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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Great Save!

Wouldn't you know it - just before the Stanley Cup Finals, our television started acting up. Not wanting to miss a game, or buy a new TV, I called the Sony Store where I bought it.

Since the set had been off warranty for some time, I was not all that optimistic about my chances of resolving the problem this way, but given my Scottish lineage and faced with the prospect of having to lay out a big wad of cash, figured I had to at least try.

In any event, after a little discussion about the problem (a red line that crossed the screen that was clearly not centre ice) I was given a toll free customer care number to call. Still expecting the worse, I dialed this number with fingers poised in anticipation of having to respond to one of those annoying automated response systems we have all grown to expect when calling such 'services'.

Much to my surprise, the phone was answered by an actual human being, and a very pleasant one at that. Again, I explain the problem to the best of my ability and after a sincere expression of empathy from someone who was obviously a fellow hockey fan, was advised that if I emailed a couple of photos showing the fault, this person would see what they could do.

With the next game only days away, I immediately filled this request and minutes later received a response which outlined a proposed resolution. No, they did not offer to replace the set for free (after all, the set was several years old) but, what they did propose was more than fair and far exceeded my expectations.

To make a long story short, the morning before the next game, a new set was delivered to my door at just about the same time a customer satisfaction survey arrived in my inbox. Needless to say, I completed the survey expressing just how impressed I was with their service. Minutes later, another email arrived thanking me for my patience complete with a coupon attached that I could use against a future Sony purchase.

So say what you want about the amazing goal tending of Boston's Tim Thomas or Vancouver's Roberto Luongo (except in game 3). At least for me, Sony had just made the best save of the series.

I often rant about bad service, particularly when it involves poor after sale problem resolution. I suspect, I've even suggested there are few if any who get this bit right, but these guys clearly do - a quick empathetic response by a real person who's main concern isn't when the warranty ran out, or who is right and who is wrong, but rather, what's fair and what will it take to not only keep the customer, but to exceed their expectations and turn them into a loyal fan and vocale advocate.

Know any others?

P.S. Go Canucks Go!

To comment, or read the comments on this blog click on 'comments' beside the little envelope below. To read previous articles (this is #43), see the Blog Archive (mid right) and to become a Wavemaker Blogs follower, click on 'Follow' (lower right).

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What Gets Measured Gets Better

Anyone in business has likely heard the old expression 'What gets measured gets done'. I'd like to suggest that when it comes to customer service, the outcome of measurement can be even more rewarding.

What follows is a case in point:


The other day, I was out shopping at MEC (Mountain Equipment Co-op) for some things we needed for an upcoming Wavemaker Adventure Learning event. I was standing in front of a large display of climbing gear pondering my options when a young lady came over to offer her assistance. Once I had explained in general terms what I was looking for, she began asking questions to determine which of the many products available would best suit my needs.

As we discussed the pros and cons of each of the items that might be a fit, she asked about my company and seemed genuinely interested, even a little excited about what we do. She unpacked and encouraged me to tryout some of the gear I was considering. And while I wiggled my way into one of the harnesses, she talked a little about her own outdoor experiences. The conversation got rather animated and we shared a few laughs.

In the end, we settled on specific solution which, if not for our conversation, I wouldn't have even considered. Not only was it perfect for my purposes, but it was the least expensive of all the options.

With my immediate problem solved and a little time to kill, I wandered through the rest of the store looking for other ways to spend my money. Everywhere I went I was met by very enthusiastic and helpful employees, which to be honest, struck me as kind of odd.

You see this was not my first visit to MEC. In fact, I'm typically in one of their stores about once a month and while it has been my experience that they generally provided a reasonable level of service, on this day something was different. There were more smiles; more conversations and I suspect, more sales... all of which left me wondering what had changed?

Just as I was about to leave the store, I had my answer. For standing by the exit, was a gentleman with a clip board who polite asked if I had just a minute to complete a customer satisfaction survey... which I did.

