Talking To Strangers

When we were small, our mothers told us time and time again not to talk to strangers. It was good advice back then, but sadly, most of us have continued to heed this well intended counsel long past its best before date.

Now that childhood is behind us, the benefits of talking to strangers far  outweigh the risks. It is amazing how much we can learn from people we don’t know… and how enjoyable that experience can be for all parties involved.

In the vast majority of cases, all you need to do is smile and initiate the conversation with a few simple questions like “How are you?”; “Where are you from?”and/or “What do you do?”  

You’ll be amazed at how simply asking these questions of total strangers (and doing so often) will make you far more comfortable, confident and competent on those dreaded occasions when you are called on to make presentations at work, or speak out in social situations.

If, like most of us, you are a service provider and/or in sales, make it a regular practice in the workplace and I suspect you'll find your job will get much easier, not to mention more rewarding. After all, a little friendly conversation can only enhance the customer experience… and increases sales!

For these reasons and more, I have made ‘talking to strangers’ not only a personal habit, but also a regular and often mandatory assignment for all of my public speaking and customer experience workshops; and the feedback has been very positive indeed.  

So next time you’re queued up at the grocery store checkout, on an elevator, or riding the bus, put away your Blackberry, iPhone, or whatever little electronic device you are addicted to, and strike up a real conversation with a total stranger? You’ll likely find that face-to-face communications is the still the most powerful of the social media.

If we all just spent a little more time talking to strangers, especially those from different cultures, generations and belief systems, we’d all be a little happier... and maybe, just maybe, the world would be a better place.


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Ever Been Stuck on an Escalator?

Click on the play button below for an example of what I mean: 

I know this little scenario may seem totally ridiculous to you...but I'll bet, at least metaphorically, we've all been 'stuck on an escalator' at some point in time... and some of us may be stuck on one right now. 

Here's why:

In business, and in life, we often associate and apply rules, policies and processes to situations for which they they were not intended... and sometimes, they are just as silly as the ones being applied by the two people in this video.

Take for example;

• the Customer Service Rep who refuses to allow the return of a minor purchase by a long time loyal customer citing some obscure or ill-conceived detail in the return policy as rational;  
• the support department that, before it acts, refers virtually every decision, big or small, to the legal department just because of a single and somewhat obscure incident that happened years ago; 
• the bank that asks a customer they have been dealing with for years, to fill out a pile of forms and jump through multiple security hoops to open a  new deposit account... notwithstanding the fact that it's the customer entrusting their money with the bank, not the other way around; 
• or my personal favorite, the complaint department that with every call, is more concerned about finding out who was at fault and why, than what it is going to take to put things right... and keep the customer!

In fairness, management may have had all good intentions when the policies and processes driving these actions were developed, and probably never imagined they would be applied in situations where they would do far more harm than good. But nevertheless, they often are... even by equally well meaning employees!

Maybe it's time we all asked ourselves, "Do the rules, policies and processes I create, live and/or work by make sense?" If not, we may well find ourselves stuck on an escalator, or causing others that same fate.

The good news is, it only takes a little common sense to figure out how to get off an escalator. So perhaps the better question is: How do we make common sense common practice?

Any suggestions?


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Flip Sides of the Same Coin

You often hear sales and service described as two different things. In fact, most companies treat them as such. They have separate sales and service departments on their org charts, offer separate career paths and separate sales and service courses to their employees, even direct their customers to separate areas depending on where those customers are in the buying cycle.

This disconnect often causes confusion, conflicts and inefficiencies for both customers and employee alike.
 
By my way of thinking, sales and service are if not one and the same, flip sides of the same coin. The best simple definition of service I've ever heard was 'the process of identifying and meeting customer needs' which also sounds like a pretty darn good definition for sales, or at least for needs based selling, which is the only kind that makes any sense.

Wouldn't we all be better off if we were to reconnect the two? If companies were to adopt the notion that 'around here, everybody sells and everybody serves', I'm betting they would make a lot more sales and at the same time, improve both employee and customer satisfaction levels.

What employee wouldn't prefer to be identifying and meeting customer needs over just flogging product, or handling the problems that arise when someone else does? And what customer wouldn't prefer having all of their needs met in one place, without being sent from pillar to post?

Either way:

Sales without service are fleeting... and service without sales is fruitless!

 

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Happy New Year - What Will It Bring?

At the risk of sounding like an old fuddy-duddy, I predict that as we continue to crawl out of this recession through 2011, we will see a return to the fundamentals in the corporate world.




