Quality Service Marketing

Healing Customer Service (Part 2)

Note: Last week, I featured Part 1 of Chip Bell's guest post on the process of service recovery that included communicating with "Humility" and "Empathy". Here's Part 2.

How to Turn an "Oops" into an Opportunity by Chip R. Bell (continued)

Step 3-- Exhibit Agility

Healing communication includes Agility...words and actions that tell customers they are dealing with someone who has what it takes to correct their problem. They want can-do competence, attentive urgency, and take-charge “I’ll turn this around” attitudes. Service failure first and foremost robs the confidence customers have in an organization. But, that confidence can be restored if customers observe your agility in quickly and confidently implementing a solution to their problem.

The secret to this step is letting the customer see your efforts. Simply telling a customer, “Wait in the reception area and I’ll work on it,” may seem like a polite approach. But, it strips the customer of the chance to see you in action. Let the customer hear you call someone and say, “George, we have a problem we need to work on immediately.” Let the customer witness you walking faster, moving more quickly, and acting more concerned. Remember, confidence is restored by what you do, not by what you promise.

Step 4--Demonstrate Your Loyalty

Healing communication includes Loyalty...the after-the-fact experiences of the customer that say: “We won’t abandon you now that we hopefully have regained your business.” It is the opposite of “taking for granted.” It is about continuous care and frequent follow-up. Customer service research has shown that follow-up is one of the most powerful steps you can take in cementing a long term relationship, especially after a problem.

Pick up the phone and call the customer to find out if everything is back to normal. Send the customer a note. When the customer returns for future service, ask about the last problem. If customers know you remember and are still concerned, they’ll come to realize their bad experience was an exception. And, don’t forget to follow-up with your associates to insure whatever caused the problem is corrected so other customers won’t be disappointed.

Mistakes are a part of all relationships--with spouses, friends, and customers. However, an oops can be turned into an opportunity by how we effectively handle service recovery. The best organizations view service recovery as an important chance to HEAL a broken customer relationship—through humility, empathy, agility and loyalty.

[Note: Chip R. Bell is co-author (with John R. Patterson) of the best-selling book Take Their Breath Away: How Imaginative Service Creates Devoted Customers. He can be reached at www.taketheirbreathaway.com]

Thanks for sharing, Chip!

"Healing" Customer Service (Part 1)

For stressed employees dealing with stressed customers (especially during this year’s holiday season) – here’s a timely guest post from customer service/loyalty consultant, Chip Bell. [Note: due to content length, I'm posting this in two parts.]

How to Turn an “Oops” Into an Opportunity
By Chip R. Bell

Customers do NOT expect organizations to provide perfect service!

Now, before you lower your service standards, know that frequent foul ups will lead to a fast exit for customers. And, with the growing number of organizations going out of business in a challenging economy, customer loyalty is not only important to success, it has become critical to survival!

If you handle service failures effectively, you can turn customer disdain into customer delight. Research shows that customers who have had their service problem spectacularly solved wind up more loyal than customers who have never even had a problem! How come?

Customers are becoming more and more insistent on service laced with trust. The research of Dr. Leonard Berry of Texas A&M University shows that, of all the qualities customers expect these days--accuracy, responsiveness, or empathy--they value reliability the most. Reliability means “Can I trust you to do what you say you’ll do?” Service recovery is about restoring customers’ trust after a service failure has left them disappointed or angry.

When a customer has a disappointing experience with service, the number one goal is to return the customer back to normal. How do you effectively manage betrayed trust? What steps work best in providing spectacular recovery?

First, think of service recovery as an opportunity to restore trust and rebuild loyalty. Customers who have never had a service problem are uncertain as to how you might handle it. However, if you provide great recovery after a customer has been disappointed, you offer proof and renew their faith in you. When they see you shine at your darkest hour, they end up with more confidence, not less. More customer confidence leads to greater customer loyalty. And, more loyalty leads to customers who buy more, forgive more, and tell others about you.

The key to converting a livid customer into a loyal customer lies not in “buying” back devotion (“How about I give you...your money back? A free car? A trip around the world?”). Sure, sometimes a symbol or gesture of sorrow can help. But, the most valuable key to recovery is the way you communicate in a healing manner.

Step 1: Show Your Humility

Healing communication begins with Humility...an expression of authenticity. Never let customers hear you say “We’re sorry.” Apology should always be delivered in first person singular--”I’m sorry.” “I’m sorry” doesn’t suggest you caused the problem...or that you’re automatically the culprit. “I’m sorry” means “I care.” Obviously, the tone you use to communicate is important. Even sincere apologies need to be communicated with confidence.

