December 30, 2010

Serving Customers: The House of YES

Choose Wierd Fans to BE DiFFERENT 
Dead or Alive: How Would You Rate Your Customer Service 
The Customer Charter of Rights

A sign that reads The House of YES sits above the kitchen area of every Cactus Club Restaurant in Canada.

Recently, I asked a Server what it meant to her, and here is what she said:
- their mission is “Every Customer Leaves Happy”
- their culture is to “say YES” to whatever their customer wants;
- if someone wants something that is not on the menu the kitchen will happily make it;
- if the customer’s request involves an ingredient that they don’t have, they will run out and get it. For example a special drink that requires a liquor not in stock. They will go to the Liquor Store and buy it. WOW!
- she is empowered to make whatever decision is needed to “say YES”
- her manager is there to support whatever she does. Management’s role is to make it easier for Servers to Say YES, not to give them orders.

A Servant Leadership Strategy for any organization is tough to achieve. It requires frontline serving behaviors that are supported by Management. Cactus Club has figured it out.
Nice job!

Cheers,
Roy


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Posted 12.30.10 at 05:58 am by Roy Osing | Permalink | Comments (0)

December 16, 2010

DEAD or ALIVE ... How Would You Rate Your Customer Service?

The Customer Charter of Rights, The Things They Don’t Teach Business Students, Competencies to Covet: The Full Meal Deal

Lets describe DEAD Service first since it unfortunately applies to more organizations than it should. If you recognize a significant number of these attributes you had better take a step back and re-invent yourself. The consequences of not doing so will be disastrous…
DEAD Service....
> Rules, policies and procedures are created to serve the organization’s purposes. They are put in place as control mechanisms to satisfy the auditors. They have the intended impact of keeping the customer at a distance. An arms-length relationship with the customer is the result.
> Frontline responsibilities center around enforcing the rules of the organization in terms of customer engagement.
> Leadership is in the “command and control” mode. Frontline empowerment is restricted.
> There is little or no flexibility for people to deviate from established procedures. Those who do so are punished in some way or another.
> Short term results are stressed. There is little time to build sustaining relationships with customers.
> Efficiency is the focus in customer contact operations. Call Centers are measured on the length of time they are on the phone with a customer. Emphasis is on dealing with as many customers as you can within a given time-frame. Quantity trumps quality.
> Call Centers are outsourced based on economics. Service is driven by the need to reduce costs to the lowest possible level.
> No loyalty programs are contained in the marketing strategy.
> Customers are viewed as transactions where the only thing that is important is the money exchanged.
> Customers don’t have personal identity. The organization considers mass markets to drive their activity.
> Telemarketing is used extensively and products are flogged to people without regard for the interruptions and inconvenience caused them.
> Customer Moments are impersonal. The “Machine” doesn’t recognize them as individuals. They are account numbers who are expected to pay their bills on time or else.

ALIVE Service, on the other hand, is characterized by words like responsive, caring, happiness, open, respectful, trust, relationships, remarkable, dazzling and seving. Lets take a closer look…
ALIVE Service...
> The organization has a culture of caring for it’s people and this transcends to how customers are dealt with.
> Leadership believes that their primary role is to serve their employees; to make it easy for them to do their job. They believe that if the Frontline is served well from within the customer will be served in the same manner.
> Internal rules, policies and procedures are created in the image of creating memorable service experiences for the customer. Good business practices are of course applied but the organization is flexible enough to restrict the mandatory controls to the necessary minimum.
> Frontline employees are empowered to bend the rules in order to say yes to a customer. The service strategy in play is to find a way to do what the customer wants and not enforce rigid rules.
> Service Heroes are recognized constantly, reinforcing the importance of the serving ethic.
> Humanity is built in to service operations. Leadership understands that mind-blowing service is delivered by people not machines. Hi-Touch rallies over Hi-Tech.
> Call centers are not outsourced; they are considered a core competency of providing dazzling service.
> The quality of the customer contact is considered the primary objective. Each Moment of Truth is engineered to produce an emotion-rich experience for the customer.
> Quality of service measurement is based on the customer’s perception of how they were served. Internal operational statistics are used only to diagnose a customer perceived problem.
> The organization gives Gifts to their loyal customers as a “thank You” for their continued patronage.
> The recruitment process is geared to finding people who love humans. The belief is that they can learn the business but are borne with the Gift of Serving.
> The organization heavily invests in service believing in long term results rather than emphasis on the short term.
> Social media tools are extensively used to connect with and learn from their tribe.
> The organization is open to feedback and criticism; they use it to improve how they serve customers.
> Marketing is focussed on the individual and creates VALUE-EXPERIENCE based Offers for them. They don’t flog products.

