Kmart to post customer reviews on store shelves

According to Kmart's blog, the retailer will now put customer reviews directly on the shelves of their games department.

In order for the review to be displayed on shelves they must be:

* Helpful and constructive
* Unique and well-written
* Written for an audience that may be made up of non-gamers; your review will be read by gamers and non-gamers of all ages
* About a title released in the last month or so, or a more "evergreen" title (Example: Red Dead Redemption or NCAA Football 11) that will be prominently featured on store shelves for several months.
* Abide by the MyKmart terms of service
* We won't post reviews that simply say whether a game is good or bad. Reviews that describe gameplay, graphics and storyline are more likely to be featured. (This way, we can cut down on any potential abuse of our program.)

What do you think of Kmart's move to put customer reviews directly on store shelves? Will this help to improve the customer's experience while in store?

Relax! How to handle angry customers without losing your cool

Sue Shellenbarger's post on the WSJ.com blog, Work & Family outlines tips that customer service representatives can use to help keep their cool in the midst of an angry wave of customer complains. The post notes that customer service takes a heavy toll. Turnover ranges from 25% to 300% a year. Part of the problem is having to fake happiness, according to a German study. Call-center workers who were instructed to remain polite and friendly with angry, rude customers had elevated blood pressure long after ending a call, researchers found. Those allowed to react naturally and defend themselves were far less stressed.

Shellenbarger's tips include eye exercises, keeping calm, keeping a vacation photo nearby, and exercising to alleviate some of the stress from the job.

In your work, what tips help you to keep your cool while staying focused on the customer's needs?

How to Keep Your Cool in Angry Times

Join us TOMORROW for the complimentary webinar, CCOs Reveal Their Secret Killer Customer Strategies for Long-Term Profitability

Space is filling quickly for our complimentary webinar with Curtis Bingham, who is the leading authority on CCOs, having worked with more than 70 CCOs over the last decade. Curtis shares some of the most profound strategies and tactics that these elite CCOs have used to attract, retain and grow profitable, long-term customer relationships also create a powerful competitive advantage for their organizations.

Thu, September 16, 2010
2:00 PM - 3:00 PM EST
Register today:
https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/593492816
Priority code: M2300W1Blog

Lessons shared include:

* Winning executive support for loyalty initiatives
* Creating an unstoppable customer culture—so you aren’t the only customer advocate
* Letting data tell you which customers to keep happy, and which ones to let go
* Giving more to customers counter intuitively generates MORE revenue

We hope that you join us!

When should extra charges be discussed with the customer?

When dealing with extra charges that may be unexpected to the customer or client, when is the best time to disclose them? Who's Your Gladys invited Rebecca Morgan to tell their readers and we'd like to share it with our Customer 1st readers as well. Morgan shares a personal story of being charged extra when she visited her doctor's office. After being miffed at the extra charges, Morgan decided to find out how customer service professionals can avoid angering their customers while still making extra charges. She writes, that common sense says that any unexpected charges should be discussed before the service is provided or the product delivered. Morgan's bottom line? If the customer is upset by the increased bill, they will be unhappy, not only with the rep but with your organization for not making sure that discussing increased charges is a standard before the service or product is provided.

We encourage you to read the post, Guest Blogger Rebecca Morgan Asks, “When Should Extra Charges Be Disclosed?” in it's entirety and share with your team.

Let us know - have you dealt with this issue in your work?

U.S. companies Social Media spending tied to customer loyalty

Internetretailer.com reports that a new study finds U.S. companies that use social media to deepen customer loyalty spend nearly twice as much on the marketing tactic as those that use it for other reasons. Further, marketing budgets related to social media are growing, with loyalty initiatives growing the fastest in terms of dollars spent. The amount of marketers’ social media budget allocated to loyalty increased by 293% from 2009 to 2010, while brand awareness and customer acquisition budgets increased by 189% and 214%, respectively. Social media budgets for driving loyalty have experienced the most growth for the past three years, the report says.

As customer loyalty continues to be the major push within social media use; how can customer loyalty professionals leverage this toward actionable results?

