Archive for customer service
Are You a Problem Solver or a Problem Blamer?
Posted by: | CommentsI fly a decent amount and have had a lot of good and a lot of bad experiences with the airlines. The biggest issue I have with the airlines, especially my carrier of choice, is not that they make mistakes. I don’t expect any business to be perfect. At issue is how they deal with problems. Too often, their first reaction is to put the problem back with me. The protocol seems to be to assume first that the customer is wrong (blame), and take responsibility much later, if ever. How do you react when there is a problem with your product or service?
When I had an issue checking in to a flight this week, I immediately heard, “You must have entered your frequent flyer number in wrong… You must not have checked in properly… I see here, you didn’t pay a change fee.” But actually a previous agent didn’t complete the transaction properly, and there was no ticket number associated with the reservation. It is like being guilty until proven innocent. It is such a backwards method to customer service.
Are you a blamer or a solver? The first reaction of a greater part of businesses – especially those in service related businesses – is to react to a problem or complaint by assuming that the problem was caused by the customer. That’s why we set up FAQ pages, and often retrace the actions of our customers as a first step to solving the problem. Even if we try not to displace the blame from ourselves, our natural defense mechanisms kick in, and we typically react by deflecting any blame. Unintentionally then, the blame is often placed on the shoulders of our clients and customers.
Instead of taking this blamer approach, try the approach of a solver – listening to the whole problem your customer has, asking questions, checking and then solving – no matter who made the mistake. It seems like smarter business to me.
We are all customers to somebody. The best way to determine if our customers see us as solvers or blamers, is to consider how we react when something goes wrong with a business working with us. Consider what actions they take to resolve your problem and how it makes you feel. They may think they’re being helpful, while you feel they’re blaming you. For most of us, it is those companies that accept responsibility for the problem that make us feel like our problems are really being listened to and that we are being taken care of.
Are you ready to be a problem solver?
7 Easy Ways to Retain Customers
Posted by: | CommentsGuest post by Michelle Strassburg (learn more about Michelle at the end of this post)
Winning new customers is often easier than keeping them. Not too dissimilar from other types of relationship business or personal you must work hard on the relationship to make sure the other party is content. When it comes to retaining customers, keeping the other party content will directly influence revenue and should therefore be considered as a key objective for the business. Here are 7 ways to retain new customers which I have picked up during the years. Hopefully it will point you in the right direction.
1. Make customer service a business priority
The first steps is the most important in my view because it directly links between the business objectives and the weight given to customer retention. Most types of businesses I know heavily depend on returning business to offset costs involved in winning new business which is eventually how the business will grow. By understanding how important retaining customers is the first step is making this process a key objective.
2. Make this priority transparent across all departments
There is little to be gained if one department acts according to this priority, but others do not share the same importance. To make customer retention work, all departments from customer support to billing and shipping should place customer needs first. A happy customer is likely a returning customer, simple.
3. Diversify your communication tools
The web has not only brought us fast search and easy online shopping, it has also brought us new communication tools. Some customer groups might be using Twitter, some might be using Skype and some still prefer to pick up the phone to hear a voice on the other side. In order to cater for those groups, the business will need to diversify its communication tools as a mean to retain customers. Read More→
The Marketing Mix Made Easy to Understand and Use
Posted by: | CommentsWhile creating your annual marketing plan, using a combination of elements (4 from the marketing mix) is the key to success.
The marketing mix contains four elements. The combination of the four elements is used to satisfy consumer needs and company goals, stimulate consumer interest, and generate sales.
1. Product/Service – what are you trying to sell?
2. Price – how much will it cost in contrast to competitors in the market?
3. Place and distribution – where will it be sold and how will it be delivered?
4. Promotion - how will you deliver the message to the market – advertising, public relations, direct marketing, or online marketing?
