How many loyalty cards do you have?

In a recent blog by Robert J. Howard at Customer Think, he addresses the loyalty card subject I'm sure we all have dealt with. How many loyalty cards do you have on your key chain right now? He points out that businesses have overrun the customers' wallets with loyalty cards, and the market is at the point of saturation.

It all began with rewards for airline miles, then hotels, and now it's moved to restaurants, grocery stores, gas stations and to anything imaginable beyond that. So what do customers do with their addiction to their rewards? How do businesses find a way to still reward their customers who frequent their business? Do you have a solution to this current plastic crisis?

My Favorite Book

This is posted on behalf of JoAnna Brandi. It is co-posted on the Customers 1^st Blog and JoAnna Brandi blogs.

I had to call the bank the other day and ask the embarrassing question, “What’s my favorite book?”

The woman on the other end of the line didn’t understand, she said “Excuse me?”

“My favorite book, I need to know what it is… ah, was ” I said. “Apparently the favorite book I had when I used that clue as my security question is not the same book that I think is my favorite this week.”

“Oh!” she laughed. “I get it. The answer to your security question doesn’t match.”

“Right,” I said, “but I really need to know what I thought my favorite book was because I tried all three I think are my favorites and none of them work, and now I’m really confused.”

“Oh!” she replied, using a tone of voice that made me think she really understood why this was a problem for me.

One thing I routinely find about the people in the call center of Commerce Bank is they seem to “get” me. No easy task.

I resisted the urge to share with her what my top three favorites were and hope that she could find a match because she told me that as much as she’d like to help me solve the dilemma, the answer was controlled electronically and was pretty much lost forever. Would I like to choose a different question?

Okay.

And so it was I chose a different question and said “Thank you for your help, I appreciate it.”

“Would you like me stay on the line with you until you have your security questions changed?”

“No” my ego said, I’m a grownup and can do this myself. But she was quick to say kindly, “Why don’t you just keep me on the line until you are sure you have it, and know it so the next time you need to use it it will work for you.” Ahh, I thought “proactive” okay, let her just do her job. I’m sure I can get this right.

Well low and behold I forgot to put a period after an abbreviation in the answer and (just as she thought would happen) the new security question didn’t get me in.

Ahh, I thought now – she really knows her job, and her customers well. We had a good laugh together and after she was sure I had picked an answer I couldn’t forget or misspell she let me off the line.

Now you know and I know that it is probably cheaper for the company to do it that way, because it takes less time to make sure I do it right than to initiate another call when I do it wrong again – but that’s not what it felt like. It felt like someone who knew the ropes was getting me used to them, and doing it with TLC (tender loving care) and not TVC (thinly veiled contempt) which tends to be so rampant in some of the “helping” professions. Bravo Commerce – I hope your merger doesn’t interfere with your customer care, because so far, I like it.

If you’d like to see more of Joanna Brandi’s blogs, visit JoAnna Brandi’s Blogs. You can also find out more by visiting her Customer Care Coach website. Joanna Brandi will be a keynote speaker at this year’s North American Conference on Customer Management, and has already been profiled on our Customer 1^st blog. Stay tuned for her posts on the Customers 1^st blog!

Incentives in the Current Economy

Hi all! Trace Belcher here. I was watching the news of the stock market stresses yesterday and today and began wondering the following: How can we “incentivize” both our customers and our employees in this economy? Of course, the easy answer (well, easy to say) is to just throw money at them; but is that truly the answer?

For something to truly be an “incentive”, it has to have value to the individual. If you think adding money is the solution, just ask a union auto-worker what they truly value. The answer will most likely be “stability”, or “will my job {or the company} be here tomorrow?”. It doesn’t matter if I make a lot of money today, but get laid off next week.

The same goes for our customers: Loyalty programs are all well and good, but if you have a zillion airline miles, it won’t help you if the planes no longer fly.

Stability, Honesty, Integrity…these are the cornerstones of value (and incentives) to our customers. Be honest when something goes wrong, but have the integrity to fix it. A stable, consistent presence is a comfort to our customers in these uncertain times.

All comments are welcome..

Trace

A Gold Medal for FUN

This is posted on behalf of JoAnna Brandi. It is co-posted on the Customers 1^st Blog and JoAnna Brandi blogs.

It all started as a crazy idea. From an intern nonetheless. While the “real” Olympics were taking place in China the folks over at the Midwest ISO were having an Olympics all their own.

The intern - Brooke Rodda - thought it would be great fun to come up with some challenges for interdepartmental games, and it was easy to think how that might just be good for morale.

Deb Lang, Director of Training, liked the idea and built on it. Deb’s big on teamwork and fun so the idea instantly appealed to her. As fate would have it, the Friday before a box of “BeanBoozled” had landed on her desk and she saw immediate application. (For the uninformed like me - it’s a box of BeanBoozled jelly beans - 10 colors of beans and 20 flavors - every color has one tasty flavor, and a disgusting flavor - the idea is that you never know whether you are about to get a good one or a bad one. This, apparently, makes it ideal for party games.)