Learn more: U.S. companies spend for social media tied to customer loyalty

Enhance your customer loyalty and engagement skills with Robyn Tippins, Community Lead at Yahoo! Developer Network as she presents, "From Ordinary Customer to Fervent Fans: Yahoo! Helps Customer Take the Leap" at NACCM 2010 - October 25-27, 2010 in Orlando. Visit the NACCM 2010 event page to download the brochure.

Study: Americans want Federal customer service to be a priority

Businesswire.com reports that the results of the “Uncle Sam at Your Service: 2010 Federal Customer Experience Study,” which examined American citizens’ expectations and perceptions of U.S. Federal agencies’ customer service. Whether through Federal student aid, tax processing, disaster relief, or even airport security – U.S. Federal agencies offer services to 307 million Americans every day.

Here are a few highlights from the report:

According to the study, Americans currently grade private sector customer service experiences higher than service received from Federal agencies. The study reveals that Americans want the Federal government to improve customer service, and many are willing to pay for the upgrade:

* 83% of Americans say that customer service is something that Federal agencies can improve
* 42% of Americans say they would pay an additional $10 in taxes each year for better government service – $552.3 million more in taxes annually

Also,

Americans want problems solved quickly, clearly, and with courtesy. Currently, private companies outrank Federal agencies in these categories; however, some agencies are taking great strides to improve service. Despite some improvements, agencies must focus on expanding Web presence and moving more services online:

* 85% of Americans want Federal agencies to provide more information and make more services available online
* 63% of Americans who interact with agencies over the Web are satisfied with their experiences

For more information, visit the original article here.

Could Community Managers be the key to excellent customer service?

A Community Manager is one that motivates, educates and connects with your audience online. These individuals must possess stellar communication skills and they must be properly educated on your company's service or product. So how does the community manager differ from a customer relationship manager or a marketing manager? Many companies are asking the same question. Customerthink.com writes,that if you want to ensure that your customer experience extends beyond the store to the conversation online, then hiring a community manager (or team) to manage your online customer experience should be a priority for any organization.

How does your organization use community managers in your customer outreach?

Learn more: Fire Your Marketing Manager & Hire A Community Manager

Let us know on Twitter @customerworld

Verizon Asks Less of Their Customers and More from Their Technology

Join Judith K. Ferrell, Group Manager, Verizon Online Support & Customer Service, for her presentation, "The Art of Personalization in Online Support: Verizon Asks Less of Their Customers and More from Their Technology" at Customer UNinterrupted at 2:20pm on Monday, October 25th.

Learn how to improve your customer’s self-service experience through personalization. Take the work away from your customers and make technology do the work for you! Know who your customer is and provide support that is specific to their products and services. We know a lot about our customers - let’s use this
knowledge to simplify their self-service experience and raise customer satisfaction.

• Learn the steps to achieve personalization in support
• Learn the tools used for personalized self-service
• Learn how to create a seamless customer experience
• Learn how to measure your success

We hope to see you in Orlando!

Save $300! Register for Customer UNinterrputed by Friday, August 13!

Should all companies that have customer support issues be on Twitter?

ConversationAgent.com researched larger companies that are using Twitter for customer service and relationship management. Blogger Valeria Maltoni writes that during the vetting process she looked at three distinct factors:

1. answering customer questions in real time -- in other words, they have the support of the organization to be problem solvers, and not just to point to policies and disclaimers
2. thinking about customers first -- which means, navigating the line between company rules and customer needs with skill. It will come as a shocker to many of you, putting a "customers first" tagline is a tiny step if you don't walk the talk
3. orienting customers on what the account is about -- often you can tell the level of thoughtfulness from the bio alone

The top companies using Twitter include: JetBlue, SouthWestAir, Comcastcares with nine more making the cut. We encourage you to read the post for more information.

But interestingly, Maltoni asks if its even important for customer support to be on Twitter? Can traditional customer support survive with the influx of social media? Maltoni asks if the data and understanding of the customers on Twitter actually help the organizations understand the customers that aren't on Twitter. Do you think that data would stand?

