tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15199334083891395222024-02-19T20:54:44.983+05:30CustommerceUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger37125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1519933408389139522.post-28835708317441707382013-11-12T12:21:00.001+05:302013-11-12T12:21:44.870+05:30A service opportunity missed?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Last week, I went to Coonoor to participate in the
housewarming ceremony of an affluent friend from Singapore. He had built his
house inside the picturesque setting of a tea plantation! You could have tea
straight from the plant, if you felt like it! Anyway, let me not digress and
stay with the topic on hand which is the permanently intriguing subject of
customer service. Before you lose patience, let me get back to the customer
service experience that almost knocked my socks off initially, but left me a
little disappointed in the end and got me thinking about the entire service
opportunity that constantly presents itself to companies. It all started with a
phone call to my wife, who was with me, from her boss. Her boss who seemed to
be well aware of what was happening at Ooty called to say that Ramraj Textiles,
the well-known dhoti and white shirts brand, had just opened a showroom at Ooty
and could we please get him two size 42” linen shirts in white? If the
boss’ instructions are important then imagine how critical instructions from my
boss’ boss are likely to be! So we dropped everything and made our way in the pouring
rain to the showroom. Coincidentally my friend, an acknowledged service expert
had spoken about how courteous the staff at Ramraj Textiles’ showroom at
Coimbatore had been the previous day when he had visited there. We found the
showroom without too much difficulty, placed as it was in a prominent location
of Ooty. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The service story<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-size: small;">As the showroom seemed to have opened that very day, the place
was teeming with people as the strength of the brand had prompted a lot of
people to come over. Footfalls are what
any retailer dreams about and there was no issue here. In fact with two levels,
lots of people, loud conversations, cartons being carted around … all of which
made me ask one of the assistants why there was such a racket. My wife quickly
asked me to shut up and like any dutiful husband, I promptly did. But when we
went to the shirt section things changed dramatically. When we asked for four shirts
of 42 of linen, (I felt like buying them as well), they sprang into action.
They realized that they had only one shirt of that size and asked us for a
couple of minutes to check their depot and at other outlets. Even as I was
standing in front of the counter, the cashier called outlet after outlet asking
for this particular type and size of shirt that we wanted. It was amazing to
see someone who belonged to the clerical cadre exceeding the call of duty. All
he had to tell me was that the sizes were not available and I would have gone
away quietly. But he whetted my appetite by asking me to wait while he called
various </span><span style="color: #222222;">neighboring</span><span style="color: #222222; font-size: small;"> outlets like Avinashi, Mettupalayam and many others that I
can’t recall, finally sourced the shirts at Avinashi and asked someone to put
it on the bus and told me that he would pick it up early in the morning and
have it delivered. I had already told him that I would be leaving the Ooty
Gymkhana where I was staying by 9 a.m. the following morning.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The damp squib the
day after<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Having whetted my appetite with superior service far
beyond my expectations, I waited for the shirts to arrive. 9 o’clock came and
went with neither shirts nor even a call from the company. I was a trifle
disappointed because the initiative of the previous night at the store had made
me hope, unreasonably perhaps. Of course, he had not specifically committed to
me as obviously the bus service was beyond his control. But he had my number,
could he not have called me and taken my Bangalore address to ship later? As I
was driving back to Bangalore there were a number of thoughts that crossed my
mind. Is this sort of initiative of calling different depots, checking
availability, etc only possible in smaller companies? Is service a function of
size? While the junior person showed so much initiative, there was no
intervention from the senior person. Do larger companies have better processes
and support systems to handle non-routine service needs? Did the company have
the capability to deliver in different cities when there was a stock out
situation? Is there opportunity for old world companies like these to learn
from companies like Flipkart and Jabong that have created new opportunities for
themselves by tapping into reliable delivery systems and procedures? Can these
companies look at selling online? After all a white shirt is a white
shirt and it is possible to sell and buy these fabrics online. Is an
opportunity being missed here?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Mind you, I have a lot of respect and regard for Ramraj Textiles
and its shirts. My wardrobe has quite a few shirts from its repertoire. I
frequently visit their showroom in some airport or the other and would like the
brand to succeed even further and was just a little disappointed that they had
promised to deliver something outstanding and then just gave up. I am sure they
are not unique in this. I am sure your company and mine is missing
opportunities like this every day.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The question is, are you aware of the missed opportunity?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Ramanujam Sridhar
is Director in Custommerce and the Founder CEO of brand-comm.</span></i><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Custommercehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05600466199753291262noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1519933408389139522.post-40220816104465177632013-07-24T09:13:00.000+05:302013-07-24T09:15:26.313+05:30Service Evasion<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">There’s good news and there’s bad news. The good news, which is for consumers, is that there is now an online, private customer redressal system that takes complaints of customers and solves them by escalating it to higher echelons of customer service in a company. All the grieving customer needs to do is to type in their complaint in a text box on the online consumer forum and the complaint is formalized and sent to people who can make a decision in the company (not to the poor customer-service representative whose minimal powers range from “I will try to help you” to “Sorry, I cannot help you in this matter”). The matter is then solved doubly quick, resulting in a happy customer who still curses the poor service from the company but posts an effusive testimonial on the forum website stating the turnaround time of complaint resolution and money saved. If you want to follow the complaint closely or step-by-step, you would have to pay for it, but paltry in comparison with the amounts you would incur if you did it on your own.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">Sounds great and it is in fact a boon for consumers. But what does this mean to the organizations who are the actual custodians of the experiences of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">their </i>customers? Isn’t the care of their customers solely their responsibility? <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The success of such a forum goes to show that companies are seemingly indifferent about customer service. At least when it comes to making sure that a service issue is resolved. They seem to have the first level of redressal in place but are not able to go the extra mile in making sure that the customer gets the required resolution. Frustrated by this lack of commitment to a tangible end, the customer turns to the online redressal forum. It surely doesn’t look good for an organization when its poor service is blatantly highlighted online and someone else credited for resolving a customer problem that they obviously haven’t been able to. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">An organization’s responsibility towards their customers doesn’t end at just creating an ecosystem to sell the product; it also extends to creating a post sales relationship. Today’s service providers are pushing the envelope in terms of reach and network of customers, therefore creating an environment to service those same customers must fall under the same ambit. So can we assume our service providers are giving up? Or are we just looking at a shifting focus from treating customer service as an extension of the product, to just plain and simple resolution? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Custommercehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05600466199753291262noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1519933408389139522.post-37068372958599732522013-07-04T19:43:00.000+05:302013-07-04T19:43:33.676+05:30The expectation dry-up?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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We have been mentioning that the
moment of truth is the point where a brand is made or broken. This is where
either a satisfied customer glorifies the product/service or an unhappy customer
dismisses it. We know for a fact that most of the time the customer is left
dissatisfied. We lay the onus on the service provider and complain that service
levels have to improve – and then there’s lethargy. But then there is the
Indian consumer who is so used to poor service that she is almost immune to it!