This instantly started Brooke’s mind going in the direction of whacky games – one having to do with blindfold bowling another with condiment painting (held in the cafeteria at lunchtime of course.) Before long she and her team of equally creative thinkers had planned the games and word rapidly spread throughout the company grapevine and more people came on board. “We want to be involved too,” was the most common sentiment heard. Energy and excitement were building.

By the time the day for the Olympics arrived representatives from several divisions withing the company were on board, with more joining in to coach from the sidelines as word continued to spread.

The Olympics occurred mostly in 15 minute increments so not to take too much away from the work days. These short burst of activity really energized people throughout the five day competition.

I just happen to call on the last day and got a “blow by blow” on the final minutes of the events. I sat laughing in my parked car while a thunderstorm threatened right behind me. I had to make sure my car was not moving because I laughing much too hard to be driving.

Since I wanted to find out the results, I called back the next week and got the scoop. “So what did you get out of it?” I asked.“Besides fun? Team participation, increased communication between departments, memorable common experiences, innovation, engagement.”

“I gather then, this is only the first of your Olympics,” I asked.

“Yep, the first Annual.”

A tradition is born. All because a company was open enough to listen to a suggestion of a young intern – a crazy suggestion at that.

Gary Hamel, oft called the world’s greatest strategist, says that we need to find ways in companies to create thousands of crazy ideas, and out of the thousands we’ll distill them down to hundreds of not-so-crazy ideas, and out of them perhaps 10 or so viable ideas and out of the one or two really really great ideas that will fundamentally change the nature of our business and give us a competitive edge. Congratulations Midwest ISO, you’ve got a great start.

If you’d like to see more of Joanna Brandi’s blogs, visit JoAnna Brandi’s Blogs. You can also find out more by visiting her Customer Care Coach website. Joanna Brandi will be a keynote speaker at this year’s North American Conference on Customer Management, and has already been profiled on our Customer 1^st blog. Stay tuned for her posts on the Customers 1^st blog!

Speaker Profile: Robert Stephens

With the North American Conference On Customer Service approaching, we would like to introduce you to the speakers we will have at our event. This year, NACCM will take place from November 16 – 19, 2008 in Anaheim, California at the Disneyland Hotel. Today, we’d like to introduce you to Robert Stephens. Robert Stephens is the Founder and Chief Inspector of The Geek Squad.

Stephens started this business when he was a “starving college student” at the University of Minnesota. While he was going around fixing things for people with his mountain bike and cell phone, he found when he went to help people, mainly with computers, service was lacking. So formed The Geek Squad, which is now a part of Best Buy.

With respect to his views on Customer Service, Robert Stephens was quoted in this interview stating: “So my emphasis in service, which the biggest expense in pretty much any service business I can think of is human capital/labor. In service, the people are the brand. They are the factories that manufacturer it. I focus really on attracting and maintaining talent as a means of accomplishing that goal.”

To learn more about Robert Stephens read his book, The Geek Squad Guide to Solving Any Computer Glitch, and check out this interview from Service Untitled which delves more into specifics of his philosophy. Also, for more on Stephens watch the YouTube clip provided below:



We invite you to come see Robert Stephens at NACCM as he presents on Wednesday, November 19th, “Marketing is a tax you pay for being unremarkable”.

Doing More With Less

This is posted on behalf of JoAnna Brandi. It is co-posted on the Customers 1^st Blog and JoAnna Brandi blogs.

I’m an “expert” columnist for Customer Advantage Newsletter and ever few weeks or months they send me questions which I answer. I almost always forget to publish those Q & A’s and so today with my new eyes on potential blog posts I answered one of their questions and then before filing it away said “Yippee! A blog post!” So here we go.

The question: Customer demand is rising, but we can’t add more people to Service. So we have to do more with less. What’s a good way to approach this situation?

The way you frame the situation is important. You must come at it believing that every one on your team is smart, creative, talented and has something to contribute.

In order to bring out the brilliance in everyone in your organization, you must believe this (or ‘act as if’ you do until you realize it’s true). In holding open the possibility that people will shine they usually do. People live up (or down) to our expectations of them. If we expect and empower them to be competent, creative, innovative problem solvers who create exquisite experiences for customers, they’re more likely to do so.

Once you hold this as true it’s time you give people the chance to help. In a meeting, start with the truth.

“I know we would all like it if we had more resources, but we don’t and in the short term, won’t. We can’t do anything about that but what we CAN do is start getting really creative around here and find ways to work around the reality we’re faced with. I believe this team has the talent and ingenuity it takes to come up with solutions to even our toughest challenges. Let’s brainstorm some ideas together and get started.”

Set aside real time for brainstorming (no judgments, no idea-killer phrases, set amount of time where anything goes.) Get people limbered up with some silly challenges “52 ways you can use a teabag” and when they are loose and laughing introduce your real challenges.

Try using analogy “If this were a zoo (a garden, a circus etc.) how would we look at it?”