T-Mobile returns to top for customer care

CNET.com reports that the mobile phone provider, T-Mobile had taken the top customer care spot for J.D. Power & Associates among the US mobile carriers. According to the report, T-Mobile garnered a score of 777 points out of a possible 1,000. AT&T came in second place with 757 points, Verizon Wireless was third with 749 points, and Sprint Nextel brought up the rear with 734 pints. J.D Power did not survey U.S. Cellular or any of the regional carriers. Released twice a year, the wireless customer care study is based on feedback from subscribers who have contacted their carriers during the last six months. For the latest results, J.D. Power surveyed 9,690 customers.

What has attributed to T-Mobile's success at the top for customer satisfaction? As customer service professionals know, it goes beyond just a friendly voice at the other end of the call. So what's T-Mobile's secret? We'd like to hear your thoughts.

Using social media to re-connect with consumers on and off-line

Retail is but a platform for people to engage in a sensorial way with brands. The dialogue is happening off-shelves. With the help of technology the consumer are in the driving seat, able with a cell phone to compare prices, review promotions, ask their friends for advice or order online for a better offer. Retail need to be part of this conversation to compete and leverage their teams to respond.

Learn more in "From Brick to Click: Designing to Peak Emotions: Using Social Media to Re-connect with Consumers On and Off-Line" keynote presentation by Marc Gobe, President of Emotional Branding and Author of Emotional Branding on Wednesday, September 29th at The Category Leadership Conference in Chicago. Register today and save $200 off the standard rate.

“Customer Service is the New Marketing!”

Fast Company recently interviewed Aaron Magness of Zappos, Inc. In the interview, Fast Company's Brandon Gutman asked Magness about his position and about how marketing and customer service have changed business. Here are a few highlights that we thought were particularly interesting.

Fast Company- What is marketing really about?

There are five principles that I try to focus on in everything that has to do with marketing:

· Customer service is the new marketing. The days of dictating your brand to the public are long gone. There is so much access to information; the customer is actually dictating your brand to you.

· Communicate with your customers, don’t market at them. Customers get bombarded with marketing messages every day (practically every second). Find ways to interact with them. Discussions drive loyalty, not one way messaging.

Fast Company- How do you breed better customer service?

I’m really inspired by positivity. This can take many forms and isn’t the same for everyone, but it really stands out for me. I think it’s contagious and people build off it. It helps in personal areas the same as business. You can’t provide great customer service with a negative attitude or culture. My goal is to be as positive as I can, and hope that has an impact on those around me. I choose to surround myself with positive people and you tend to find that the majority of “success stories” generally have a great attitude about life. It all comes down to the Golden Rule. It’s not difficult to understand and we all have it in us.


We encourage you to read the interview it its entirety.

Zappos’ Marketing Chief: “Customer Service is the New Marketing!”

USAToday: Social media like Twitter change customer service

By now you've heard of companies in the United States harnessing the power of Twitter to fully connect with their customers. USAToday has a fascinating breakdown of the companies and what has and hasn't worked with Twitter and customer service.

Social media like Twitter change customer service

Is your company utilizing Twitter? What do you think you've learned from your customers? We'd like to hear your thoughts.

NACCM 2009 Kicks off on Monday!

We hope that you'll be joining us next week in sunny Phoenix for the 2009 NACCM Customer 1st event. We'll be LIVE on-site as we blog, Tweet and record all that NACCM has to offer.

Follow us right here for our coverage of the conference. Also, be sure to follow along on Twitter and join in the conversation with #NACCM.

Check below for a glimpse of what's in store for us next week.


Take a look at all we have to offer:

• 40+ insightful presenters focused on delivering real world case studies showcasing new innovative approaches for delivering customer-centricity.
• 7 Exciting new keynote sessions: fresh sources of motivation and inspiration to help you make an impact. Keynote themes include Authentic Leadership, CCO Perspectives, WOW Experiences, Customer Trends, Human Factors, Customer Service and more!
• More networking activities than ever - including a Mexican Fiesta Dinner, Wild West Party and dinners with peers around the resort to ensure you're making the right connections and getting the right face-time with your industry counterparts.
• New Programs added to ensure your investment delivers the value you need and expect... including the ROA (Return on Attendance) tool, event mentorship program, post-event executive summary and participant key takeaways report.