Lower your voice. Let the customer witness your genuine concern. Always look the customer straight in the eye. Be forthright and direct. There’s no need for a “tail between your legs,” cowering down style. Things went wrong; the customer was disappointed. Acknowledge it honestly and frankly, and be ready to learn from it and move on. Model the behavior you would like the customer to assume—calm and confident.

Step 2: Express Empathy

Healing communication include expressions of Empathy...words and actions that let customers know you understand their pain and predicament. It does not mean the front line has to wallow in bad feelings. Empathy communicates identification. There is an old saying which goes: “You’re not qualified to change my view until you first demonstrate you understand my view.” Whether you like or disagree with the customer’s view is not the point. The goal is to give evidence you understand. Fix your customer before you fix your customer’s problem.

Empathy doesn’t mean the same as sympathy. The word “sympathy” originates from the Greek word sympathos and means “shared pain;” “empathy” means “in tune with pain.” Customers don’t want someone to cry with (shared weakness), they want an understanding shoulder to cry on (the gift of strength). And, this doesn’t mean bad mouthing the organization. When customers hear employees saying, “I know what you mean, I wouldn’t eat here either if I didn’t work here,” they walk away with less than confident feelings about the restaurant.

Customers seek someone to value and care about their concern. Remember, the customer’s orientation when things go wrong is this: I don’t care how much you know, until I know how much you care. Show you care.

[Note: Step 3 - involving Agility, and Step 4 - demonstrating Loyalty, will be featured in next week's post. So stay tuned!]

Chip R. Bell is co-author (with John R. Patterson) of the best-selling book Take Their Breath Away: How Imaginative Service Creates Devoted Customers. He can be reached at www.taketheirbreathaway.com.

Back-to-Work and Back-to-School for Service Leaders

Ever notice how workplace rhythms change with the seasons? Corporate offices seem to slow down in Summer when the majority of folks take vacation. It’s the same in those organizations that adjust work schedules to offer “summer hours” – extended hours Monday-Thursday to allow for half-days on Friday. It even sounds quieter with less phone calls and e-mail (especially on Fridays).

Nonetheless, work gets done (perhaps because it is quieter?) … and then the pace picks up again in Fall.

This back-to-work mindset goes hand-in-hand with back-to-school time. So it’s a good time to consider your professional development plans for the fall.

If you’re looking for quality professional development, here are two programs I strongly recommend:

• The 20th Annual Compete Through Service Symposium, Nov. 4-6, 2009, Phoenix AZ. This is the leading program for managers and executives who want to improve service strategy and delivery.
• Internal Branding & Internal Marketing: Strategic Integration for Market Leadership, Nov. 13, 2009, Houston TX. This is a new AMA program that I’m excited to develop and present with my colleague & internal branding, Debra Semans.

Interview with Chip Bell on Internal Customer Service

Chip Bell has been writing about customer service for as long as I can remember. An internationally renowned consultant, speaker and author, he has written several customer service classics, including his latest book, Take Their Breath Away: How Imaginative Service Creates Devoted Customers, co-authored with John Patterson. [Note: see my review of his new book.]

I asked Chip to share his expertise and insight on the topic of internal customer service.

QSM: What do you see as the relationship between internal customer service and external customer service?

Chip: The requirement for remarkable external service is exactly the same for internal service. The quality of the service the external customer gets is a match set with the service that is delivered to colleagues internally. Go to the “back of the house” of any Ritz-Carlton hotel and you will observe the exact same service between associates that you will see the front desk clerk deliver to a hotel guest. Internal service reflects the organization’s true commitment to remarkable service.

Service between internal units is sometimes like getting service from a monopoly service provider. If you don’t like the service from your Department of Motor Vehicles, you can’t take your business elsewhere. Likewise, if you get poor service from the HR department as an employee, you often cannot go to another HR department like you might abandon a Sears for a Nordstrom. However, it is important to remember that almost all internal units could be outsourced. Job security does not always come with being the sole source, especially in challenging economic times.

When customers (internal or external) do not have a choice, and get poor service, they often take out their frustration on the front line person. It suggests perhaps an even higher standard from units or organizations that are the only game in town.

QSM: Based on your extensive experience in the field, what would you site as an example of great internal customer service?

Chip: Several exemplars come to mind. Sewell Automotive (Dallas) has been the #1 car seller in the nation across most of their brands—Lexus, Infiniti, Cadillac, GMC, etc. One of their secrets is the terrific partnership between sales and service. Other examples include USAA (San Antonio), the insurance company that caters to the military, retired military and military dependents. Zappos.com and Amazon.com are both best in class as e-tailers for their great handouts and superior internal service.

QSM: Who should be responsible for internal customer service?