Convince yourself and your team that you have the creative potential to discover solutions for any problems and you will. A hint – little rewards, like mini candy bars, stress toys and kazoos always make creative sessions more fun. Once people are in the habit of being more solutions focused you reinforce it when ever you see it. “Jill, I am always so amazed by the way you come up with out of the box solutions that make our customers happy. Great work.”

You might even want to have a once a month celebration for the most workable solutions. Even in the most severe of situations there’s always enough for movie tickets and popcorn rewards.

My answer: The first thing you need to know is that you are not alone. Companies everywhere are asking people to do more with less. The second thing you need to know is that times like this give us the opportunity to show how good we really are. I believe that most of us have the ability to do a little better every day.

If you’d like to see more of Joanna Brandi’s blogs, visit JoAnna Brandi’s Blogs. You can also find out more by visiting her Customer Care Coach website. Joanna Brandi will be a keynote speaker at this year’s North American Conference on Customer Management, and has already been profiled on our Customer 1^st blog. Stay tuned for her posts on the Customers 1^st blog!

Team Bonding: How Building Internal Relationships will Lead to Big Wins with Your Customers

We’d like to remind you about our web seminar: Team Bonding: How Building Internal Relationships will Lead to Big Wins with Your Customers. Keith Ferrazzi, the CEO of Ferrazzi Green Light and keynote speaker at the 2008 NACCM Customers 1st event will be our featured speaker. Register to view the webinar on Wednesday, September 17th from 2:00 to 3:00 pm eastern standard time.

Register for this web seminar here: https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/251030954
Please mention priority code: G1M2100W1Blog

About the presentation:
This presentation will be in a special format: live chat. This web seminar will be shared in a unique “interview/live chat” format. As you register for the seminar, you will be prompted a line where you can pose your question about internal relationships to Keith. Those questions will be address to Keith over the phone live as he shared his views. We will get to as many questions as possible in the allotted time and attendees will be encouraged to ask their own questions during the seminar.

Customer-focused executives are hard at work trying to create new initiatives that deepen their company’s relationships with their customers. In these trying times, customer strategists are in a loyalty budding war in hopes that their customers continue to spend with them. Building an enterprise-wide customer experience that evokes an emotional and consistent message with the customer is more challenging than ever before. Those companies that do have incredible customer experiences, what’s the secret to their success?

In this session, relationship guru and internationally best-selling author, Keith Ferrazzi, will examine where the foundation of building relationships with your customers should start- internally. Ferrazzi will discuss his expertise on how to align internal teams and will share how getting connected with your colleagues will lead to profits and engagement with your external customer relationships.

A group’s success fundamentally depends upon how its individual members work together. Individuals work more effectively and enjoy their work more when they have genuine personal relationships with their colleagues.

The core message with starting relationships both internally and externally are the same. Those core strategies in relationship development will be revealed by Keith during his keynote session at NACCM.

About the speaker:
Keith Ferrazzi
CEO
Ferrazzi Green Light

Keith Ferrazzi is one of the rare individuals who discovered the essential formula for making his way to the top -- a powerful and balanced combination of marketing acumen and networking savvy. Both Forbes and Inc. magazines have designated him one of the world's most "connected" individuals.

As Founder and CEO of Ferrazzi Greenlight, he provides market leaders with advanced strategic consulting and training services to increase company sales and enhance personal careers. Ferrazzi Greenlight strategically leverages the insight of its executives, whose careers span the highest echelons of corporate America, along with principles from Ferrazzi's best-selling book, Never Eat Alone. Never Eat Alone has been recognized as one of the best business books of 2005, 2006, and 2007 (three year’s in a row since its publication in 2005).

What you will learn:
- Building relationships internally for group success sparks a culture of generosity and accountability that helps participants do the following:
- Help each other succeed in both professional and personal pursuits,
- Have more fun in the workplace
- Facilitate direct, honest communication for resolving conflict, and
contribute to the firm’s success by proactively building relationships with
people inside and outside the organization,
- And more that will lead to increasing employee retention and shareholder
value.

This is a NACCM: Customers 1st sponsored webinar. NACCM: Customers 1st will be November 16th through the 19th in Anaheim, California.

Register for this web seminar here: https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/251030954
Please mention priority code: G1M2100W1Blog

Customer Service & Common Sense

I would like to introduce you to a new guest blogger, Michel Cubric. Michel Cubric is the director of Post Funding and Call Center Operations at FirstLine Mortgages, and will be speaking at this year's NACCM Customers 1st conference.

The International Customer Service Association (www.icsatoday.org) defines customer service as the ability to satisfy customers’ wants and needs to the best of your abilities while improving relationships and profits. It should not be hard a statement to follow so why is it that a lot of customers are walking away from business interactions with a very bad taste in their mouths? A simple drive-through order at the local McDonald’s takes forever to be fulfilled and your Big-Mac turns out to be a McChicken. The aisle seat you requested through the airline call center becomes the middle seat, in a row of 5, on your 10-hour transatlantic flight.

