Consistently providing great service was the foundation that made my businesses successful. Continuous communication and training ensured all employees deeply understood our customer service culture. I believe that all customer feedback is good, including feedback about problems. That is valuable information we can use to improve. In fact, a problem handled quickly and effectively often results in a more loyal customer. So, it amazes me when I interact with businesses that don’t seem to care and in fact, ignore customers. I had a bad experience with an upscale restaurant and sent in a web form about the situation. A month later,...
Common customer courtesies are behaviors employees demonstrate that affect the customer experience. How customers feel they are being treated, greatly impacts whether they make a purchase and whether they return to make additional purchases. In fact, 70% of buying experiences are based on how customers feel they are being treated and being treated poorly is the number one reason customers leave a business. Most businesses understand the importance of treating customers courteously when they walk through their doors. Acknowledging and greeting customers and a friendly, helpful attitude lets a customer know you care about them. A genuine interest in helping...
The first text message was sent almost 25 years ago. Today, 18.7 billion texts are sent EVERY day! Texting has become the most popular communication channel around the world, across all age groups. A Gallup poll found that sending and receiving text messages is the most prevalent form of communication for American adults under 50. Text communication is the most common form of communication for almost half of those over 50. Texting communication is real-time. Text interactions create faster exchanges between customers and businesses and reduce customer effort to contact businesses. Customers want quick, easy ways to resolve problems and...
Experienced leaders know that they should hire for attitude, not skills. This is especially true for customer-facing employees. Mark Murphy, author of Hiring for Attitude, tracked 20,000 new hires and found that 46% of them failed within 18 months. 89% of the time, the new hires failed due to problems associated with attitude. Attitude separates high performers from low performers and can affect the ability to work collaboratively with others, think innovatively, cope with failure and learn. Finding employees with the right attitude is especially important when hiring customer-facing employees. There is no definitive list of what those attitudes are. I...
Peoplocity has been selected to present in the Association of Corporate Travel Executives (ACTE) Global Education Conference to be held April 23-25 in New York City. Peoplocity was chosen as an innovative and disruptive technology that is influencing the future of the travel industry. Peoplocity will be one of the technology companies featured in the ACTE Commons, an open customized learning space based on the seven spokes of the ACTE Ferris Wheel. Peoplocity will be on stage to highlight how its two-way text communication channel is supporting both the modern business traveler’s expectations and providing travel managers with data and...
It’s great to be loved by a business! You know the feeling. The warm, happy feeling you have when you walk out of a business and can’t wait to tell everyone about your special experience. Customer-friendly businesses know how to create that special feeling that make us loyal customers—for life! Customer-focused businesses make us feel special throughout our entire experience with them. They pay attention to details and provide the little extras that sweeten our experience. They make it easy for us to interact with them. And, of course, we love their products/services. Here a few companies that love their customers....
I am always impressed with the service I receive when I go to Chick-fil-A. Employees, who are making at or slightly above minimum wage, consistently create a great experience. In fact, I feel like I get as great of an experience at Chick-fil-a as I do at many high-end restaurants. Chick-fil-A is proof that businesses at lower price points can provide a great experience that leads to high customer satisfaction and loyalty. Chick-fil-A employees do a lot of little things that create that great experience. They do things like carry trays, refill drinks, and bring napkins and condiments to the...
One question cast members ask at Disney: Are you celebrating anything?! Disney loves to celebrate their guests! And you should too! Here are 3 reasons why guests love to celebrate at Disney and ways you should celebrate your customers. Recognition At Disney one thing is guaranteed-FREE celebration button. Guests can get a button for birthdays, anniversaries, 1st visit, and I’m celebrating. These small tokens allow the guests to share why they are celebrating during their whole visit. Cast Members are trained to celebrate guests, recognizing the button, and by mentioning a simple happy birthday or a congratulations for being cancer-free....
The 2016 presidential election was significant for many reasons. Many feel it may be the most important election of our lifetime. The incredible inaccuracy of the polls stands out as one noteworthy aspect of the election. The political news reporters were shocked and embarrassed by how they blew the prediction of the election outcome. This is a clear demonstration of how decisions can be based on erroneous information. Some of the inherent flaws in polls are similar to problems with surveys. Poll predictions use several factors that are supposed to be representative of the population. Like polls, surveys are the...
As I work with businesses on their customer service strategy, it is clear to me that a mobile communication channel is critical to the future success of most businesses. I’m not referring to social media or one-way text platforms. A mobile communication channel is one that offers two-way, real-time interaction by connecting a robust customer care platform to customers who use mobile/text channel. Today, many businesses just don’t make it easy for customers to contact them. Customers are frustrated with the effort required to access cumbersome communication channels businesses offer. 90% of customers are frustrated with being put on hold....