Chip: The same people who are responsible for external customer service—everyone! Customer-centric and customer-focused organizations, like the ones already named, make every employee responsible for remarkable service. A service ethic is hardwired into their organizational DNA. I asked a waitress in a Ritz-Carlton hotel restaurant what she liked most about her job. “Working here at the Ritz has made me a better wife and parent,” she said. “The values that we practice at the hotel with each other and with the guests are the values that make all relationships special.”

QSM: What advice do you have for companies struggling with maintaining customer service (both internal and external) in an environment with reduced resources?

Chip: As cash-strapped customers seek service, they expect more and more value for their hard-earned funds. Customers may not always be able to judge the quality of the products they buy or the fairness of the price they have to pay, but they are always gifted at judging the quality of their service experience. It is the front-line that creates that experience.

When companies started making cuts, they should remember to spare the most important variable in their customer’s definition of value. Front-line employees should be respected, heard, trained, empowered, and affirmed for their crucial contribution to the company’s reputation. It is important to remember that employees learn how to serve customers by the way they are served by their leaders.

QSM: Thank you, Chip!

“Take Their Breath Away” New Customer Service Guide

Want to develop devoted customers? There’s a new book out that can help you.

Take Their Breath Away: How Imaginative Service Creates Devoted Customers, by Chip Bell and John R. Patterson, describes twelve strategies and tactics to enhance your service delivery and extend customer loyalty to customer devotion. These strategies - including “Camouflage” (seamlessly inserting magic into the customer experience) … “Decoration” (engaging customers with thematic and sensory embellishments) … “Air” and “Air Defense” (critical reminders that service fundamentals can't be taken for granted) - are packaged and presented informatively and entertainingly.

In addition to detailed descriptions and examples of each Take Their Breath Away strategy, the authors provide suggestions on how to execute these strategies to maximize competitive advantage. I particularly like their segmentation model of companies with customer service levels ranging from “customer centric” to “customer indifference.” (Too many of us have had the misfortune of dealing with companies on the lower end of this spectrum.)

While Bell and Patterson mention the importance of engaging employees in creating devoted customers (such as instilling a service vision, listening to employees, and recognizing outstanding service providers), I would have liked to have seen more depth on this topic. Nonetheless, this book is a solid guide for new customer service providers; it’s also a great reference that offers new insight for more experienced service providers.

Reflections in The Employee Customer Mirror

To describe the impact that employees have on customers, I often use a mirror metaphor. This “employee-customer mirror” reflects the reality that customers are affected by what employees experience on the job. If employees are frustrated by company policy or internal politics, their attitudes can be projected onto dealings with customers. And who wants to be served by a  disgruntled employee? It takes only one or two such encounters (depending on the customer’s tolerance threshold) before a customer takes his/her business elsewhere. And who knows how many other customers will hear of the experience?

It’s an easy principle to remember: the way employees feel is the way customers will feel – and if our employees don’t feel valued, neither will our customers. Unfortunately, too many organizations take this relationship for granted. (Don’t even think about using current economic conditions as an excuse.)

How do you manage employee-customer care? I’m talking the basics here:

• open the lines of organizational communications (top-down, bottom-up, and laterally)
• involve employees in improving the business operations - whatever is needed to survive and thrive
• provide opportunities for continued learning and professional development
• recognize employees who continue to rally the energy and enthusiasm to serve customers and co-workers despite limited resources.

What do you see when looking into your organization’s Employee-Customer Mirror?

• a shiny reflection of employee- and customer-satisfaction?
• a blurred image that needs polishing to be more employee- and customer-focused? or
• a cracked image opening up opportunities for your competitors?

Great Business Resources

It's back to business now that the holidays are over. Here's a list of some great resources that I compiled over the past month to share with you.

Professional Development
The 23rd Annual Services Leadership Institute, March 9-11, 2009, presented by the Center for Services Leadership.

HR and Communications e-letters
Keeping the People - with insight on how "best" employers are leading in tough times.

The Corporate Communicator - Bon Mot Communications'free e-zine "helping corporate communicators do more with less." Subscribers are invited to attend a free teleseminar/webinar, "Communicating Confidence in an Era of Low Trust," on February 17, 2009. Learn more about this topic from Bon Mot's white paper, The Low Trust Epidemic: Why It Matters and What Communicators Can Do About It.

Nonprofit Management
Realistic and refreshing advice about surviving these challenging times from nonprofit leader Jan Masaoka.

New blogs that are worth reading
Marketing Mindset by Frank Haas, a long time colleague and friend of mine.

The Business of Service by Scott Miller.

Customer Management
Check out Becky Carroll's blog post series from Nov. 17th, 18th, and 19th, covering the recent Customers First Conference.