What I mean is by this is a return to values based management; a rebirth of corporate and social responsibility; a renewed focus on sustainable growth versus quick profits; a resurrection of the bias for employee development over cost cutting; and perhaps most exciting of all, a resurgence of customer care and great service!

Do I think this will happen in companies across the board? Of course not! That would be naive and wishful thinking. But it will happen for those with leaders bright enough to learn from the lesson of the past, brave enough to bring back what was good and strong enough to always take the high road as they move forward.

That's my prediction. What's yours?

All the very best in 2011!


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Putting Things Right

 

A few weeks back, my son Adam had a little trouble with a faulty roll of aluminium foil. As he explains it "I could pull out both sides, but try as I might, could not lift the middle without it tearing."



Adam thought about taking it back to the store, but having previously discarded the receipt, knew they'd only give him a hard time; so to avoid further frustration, he tossed the foil in the bin and the box in the recycling.

The following evening, faced with the prospect, not to mention expense of having to go out and get another roll, he decided to call ALCAN, the company that manufactured the faulty foil, and let them know about his experience with their product. Given ALCAN's offices are back east, and it was already late in the day in Vancouver, not surprisingly his call was answered by an automated voice messaging system.

At this point Adam considered simply hanging up and letting sleeping dogs lie, but something in the tone of the message encouraged him to leave a brief description of his complaint as well as his contact details.

The very next morning he received a very well crafted, personalized email from a company rep at NOVELIS FOIL PRODUCTS, the distribution company that represents ALCAN. This email contained a sincere apology, an assurance that they would make good on his purchase, a few questions about the problem and a request that he return the roll (at their expense) so as they could investigate further. This was clearly not a form letter and was worded such that it left Adam feeling they truly appreciated his feedback... and were actually going to act on it!

He replied explaining that unfortunately, he had thrown out the contents, but still had the box in his recycling. While half expecting not to hear back, in very short order he received a 'no problem' response with a further assurance the company would make good on his purchase and a 'if it's not too much trouble' request for the product code off the box, so that the quality control investigation could continue.

Another email or two ensued and, to make a long story short, just the other day Adam received the package pictured above, along with a further thanks for bringing this matter to the company's attention.

Now that's what I would call 'Putting Things Right!'Sidebar: By shear coincidence, around the same time this was going on, I attended a sales and marketing workshop where the facilitator suggested "there isn't a company out there that knows how to effectively deal with customer complaints." I would suggest that the good folks at Novelis would prove him wrong.

And, in fairness to ALCAN, who arguably manufacture the best foil on the market, if you manufacture hundreds of thousands of anything, somewhere along the line, even under the most stringent quality controls, you're going to have a defect slip through. It's what happens when one does, like the response described above, that separates great companies from the also ran.

You may recall, late last year I posted an article entitled "Revenge" which described what happened to one company when they failed to act on a customer complaint. Perhaps United could learn a thing or two from ALCAN and Novelis.

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Canadians are Wanting More, but Getting Less

According to a recent study conducted by American Express, 58% of Canadians indicated the quality of customer service is more important to them in today’s economic environment than it was prior to the recession.

These same consumers also suggested they would be willing to pay a premium upwards of 7% just to get better service.

Of the people polled, 91% consider the level of customer service important when deciding to do business (or keep doing business) with a company; yet 65% believe most companies have either not changed their attitude toward customer service in the face of these economic times, or are now paying even less attention to it!

And only 15% believe companies value their business enough to go the extra mile to keep it.

By my way of thinking, for anyone in business who's feeling the pinch, or just wanting more, this dichotomy screams OPPORTUNITY!

What do you think?

To read more of the findings of this study, click here: Service speaks: Canadians willing to spend 7% more for premium treatment.

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Advantage - Great Service

I'm feeling a bit guilty about my last blog article (or should I say rant) which as you may recall, was aimed at the 'Stupid' Store.

It's not that they didn't deserve it. In fact, I've had occasion to be in touch since the 'cans' incident and they were no more helpful than they'd been on my last visit.

You see, I was craving Dungeness crab, as one does, and called to see if they had any in stock. I'll admit it - this was less about me giving them second chance and more about my need for a reasonably priced crab fix.

In any event, after the usual call transfer delays, I finally got through to someone in the fish department who informed me they had crabs (so to speak) but refused to tell me the price per pound. Apparently, it's their policy not to give prices over the phone. No doubt this one was written by the same lamebrain who can up with the 24 can return policy.