Why is it happening with an alarming frequency? When did good customer service become an exception? I attribute the current state of affairs to the myth of common sense. Imagine the following situation: you are in a coffee shop waiting to get your morning latte, courtesy of a gift card you got at the office, and when you get to the cashier the server loudly exclaims, “oh my, another coupon-kind of customer”. As you try to hide your embarrassment and quietly move to the side, the server carries on his duties completely oblivious of the impact his statement had on you and all the other customers waiting in line.

Most managers would say the employee did not use “sound judgment” or that he “did not have good common sense”. The Webster’s dictionary defines common sense as sound and prudent judgment based on a simple perception of the situation or facts. But if perception is incredibly variable from one person to another, then customer service will also vary depending on the individual delivering it. Poor customer service has nothing to do with common sense; it invariably happens for 2 reasons:

- The service provider has not been trained to provide service from the customer’s point of view
- The service provider knows how to provide good service but is unwilling to do so

Then what is customer service and how can an organization deliver it? It all starts with a commitment to put the customer first, at the center of every decision. It’s about improving the customer experience in every interaction. It’s not cheap and it involves creating a motivating environment where employees can enjoy and employ the 4 C’s:

Employees are well trained and competent
Employees feel confident in their abilities
Employees feel connected to the company
Employees who do well are celebrated (rewarded) for their efforts

The above will ensure consistency on how service is delivered and consistency is the starting point to good customer service. It is time to stop relying on common sense, take ownership and accountability for delivering great service, and remember that without customers there is NO service, good or bad…

Use What You Have

Today we have a guest post from NACCM Speaker Trace Belcher. Trace Belcher is Talent Manager and Technology Training Administrator at Jewelry Television® in Knoxville, TN. He manages the eLearning function for over 2000 employees as well as implements advanced Customer Care (Sales and Service) training for in-house employees and 3rd party vendors. Trace will be speaking on “Climb That Sandwich! Capturing the Passion and Productivity of Your Team.” on November 18th at the NACCM conference in Anaheim, CA.

Hello all, Trace Belcher here. I am looking forward to speaking at the NACCM in November. My topic will be "Climb that Sandwich" (strange title I know, but you will have to check out my session for the complete explanation).

I wanted to introduce myself to the group and tell an old story (well, not THAT old, I'm only 40) about the main reason I went into consulting in the first place.

My dad, up until he retired this year, has been a brick (and block and stone) mason for years. When I was about 12, I saw him one day loading up his truck to go to a job site. I saw among his equipment an instrument called a "transome" (basically a "sighting" scope used to measure the grade of land). To me, though, it was just a really cool telescope.

I asked my dad if I could play with this really neat telescope (please, dad, please, please, please?). His response stays with me to this day. He replied, "No, you don't know how to use it; and having a tool you don't know how to use is the same as not having that tool."

Disappointed that day, yes, but I've taken that wisdom across America: Use the tools you have! Why spend the money, time and effort to build or buy extra utilities when you haven't discovered all of the scope and power of what you have? What pay 3rd-party vendors to do what the talent in your own organization can do?

Use what you have, after all, it's better than "not having that tool."

See you in November,

Trace

Speaker Profile: Stephen Brown

With the North American Conference On Customer Service approaching, we would like to introduce you to the speakers we will have at our event. This year, NACCM will take place from November 16 – 19, 2008 in Anaheim, California at the Disneyland Hotel. Today, we’d like to introduce you to Stephen Brown. Stephen Brown is currently the Edward M. Carson Chair in Services Marketing Professor and Executive Director at the Center for Services Leadership.

Stephen Brown has been an integral part of the Center for Services Leadership. Through his leadership and vision, with the help of Edward M. Carson, the Center was created in 1986. This enormous accomplishment has earned the praise of several institutions including Intangibles magazine which refers to it as a “Mecca”. The Center has distinguished members such as Cisco, IBM, and McKinsey & Company.

In addition, Stephen Brown has been given several honors, including being recognized American Marketing Association’s for prestigious Career Contributions to Services Marketing. Another accolade has received include being given an honorary doctorate from the Swedish School of Economics. Other accomplishments include being co-author and editor for over 20 books, and 150 articles.

We invite you to come see Stephen Brown at NACCM as he presents on Wednesday, November 19th, “The science of service: the proof is in the numbers”.

Microsoft’s Plan for In-Store Customer Service Reps

The Associated Press reports that Microsoft Corp. is planning to deploy its own customer service reps at several retail locations like Best Buy and Circuit City to aid customers in purchasing PCs.

Microsoft is going to have 155 Microsoft gurus that will answer questions about Microsoft products and PCs, as well as give demos of how the company’s products work together. Tom Pilla, Microsoft's general manager of corporate communications mentions: "Think of that as borrowing a page from Nordstrom with that retail customer experience." Microsoft seems to be following suit from this store chain that is known for their customer service.

Unlike Apple’s “Genius Bars”, Microsoft’s reps will not offer technical support on already purchased products. Will this be something Microsoft will look to provide in the future to compete with Apple? Giving customers detail information about products before the purchase can ultimately influence their buying decision and satisfaction. It will be interesting to see when other companies will follow suit.