By arranging these four elements in a variety of ways, it will help you determine the highest return on investment. You might have to use a lower price, offer a coupon, and/or give a way a free-gift with the purchase in one market, while pricing the product/service a little higher and using nicer packaging in a sophisticated market.
The key to success is to try various element combinations, because it is unlikely using only one mix will generate the results you want.
A few tips on marketing:
Test, test, and test your product/service in various market segments within your target market
Offer a coupon with the next purchase on one test and use another call to action another test to see which offer generates the best response
Make your business stand out in the crowd by making yourself accessible to prospects and existing customers because most other companies will not
Understand your market’s buying behaviors, needs, wants and give them what they want.
Make sure all marketing material messages are consistent because you don’t want to cause confusion.
Make sure the product/service’s positioning is not contradictory.
The tone of all marketing materials should be consistent.
A brand’s colors must be consistent.
Test all combinations to see which combination yields the best results.
Make the USP stand out.
If you need designing your marketing mix for your annual marketing plan, email Kristin at km@marquet-communications.com for more information.
How to deal with complaints
Posted by: | CommentsRecently I wrote about Ex-Virgin Blue employee Torsten Koerting who designed a board game using Virgin Blue branding that criticises his former employer’s decision-making process.
Quick Marketing Tips for Steady and Long Term Growth
Posted by: | CommentsWith today’s marketplace so cluttered, business owners have to differentiate themselves from the rest of the bunch. Continue reading to learn some of the fastest ways to market your business in a cluttered market.
Five Sure-Fire Ways to Irritate Your Prospects
Posted by: | CommentsI am a hot weather person—can’t tolerate cold, or even chilly, and love hot whether it’s dry or steamy. Yet every summer, when the outdoor temperature finally gets comfortable for me, I have to deal with the battle of the air conditioners.
Yesterday I walked to lunch in gorgeous weather for mid-summer—82 degrees, slight breeze—from my perspective it was perfect. The doorman greeted me, held the door wide open, and said, “Come in, out of the heat!” He was only being polite, making small talk, but it occurred to me that he had no idea whatsoever that I would not feel about the weather exactly as he did. To me, it was not hot. It was just right.
That is often true when we communicate with our prospective customers. We have a mindset that we know what they need or want, and sometimes we neglect to test our assumptions or, simply, to ask.
Here are some lessons from the restaurant scenario that are applicable to our relationships with our customers—the assumptions that make for bad business:
- Assume they know what I am looking for. I walk into a restaurant whose management assumes I want to be chilly. So instead of settling comfortably, I am already disappointed. They also assume that I have come in for food, and they don’t understand that if I feel cold it will be hard to enjoy that food.
- Make it clear that they are being inconvenienced. If I ask for the thermostat to be raised, someone will argue with me: “Actually, it’s 72 in here.” I am therefore supposed to be comfortable. With a deep sigh: “I’ll see if we can turn down that overhead fan.” Sigh.
- Take no steps to learn. If they happen to have a customer satisfaction survey, temperature of the room is never an option. No one is thinking about how my experience could be improved. They’re only thinking that I am a problem.
- Assume that I am the only one dissatisfied. Odds are good that for every patron who complains, several will just eat in silence and fail to return.
- Don’t solve the real problem. Given that their patrons have a wide range of preferences regarding temperature, perhaps there could be different temperatures in different rooms. Or the restaurant could offer shawls to chilly guests, just as airlines used to offer blankets (but no longer do). Or consider how to separate temperature from air blowers. Just a thought.
These five principles drawn from my personal experience are useful illustrations of how easy it is to be indifferent to our customers’ preferences. You have your own set of experiences as well. What if we draw on our experiences as customers and apply them to the ways that we interact with our customers? I think it will lead to more powerful customer relationship plans and policies.
What experience have you had that taught you a lesson about customer service? We’d love to have you post a comment below.
Visit Barbara Weaver Smith online at blog.thewhalehunters.com or follow me on Twitter twitter.com/whalehunters.