Now the cynic might think that explains everything. They are only providing this level of service because they are being measured. My response would be "So what - I got great service." Will it continue at this level after the man at the door is gone? Perhaps not, but given how much the employees seemed to be enjoying themselves, I'm betting at least some these new behaviors will live on. And even if they don't, they can always bring him back.

Either way, the message is clear: When it comes to customer service, what gets measured gets better!

To comment, or read the comments on this blog click on 'comments' beside the little envelope below. To read previous articles (this is #42), see the Blog Archive (mid right) and to become a Wavemaker Blogs follower, click on 'Follow' (lower right).

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If you would like to know more about how Wavemaker Consulting can help your company improve the customer experience you provide, visit our Website, or email us at wmconsulting@live.com

Which is more important?

Many would suggest that to succeed in sales and service it's important to have all the right answers; but while I too think knowledge is important, I suspect that asking all the right questions is what really matters most.

Let me illustrate by way of example:

Some time back I was shopping for a flat screen TV. My first stop was one of those big box electronics superstores where I was met by a young, yet no doubt very knowledgeable salesperson.

In response to my obviously well thought through first question "Ah...what's the difference between all these various brands and models... and ...um...which one is better?" he led me on a journey from set to set while citing at great length all of their technical specifications.

He talked of DPI, NPR, HDMI as well as the intricacies of NTSC, ATSC and QAM tuners, then compared Plasmas, LCDs and LEDs and even a few 3Ds in terms of contrast ratios and video frame versus screen refresh rates.

Clearly this guy knew his stuff, but after about 45 minutes of this, my head started to hurt and I left the store more confused and no closer to a purchase decision than when I had entered. I also left wondering just how and when I had become so technologically inept.

After a few days of licking my wounds and trying to convince myself I could live with the poor picture quality and rather annoying high pitch squeal that sporadically emanated from the old set, I built up my courage and decided to give it another try. But this time before heading out, I decided to do a little research and find out what some of these seemingly all important terms meant.

A few hours later, armed with the knowledge that DPI stood for dots per inch and that NPR was short for native pixel resolution, but still not knowing what all this meant or why it mattered, I found myself at the entrance to a Sony Store. I believe I was attracted there by the fact that it was much smaller and looked a whole lot less intimidating than the big box shop mentioned earlier.

Nonetheless, I was still feeling anxious and somewhat guarded when I was approached by a friendly looking gentleman who asked "How can I help you?" to which I hesitantly replied "I am looking for a new TV."

Much to my surprise, rather than lead me to the wall of TVs on offer, he invited me to take a seat in one of several comfortable leather chairs strategically placed throughout the store. He then proceeded to ask me a number of questions which included but where not limited to the following:

• What kind of programs do you enjoy watching most? 
• How much television do you typically watch in a week?
• What are the dimensions of the room in which you plan to put your new TV?
• What are the main sources of light in this room? 
• How far from the screen is your favorite chair?
• When other family members join you to watch television, where do they sit?
• What is the widest angle off center of the screen are these other seats?

Only once I had answered these questions did he show me the two TVs he felt were best suited to my needs. He patiently explained in terms I actually understood why he had chosen these two from all the rest and how they differed from one another. Then he asked if I had any questions. When I couldn’t come up with any, he placed a chair in front of each at the distance I had described earlier and left me to watch one and then the other so I could compare them for myself.

While there was no mention of DPIs, NPRs, or any other verbal display of his technical knowledge during the entire time the salesman and I were together, I knew from the questions he had asked, this guy knew it all. And even though I also knew I could get a similar model, if not the very same TV at the big box store for a lower price, after a few minutes of contemplation, I made my choice and called him over to complete the sale.

Once the paperwork was taken care of and a delivery date agreed, I walk away confident that I had made the right decision and knowing I had finally found someone who could guide me through the set up of the system as well as the dreaded programming of the remote without making me felling like a technology challenged imbecile, even if I am.

So now back to our original question - which is more important - the Q’s or the A’s?