In the comparison between expectation and delivery, we can see that since the
expectations are so low, it’s no surprise that delivery levels are so poor.</div>
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This could probably be attributed
to years and years of poor service, long queues and red tape that has adversely
conditioned the Indian consumer psyche. It is sometimes due to this mindset,
that when something out of the ordinary is provided, the Indian customer is
overawed. For example, an Indian consumer is easily thrilled when a DTH service
provider promises service in 24 hours and it actually happens! But isn't this
what the company has always promised? </div>
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So let’s sum it up. It would seem
that as an ecosystem we are already meeting expectations and with the considerably
low levels these expectations are surviving at, we are headed towards an era of
customer indifference. Or we quite possibly are already there. Practitioners
have been talking about great customer service for years now but service
providers continue to ignore the calls, yet they preach about the Zappos of the
world without ever intending to change a single process internally. Customer
indifference could soon lead to a drying up of differentiators or marketing
‘hooks’. We would then go back to a market that differentiates on factors like
price and product design that we know are unsustainable. </div>
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Looks like soon, that DTH
customer we spoke about is going to become an exception to a rule no one cares
for. </div>
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Custommercehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05600466199753291262noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1519933408389139522.post-71079886355842298202012-09-17T17:44:00.000+05:302012-09-17T17:45:01.658+05:30Customer for life?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #3b3a39; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14px; line-height: 16px;"></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">This article featured in the Hindu Business Line dated 14th September 2012.</span></div>
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As I have often said, I spent six years of my life counting other people’s cash and writing other people’s fixed deposit receipts. Even after leaving the banking industry, I still talk about it as I am still a customer of one bank or the other.</div>
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Today, I am not merely a customer but someone who perhaps knows a little more about customers than when I was a callow youth in the banking counter hoping for a typhoon or a flood on Saturday morning so that I could leave in time to catch a movie rather than be flooded by customers! One of the first things I have since realised is something called “lifetime value of the customer”, which I knew nothing about or cared even less for in 1973 when I first started working with Grindlays Bank.</div>
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LIFETIME VALUE</h3>
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This is one of the most frequently quoted phrases that marketing people spout. Very simply, this term denotes the profits an organisation makes from dealing with a customer over a period in time. So, if you are my company’s customer for twenty years (bless you) then the profits we make from servicing you over that period add up to this number and clearly you have tremendous value to me and my organisation. Now I teach management students and they bank with one nationalised bank or the other because of convenience. They rarely ever have money, live hand to mouth and often have difficulty in meeting the minimum balance even. Soon they graduate, get jobs and grow in more ways than one.</div>
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In some time they become “high net-worth” individuals and every international and private sector bank woos my former students actively (and without a second thought, they switch camps and banks). So what has happened here? Here was a customer well within the fold of a nationalised bank and that bank messed up because it really did nothing to retain them.</div>
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Now is this unique only to nationalised banks? I am not sure as it happens too often in my own company. I am sure it may be happening (sadly) in your company as well even if you may not be forthcoming in accepting it as I have been.</div>
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ACQUISITION OR RETENTION?</h3>
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Let’s understand why this happens. The reason is obvious. Companies are busy acquiring new customers. This is where the rewards and recognition are. Your bosses write to you. Your colleagues envy you and your career invariably moves north. And yet some questions are in order. Are we spending more time looking at new business and clients at the cost of our existing customers? Is our output better for prospects than for existing clients?</div>
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The constant gripe of clients in the advertising business is that their agencies churn out better work in creative pitches than they do for their existing clients and I can vouch for this – that agencies seem to be pumped about pitches but seem flat when it comes to ‘demanding’ current clients. I do hope that this is not the situation in your company.</div>
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It is worthwhile to remember that it is a lot more profitable to hold on to existing clients than spending on attempts at new business acquisition. This is not to diminish the value and importance of new business acquisition as growth is what we are looking for.</div>
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The smarter companies ensure they don’t jeopardise the service offered to their existing clients when they prospect for new clients. They have teams in charge of acquisition without depleting the resources on servicing existing clients.</div>
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PROMISING MORE THAN WE DELIVER?</h3>
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Let me end by coming back to the banking sector. I have every international or new generation bank wooing me because they are under the mistaken notion that I am a high net-worth individual. They mail me, call me, message me and meet me frequently. If I were a girl that a guy was wooing with the same energy, I would have succumbed long ago. And yet when I do give them the business I find that this energy is no longer in evidence in servicing my business.</div>
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My constant refrain is that my Relationship Manager does not even last for a quarter on the average. So much so that if a new Relationship Manager asks to meet me, I invariably tell him to come three months later if he is still with the bank! Clearly there is a gap between what is promised and what is being delivered.</div>
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In fact the Relationship Manager is the brand to me and he is the one who lets it down, in my view at least. And in my view, despite all the hype surrounding the foreign and private sector banks, my good old nationalised bank is vastly better. It knows me and will somehow reach me when either of us needs to.</div>
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KEEP IT SIMPLE</h3>
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So what are we saying at the end of all this.</div>
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<b style="outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial;">Customer acquisition</b> is important. But in quest of this elusive Holy Grail, are we jeopardising our existing relationships?</div>