But I digress. The reason I am feeling guilty is because not because I comparison shop, or because despite the cholesterol count, I love fresh steamed crab dipped in hot butter. The reason I am feeling guilty is because I realize I tend to write more about bad customer experiences than good ones and I know that sharing the occasional example of a great customer experience might be refreshing, if not helpful. The problem is that in my experience great customer experiences are all too rare.

Fortunately, Jim Foster, a good friend of mine was lucky enough to have one and kind enough to allow me to share it with you.

What follows is Jim's story:

We had the misfortune to have our hot water tank pack it in on Tuesday. Our first call was to the company who supplied it, who suggested they could come in about 6 days. Not prepared to wait that long between showers, our second call was to Advantage. They could come between 3 and 5 pm that same day! Needless to say, we booked the appointment.

To make a long story short, I received a call from the office when the van was dispatched, the technician gave a firm quote before doing the job, then did it in less than the estimated time and at what I believe was a reasonable cost.

Today we received a follow up letter from the President of the company, thanking us for the business, asking if we were happy with the service and advising us of what to do if we had any problems in the future. It also contained a copy of their service philosophy, a detailed explanation of their cost structure and an invitation to drop by for a coffee if we happen to be in the neighborhood!

Now that's great service, something so very rare these days!So there you have it. Doesn't it warm your heart to know that while rare, there are still some companies out there delivering great service? And if you happen to live in the Greater Vancouver area, here's a bonus - now you know who to call if your hot water tank ever decides to pack it in.

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Go Figure?

In the name of fairness and to keep the peace in the family, it is important that all members of the household share a bit of the domestic workload; or at least that's what my wife tells me.

At our house, I have as one my chores the all important responsibility of returning the recyclables such as the empty pop cans and the like.


It's not a bad job really. It gets me out of the house and I can either pocket the proceeds, or use them to buy those necessities like ice cream, cookies and potato chips which are all to often 'forgotten' by she who does most of the grocery shopping.

One day, while returning a rather large quantity of empties (I save them up not out of laziness, but rather in the name of efficiency) to a big box store I not so affectionately call 'The Stupid Store', I was 'greeted' at the 'Customer Service' counter by a rather surly clerk who bluntly advised me I could only return 24 cans on any given day.

"You have got to be kidding me!" I replied "No one told me that when I bought several cases of pop a few weeks back."

"Well that's our policy." she said as if that explained everything.

Being a dedicated student of human behaviour, I quickly sensed there was no winning with this 'lady' so I resisted the urge to further protest, diligently counted out 24cans and placed them on the counter. She then selected two of those cans, handed them back and said "We don't sell this brand here, you'll have to take them back where you got them."

While tempted to ask "What difference does it make, don't they all get crushed and go to the same place in the end?" I knew the likelihood of my question yielding any reasonable explanation was just about on par with the likelihood of me getting a genuine smile out of this field hardened battle axe, so I obediently replaced the two cans in question with ones bearing their store brand.

Then something happened that totally blew me away. Before relinquishing my meager proceeds, the clerk, hereafter know as 'Attila the Hen', produced a rather unofficial looking form, filled in the date and asked me for my name, phone number and signature.

"What in the world do you need all that for?" I replied "Are you afraid I might sneak back into the store later in the day and try to return another 24 cans... or are you thinking that perhaps some of my cans could be counterfeit?

"Oh no" She said in a tone that implied I was something short of an imbecile, "We ask for this information not because we don't trust our customers, (I'm not convinced) but because we don't trust our employees. After all, they could simply take money from the till and claim it was paid out for returned recyclables."

At this point, I found myself uncharacteristically at a loss for words: which was probably just as well, but what was I to do?

I had no intention of sticking around to hear any more of this nonsense and pushing a shopping cart still half full of cans around the store in search of the previously mentioned necessities had little appeal.

Besides, I certainly didn't want to risk contact with any of the store's other apparently untrustworthy employees. So I left, without spending a dime, in search of a more accommodating grocer. After all, I still had the two cans that had been rejected, and returning home with them, not to mention without the ice cream, would surely signal that I had been negligent in my domestic duties.

To put this little story in perspective and give it meaning in context of the importance of a positive customer experience - I shudder to think how much our family spends in groceries over the course of a week, let alone a month, a year, or a lifetime... and yet, for the sake of a dime (the refund value of two cans) and some very, very stupid rules, this store intentionally choose to send me and my money, directly into the welcoming arms of one of their competitors.

Go Figure?

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Deliver What You Promise

Last week my wife and I took a short break and headed back east to visit family and friends and spend a little time touring Boston and New York City.

While walking through the financial district of The Big Apple, something in a second story window caught my eye.