• Outdoor sessions and activities bringing the insights and knowledge sharing into an open-air environment.

• Event Concierge offering personalized attention aimed at helping you with all your planning needs.

• All New Tracks & Summits, the value of 5 conferences for the price of one: Customer-Centric Social Media, Next Generation Loyalty & Retention Strategies, Strategic Leadership & Customer-Centric Culture, Organizational & Operational Excellence, Innovating the Customer Experience


Plus - Connect, Engage and Learn from your Peers...here is a list of companies who've already signed on to attend:

Affinion Loyalty Group
ALSAC St. Jude Children's Research Hospital
Arizona Public Service
Baxter Healthcare Corporation
Blueocean Market Intelligence
BrightSight Group
Burke Inc.
CACI International Inc.
Canadian Blood Services
CIGNA Healthcare
Comcast Corporation
Compassion Canada
Conway Freight
Customers Rock!
Data Development Worldwide
Dell Inc.
Enumclaw Insurance Group
Essilor
First Data Merchant Services
Forum
Freeman
GFK Custom Research
GlaxoSmithKline
Hallmark Insights
Helzberg Diamonds
Hewlett Packard Company
Home Nursing Agency
Homestead Technologies
HSN
inContact
Intel Corporation
Intercontinental Hotels Group
JetBlue Airways
LaCrosse Footwear Inc.
Lexis Nexis
Marriott International
Mastercard Worldwide Medallia Inc.
NCO Group
Norwegian Cruise Line
OnCURE Medical Corp.
Powerhouse Consulting
Predictive Consulting Group Inc.
Pyramid
Quest Diagnostics
Regence
Research In Motion
San Diego Gas Electric
Scotiabank
Scottsdale Insurance Company
Sensory Logic
Setar
Sony Electronics
Southern California Edison
Southwest Airlines
Sportgiving.com
TELUS
The Disney Institute
The Forum Corporation
The Hartford
Thomson Reuters
Towerbank International
Travelocity
Ubercool LLC
Union Bank & Trust Co.
Union Bank of California
United States Olympic Committee
Verizon Wireless
Wachovia
Walk the Walk
Wyndham Hotel Group
YMCA of the USA
Zappos.com

A New Flight Pattern: Customer Service and Twitter

Customers with issues during their travel can tweet their respective airlines and within minutes their issues can be resolved, reports the Associated Press. Now that customer service representatives are using Twitter, fliers of low-cost airlines have another level of contact with the airline. The Associated Press article writes, discount airlines have traditionally outflanked the big network carriers in customer service and low fares, and it appears they're extending their advantage to social media. The discounters often respond with quick feedback to travelers' concerns on social networking sites, while traditional network carriers peddle last-minute fare deals but seem slow to embrace Twitter and Facebook to beef up customer service.

If you're interested in learning more about airline customer service, join Southwest Airlines and JetBlue Airlines at NACCM 2009.

Customers 1st Speaker Profile: Dan Hill, Author, Emotionomics

Dan Hill

Saving Customer Ryan:
The Power of Emotional Brand Equity
Author, EMOTIONOMICS & President, SENSORY LOGIC, INC