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<b style="outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial;">Are we promising</b> and trying to be more alluring in the courtship phase? After marriage, we suddenly realise that the person we married is a different animal from the one who courted us.</div>
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<b style="outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial;">It boils down</b> to treating our customer as an individual who matters, like the manager of my nationalised bank does.</div>
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<b style="outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial;">Customer service</b> is not easy. But the gains are phenomenal, if you hang in there. It is not easy to hold on to existing customers for years. But when you do the rewards are phenomenal.</div>
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<b style="outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial;">Are you gearing</b> up to reap the benefits?</div>
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<i style="outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial;">Ramanujam Sridhar is Director of Custommerce and Founder CEO of brand-comm, a communications consulting company.<a href="mailto:http://www.ramanujamsridhar.com" style="color: #1f57a5; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; text-decoration: none;">http://www.ramanujamsridhar.com</a></i></div>
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Custommercehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05600466199753291262noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1519933408389139522.post-35024144000686829142012-08-22T19:22:00.000+05:302012-08-22T19:22:16.687+05:30Customer aspiration based service design<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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When Henry Ford was asked if customers’ desires had anything
to do with his path breaking Ford Model T, he had this to say, “If I had asked
people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses.” Understanding
that latent needs of a customer, which strongly revolves around a deep seated aspiration,
can sometimes be the key to a product innovation, it can also be the building
block of your organization’s service design.<o:p></o:p></div>
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When a customer walks into a BMW showroom, there are certain
aspirations that are attached with a decision to walk in there. From the moment
she walks in, she needs to see those aspirations getting fulfilled. Right from
the first greeting, to the first question on what she wants. There can’t be
questions of budgets and mileage. The questions need to come from the customer
and possibly you will see an aspiration being realized. Creating a service
design around this understanding of a customer, needs to be all pervasive from
the way the salesmen deal with her, to the way billing and post sales is
handled. The aspiration remains and possibly grows along with the ownership of
the product. These aspirations are not attached only to luxury brands. Even mid
market brands evoke aspiration among customers who may find such brands the
pinnacle of their current stature and success. Working around these thoughts
becomes a challenge as they are not that straightforward, yet, they do exist
and discovering them lies in observing customer behavior. Customers tend to ask
certain questions, get irked by some objections and are satisfied with specific
features. In all these observations, lie the answers to what your customer is
aspiring to become. Use those data points to build your service roadmap and
watch customers enjoy the treatment in the way their purchasing behavior
changes. Therein lies your organization’s reward for going that extra mile.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Customer aspiration has always driven many innovations, from
a bulb to a Tata Nano. It wasn’t rocket science that built these products. They
all were conceived by men and women who belonged to completely different
aspiration levels. Breaking through the clutter of customer data and models,
lies the simple art of deduction, of what your customer aspires to be, once she
has used your brand. Let’s get started harnessing that power!<o:p></o:p></div>
</div>
Custommercehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05600466199753291262noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1519933408389139522.post-89265481424120038592012-07-05T17:48:00.000+05:302012-07-05T17:48:23.648+05:30Getting Social on Social Media<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
Social media still manages to be a buzz word. Most of the
business world was of the belief that the value of social media in business
will soon reach its saturation point. But it continues to surprise businesses
both small and big in the way one can approach customers, marketing and
customer service. Now grasping the above ideas isn’t that difficult. Also,
knowing that you need to be on social media isn’t going to win you any brownie
points from your customers. But not being smart and maximizing your ability to
give your customers great customer service on social media, can be an
opportunity lost.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Studies say that customers who engage with companies via
social media spend 20 to 40 percent more money with those companies than customers
who don’t engage through social media. This should give companies enough
impetus to provide great customer service on social media. The problem many see
with social media is that neither is it face to face and nor are you talking to
anyone on the phone. It’s a faceless conversation but social media has proven
to be a great outlet for customers. People tend to interact more openly and
freely online. This stemming from a certain anonymity coupled with a huge
audience ready to listen and react. Customers expect companies to be more
proactive on social media and this presents companies with a great opportunity
to reach out and take action before the customer decides to. Being active by
tweeting or replying to queries on your company’s Facebook wall instantly can
be a great turn on for customers. It shows that you care and you are there. You
can instantly put customers at ease as social media by nature is an informal
environment. You can reach out to them faster by openly asking your customer
base if they have any problems and then attack each issue head on. It’s not
enough to be posting views on your brand and its marketing efforts; you also
need to be able to reach out on issues that matter to a customer. And that is
something you cannot do as easily from a physical outlet or through you call
center. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Social media allows you to socialize with your customer.
Chat them up, understand them and react. Being available on social media to
address concerns makes you static and boring. It doesn’t help your brand point
out any difference between your other customer service channels. Customers
expect to be treated a certain way on social media and the foundation lies in
the fact, that you got to reach out to them, talk their lingo and solve their
problems just as you would do elsewhere. That is when the brownie points will
start piling up like never before.</div>
</div>Custommercehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05600466199753291262noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1519933408389139522.post-54976918271883051732012-06-20T20:46:00.000+05:302012-06-20T20:46:09.751+05:30Big lessons that small companies teach<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
From Nordstrom (a Custommerce blog favorite) to Southwest to
Taj, all are brands synonymous with great customer service. Yet these and only
a handful of other large corporations seem to be known for their service ethic.