Podcast with JoAnna Brandi

Recently I had the chance to speak with JoAnna Brandi about her participation in the NACCM: Customers 1^st Conference coming up November 16 – 19, 2008 in Anaheim, California at the Disneyland Hotel. In our podcast, we talk about what JoAnna is most passionate about in her work. We also take some time to talk about her past experiences at the NACCM conference, as well as what she’s looking forward to this year.

Listen here

Small Business: Do They Have an Edge in Customer Service?

Kelly Spors tells an interesting tale of how a small local bakery went over and beyond standard practices in order to accommodate the customer in this post on the Wall Street Journal blog. Kelly was stressing out because the owner of the bakery shop called her cell phone reminding her to pick up her cake that she had ordered since they were closing in half an hour. Sensing Kelly’s anger, the owner offered to drop off the cake at her job, since she wouldn’t make it on time. Kelly declined the generous offer, and instead the owner had a baker stay at the store a little later than usual so that she could pick up the cake at a more convenient time.

In a world dominated by larger corporations and big businesses, small businesses have to rely on exceptional customer service in order to compete with giants. What are some examples of personalized service you have received from small businesses? Do you agree with the notion that smaller businesses have better customer service?

Speaker Profile: Bill Price

With the North American Conference On Customer Service approaching, we would like to introduce you to the speakers we will have at our event. This year, NACCM will take place from November 16 – 19, 2008 in Anaheim, California at the Disneyland Hotel. Today, we’d like to introduce you to Bill Price. Bill Price is the founder of Driva Solutions, LLC, and the author of The Best Service is No Service.

Prior to Driva Solutions Bill Price was the Vice President of Amazon.com’s Global Customer Service. Price helped them to reduce contacts-per-order­­ by over 70% which helped win Amazon.com the second highest-ever customer satisfaction rating for a company based in the United States.

Some of his other accomplishments include: the publication of more than 20 articles and whitepapers, videotapes of past presentations from 2002 and 2004 are still broadcast on television as relevant, in 1997 he was awarded “Call Center Pioneer” from Call Center Magazine, and in 2004 was asked to be one of ten “CRM Gurus”.

As previously mentioned Bill Price is the author of The Best Service is No Service: How to Liberate Your Customers from Customer Service, Keep Them Happy, and Control Costs. Check out the Driva Solutions blog titled “Best Services” here. Also, we’re excited to have Bill Price present a web seminar on October 15 called Outsourcing and offshoring, insourcing and onshoring – so many choices, so little frank information. Stay tuned to the NACCM Customers 1^st blog for more information

We invite you to come see Bill Price at NACCM as he presents on Monday, November 17th, When the Best Service is No Service.

Make Your Customer Buy From You More Often

Two similar stores have the same products for the same price, yet customers seem to buy again and again from only one. What makes customers go back to purchase more? The answer is good customer service. I came across this list of 5 keys to customer service to keep your customers happy on the RightToLead blog.

1. Be courteous. This is something that is largely dismissed nowadays. A little act of politeness will make customers feel more valued and important. Make them feel that you are sincere in extending a helping hand. A frown can drive people away, while a smile can draw more people in. Address your customer with “Ma’am” or “Sir”. Deal with one customer at a time to make him feel that he has your complete attention.

2. Be resourceful. Customers become angry when you tell them that you cannot grant their request because “It’s the company’s standard policy.” Customers do not want to hear such an excuse.

If you want more happy customers, think creatively. There are legal ways to go around your company’s ironclad policies. Make it a policy to extend service beyond the standard procedures in order to satisfy a customer’s needs.

3. Be prompt. Never put any of your customer’s requests on hold, especially when it is obviously urgent. Prompt and accurate service may lead to referrals. Hence, empower your staff members so they can make quick decisions and attend promptly to the needs of your customers.

4. Under promise and over deliver. Refrain from giving false promises. Never promise what you cannot deliver. It is still best to under promise and over deliver. This is the best way to wow your customers!

5. Extend your service. Even if it is not part of your standard service procedures, do something for the customer that shows genuine interest to their needs.

Create a desirable reputation for your company by providing quality customer service. After all happy customers are repeat customers.

Team Bonding: How Building Internal Relationships will Lead to Big Wins with Your Customers

We’d like to invite you to attend Team Bonding: How Building Internal Relationships will Lead to Big Wins with Your Customers webinar. Keith Ferrazzi, the CEO of Ferrazzi Green Light and keynote speaker at the 2008 NACCM Customers 1st event will be our featured speaker. Register to view the webinar on Wednesday, September 17th from 2:00 to 3:00 pm eastern standard time.

Register for this web seminar here: https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/251030954
Please mention priority code: G1M2100W1Blog

About the presentation:
This presentation will be in a special format: live chat. This web seminar will be shared in a unique “interview/live chat” format. As you register for the seminar, you will be prompted a line where you can pose your question about internal relationships to Keith. Those questions will be address to Keith over the phone live as he shared his views. We will get to as many questions as possible in the allotted time and attendees will be encouraged to ask their own questions during the seminar.