Internal Marketing Spotlight: Zappos.com (Part 1)

I’m excited to feature Zappos.com here as a company that truly embodies what employee-customer care is all about. I was fortunate to tour their headquarters office this summer and will share my impressions + what I’ve learned about the company since then, but first a little background.

The Zappos Brand: Legendary Customer Service

Zappos.com started in 1999 as an online shoe retailer and has expanded its product line to include clothing, accessories, and more. It has more than 1700 employees who serve 8 million+ customers, of whom 75% are repeat customers.

Zappos is aligned around one mission: to provide the best service possible. This reflects their ‘WOW philosophy’ where the goal is for every customer interaction to result in the customer saying “WOW!” (Check out this post from a customer who loves Zappos.)

My initial impressions of Zappos

WOW! also describes my initial reaction to the people I met and everything I observed during my tour there. The atmosphere I encountered in the company’s corporate office in Las Vegas appeared to be fun, funky, friendly, and frenetic. There were the popcorn machine and the peanut dispensers on the front desk in the lobby area … Christmas-in-July holiday decorations … the continuous video showcasing the fulfillment center’s state-of-the-art technology for sorting merchandise … and a steady stream of employees flowing through the office.

Renna, who works at the Help Desk (an in-house concierge service) gave me a tour of the place, carrying a flag with her (symbol of a tour-in-progress). The main office I visited is one of several buildings on the Zappos campus in Las Vegas, and it’s crowded with cubicles that are decorated to reflect both individual tastes and the employee’s respective departmental culture. Almost everyone works in a cubicle-type space – including the company president. The only staff members in traditional offices with doors are those in legal (confidentiality reasons) and IT (temperature control for sensitive equipment).

 

Midway through the tour we stopped at Dr. Vik’s office (one of the first professional staff who now serves as corporate coach), where my picture was taken and added to the gallery of VIP photos that line his office. I was also taken by the lunch room/kitchen area where lunch is provided free for all employees. (Three shifts work round the clock.)

After my tour, I spent some time talking with Donavon Roberson, Help Desk Operations Manager, and Mark Guadagnoli, director of Zappos University (aka the ZU Keeper) to gain additional insight into their organization. When I asked Donavon about Zappos.com’s competition, his answer blew me away. Instead of naming other major online retailers, which is what I expected, he told me their competition is “Bad customer service.”

More to come

I’ll share more about how Zappos takes care of its employees in my next post, so stay tuned.

Employee Engagement and Customer Focus

I found another study that demonstrates the strong link between employee engagement and the bottom line: this one from Watson Wyatt, a global consulting firm. (Note: earlier this year I wrote about similar results from research conducted by Wharton and Towers Perrin.)

Watson Wyatt’s 2007-2008 Global WorkAttitudes Report also examined the drivers of employee engagement across global regions and employee segments. Among its key findings: 

“The drivers of employee engagement are similar around the world: effective communication, competitive compensation & benefits, a clear customer focus and confidence in the strategic direction & leadership of the organization.”

Among the “usual suspects” listed as key drivers of engagement - communication, compensation, and leadership - I was surprised to find customer focus. I have always believed that being customer-focused starts with being employee-focused (take care of employees and they’ll take care of customers) so finding customer focus as a driver of employee engagement is an interesting twist.

Here’s how it was explained in one of the report’s key findings:

“Customer-focus is a key driver of employee engagement across all regions. Organizations whose HR programs emphasize delivering superior customer service – including performance management related to excellent customer service and satisfaction – can expect to increase employee engagement and connect with key performance objectives.”

Happy National Customer Service Week!

Next week, October 6-12, 2008, we celebrate National Customer Service Week as a way to raise awareness of the importance of customer service and acknowledge those who provide it.

This ‘holiday’ is supported by the Institute of Customer Service (ICS) – a not-for-profit professional association whose mission is to “lead customer service performance and professionalism … [and to be] the “touchstone for those whose focus is on the delivery or world-class experiences.” According to the ICS, National Customer Service Week is all about “recognition, reward, informing, team work, morale boosting, and fun.”

OK, this may be perceived as self-serving, public relations/promotion, but so what? I think it’s a great way to recognize customer service as the critical (and often under-appreciated) function it is in most organizations. 

To honor National Customer Service Week, here’s what I suggest:

• If you’re an employer – acknowledge everyone in your organization who does a great job of taking care of customers.
• If you’re an employee – acknowledge your fellow co-workers who do a great job in taking care of you as an internal customer.
• If you’re a customer – acknowledge those employees who take do a great job of taking care of you … i.e, in addition to continuing to do business with them, let them know you appreciate their efforts.

Please note: You can be creative in how you express your acknowledgment, but you don't have to be extravagant about it. A simple and sincere "thank you for all you do" is a great way to show your appreciation.