But at the same time, you see many small and medium sized companies consistently
getting their customer service ethos firmly in place. Many may attribute that
to lesser customers or negligible hierarchy but like this article in HBR will
tell you, it sometimes just comes down to <a href="http://blogs.hbr.org/tjan/2009/09/why-small-companies-are-better.html">empathy
and common sense</a>. So where else does the secret to good customer service
lie in a medium sized enterprise? And what virtues of these companies can
larger enterprises look to replicate?</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
A large hotel in Chennai is known to give its employees
Rs.1000 everyday as a limit which they can use to repair any reasons of
dissatisfaction with a customer. They can use that money on one customer or
ration it through the day but it gives them the liberty to improve an
experience. This can involve a complimentary drink, snack or anything that the
restaurant offers. The limit ensures prudence yet at the same time it allows
flexibility. Now, flexibility is an important lesson that most large companies
can take from smaller companies like this hotel did. Small and medium
enterprises generally have the advantage of flexibility in the way they can
serve their customers. They can tailor their customer service efforts as per
the customer requirement. Even larger companies can work past Standard
Operating Procedures and bring in some flexibility to allow for a better
service experience for customers. Another great virtue which large companies
can pick from smaller enterprises is of having a top management which prefers a
hands-on-approach. Customers of smaller enterprise are able to reach top
management with their grievances much faster then they can reach a middle
manager at a large enterprise. With certain protocols in place and by basing
cases on priority, even a large enterprise can achieve this objective.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
On the whole large companies need to see how they can bring
in initiatives from smaller companies in moderation backed by strong business
cases. They can serve customers much better by steering away from rigidity
towards incorporating techniques that can improve the service experience. The
lessons small companies are giving aren’t very tough to understand or
implement. You just need to use common sense to know how much to commit, and
remember, that all your customers need, is a little empathy. </div>
</div>Custommercehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05600466199753291262noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1519933408389139522.post-14742726953755580242012-06-01T17:04:00.000+05:302012-06-01T17:04:26.193+05:30Customer service can save the day<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
Countries across Europe and Asia are reeling from the
effects of a recession that had its roots in the US. Companies in these
countries will instantly start looking at the various options available to them
to manage the crisis. Options like layoffs, broad based pricing to target more
customers and many more value draining methods come to the fore. What generally
begins to suffer is always, customer service. But can, a recession, be the most
auspicious moment to improve your customer service?</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Southwest Airlines, Lexus and the Ritz Carlton are brands
known to keep their customer service promise at the forefront even at the
dullest of economic conditions. Brands must understand the value of upping
their customer service game during the downturn as customers become more
sensitive to prices and the way their service provider treats them. Customer
morale is at its greatest low at this point. Investing in systems, processes or
ideas <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>that can help build this morale
can serve you well not only during the downturn but also post it, as customers
will never forget the brand who showered them with the love they needed. We are
moving into a time where customers are expecting soft brands. Brands that are
more communicative, responsive and ready to speak. Research over the years has
always proven that brands who commit resources to customer service during a
downturn or who have always considered it a priority, come out of a recession
stronger and with a loyal base of customers with negligible erosion over the
years.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Learning lessons from companies who are focusing on customer
service can be pivotal in dealing with a downturn. It can give many brands an
edge over their competitors and create an advantage that in time will become
sustainable, recession or not. A recession is the one time in the story of a
brand that can help them concentrate on customer service, make it invincible to
competitors and lovable to customers. So let’s start planning and acting, now! </div>
</div>Custommercehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05600466199753291262noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1519933408389139522.post-88010041212238255112012-05-21T16:17:00.000+05:302012-05-21T16:26:27.690+05:30Knowledge ‘works’<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Many service providers especially telecom players seem to
have the fantastic ability to drown customers with offers that they will never
use or have a record of declining. These very service providers are the ones
who also have reams of data about their customers, data most of us would think
should help them make the right offer to us. But we are often faced by the same
static messaging which has ruined many an experience of our service provider
for us. The problem does not lie with the amount of data they have, it also
isn’t the fault of the lack of desire to give the customer a good deal. It all
seems to lie in the much hidden and embarrassing fact that a lot of our service
providers do have a lot of data but very little knowledge.<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Companies have many storage hubs today. The Contact Center,
Point of Sales, customer feedback and many more depending on the company and
the various customer programs they have in place. The amount of data available
here will be enough to piece together a decent customer outreach strategy. Yet
service providers in most cases such as one of our friendly neighborhood
telecom providers make the fundamental mistake of not making these hubs speak
to each other. Due to this a lot of customer data gets lost in translation as
its not being mined to get the relevant data points which can be used to market
the right offers to the customers or at least – close to the right one. The key,
one should believe lies in converting this data to knowledge which should be
shared across relevant departments. A customer complaint may be voiced over a
simple transaction related call into the Contact Center, but is that being sent
over to the guys at Customer Service? A customer refuses an offer for an
upgrade on her current calling plan at an authorized center. Is that then
transferred to the Contact Center so that the customer is not pestered about it
again? </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The opportunities to use customer data are many and can
prove to be both profitable for the company and improve customer service. Service
providers will be more focused and relevant in their approach to the customer
which only involves a better use of resources already available to them.
Getting over the embarrassment of having customers come down upon the service
provider with all their fury for every unnecessary offer made to the customer
can be very easily avoided. And what better then turning that embarrassment
into a meaningful opportunity for both? </div>
</div>Custommercehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05600466199753291262noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1519933408389139522.post-39180365294483367592012-04-20T18:03:00.000+05:302012-04-20T18:06:14.746+05:30The Curious Case of the Online Whinger<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
The social media has turned us all into a commentator, a
critic, a passionate advocate of the good, the bad and the ugly. Customers
today, are just scaring the living daylights out of companies. Not sure when
they are going to strike, companies cannot choose to be Frankenstein and allow
the hoards to overcome them. Complaining and letting the world know what went
wrong with your service provider has become a matter of duty today. And in this
environment, culling out the complaint from the tantrum creates a unique
dilemma, the kind of dilemma you cannot choose to ignore.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Social media forums like Facebook, Twitter and review forums
have enabled crowds to converge upon a brand and rip it apart or give it a new
lease of life. In an age where response and monitoring mechanisms are evolving
constantly, brands do not have a choice but act in the now. Real time. Sifting
the tantrums from genuine complaints becomes imperative because even with the
vast tools at a company’s disposal, they still cannot possibly address every
concern. Attacking the genuine ones with decisiveness and tact, and dealing
with tantrums with kid gloves becomes key. Failing which, social media could very
easily become a resource draining platform in more ways than one.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Over 1000 complaints turn up every hour across online public
forums and social media sites. Right from service delivery to a service executive’s
behavior is weighed up and attacked today. The customer is completely justified
in venting, but an unresponsive company is not justified in being aloof.
Companies need to take this opportunity they have been given by their customers
to start owning a forum that has in more ways than one, been created by them. Ignore
at your own peril.</div>
</div>Custommercehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05600466199753291262noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1519933408389139522.post-21971751031897457842012-04-05T17:10:00.000+05:302012-04-05T17:10:50.809+05:30The Customer SPOC<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
Companies today profess their love for customer service with
gusto unlike anything before. They stand under the metaphorical balconies of
customers proclaiming their devotion to them and how they would always stand by
them in their times of trouble. The U-turn after that though, is again
something customers like many broken lovers have come to expect. Customers and
companies enter a marriage the moment a customer decides to pick your product
off the shelf instead of another. So why don’t companies really get serious
about this? Why don’t they show some unwavering commitment? Why don’t they just
get themselves a Chief Customer Officer?</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The role exists in B2B and B2C firms as diverse as Allstate,
Dunkin' Brands, USAA, Philips Electronics, FedEx, the Cleveland Clinic, and
SAP. All companies greatly committed to delivering good service. So why hasn't this concept found its way into more management teams across companies? The
reasons are many and diverse. Ranging from not finding the right people to not
enabling them with adequate power to affect change to not being easily
accessible to customers. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Companies
serious about customer service can use such a person in management to help
outline a strategy right from the top which will in turn tie in with the
company objectives. Commitment to customer service needs to start from the top,
quite literally. The top management must be ready to be decisive when it comes
to executing their customer service strategy and adding a CCO to that mix and
at that level of decision making can be the greatest show of faith.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
CCOs can be the next coup de grace in a market dominated by
lofty promises and earth shattering failures in service. A CCO should ensure
accessibility and accountability for customers. She should be the point of
escalation when things go out of hand. Communication lines to her should be
available to every customer and her openness and accessibility in time will
define the commitment the company has towards customer service. The knowledge
that she belongs to the management will further help in instilling faith in
customers that they truly have access to the decision makers. This is the kind
of faith that makes a brand, the kind that promises to stand by their customer
in sickness and health.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
</div>Custommercehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05600466199753291262noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1519933408389139522.post-88496383758216293422012-03-15T17:13:00.000+05:302012-03-15T17:13:15.734+05:30The Customer Service Loudspeaker<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
So you are heading up the marketing division of a company.