Customer-focused executives are hard at work trying to create new initiatives that deepen their company’s relationships with their customers. In these trying times, customer strategists are in a loyalty budding war in hopes that their customers continue to spend with them. Building an enterprise-wide customer experience that evokes an emotional and consistent message with the customer is more challenging than ever before. Those companies that do have incredible customer experiences, what’s the secret to their success?

In this session, relationship guru and internationally best-selling author, Keith Ferrazzi, will examine where the foundation of building relationships with your customers should start- internally. Ferrazzi will discuss his expertise on how to align internal teams and will share how getting connected with your colleagues will lead to profits and engagement with your external customer relationships.

A group’s success fundamentally depends upon how its individual members work together. Individuals work more effectively and enjoy their work more when they have genuine personal relationships with their colleagues.

The core message with starting relationships both internally and externally are the same. Those core strategies in relationship development will be revealed by Keith during his keynote session at NACCM.

About the speaker:
Keith Ferrazzi
CEO
Ferrazzi Green Light

Keith Ferrazzi is one of the rare individuals who discovered the essential formula for making his way to the top -- a powerful and balanced combination of marketing acumen and networking savvy. Both Forbes and Inc. magazines have designated him one of the world's most "connected" individuals.

As Founder and CEO of Ferrazzi Greenlight, he provides market leaders with advanced strategic consulting and training services to increase company sales and enhance personal careers. Ferrazzi Greenlight strategically leverages the insight of its executives, whose careers span the highest echelons of corporate America, along with principles from Ferrazzi's best-selling book, Never Eat Alone. Never Eat Alone has been recognized as one of the best business books of 2005, 2006, and 2007 (three year’s in a row since its publication in 2005).

What you will learn:
- Building relationships internally for group success sparks a culture of generosity and accountability that helps participants do the following:
- Help each other succeed in both professional and personal pursuits,
- Have more fun in the workplace
- Facilitate direct, honest communication for resolving conflict, and
contribute to the firm’s success by proactively building relationships with
people inside and outside the organization,
- And more that will lead to increasing employee retention and shareholder
value.

This is a NACCM: Customers 1st sponsored webinar. NACCM: Customers 1st will be November 16th through the 19th in Anaheim, California.

Register for this web seminar here: https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/251030954
Please mention priority code: G1M2100W1Blog

Speaker Profile: Frank Capek

With the North American Conference On Customer Service approaching, we would like to introduce you to the speakers we will have at our event. This year, NACCM will take place from November 16 – 19, 2008 in Anaheim, California at the Disneyland Hotel. Today, we’d like to introduce you to Frank Capek. Frank Capek is the Senior Vice President nGenera’s, nGen Customer Business division.

To fulfil his role at nGenera, Capek pulls insight from his 25 plus years of experience working with over 50 major corporations in a variety of industries. Some of the assets that he provides, as listed on his blog, are helping organizations: understand how their customers think, feel, and act; designing products, services, processes, and technology that enable more effective customer experiences; and aligning leadership, employee experiences, and organizational behaviour to deliver.

To hear more of Frank Capek’s thoughts check out his blog here. We invite you to come see Frank Capek at NACCM November 16-19, 2008 in Anaheim California at the Disneyland Hotel. Be sure to look for another speaker’s profile next week.

Banks Still Need a Lot of Work in Customer Service

Aaron Baar mentions in this latest post on Marketing Daily that although retail banks have spent a lot of time and energy investing in the look of its retail locations, it is still lacking when it comes to customer service according to new research from J.D. Power and Associates.

In some examples where mystery shoppers visited different branches, many representatives lacked basic customer service skills like smiling, shaking hands, and cleanliness. According to the survey, half of 475 customer service respresentatives shopped did not smile when greeting a prospective customer and 1/3 of those reps did not shake hands.

Rockwell Clancy, executive director of financial services at J.D. Power mentions:

"Overlooking these simple gestures conveys a lack of respect for the customer or disinterest in their business, and can destroy the foundation of a relationship before it's even started. Where is the retail in retail banking?"

Are banks too focused on the appearance of its branches and neglecting the simple customer service essentials that improve the overall customer experience?

Make connections faster

In a recent blog post by NACCM keynote speaker Keith Ferrazzi, he gives four tips on how to make connections with people faster. He’s collected them from a few of the books he has been reading lately.

- Talk in color. When speaking with them, engage their imagination. Find some way to involved their senses in your conversation.
- Look people in the eye. He points out this is an old trick, but start by noticing the colors of actors eyes on TV. Then start doing this in real life too.
- Put something interesting on your business card. Make yourself stand out, a good place to do this is on your business card.
- Host a weekly “know how” series. Hosting a weekly series will begin to foster creativity and innovation throughout your organization. This will also help you stand out, because you are the person organizing the events.

We’re excited to have Keith Ferrazzi on one of our upcoming NACCM Customers 1^st web seminars. Check out his speaker profile here. Look for news next week on this web seminar session where Keith will be answering questions on building relationships from the audience. Do you have anything you’d like to ask Keith?