Dan Hill is the President of Sensory Logic, Inc., founded in 1998 as a scientific consumer insights firm that specializes in gauging both verbal and nonverbal, subconscious reactions to advertising, store environments, and product design, packaging and presentation. He has also provides executive coaching for sales force training relating to interpersonal communication skills.
Prior to launching Sensory Logic, Dan held positions in business and state government. In business, Dan was the director of Executive Communications for the Newark, New Jersey based utility company PSE&G. There he co-chaired a branding task force, organized the annual employee meetings, and was responsible for creating one of the top 11 annual reports in Financial World’s 55th Annual Report Competition. While serving as a regulator at the New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs, Dan was honored by the state senate for negotiating one of America’s first car leasing laws and spearheaded the creation of a 29-state task force on car repair reform for the National Association of Attorneys General. In academia, Dan earned a Ph.D. in English from Rutgers University and a Masters in Creative Writing from Brown University after undergraduate studies at Oxford University and St. Olaf College.
His award-winning creative writings have been published in The New York Times and noted with distinction in the 1994, 1991 and 1989 editions of The Best American Essays. Since the release of his business book, Body of Truth: Leveraging What Consumers Can’t or Won’t Say, published by John Wiley & Sons, he has been featured in Business 2.0[1], on NPR’s Marketplace, and quoted in The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times. Dan’s second book, Emotionomics: Winning Hearts and Minds, published by Beaver’s Pond Press, will be released September 18, 2007.

Dan's biography courtesy of Wikipedia.org.

Verizon, T-Mobile lead in wireless customer service; AT&T, Sprint below average

ZDnet reports that Verizon and T-Mobile have lead the U.S. wireless carriers in overall customer service. The report said that wireless customer service has improved overall as hold times and problem resolution has improved from six months ago.

Overall, customer care performance has improved to 735 on a 1,000 point scale. That’s up 12 points from February. Seventy-six percent of calls to customer service were resolved on first contact, up from 66 percent in February. Hold times also average 5.55 minutes, down from 6.58 minutes in February, according to J.D. Power.

Very interesting news for iPhone and Palm Pre users.

The Seven Types of Employees You Meet at Best Buy: Best Buy's Response

Gizmodo thought they'd have a bit of fun with satire by teaming up with illustrator Dan Meth in creating The Seven Types of Employees You Meet at Best Buy. For any customer service team, this may seem like a nightmare. If this is the actual depcition of the individuals that customers come in contact with at our store, what can this mean for sales and for overall customer satisfaction?

CMO of Best Buy, Barry Judge decided to respond to the allegations by the team at Gizmodo by playing along. Judge posted an illustration of the Gizmodo blogger on his corporate blog in the same fashion. We encourage you to check out the exchange, to see another way that a big company is choosing to react to an intended smear on their image.

What do you think of Barry Judge's reaction to the Gizmodo piece? What would you have done differently?

Frontier Airlines Nixes Social Media for Customer Service

Frontier Airlines won't be the ones "tweeting" you back @frontierair if you tweet a compliant when stuck in an airport. That Twitter user name is run by former Frontier Airlines enthusiast, Andrew Hyde, who when stuck in an airport for 6 hours on standby decided to take matters into his own hands by creating a clearinghouse of grievances against the air carrier.

Frontier, however, isn't taking the bait for social media and will not use the vehicles to connect with its customers.

In a statement, Frontier Air said, "We know many companies, including major airlines, have moved on to direct engagement with their customers via blogs, Twitter and other social media. Those companies have also raised the expectations of Twitter users to a level that can sometimes become unmanageable, even with the best of resources. We don’t want to disappoint our customers by introducing a communications tool we can’t properly support. We also have a lot committed to our more traditional customer service tools. Any introduction of new programs now would end up taking resources away from existing channels."

Will Frontier's decision to stay out of the social media sphere completely, deflate customer service worries for the air carrier?

This article referenced "Frontier Airline's customer service fail" by Meghan Keane

Medical Tourism and Customer Service

Tonya Walton, is the founder of Blue Morpho Medical Travel, she represents Gooch and Associates as Manager of Latin American Business Development. In a recent article posted on Medical Tourism Magazine, Walton discusses the need for understanding what your customers think. Though Walton is an expert in medical tourism, we found her customer service insights to be particularly relevant for our Customer 1st audience.

Walton offers five tips and techniques for successful customer service and customer experience:

• Feedback is the Breakfast of Champions
• Is a Satisfied Patient (Customer) Good Enough?
• Processes, People, Trust and Loyalty
• How Do I Get Feedback?
• Communicate the Results

We encourage you to check out Tonya Walton's thoughts. What else is imperative for successful customer service and customer relationships?