You wake up one day with a dilemma. How do I change my company’s brand
positioning and marketing direction to acquire new and retain existing
customers? You get out of bed and instantly are struck with the idea of taking
that new shiny product of your engineering team and shouting out from rooftops
about it. Over breakfast and some burnt toast you remember that nothing speaks
better marketing than talking about a fall in prices. That just has to get them
hooked. But, as you start your car’s ignition and turn <span>into</span>
traffic crawling at a snail’s pace you decide that talking about your company’s
heritage and wide customer base should do the trick. Convinced, you finally
walk into your office building to be greeted by your office receptionist.
Suddenly, her smile reminds you of your impeccable customer service which has
been getting you many compliments and mails from satisfied customers praising a
service tradition that seems unparalleled in the industry. Now you begin to
wonder, is customer service really marketable?</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Companies have begun to market their customer service much
more today. Companies base entire marketing campaigns around this one facet of
their service delivery. But, unfortunately many of those companies barely have
processes in place to hand out good customer service. Millions are spent in
creating the campaigns and a smattering of that is spent in living up to that
promise. But there are companies who knowingly or unknowingly have put in place
a very efficient and effective customer service strategy. Restricting the
impact of this only to existing customers can be an opportunity missed.
Communicating this to prospective customers and existing ones can be your new
marketing direction. Consistently good customer service, after all is not easy
to deliver and when you are, why not make a noise about it?</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
So as you wind up for the day and are wrapping up that
presentation for ideas you want to take to your management, remember that talking
about your customer service can be that differentiator lying in your
organization waiting to be shared with your prospects and customers. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It can surely help you re energize your
customer acquisition strategy and importantly help you sleep at night,
comfortable with the thought that you have a solid marketing plan in hand.</div>
</div>Custommercehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05600466199753291262noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1519933408389139522.post-39580609608535453732012-03-08T16:57:00.000+05:302012-03-08T16:57:13.088+05:30Making the non routine, possible!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
What puts Zappos and Nordstrom on a completely different
orbit when it comes to customer service? Besides an unbelievable ability to
understand their customer, it also is their knack to handle the non routine. A
non routine query from a customer can be best defined as a request from a
customer asking a service provider to go beyond laid down offerings and
processes. This is where most brands get a shot at instant immortality in the
minds of the consumer. And companies who do this with great aplomb are the ones
who have a plan. A plan that may involve limitless employee empowerment or well
distributed resources.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So even though we
know, that fulfilling these queries can create customer satisfaction like never
before, companies need to ask themselves this; how tenable is developing a
strategy for handling a non routine query?</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
While planning such a strategy companies need to look at the
financial burden that they might be taking on. Completing a non routine query
can involve a cost which your business could not have accounted for. Preparing
for these costs make it a tricky financial proposition. This leads us straight
into another quandary a company faces; how do you empower your employee to
handle these queries? Drawing the line for how much discretion you can trust
your employee with is never easy. It involves a great amount of training and
also smart recruiting. Employees have to buy into your brand philosophy or be
trained to execute it to perfection. When you are past the monetary and
employee capability conundrums, you will have to ask yourself if you can truly
sustain such an effort. Changing track midway and not delivering on such
queries can lead to a loss of goodwill as customers will immediately sense something
is out of place. From that point on, getting back in the good books of the
customer may take a greater effort.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
So to sum it up, the three key requisites are: financial
ability, employee empowerment and sustainability. These are by no stretch of
imagination, the only questions you need to ask. A lot of it comes down to top
management will and operational nous. The results are there for all to see, the
commitment is what you need to ensure. So are you ready to become a Zappos or a
Nordstrom? Now that, is not a non routine query! <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
</div>Custommercehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05600466199753291262noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1519933408389139522.post-27084385066599398872012-02-23T12:37:00.000+05:302012-02-23T12:37:12.456+05:30Loyalty, Advocacy and Beyond!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
Companies today talk of how customer advocacy is key to the
growth of their brand. Loyalty programs are expected to retain customers and
push them to advocate their brand to new or undecided customers. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Stopping at this can be enough for most brands
but not pushing for something beyond that can be a missed opportunity. Your
most loyal customers, quite possibly know your brand and services much better
than most employees in your organization. Using this priceless knowledge and mining
it to its best can become a game changer for you. The idea that immediately
emanates from this is to bring your customer in as an advisor. Use her to help
you know your brand from her perspective and give you ideas as to how processes
can be improved and customer service in turn, made more efficient.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Restaurants have been known to ask customers for opinions on
new dishes being introduced. The risk of asking certain loyal customers for
their opinions can lead to skewed feedback which cannot always be translated
back into the business. But when a restaurant takes that risk of introducing
that dish on its menu with the feedback from its closest customers, it’s not
only a tremendous show of faith, it also is a statement of how valuable loyal
customers are to them. Companies may not find such a program easy to execute
primarily because executing all that these customers ask for, may not be
tenable. But even telling them why it’s not possible is a grand gesture in
taking the relationship further. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
So ask yourselves if you can execute such a program. Ask
yourselves what will stand in the way and if the problems seem difficult, think
of the value of a small army of your most loyal customers backing your every
move. That should be enough reason to get you started. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
</div>Custommercehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05600466199753291262noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1519933408389139522.post-30973874000031423012012-02-17T17:19:00.000+05:302012-02-17T17:19:20.086+05:30God of small things?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
A brand’s greatest service challenge may actually manifest
itself before your customer even walks into your store. A million factors can
contribute to changing a customer’s mind from wanting to enter your service
environment. This can range from a perennial long queue to a badly located
store. The impact of these factors on designing your service strategy is
critical. In the process we create an acute condition called ‘unsatisfied
demand’ wherein we lose a customer’s business before him ever getting fully
introduced to it. So how can the scourge of unsatisfied demand be sorted out
with a well crafted service design?</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
But before you start drilling down to find an answer, you
need to understand the kind of incidents and severity of them which are causing
the aforementioned, unsatisfied demand. Incidents that will talk about how
customers have turned their backs on long queues and in the process a brand.
