How do you feel when you see Comcast offering service to new customers for half of what you, as an existing customer, are paying? Like many businesses, they spend a lot of time, money and effort to get new customers, and very little on customer retention. There are huge rewards in paying attention to the customers you have and it is very expensive to neglect them. Consider these powerful statistics: It costs 6 to 7 times more to acquire a new customer than to retain an existing one Existing customers spend on average, twice as much as new customers A 5...
A friend of mine shared extreme frustration after a trip to the mall this weekend. She needed to purchase a new bottle of make-up brush cleaner. Being a life long customer and make-up aficionado, she knew exactly what she wanted. A quick trip to the counter would have been sufficient, instead it turned into a marathon waste of time which resulted in no purchase. So how does a life long customer leave without their product of choice? Great question. My friend was whisked into something I like to call “The Process”. Salespeople have a process they are supposed to follow during...
Millennials have not entered the workforce quietly. They’ve demanded, among other things, more flexible schedules, open floor plan workspaces and the ability to work remote, all in search of a better work/life balance. Now they’re doing it to the corporate travel industry. Traditionally, travel has been scheduled and managed by corporate travel managers. The corporate manager sets up a travel schedule, focusing on cost-effective transportation and accommodations with little to no input from an employee. The employee then follows the itinerary, with all its resulting travel headaches. Changing the Way Employees Travel Enter the internet. With the sudden availability of travel sites, it’s now incredibly easy...
George Klein, founder and CEO, of Peoplocity had an opportunity to interview with Jay Baer for his newest book on customer service, “Hug Your Haters”. Jay Baer is a New York Times Best Selling author and inspirational marketing speaker. His book Youtility is a New York Times Bestseller about “How can we help?” instead of just selling to your customers. He shows businesses how to genuinely help someone and create a customer for life. Now, Jay Baer is taking on customer service. He approached George Klein about his expertise on customer service. Klein was able to talk about customer service...
According to Gartner, 89 percent of marketers expect to compete primarily on the basis of customer experience by 2016. To be successful, they must have the right tools, processes, and strategies in place. You can’t fix what you don’t know! In order to compete on customer experience, it is imperative to collect and analyze data about your customers. What do your customer want? What’s working for them? What isn’t? How can you get that information? The seemingly easiest method to collect data is the ubiquitous survey. Unfortunately, we are overwhelmed with surveys. Every time we use our credit card, or...
For working parents, Saturday mornings are often the time to run errands. Many times, they run those errands accompanied by their young children. Taking kids in and out of car seats to make quick stops at the dry cleaners, bank, or pharmacy can be exhausting. Kids get tired and bored and parents lose their patience creating unpleasant scenes in businesses. As a business owner, you can do a few simple things to make your business more kid friendly. Is your business “kid friendly”? Busy working parents trying to get a slew of errands crammed into a short weekend, with kids in tow,...
I am the CEO of Peoplocity. We help businesses hear directly from their customers, privately. Consumers use a mobile app to share feedback and resolve issues in real time. We like to say that we use technology to connect consumers with businesses to improve the customer experience. At Peoplocity, if a business is not yet a partner and they receive a message, we get the message to them and work to resolve issues. So, I was shocked by how badly a large national restaurant chain, and its local management mishandled a recent customer complaint. The customer is a well-respected community leader. His message was “It...
My niece and her roommates ran into a serious case of landlord M.I.A this winter. Half the rooms of their house were not getting any heat. Despite multiple email requests to the management company it was more than one month before the owner finally came to inspect the home and resolve the issue. Upon arrival, the landlord was shocked by the temperature. He was also extremely embarrassed of the entire situation. By failing to respond promptly, he let his customers reside in an unsafe environment. Putting his ethics and company into question and possibly left himself open to legal issues. His...
Sometimes a restaurant just gets how to create a great customer experience and you want to dance through the entire building with glee. Capri Lounge, a local Indianapolis Italian restaurant recently provoked this feeling for me and released my inner Frank Sinatra. I went to the restaurant with a few friends for some good Italian food and an evening of catching up. The comfortable atmosphere made us feel immediately at home, but the service stole the show. Our waitress did more than just take our order and deliver it to the table. She found little ways to make our experience even...
How long are you willing to wait for a cup of coffee? I would bet no longer than five minutes. More than that and your foot is tapping impatiently as you wait for your first sip of caffeine. I was recently the impatient foot-tapping customer at a local coffee shop. I’d gone to the shop a few times with very positive experiences, so I wanted to share it with my friends. We walked in the door to an untamed and poorly organized day at the coffee shop. Two of my friends received their orders, while the rest of us sat...
