Businesses can expect to encounter occasional service problems with their customers. It is estimated that U.S. companies lose $83 billion each year due to bad service. Some of the losses are obvious like giving refunds and losing the sale. Other costs may be less obvious but have longer lasting and often more significant impacts. Consider the example of a company that marketed and sold its products and service as the best in the industry. The company had production problems for two consecutive quarters and couldn’t deliver on those promises. Customers received extremely bad service. The hidden costs of the bad service...
Allowing cell phones in movie theaters was unheard of just a year ago but is now being considered by a major theater chain. Why? Customers and customer expectations are changing. So, what do my customers want? Business owners should be continuously asking themselves that question. Research has found that 80% of businesses believe they are providing superior customer service, while only 8% of their customers agree. That is a significant disconnect! I think this disconnect can be a result of the lack of understanding of the customer journey, the total sum of experiences that customers go through when interacting with...
Several recent interactions with businesses have left me wondering if they care about about their customers. In one interaction, I called to arrange to have my deck refinished. I got a recorded message that they were busy with other customers, leave a message, and they would get back to me. It’s been a week and they have not called me back. In a second interaction, I called to check into my current pest control service and was 12th in the queue. I hung up, found their web form and sent my questions. It has been 2 weeks and no one...
The New Year is upon us, and 2016 brings new expectations for businesses. Forrester Research, a leader in business research and consulting, has released predictions for the coming year. According to the company, 2016 will be an extremely important year for businesses across the globe, and one of extreme leadership change. Using technology to better understand and personalize service is a common theme. Below we’ve highlighted a few of their predictions and what they mean for your business. Customers expect personalized services. Today’s customer expects a business to understand them as an individual, and to anticipate and respond to their unique...
When it comes to serving customers, policies and procedures should be designed to guide employee actions.
Seven seconds — that’s all the time you have to make a positive, lasting impression on any new customer. The interactions with your employees and observations about your business that take place during this short window are critical to the customer experience. Do you know what it takes to make a great first impression and make your customers feel like stars? Take Pride in Your Appearance When it comes to making a positive first impression, appearance certainly matters. There are two elements to consider: the appearance of your business and that of your employees. Regarding your business, customers start to...
On Sunday, September 27, 2015, Mel McMahon, CEO of Indiana Originals, spoke with George Klein, Founder and CEO of Peoplocity. The discussion focused on how Peoplocity is changing the way businesses and customers interact with one another via a mobile app. Listen to the Indiana Originals Local Business Spotlight every Sunday at 10:45AM on 93.1 WIBC! Click hear to listen to listen! Peoplocity is an Indiana Originals company. We help businesses capture more feedback, do more with that feedback and get more from it. The customer feedback platform features a free mobile app that connects businesses to consumers privately to provide feedback and resolve issues....
Think about getting prepared for a trip. You take off work, clear your calendar, book a room, pack up the house, make sure someone watches the pets, and the list goes on and on. By the time you arrive at the destination, you want to relax and be taken care of. As a business you need to be prepared for these weary travelers, by providing useful services before they become discouraged and take their annoyance out on your staff. Businesses need to think about what the customer needs before the customer does. A perfect example was sent to us from...
A good friend of mine is a Graze junkie. If you aren’t familiar with the product, Graze.com is a delivery snack company. Their tasty personalized snacks appear in her mailbox weekly, biweekly or monthly and contain 4-8 snacks based on her preferences. In addition to her addiction to their Pecan Power sampler, the quality which makes Graze.com the one of her favorite companies is their dedication to their customers. Graze makes the snacks and gives the rest of the power to the customers. Each box is full of personal touches from a company who is listening to your thoughts and...
My business partner recently needed to get a refund from an airline. She didn’t cancel the flight, they did. After making numerous calls, to numerous people, repeating the story over and over, I questioned whether it was worth the hours and aggregation. Although she was hornets-nest irritated, for $1600, she assured me, she would fight until she was reimbursed. It took hours of explaining and holding, and 6 months to get the refund. Did you know that resolving a problem takes an average of three attempts with 69% of consumers reporting their complaint multiple times before it is resolved? Should be...