Walking into an ATM with the air conditioning turned to minus 20 and receipts
strewn across the floor can leave one scarred about the brand, quite literally.
Your day can go quite pear shaped when you spend an hour looking for parking
outside that new restaurant while your stomach goes on a disobedience movement,
demanding justice and some food. A badly lit coffee shop which is neither
romantic or understated but just plain cheap, makes that immense need for a coffee
disappear and attraction towards a brand too. The examples are countless yet
are so simple and avoidable. These are just the few details brands forget to
include in their service design which lead to a very forgettable experience for
a ‘could be’ first time customer.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Taking stock of this and then acting upon these situations
is not as easy as it seems. Customers can get turned off by very different
things and identifying them and tackling them can be the game changer with
today’s unpredictable customer. Companies need to ask themselves a couple of
questions to get them started down this road. When I walk into my company’s
store, is there anything that inhibits my interest to enter? How can I make
that first visit as comfortable as possible for my customer? In the answers to
these questions, quite possibly lies the key to never losing a customer even
before you get to show them what you got.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
</div>Custommercehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05600466199753291262noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1519933408389139522.post-23379297279944788162012-02-10T17:19:00.003+05:302012-02-10T17:20:42.772+05:30Blueprinting the Service Design<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
When we experience exceptional service, we are instantly
taken by the person who delivers it and give some amount of credit to the
company. We talk about it to friends and family at tea parties and tell them
how a certain guy changed our day with some great service. We talk about it at
every opportunity and gradually the story becomes the story of the heroics of
one service representative. In the process we often forget to give enough
credit to the company who set the right conditions for such an act to be
performed. You might just have overlooked a very well planned service design
which is in play to provide you that memorable service. So let’s explore this
idea a little further.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Southwest Airlines is miles ahead when it comes to a well
planned service design. They have manuals and instructions for every action
that seems so unique and memorable to you. Southwest has designed things in
such a manner including their training formats that allows any newcomer to
embed themselves in the Southwest service culture. At no point does a well
detailed design take away from employing the right kind of people. But identifying
the right set of people in a market where they are in incredible demand makes
for a challenge of a very different kind. Building a service design that allows
an employee to adapt and deliver can be the key to providing that elusive
customer satisfaction your brand is expected to deliver.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
A couple of questions you might want to ask yourself as companies
are: Do you already have a design in place which is not adequately defined? Do
your employees fully understand it and is it being audited from time to time?
Are there any loopholes in your design which allows employees to under deliver?
Does your service design need a revamp to manage your brand’s current
expectations? A plethora of questions, but ones that need pointed answers.
Answers that can help you design that memorable service experience that your
customer would talk about at that next tea party. </div>
</div>Custommercehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05600466199753291262noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1519933408389139522.post-15795426047919109372012-02-03T12:49:00.000+05:302012-02-03T12:50:23.717+05:30Standardized Personalization?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
In a time when customers have become all powerful, finding a
way to please them all individually has become a gargantuan task. Customers
know that in today’s networked, ‘Facebook before breakfast’ world they have the
option to take companies to task at their discretion. At the same time, they
have become extremely choosy about every element of the product. Customization
can be blamed and so can companies’ need to impress and retain customers. But
the end result is a customer who is exposed to many choices, wants more and
wants it now, leaving companies with a very difficult question; ‘How do we
build a customer service strategy that is personalized yet standardized and
effective?’</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Marketers on a daily basis deal with reams of customer
intelligence telling them what homogenous sets of customers want from their
product and base decisions on this research and deliver a product which is
largely accepted. As long as the product satisfies a majority, they have a hit.
But customer service is a wholly different ball game. Where a freebie may work
for one customer, a cashback and a lifetime supply of the product may still
lose you a customer. Standardization of customer service in such an environment
is no more an option. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Delivering experiences which resonate with a customer’s
behavior, needs and desires has become paramount.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br />
The need to come up with personalized strategies for all
your customers may be an uphill task but at the same time generalizing can be
suicidal. So the questions companies need to ask themselves are: Where can your
service strategy differ? At what stage in the sales cycle can you affect the
change? How do you find smaller sets of similar customers to whom personalized
service can be standardized? Where does it all begin? Marketers need to start looking
at customers from a very different lens then they used to before, because
customers are no more a set of people with similar needs and rights. They are
now deciding before you react and demanding before you produce.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
So how are you going to deliver a
one to one strategy? </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
</div>Custommercehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05600466199753291262noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1519933408389139522.post-60596979351551941112012-01-10T17:29:00.001+05:302012-01-10T17:29:13.894+05:3080/20 Service Myopia<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
Many companies today follow the timeless Pareto Analysis
where they believe that 80% of their business comes from 20% of their
customers. On the basis of this, companies have become myopic in the way they
hand out service to their customers. By providing differential service to their
profitable customers they are possibly creating a very dangerous divide. There
is no doubt that treating profitable customers differently in terms of
incentives makes sense. Loyal customers have to feel the warmth in return. But
customer service should be inclusive and doled out with the same consistency to
every customer. At the end of the day, customer service is not only a hygiene
factor for a business but also a promise made to a customer.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Organisations need to start showing courage in not
distinguishing their customers when it comes to service. The condition has
become endemic because companies are refusing to see the long term ills of such
a move. Bad customer service across industries is the reason for customer
migration. The telecom industry, for example, has made Bedouins of normal
customers with their appalling customer service tactics. Often frustrating,
often numbing, we have reached a point where customers have purely given up on
the idea of good customer service. In an environment such as this, to have
customers know that they are being treated differently can lead to nothing
short of disillusionment. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Many companies especially some in the hospitality industry
are very good at providing indiscriminate customer service. If a customer walks
through their doors for the first time or the tenth, the service remains a
constant because the true potential cannot always be realized in the first few
instances. Over and above, a customer’s potential can be increased in time by
providing consistently exceptional service. However, a brand that is truly in
the business of customer service would never let such a situation ever arise.