We stopped and took this picture as I couldn't resist the contradiction of an all important lesson in customer service:

Never create expectations against

which you can't deliver!

I wonder just how long the gentleman (top left) has been waiting for his pizza? But enough said about that. As it happens, both New York and Boston far exceeded our expectations.

While a tad on the warm side at 103 Fahrenheit/39 Celsius, we found New York to be clean, friendly and surprising vibrant, what with the recession and all. With the exception of a little attitude from one poor soul who in all fairness was melting in a half price Broadway ticket booth, the service was exceptional! But then who would expect anything less from the city that knows how to handle adversity like no other.

Boston was equally warm on both fronts. If you're ever out that way, I highly recommend the Duck Tour followed by a taste of the local seafood at The Barking Crab... but be prepared to wait in line. Recession or not, the combination of warm, friendly and funky still draws a crowd.

Could it be the Americans are on to something?


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America's Most Trusted

According to a just-released study by the Pew Research Center, small businesses are the most trusted institutions in America - more than churches; more than colleges; more than technology companies: more than government agencies and certainly more than financial institutions and large corporations!

Here is a quick recap of some of the high/low lites:

Small business owners and all those that work for them should take pride in these findings, as well as a some assurance their efforts are being recognized and will be rewarded.

While some may disagree over absolute ranking, there are few who would suggest trust is not one of the primary drivers of consumer and employee behavior, especially on the heals of troubled times.

This being the case, small businesses should rightfully expect to see upticks in market share, customer loyalty, employee attraction, employee retention and a bunch of other good stuff.

As per those of us associated with institutions (either as employees or shareholders) further down the list... let's just say perhaps it's time we either convinced the powers that be to reassessed their practices and start looking for ways to win back the trust... or we move on over to the small side.

So much for the old saying "Go big, or go home!"

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Who Cares?

The other day I was asked if there was a model or magic formula for delivering good service. My initial reaction was to say "Of course not! It's a very complicated and multifaceted thing. That's why you have to hire someone like me to help you design and deliver a great customer experience!"

My second reaction was to feel guilty for my first reaction.

It's not that I don't believe there is a lot entailed in delivering an exceptional customer experience. I'd be a fool to be in this business if that were the case. However, that's not what was being asked. My colleague simply wanted to know what one needed to do to deliver 'good' service; and to be honest, it doesn't take a model or formula to define that. It can be captured in a single word:

CARE!

Truth is most companies (read the people that work for them) either don't care, or don't care enough. They are so caught up in their own needs and wants, they've lost sight of the needs and wants of the customer. That's why words like "they just don't care" are so often at the root of the ever growing number of customer complaints and horror stories we hear.

How many companies can you think of that really seem to care?

C is for Customers - they always come first
A is for Appreciate - they are the very life blood of your business R is for Respect - their beliefs and mannerisms may be different than yours
E is for Enthusiasm, Energy, Equality, Excitement, Empathy - and all the other 'E' words that define how you should interact with them.

Now I feel better.

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Why we shop where we do

Some time back I posted a simple little survey on my blog site that asked "Why do you shop, or otherwise do business where you do?"

Many thanks to the more than 50 of you who participated! At long last I figured out how to crunch the numbers in Excel and am finally posting the results.

As you may recall, the survey was broken into 4 broad product categories as follows:


Groceries - food items, beverages, detergents, paper products, etc.

Major Items - cars, major appliances, furniture, computer equipment, etc.

Financial Services - loans, deposits, credit cards, insurance, investments, etc.

Small Items - clothing, linens, cosmetics, small appliances, hardware, etc.

Here is what you collectively had to say about why you shop where you do:

So what does all this tell us?

While I'll let you draw your own conclusions, I found it interesting that in every area but financial services product and selection is the major customer driver by a rather wide margin. I was encouraged by the fact that overall, customer service finished second, but surprised by how little it factored in our decisions related to where we shop for groceries, especially as this something we do so often.

I was also taken back by how rewards (loyalty cards and the like) would seem to have little or no impact on our shopping behaviour, which given how much the administration of such programs must add to the cost of goods sold, does cause one to wonder why bother?

Perhaps the most profound finding of all was just how much customer service factors in our decision as per where to buy financial products. This is something I'm not convinced most financial institutions fully appreciate. Go figure!

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Yours or Mine?

Say I was to put a $20 bill (or a £20 note for my UK friends) on the table and offer the highest bidder the chance to win it on the flip of a coin. How much would you be willing to wager on the chance?