Erosion

This is posted on behalf of JoAnna Brandi. It is co-posted on the Customers 1^st Blog and JoAnna Brandi blogs.

As soon as the rain from Tropical Storm Fay passed yesterday I rushed down to the beach. I had been away for over two weeks and I missed my favorite spot. Breathing in the sea air renews me, so even when windy or cloudy, I take my walks at the beach.

And windy it was. I tucked my ipod deep in my pocket and put my sunglasses on to keep the sand out of my eyes. It’s my habit to walk against the wind on the walk out, so the walk back is a little easier.

It didn’t take long to notice that a lot of beach was gone. The storm had done some damage, and perhaps eighty feet or more of beach washed out to sea.

I drank in the fresh air after two days of being stuck indoors during the storm, at first all I was feeling was gratitude for being able to have nature so close to home.

But shortly I started thinking about a client. Their customer base in one sector of their business is eroding, and has been for a while. I know my training and my message is powerful, but I wondered. Would it begin to turn the tide?

When over time you cut cost by cutting service it begins eroding the trust your clients had. Growing by acquisition builds the customer base up again (just like the beach did over the past few months following terrible storms a few months prior to that.) But when scrupulous attention is not paid to the culture and how to deal with customers of the “former” company, over time, we see erosion.

The world is changing. The customer is changing. They have the power. When they start talking out loud and on the internet, the jig’s up.

All organizations need to take a closer look at what they are doing to stem erosion. If you didn’t have a good relationship with the customer when they left (because like everyone else, they’re cutting back a bit) you certainly won’t be able to win them back when the financial weather changes again. Marketing and advertising dollars don’t buy trust, they buy interest. You can’t buy trust, you have to earn and build it. What builds trust is consistently doing the things that make the employees and customers feel valued, special and important.

It happens easily. Even to me. We all tend to take our customers for granted. Erosion. It’s a sign.

Time to build up the dunes.

If you’d like to see more of Joanna Brandi’s blogs, visit JoAnna Brandi’s Blogs. You can also find out more by visiting her Customer Care Coach website. Joanna Brandi will be a keynote speaker at this year’s North American Conference on Customer Management, and has already been profiled on our Customer 1^st blog. Stay tuned for her posts on the Customers 1^st blog!

Gaining Loyalty Through Customer Service in an Uncertain Economy

Even through troubling times and economies, the strength of the customer relationship that a company builds should endure. Researching the net, I came across this great list of 10 customer service tips posted by Joe Brown, general manager of EMEA at RightNow Technologies, on MYCUSTOMER.com.

1. Don’t discontinue an existing customer initiative in an uncertain economy — if necessary, reduce the scope of (or postpone pending improvements to) the initiative until the economy improves.
2. Don’t wait for customer relationships to weaken or break — you can’t afford the loss of revenue or of goodwill in an uncertain economy, so proactively take steps to manage those relationships well.
3. Customers make purchase decisions more deliberately in an uncertain economy, so give them the service and the information they need to choose your company over the competition.
4. Customers take longer to make purchase decisions when times are tough, so bridge the gap with a sequence of individually customised communications that provide concrete information on the specific product features and benefits that fulfil their needs.
5. Spend your budget wisely, by shifting dollars to individualised service initiatives and communications targeted to those customers who are most valuable or who are most likely to grow in value.
6. Clearly communicate value in each customer message— empathetically explaining how and why your product is aligned with the customer’s concerns in a trying economic environment.
7. Don’t overwhelm customers with surveys, and when a customer does respond, let them know that their feedback has been received—and, most importantly, that it is sincerely appreciated.
8. Invest in innovation—fuelled in part by customer listening—during challenging economic times, because it can pay handsome dividends.
9. The memories of customers will extend well beyond the end of an uncertain economy — they won’t forget (or forgive) opportunistic actions or other violations of trust, but they will remember excellent customer service.
10. Focus upon cost savings rather than revenue generation when implementing a customer initiative — and then use those savings to fund future enhancements.

Retaining customer loyalty through turbulent times really shows the worth of your company. Follow these steps listed by Joe Brown to ensure that loyalty is not lost no matter how tough times might get.

Speaker Profile: Mark Morgan

With the North American Conference On Customer Service approaching, we would like to introduce you to the speakers we will have at our event. This year, NACCM will take place from November 16 – 19, 2008 in Anaheim, California at the Disneyland Hotel. Today, we’d like to introduce you to Mark Morgan. Mark Morgan is the Chief Executive Advisor for StratEx Advisors.

As the founder of StratEx Advisors, he pulls his insight from over 30 years experience in “engineering, management, project management, facilitation, consulting and leadership”.

The latest organizations that have benefitted from his expertise include IPSolutions, IBM and Stanford University. Mark Morgan is also the author of Executing Your Strategy: How to Break It Down and Get It Done, and Get It Done!: A Blueprint for Business Execution. A book review posted on this blog regarding Executing Your Strategy: How to Break It Down and Get It Done, had this to say:

Morgan, Malek and Levitt put forth a systematic approach for companies to decide "who they are, where they want to go and how to get there" and illustrate the means to implement those ideas. They also cover the key elements linking vision, strategy and operations--and how to connect them together into a coherent operating model for a company.