Don’t forget that as a company you have no clue what the potential of a customer
is after his first few interaction with you. Differential customer service on
the other hand on the basis of profitability, or a lack of it, can assure you
that you will never see the full potential of that customer. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
This is what we think, what do you think?</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
</div>Custommercehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05600466199753291262noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1519933408389139522.post-82899554876341099272011-12-28T17:35:00.001+05:302011-12-28T17:35:51.349+05:30Vendor Stakeholder<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
Nearly every company in the world pumps in millions of
dollars into serving their customers better and even further millions to repair
the wrongs committed on them. But very few seem to have the same attitude
towards their vendors. So when a company has one strategy to bring in customers
and a completely counter-productive strategy towards its vendors, the question
really is – <b>Who is winning?</b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Companies take great effort in understanding the needs of a
customer, learn to talk their language and help deliver a product which in turn
will bring them revenues. Why can’t they do the same for a vendor too? After
all a vendor also helps in bringing in revenues. In fact better relations with
a vendor can <span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background: white; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 9.0pt;">result in more leads, better support,
greater engagement, protection in key accounts, and recognition that can help a
company generate more business.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background: white; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 9.0pt;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background: white; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 9.0pt;">Consequently companies should look at
ways and means of building strategies to maintain relationships with vendors as
they would with customers. A simple strategy would be to just replicate your
customer sales cycle with your vendors and in the process make your vendor, a stakeholder.</span></span><span style="font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"> </span><span style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Such a strategy can only help
forge a relationship of mutual benefit that in turn can be routed back to a
customer in terms of price, product features and overall service. </span><span style="font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><br /></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">And in the process, everyone
wins!</span></b><b><span style="font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
</div>Custommercehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05600466199753291262noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1519933408389139522.post-78046647726997350252011-12-15T16:41:00.000+05:302011-12-15T16:41:55.808+05:30Creating a First Day Experience<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
Chris Brogan, a prolific blogger on the use of new media in
marketing indulges us with a very interesting thought. A customer experience
idea that seems to have evaded most of us. In his own words:</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><br /></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>‘How often do we build
experiences such that we’re welcoming of new people? Do we work enough on that?
Do we help people get connected and involved? Do we make them feel like we
realize it’s their first time and we’re here to guide them?’</i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Through this he introduces us to the idea of creating a
‘first day experience’ for new customers. New customers join a company
somewhere in between the evolution of a company. Customers need to be invited
on board with a story that helps them understand the company and feel a part of
it at the same time. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br />
Even though Brogan talks of this idea in an online context
(Read more here: <a href="http://www.chrisbrogan.com/firstday/">Every Day is
Someone’s First Day</a>) the power of this idea can truly be tested if it can
be replicated in a brick and mortar situation. New customers walk into a store
everyday and identifying them no doubt is an improbable task. But if retail
stores can find a method to the madness it can create loyalty and in an
increasingly congested market, differentiation. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Stores can explore ideas of
putting up the story of their birth, pictures of how the store evolved or even
have a ‘First Day’ officer who can help customers with a few additional
services. Stores need to figure out what lengths they can go to and the
bandwidth available to them. But an endeavor in this direction can be
invaluable.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br />
So how would you create a First Day experience for your
customers? </div>
</div>Custommercehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05600466199753291262noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1519933408389139522.post-68887435791796266162011-12-07T17:35:00.001+05:302011-12-09T11:08:57.814+05:30Signing On<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
A company’s signature experience is what it does especially
well. It’s the odd or unique process that makes your company stand out in
people's minds (<b> (</b><a href="http://hbr.org/product/what-is-your-company-s-signature-experience/an/U0707C-PDF-ENG?Ntt=customer%2520experience%2520articles"><span style="color: windowtext;">Read this HBR article</span></a>). Most companies, in time, always end up providing a signature
experience. They may either not know about it or may know and use them as
foundation to their positioning. Either way it’s something that needs to be
harnessed because in that special moment of delivering something different may
lie the key to attracting and retaining customers.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Companies need to search their organization and look across their
customer delivery structure at possible signatures they are leaving on their
customers. If companies can pick three such experiences and package them and
sell it consistently, they may have a winner on their hands. Linking these experiences
to its brand can help reinforce their brand image. For example it will give more tangibles to customers to associate with the brand promise.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Most successful brands have distinct signature experiences
that they leave behind in a customer’s mind; it is these experiences that are
spoken about to other customers. Bringing together these voices under the banner
of your brand as a signature experience could be your next brand building move.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Tell us about some signature experiences you have come
across with the companies you interact with.</div>
</div>Custommercehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05600466199753291262noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1519933408389139522.post-73218908105908679472011-12-02T17:48:00.001+05:302011-12-05T09:59:34.047+05:30With great power comes great responsibility<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
A good day in the office for most of us involves meeting
targets, cracking that tough code or just making sure your boss is happy. But
what if your job description involves bringing a smile on a customer’s face?</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Imagine walking into your favorite breakfast place in the
morning and encountering a smiling staff who responds to your requests,
proactively helps you and gives you top class service. On occasions such as
these even the quality of the food can be overlooked to an extent. This can set
the mood for the rest of your day. At the same time, I’m sure you can imagine
the opposite. Not a pretty picture at all, therefore I shall not paint it.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Customer Service representatives need to realise that they
have great power in their hands to lighten up a customer’s day (<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6M0TgEUbRBc">As seen in this video</a>) By doing this they can ensure loyalty to not
just a tangible i.e. the product but also an intangible which is the service.