There you go. Profiles of DEAD and ALIVE Service. Which characterizes your organization?

Cheers,
Roy

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Posted 12.16.10 at 06:00 am by Roy Osing | Permalink | Comments (0)

December 13, 2010

The Customer Charter of Rights

Far too often we state what we as an organization intend to do for our customers. It’s about time we created a list of things that we, as customers, expect of those that we do business with. Read on and tell me if what I as the customer expects is unreasonable or unrealistic…

I, your customer, have the right to…
> be respected by every employee I connect with.
> feel important as the person who keeps you in business.
> be listened to; no I mean REALLY listened to!
> be the center of attention rather than an annoyance who takes you away from your “real job”.
> guide you in the formulation of your internal rules, policies and procedures.
> determine the appropriate systems and processes by which I do business with you. I expect you to make it easy for me to do business with you.
> have a voice in who you recruit into positions that govern Service Experience Moments. I expect you will present to me people who love humans and who will move heaven and earth to take care of me.
> personalized marketing offerings that recognize my own personal needs, wants and desires.
> NOT be on the receiving end of product flogging. I expect you will create offers that expose me to new experiences that will make me happy and joyful.
> afforded the opportunity of giving you honest yet at times critical feedback on how I am being treated, knowing you will take my comments and make my life with you better.
> NOT be ignored no matter how simple and trivial my request of you might be.
> dazzling service experiences. I expect you to SURPRISE me with Gifts that you give freely with no expectation in return.
> feel the humanity in your organization. I don’t want to constantly confront technology that replaces people. I despise voice response systems and call centers that require me to wait up to 30 minutes for one of your people to answer while I listen to you tell me “Don’t hang up. Your call is important to us”.
> a deep meaningful relationship with you rather than being viewed as a commercial transaction where all that is important is the money exchange from me to you.
> be rewarded for my loyalty to you. I expect Gifts on occasion (not constantly) that recognizes how important I am to you.
> be communicated with regularly in terms of what new things you have that may meet my needs and my feedback on how well you have been treating me.

Seriously, is that too much to ask in a world of fierce competition, plummeting customer loyalty and tenuous organizational survivability? I think not….

Cheers,
Roy

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Posted 12.13.10 at 05:59 am by Roy Osing | Permalink | Comments (2)

November 22, 2010

The Return on Customer Learning is ENORMOUS

I argue that traditional Market Research doesn’t go far enough to establish a BE DiFFERENT organization. Periodic studies can’t keep pace with the changing needs of your FANS and everyone uses it. Customer Learning, on the other hand, is a continuous process of learning what your customers want, desire and covet. And it is a core competency of your business which should never be outsourced.

What’s the key to Customer Learning? It’s all about LISTENING. No I mean REALLY listening to what people have to say. Pay attention to their words and the results are remarkable; give it lip service and you are doomed. Here is a brief guide on how to be an effective Listener:

CUSTOMER LISTENING =

LOOK - them in the eye. Don’t Grin ‘em. Give them your undivided attention. Show that you CARE about what they have to say. Lean forward.

LISTEN - Really listen! Ask questions to clarify. Take copious amount of notes. Don’t interrupt them when they are speaking. It’s about them not you.

LEARN - This is a Moment of Strategic Opportunity; don’t miss it. Discover a Secret. Look for hidden VALUE that you can create for them; latent Happiness you can generate.

What’s the RETURN ON CUSTOMER LISTENING ROCL?

LOYALTY - Your FANS will stay with you and tell others how terrific you are. Advocates & Addicted followers create annuity streams for you.

LEAP - Beyond the herd who still compete by incremental product feature creep. You will achieve Distinction; Remarkable.

LEAVE - ‘em in the dust. True separation from the herd. Clear unique value proposition that others will simply not be able to replicate.

Cheers,
Roy

Remember to follow me on Twitter
Take the BE DiFFERENT Quiz: Are you DiFFERENT or are you dead?

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Posted 11.22.10 at 07:00 am by Roy Osing | Permalink | Comments (0)