I believe that in sales and service (and for that matter in life) success is not so much a result of having all the right answers, but more the product of asking all the right questions… and I suspect this applies to both buyers and sellers alike.

What do you think?


To comment, or read the comments on this blog click on 'comments' beside the little envelope below. To read previous articles (this is #41), see the Blog Archive (lower right) and to become a Wavemaker Blogs follower, click on 'Follow' (just above Archive).

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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!


To comment, or read the comments on this blog click on 'comments' beside the little envelope below. To read previous articles (this is #40), see the Blog Archive (lower right) and to become a Wavemaker Blogs follower, click on 'Follow' (just above Archive).

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All I Want For Christmas

This year, rather than follow my usual practice of waiting until the very last minute, I decided to do the bulk of my Christmas shopping early (which from the average male's perspective, means any time prior to 5:00pm on the 24th).

To be honest, this break in behavior was not so much a function of any new found organizational skills, or strange awakening of my more feminine side, but rather driven by two basic needs, those being:


1. The need to save time and money - The Bay (a large Canadian department store where those of us who dislike shopping can get most of the things on our list in relatively short order) was having a '2 Day Only Storewide Sale'

2. The need to gather some fresh material for what has become a long overdue service experience related blog article. Where did the last month go?

So this past Saturday I left the house early, list in hand and fully expecting to gather most of what was on it as well as at least one or two less than positive customer experiences to rant about. I knew, what with the sale and all, the customer service staff at The Bay would be under a great deal of pressure. Surely, someone would slip up and give me the story I needed.

After only an hour or two, I had managed to get just about everything on my list, but try as I may, I could not come up with a single negative service experience. I had dealt with at least 10 different employees and much to my dismay, every single one of them was annoyingly friendly and helpful, even when I played the role of the difficult, if not stupid male shopper. This by-the-way is something I do very well.

Knowing I was getting absolutely nowhere on the blog material gathering front, I eventually left The Bay and ventured into the adjacent mall where multiple high end specialty stores were competing viciously for the attention and dollars of the far more discriminating and knowledgeable than I, female shoppers. Like most of its kind, this mall is anything but a male friendly environment.

Desperately, I spent the next hour wandering through several shops where I clearly did not belong, asking silly questions and generally being a pain. But even there, I came up short. In fact, one shop owner, when asked one of my particularly silly questions, went as far as to cheerfully educate me on the proper use and care of a product she had on hand, even though I'd admitted to having bought mine elsewhere.

I suspect most people would consider what I went through a pretty good day of shopping, but given that I take great pleasure in spotting, writing about and addressing customer service issues (not to mention the fact that this is part of what I do for a living) I found the whole experience very disconcerting.

Could it be the world has at long last awakened to the magic of friendly service? Is this the end for Wavemaker Blogs?

I dare not go back out and face the mobs to get my answer; so in case you haven't already guessed, all I want for Christmas is some assurance this is not the case. Please, please do tell us about your Christmas shopping experiences, be they good or bad (albeit those of latter variety would be far more comforting).

Here’s wishing you and yours a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

To comment, or read the comments on this blog click on 'comments' beside the little envelope below. To read previous articles (this is #39), see the Blog Archive (lower right) and to become a Wavemaker Blogs follower, click on 'Follow' (just above Archive).

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If you would like to know more about how Wavemaker Consulting can help your company improve the customer experience you provide, visit our Website, or email us at wmconsulting@live.com

We Want You Be Happy: The following photo was submitted as part of a comment on this article from Steve Tait (see comment 2 below) but for technical reasons could not be included in the comment.

Gotta love it!

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.

To comment, or read the comments on this blog click on 'comments' beside the little envelope below. To read previous articles (this is #38), see the Blog Archive (lower right) and to become a Wavemaker Blogs follower, click on 'Follow' (just above Archive).

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If you would like to know more about how Wavemaker Consulting can help your company improve the customer experience you provide, visit our Website, or email us at wmconsulting@live.com