Companies need to understand how strong a differentiator this can be and devise
ways and means of getting their employees involved.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
How can companies help set the tone for the day for a
customer?</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
</div>Custommercehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05600466199753291262noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1519933408389139522.post-41254929265104264792011-11-25T17:26:00.001+05:302011-11-25T18:04:05.039+05:30Take the 'easy route'<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span class="apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-size: 32px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 36px;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; color: #585556; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Matt Dixon and Lauren Pragoff in their HBR article ‘</span></span></span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Call Center Confidential: The
Underbelly of Customer Centricity’ remind us of the following 3 statements you
always hear when you call into a Contact Center</span></span><br />
<h1 style="background: white; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 3.75pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></h1>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: 7.5pt;">
<b>Excerpt <o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: 7.5pt; margin-left: 11.25pt; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">·<span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';">
</span></span>"<i>This call is being
recorded for quality and training purposes"</i> <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: 7.5pt; margin-left: 11.25pt; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">·<span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';">
</span></span>"<i>Is there anything
else I can help you with today?"</i><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: 7.5pt; margin-left: 11.25pt; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">·<span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';">
</span></span>"<i>How satisfied are
you with the service you received today?"</i><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: 11.25pt;">
<b>When you hear them, these phrases are good warning signs that
you're dealing with an organization more focused on internal priorities than on
what customers actually care about.</b><b> </b><br />
<b> </b> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: 11.25pt;">
The true problem here is that these questions help in determining
certain metrics which are religiously churned up but never converted into
anything concrete. Companies concentrate
way too much on numbers which are really internal measures and not looking at
specific customer needs which begs the question – ‘Are you reducing effort and
making interactions easy for your customer?’<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: 11.25pt;">
Companies obsess over metrics such as post call CSATs, quality
assurance ratings and call closure. They have people working on just improving
these stats but rarely is anyone working on making that conversation, which
generates these stats, easier for the customer. Efforts need to start shifting
to reducing customer effort. A customer should admire a company for quick response
and resolution time as it is surely, what they want. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText" style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">There is an urgent need for
top management to start looking at metrics that indicate ‘ease of use’, ‘lack
of effort’ and the like. They need to realize that customer centricity can be
about metrics such as reducing customer effort and that driving these numbers
up can also considerably improve service delivery.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText" style="line-height: 115%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText" style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">So can customer service
leaders begin to usher in an era where ‘Ease of Use’ becomes the defining
metric?</span></span></div>
</div>Custommercehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05600466199753291262noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1519933408389139522.post-86125921659711617132011-11-14T17:39:00.001+05:302011-11-14T17:45:16.873+05:30Oshawa's Customer Service Strategy<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
We as consumers are tuned to demand good customer service
from product vendors we deal with. Yet never seem to expect the same from our
government and municipal bodies. We resign with an attitude that ‘this can
never change’. This sentiment holds true across the world. We always seem to
expect a lower standard from our government bodies. When we go to pay our
utilities bill or enquire or complain, the response is far from satisfactory. Generally,
having several contact points or multiple locations offering government service
may cause a barrier to efficient service delivery for citizens. As a result, service delivery strategies that
worked in the past need to evolve to reflect changes in attitudes and
expectations of customers. So why aren’t we demanding better service? And more
importantly are our elected bodies looking for solutions?</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br />
The city of Oshawa in Canada is an exemplary example of a
city that made customer service a priority. The city hired RBosch Consulting to
execute this impressive plan. A study was initiated through interviews with the
Mayor, city councilors and a Working Committee instituted for this purpose.
Using data from these interviews, RBosch designed a set of guiding principles
which define Oshawa’s customer service. They identified opportunities for
service improvements and finally delivered a roadmap for them. Goals were drawn
up which would be assessed time to time and a plan for a Contact Center
implementation was also put into place to enable a centralized service delivery
mechanism.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br />
Many elements came together for the city of Oshawa to get it
right. The critical success factors for this ambitious project were:</div>
<ul style="margin-top: 0in;" type="disc">
<li class="MsoNormal">Senior Management and
Political Support</li>
<li class="MsoNormal">Adequate Resources</li>
<li class="MsoNormal">Staff Buy in and
Communication</li>
<li class="MsoNormal">Clear Vision</li>
<li class="MsoNormal">Enabling Technology</li>
</ul>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The above points are important for any customer service
strategy implementation irrespective of the scale and scope of the project.
This initiative by the city of Oshawa isn’t unique because it is a city municipal
body realizing the importance of good customer service, it is because when
expectations are low on that parameter, they still went ahead and executed a
strategy that can only improve customer satisfaction and goodwill in the long
run. That is true vision, something many service and product vendors need to
learn.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
So why is customer service not as important a priority for
companies jostling for market share and mind share today?</div>
</div>Custommercehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05600466199753291262noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1519933408389139522.post-17978585603194302512011-10-10T12:10:00.000+05:302011-11-14T17:45:45.526+05:30Making your Brand All Pervasive<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
In the HBR article by <a href="http://blogs.hbr.org/cs/2009/04/six_ways_to_build_your_brand_t.html">Anand
Subramaniam</a>, ‘Six Ways to Build Your Brand Through Customer Service’
highlights the manner in which companies seem to forget brand building, as an
exercise, at the customer service level. Building on this thought, he further
outlines steps which can be taken by companies and the next ten minutes of
reading shall, hopefully, take this thought to its fruition.<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br />
Expensive advertising, flashy brand ambassadors, thousands
of minutes of prime time television space and ‘shout at the top of your voices’
ambient campaigns seem to be the only way companies believe a brand can be
built. They cannot be blamed for this view as it as an approach that has worked
effectively but only in the short term. Companies do not realize that the only
significant outcome of the above measures is creating excitement and not necessarily
building the brand. So how about using ‘customer service’ as a game changer for
your brand building efforts? </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br />
To build your brand using customer service, aligning your
brand intent to a strategic intent becomes imperative. A company needs to look
at its overall strategic direction and brand related communications. From there
it should look at its available resources and develop a plan around its
existing customer service practices to ensure the brand spends more time
building itself in the customer service stage. To do this a company has to put certain
checklists in place.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
-<span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';">
</span>Companies need to ensure they can build <b>brand aligned processes</b> into the
various touch points accessible to the customer. This can start from a quick
response system to customer complaints to even human assisted customer service
over self service in case of high touch brands. Care of this magnitude will
always be rewarded with greater brand recognition and loyalty.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
-<span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';">
</span>Companies need to follow up the above measures
with <b>brand aligned metrics</b> that
allow them to judge success and work on improvements. Brands which are high touch
need to look beyond routine customer service metrics to numbers that can help
map service intent to the brand intent.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
-<span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';">
</span>Unifying knowledge bases and customer service
touch points can be another valuable step in aligning brand and service. By <b>brand aligning your touch points</b> a
company can ensure similar treatment of customers across channels which
guarantee the customer hearing the same brand message across channels.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br />
The above measures mainly emphasize the need to align your
brand with all customer service related activities. By doing that a customer
can easily connect with the brand, instead of just connecting with the product,
which in the long run builds stronger brands with defined brand commitments and
not just flashy flirtations.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">This is what we think, what do you think?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
</div>Custommercehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05600466199753291262noreply@blogger.com0