Views on gambling aside, logic would suggest a reasonable answer would be somewhere in the neighborhood of 20 dollars as that evens the odds of you taking my 20 while keeping yours at 50/50.

But say all you had was $20 to carry you to your next paycheck and you needed that money to buy milk for the kids. Would you still make the bet?

Conversely, say you want to buy theater tickets that cost $40, but only have $25 in your pocket. The show runs tonight only and there is no other way for you to get the extra $15. Might you consider bidding a little higher for a chance at not missing the show?

My point is this: It’s not really the price or cost of things that drives consumer behavior, but rather the value they place on those things. Yet driven no doubt by the economic downturn, it would seem both companies and consumers alike are totally obsessed with cost cutting and have completely lost sight of the total value proposition.

While I appreciate that eliminating unnecessary spending often makes sense, becoming obsessed with cost cutting, be that on the provider or consumer side, can only lead to a reduction in quality, and therefore the value of goods and services available.

Inevitably, this decline in value will further stall our economic recovery, increased pressure on our fragile environment and in the end, actually drive up real costs. In other words, it will cause a world of long term pain and little if any short term gain.

By my way of thinking, the sooner we curb our obsession with cutting costs and get back to focusing on value, the more of it we will create and the better off we’ll all be.

I’d love to hear your thoughts on this one!

For more on this topic, see my colleague, Ade McCormack's blog on Money Verses Value then return to this site by clicking on the back button.

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The Real Value of a Customer

One of the reasons customer service is what it is (as in not nearly as good as it should be) is that most organizations grossly underestimate customer value (CV) seeing it as simply the difference between the cost of providing goods or services and what the customer pays for them at point of sale.

Say for example Neil, my youngest pictured above, buys a pair of skis on sale for $800 (a ridiculous amount if you ask me, but considerably less than the ones he really wants). If the total cost of those skis (what the manufacturer/distributor charges the retailer, plus a proportionate share of operating expenses such as salaries, commissions, rent, advertising, etc.) to the shop is $700, they are likely see his CV as $100.

On the surface this might seem reasonable, but it far from tells the whole story.

First, the skis mentioned above by no means represent my son's first pair, in fact, he currently has three pair in active service (don't ask) and there are at least as many cast offs in the basement. I prefer not to think how many pair of skis he has owned and how much they cost.

It should be noted that not all of those skis were bought from the same shop and even if they had, I can understand why the retailer is not all that likely to account for purchases of years gone by when calculating Neil's value as a customer, although a little acknowledgment would be nice.

But consider this - Neil typically buys a new pair of skis every two years, either because he wears them out (what he tells me) or because something 'way better' has come along (the real reason). Given his passion for the sport, he is very likely to continue this pattern for many years to come and it would not be out of line to suggest that in the course of his lifetime he will probably go through at least 25-30 pair.

So what we are really talking about here are sales over time of somewhere between $20,000 - $25,000 and based on a 10% margin, that translates into $2,000 - $2,500 in potential value for the retailer.

But that is only part of the story. In order to ski, Neil not only needs skis, but also boots - good ones go for about $500 to $600 (replace every 3-4 years); poles - $50 to $100 (lasting 2-3 years, unless stolen); gloves - $100 (at best 2 years, but only if he doesn't lose them); goggles - at least $100 for anything decent, considerably more if you go with the built in antifogging fans (who know how long they'll last); a helmet - his mother won't let him leave home without one - $100 to $150 (good for 3-4 seasons or until he head buts a tree)...and then there's the outer wear (jackets and ski pants)... inner wear (thermal underwear, fleece, etc.)...and après ski wear...let's not even go there.

But we're not done yet. When it comes to skiing, Neil is the expert in our family, so when his brother or I need new equipment, we follow his lead. And because he can recite equipment specs in his sleep, not to mention 'drop a line' (ski cliffs/shoots/tight trees) most of us wouldn't think skiable, there's also a broader circle of friends, acquaintances and people who just happen to be riding the same chairlift who turn to him for advice as per what to buy and where to buy it.

When you add everything up over the course of his life, Neil will directly or indirectly influence the purchase of well over $100,000 in ski equipment, which would suggest that to those who sell the stuff he has a potential customer lifetime value (CLV), even at very conservative margins, well in excess of 10 grand!

It would be silly to imply that all of Neil's 'customer lifetime value' will be realized by a single shop, but one thing is for sure, little if any will go to the one that calculates his CV as $100!

So if you happen to own a ski shop, you might want to think about that the next time some lanky kid in jeans and a hoodie strolls in and tips back his baseball cap to give you and your inventory a critical glance.

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