficiency is good, but when you are all about efficiency and don’t show any caring, then you are not connecting with customers on a human level. Delta may have better systems in place, but that does not mean customers are satisfied with its service.

Tags: Christopher Elliot, compassion in customer service, Delta Airlines Customer Service, efficiency in customer service, LL Bean and customer service
Posted in Customer service, How to improve customer service | Comments Off

Sales slump?

Tuesday, September 21st, 2010

It might be tempting to blame a sales slump solely on the current state of the economy. In many cases, the economy does play a large role since consumers are spending less and/or more carefully. However, businesses don’t necessarily have to give up.

Myer, a large retailer in Australia, was facing a bad sales slump. To fix it and help boost sales for 2011, Myer decided to invest resources to improve its reportedly dismal customer service. (News item from the Australian Current.) Clearly, this strategy makes sense. If customers were entering Myer stores and being greeted by indifferent sales staff, why would they shop there? In a highly competitive client, customer service can make the difference.

Another factor that can both improve customer service and a company’s bottom line is employee happiness, according to Inc. Magazine. Inc. reports on a study that found that employee happiness/engagement directly correlated to market performance:

But companies with high levels of engagement (65 percent or greater) outperformed the total stock market index and posted shareholder returns 19 percent higher than average in 2009. Still not convinced? Companies with disinterested employees (40 percent or less engagement) had a total shareholder return that was 44 percent lower than average.

Companies that devote resources to improving employee morale will reap the benefits.

It seems so self-evident, yet many companies do little for their employees (perhaps because they are afraid of spending more money) and later are surprised when customers turn away in droves.

Tags: customer service and sales, employee happiness and sales, sales slumps
Posted in Customer service, How to improve customer service, Importance of customer service | Comments Off

What skills should you teach to CSRs?

Thursday, September 16th, 2010

Often, an organization has a finely planned customer service strategy, and an emphasis on maintaining good customer relations, but does not have the right people or people with the right skills to deliver on the plan.

It is important to  hire the right customer service people, but it is also important to train them on the proper skills and procedures to deal with customers. Some training is procedural, and will vary by organization. Other training is more universal, and has to do with “soft” skills. And still other things, like empathy, cannot be taught.

The top skills needed by customer service are these:

1. Patience
2. Problem solving ability
3. Politeness

Customer service reps must have all three…and these skills must be taught and reinforced. CSRs must be reminded that their task is to help customers, and to do so in an efficient, pleasant manner.

Read this piece on Red Eye about the “three commandments” for  customer service (and perhaps share with your team).

Do you emphasize certain skills when training your customer service department?

Tags: skills in customer service, training CSR
Posted in Customer service, How to improve customer service | Comments Off

Meeting customer expectations

Tuesday, September 14th, 2010

It seems self-evident, but anyone dealing with customers (retailers, wholesalers, realtors, etc.) should try to meet their expectations. Meeting expectations is the minimum requirement for customer service. To have stellar customer service, you should exceed expectations.

And yet, many local and national retailers fail to meet expectations. Take for example ATT. ATT Wireless has an exclusive contract to sell the IPhone, a popular device. However, ATT does not appear to have network capacity and many customers complain of dropped calls. Read an article in Techcrunch that details customer unhappiness with ATT.

Another example of failing to meet expectations is Walmart, according to this blog post on ABC News. The post claims that Walmart has reduced the amount of products available on store shelves, does not sell organic produce, and has low quality grocery items. Many customers have stopped shopping at Walmart because they are not finding what they want and they dread the long lines and bad service.

And then there are all the small breaks in customer service, as this editorial from the Wichita Falls, Texas newspaper  Times Record New says. Calls are not returned, appointments are not met–all resulting in lost sales and unhappy customers. As the editors write:

In an economy where money is hard to come by, on either side of a transaction, customer service becomes even more critical. None of us should take a customer for granted, and we need to listen to their concerns, strive to make things right and never forget that we’re in this together.

The bottom line is that an organization that wants to retain customers, keep sales steady and aim for growth, must at the very least, meet customer expectations.

Tags: ATT customer service, customer service expectations, Walmart customer service
Posted in Customer Satisfaction Programs, Customer service | Comments Off

You can only go up

Wednesday, September 8th, 2010

What if your organization is doing poorly: customer service is non-existent, employee morale is low, your product quality is spotty. You are losing customers left and right. If you want to stay in business, you can only do one thing: IMPROVE! Starting with customer service, you can turn things around with the acknowledgment that making it better will be hard but worthwhile.

That is what happened with Church’s Chicken. The Atlanta-based fast food chain was suffering because the restaurants weren’t clean, employees were careless and sales were down. So under new management, and with a survey in hand that showed how far they’d fallen, the company was forced to improve.

One of the first things Church’s did was to improve the quality of its staff. People are an important part of the equation. Another important aspect was finding out how the stores were doing, and how customers were thinking, so Church’s started investing more in research.

Read more about Church’s did in this Atlanta Journal-Constitution article.

Improving service is a must if an organization wants to stop a sales slump. And when you are already the lowest of the low, you can only go up. If your organization is ranked low for customer service, there is only way to go.

Tags: Church's Chicken
Posted in Customer service, Importance of customer service | Comments Off

Why does it take a law?

Tuesday, September 7th, 2010

In Australia, the government is talking of stepping in to regulate customer service if the telecommunications companies in that country do not improve, according to an article in The Australian. The Australian telecommunications regulator is saying that service is unacceptable and giving the companies some time to fix it before imposing regulations. The article says:

Authority chairman Chris Chapman said the existing poor standard of customer service was unacceptable.

“The banks used to be like this, but have lifted their performance over the past 10 years,” Mr Chapman said yesterday.

“I’m saying to the telco industry, your time has come.”

The telcos’ customer service “is unacceptable and they’ve got to do much better”.

The telecommunications industry is reviewing its three-year-old consumer protection code, which will require ACMA’s approval next year.

At the same time, Mr Chapman said, if ACMA chose to impose its standards on the industry, telcos could be penalised for poor service.

Even monopolies have to be responsive to customers. Angry and unhappy customers will complain, and in the case of a government service, the administration could impose a law. No company should want (or need) to have a customer service law imposed on them.

At ARMA, Inc. we believe customer service is something that should be inherent in any organization’s DNA. It should be part and parcel of what the business entails. Without customer service, there is no business. With poor customer service, there are unhappy customers, which down the line, can mean a demise of the business.

Tags: Australia threatens to regulate telecom customer service, telco customer service
Posted in Commentary, Customer service | Comments Off

Common sense

Thursday, September 2nd, 2010

Inc. Magazine has a fantastic article: “How to Deliver Great Customer Service,” which offers various tips, insights and resources for keeping your customers happy.  It says:

Providing good customer service is often a matter of common sense, but that doesn’t mean it comes naturally to all business owners.

Common sense is uncommon, unfortunately. However, by paying attention to Inc.’s tips, you can go a long way in ensuring your customer service works well.

If you keep in mind that the goal of customer service is customer retention, then applying these concepts should be second nature.

Among the suggestions are items we have mentioned here on the blog, but are worthy of repetition:

• Owners/managers set the example–provide the will and the focus toward customer satisfaction
• Really listen to your customers
• Show your appreciation for your customers, especially for your most loyal ones
• Resolve issues quickly
• Hire the right people

Make sure your customer service is uncommon by using common sense principles that put the customer first.

Posted in Customer service, How to improve customer service | Comments Off