We invite you to come see Mark Morgan at NACCM as he presents on Wednesday, November 19th, Turning great ideas into great results: Cracking the code on getting stuff done. Be sure to look for another speaker’s profile next week.

GREAT Recovery

This is posted on behalf of JoAnna Brandi. It is co-posted on the Customers 1^st Blog and JoAnna Brandi blogs.

I got a call today from Lori Pappasino at Lord & Taylors. Was she upset!

She read the blog entry about my experience there and I’ve got to say took it real personally. She apologized. She listened. She apologized again. She felt badly and I could feel it. She told me about her efforts at L&T to create positive customer experiences. She expressed regret that they had failed Mom and I.

I explained (how could I not) that perhaps if this had been another store, perhaps if this had been one of the discount chains, or even one of the other department stores, that I wouldn’t have felt nearly so bad. But after all this was Lord & Taylors – the “special” store of my youth. The Lord & Taylors of special dresses and first suits and ladies’ lunches – I had a higher expectation. And so the gap appeared to be so huge because this venerable old institution owed me (and Mom) more. It compounded my insult and made it feel even worse. After all, it’s all about the feelings.

She got it.

In fact – she got it all. She understood my point of view as a customer and as a professional in her field. She even went through (she didn’t know this) most all the steps I teach to deal with and upset or angry customer. She listened, she let me vent, she empathized ( so well, I think I want to take her to lunch) she restated the problem to make sure she really understood, she told me what she was going to do to make sure it would never happen to another customer, she offered a letter of apology to my mother with a small “atonement” (my word, not hers) she thanked me for my business and told me how valuable I was and that she wanted to earn our trust once again.

She really got it. Congratulations Lori – you “Wowed” me with your recovery skills.

She explained how the whole company is now going through retraining in customer service behaviors. I’ll bet I make it to the “Here’s how not to do it” section of that training. Good. Stories are memorable.

They are asking the question in their company, “What are we going to do differently?” I couldn’t help myself, I offered a few suggestions. It’s a great question and one that everyone should be asking!

One thing is for sure – if she teaches everyone in the company what she knows about “recovery” skills, they’ll be well trained.

In case you want a little poster for your wall to remind you of those steps – we’ve posted it here LINK for you or anyone you think might need it. Enjoy. Practice. Prosper.

If you’d like to see more of Joanna Brandi’s blogs, visit JoAnna Brandi’s Blogs. You can also find out more by visiting her Customer Care Coach website. Joanna Brandi will be a keynote speaker at this year’s North American Conference on Customer Management, and has already been profiled on our Customer 1^st blog. Stay tuned for her posts on the Customers 1^st blog!

Customer Experience and Your Organization

The customer experience remains an important component of how consumers view your brand and it could make your break your business. This post on BusinessCast discusses a recent Forrester study which highlights that many firms are beginning to create positions like Chief Customer Officer and SVP of Customer Experience to oversee the overall customer experience.

Andrew posts the five main insights from executives that were interviewed by Forrester that currently have these positions. Here they are:

1. Make sure that you’ve got the right environment;
2. Prepare to take on a broad change agenda;
3. Establish a strong operating structure;
4. Kick off high-priority activities; and
5. Look ahead to the future.

What are some ways that your company ensures that customers are having strong positive experiences? Make sure to download the full Forrester report here.

Customer service winners

I recently came across BusinessWeek’s Customer Service Standouts slideshow. I took some time to look through the top ten to find out what made them so special when it came to their customer service. An overlying theme was treating your employees with respect. If employees love who they’re working for, love the products they’re selling, and are educated on them, odds are your customer service will be great. Here’s Business Week’s top 10 and why they made the list.

1. USAA – With their service team of 12,400 receiving 250,000 hours of reinforcement training a year to service military personnel with they know their product.

2. LL Bean – In the 2007 holiday season, they took time to store up their inventory, leaving less customers calling the call center to complain about items being in stock, even with the extra goods they had left over.

3. Fairmont Hotels & Resorts – All employees get the luxury service when they start the job so they know what it’s suppose to be like for the customers.

4. Lexus – They set up an online chatroom to converse with customers online who are thinking about buying Lexus vehicles.

5. Trader Joe’s – They make an effort to pay their employees the average income in their community, and pride themselves on customer interaction in the store.

6. Starbucks – January started, and they made customer service their number one priority, making changes to their current rocky business.

7. Jet Blue – Their new terminal at JFK Airport in New York City will bring more security outlets, as well as more eticket kiosks. They’ve also added a Customer’s Bill of Rights.

8. Edward Jones – In 2007, they implemented a system to recognize branch managers who excelled at customer service.

9. Lands End – In Sears stores, their current owner, they’ve added in-store monogramming, and also computer kiosks so in store customers can browse online.

10. Ace Hardware – The employees focus on being knowledgeable about their tools. This year, they’re having every employee carry around a skill matrix card, so if they’re not the expert on certain tools, they can quickly connect customers with the right person.