Make customer feedback work for your business.
Customers are speaking loud and clear through a miriad of mediums. Evidence shows that customers will no longer stand for the hurried and complacent service that has become the norm. They are looking for a positive, memorable experience. Organizations that provide that level of service will earn their loyalty. Customers base their decisions on nothing more than a positive or negative review of your product and/or service.
Pay Attention! paves the way. Your company wins when you:
- Understand Customer Expectations
- Embrace and implement The RATER Factors
- Define who you are and what you offer
- Become E.T.D.B.W. (Easy To Do Business With)
- Connect with your audience in all mediums
- React appropriately and respond immediately to customer feedback
- Recover sincerely when things go wrong
All you need is to Pay Attention!
Table of Contents:
Acknowledgments xi
Introduction xiii
Chapter 1 Pay Attention to Today’s Customers 1
The Power of Online Megaphones 3
A More Skeptical and Distrustful Customer 5
What Does This All Mean for Your Own Customer Service Strategy? 6
Rising Global Service Expectations 7
The Customer Experience Grid 11
Speed as a Competitive Advantage 14
E-Mail Versus Phone: Which Is Speedier? 15
More Educated Global Customers 16
Five Building Blocks of Service
Quality 18
Reliability 18
Assurance 19
Tangibles 20
Empathy 21
Responsiveness 22
Chapter 2 Pay Attention to Your Marketing Message 25
Participating versus Observing 26
Fundamentals Are Still Key 27
Pay Attention to Who You Are 27
Pay Attention to Who Your Audience Is 30
The Power of Customer Stories 33
Pay Attention to Engaging Your Customers 37
Pay Attention to Walking Your Marketing Talk 44
Chapter 3 Pay Attention to Preparation 49
The Power of Vision and Purpose 50
Theory to Action: Creating Standards and Norms 53
Hiring Tactics: Select for Attitude, Train for Skill 55
Modeling Star Performers 56
Training and Coaching 58
Internal Social Networks: Cost-Effective Learning Tools 61
Pay Attention to What’s Rewarded and Measured 62
Chapter 4 Pay Attention to the Customer Experience 65
Make It Personal 66
Social Media Plays a Role at Comcast 70
Taking Problems Seriously 72
Be ETDBW: Easy to Do Business With 73
Being ETDBW Means Considering All Audiences 77
Payoffs of Being ETDBW 78
Responsiveness and Reliability: Keys to the Customer Experience 79
Chapter 5 Pay Attention to New Feedback Channels 85
Eleven Ways to Listen to Customers 86
Pay Attention to the Ways Customers Speak 93
Evaluating Feedback 103
Taking a Closer Look: Glossary of Terms 107
Business Analytics Are Vital 109
Managing the Moments of Truth 112
Ten Action Steps 114
Make Your Web Site ETDBW 116
Weighing the Pros and Cons 119
Chapter 6 Pay Attention to Your Reaction 121
Ignore at Your Peril 122
Tracking What They’re Saying 124
To Engage or Not to Engage? 125
Creating Integrated Response Systems 130
Traditional Listening Posts 131
Three Types of Listening 133
Reacting to Product vs. Service Feedback 135
Chapter 7 Pay Attention to Your Response 137
All Eyes on You 138
Creating Digital Embassies 139
Dell Computer: Engaging via Social Media Is “Everyone’s Job” 141
Rules of Engagement 143
Responding to Customer Reviews 146
Responding to Negative Reviews 148
Responding to Positive Reviews 152
Responding in Public versus Private 153
Responding to Customer Suggestions and Ideas 154
Customers Helping Other Customers 155
Chapter 8 Pay Attention to Recovery 157
The Dollar Impact of Service Breakdown 158
An Implied Covenant 159
What Is Service Recovery? 160
Five Axioms of Effective Service Recovery 161
Axiom 1: Customers Have Recovery Expectations 162
Axiom 2: Successful Recovery Is Psychological as Well as Physical: Fix the Person, Then the Problem 162
Axiom 3: Work in a Spirit of Partnership 166
Axiom 4: Customers React More Strongly to “Fairness” Failures Than to “Honest Mistakes” 169
Axiom 5: Effective Recovery Is a Planned Process 170
Seeing Complaints as a Gift 173
Fix the Process to Reduce Recovery Needs 174
Service Recovery Process 176
Acknowledge That the Customer Has Been Inconvenienced and Apologize for It 178
Listen, Empathize, and Ask Open-Ended Questions 178
Offer a Fair Fix to the Problem 178
Offer Some Value-Added Atonement for the Inconvenience or Injury 179
Keep Your Promises 180
Follow-Up 180
Key Service Recovery Skills 181
Notes 189
About the Authors 191
Index 193
About the Author :
ANN THOMAS is coauthor of 101 Activities for Delivering Knock Your Socks Off Service and the senior consultant and lead facilitator with Performance Research Associates (PRA) since 1999. Her work focuses on improving service quality, diversity awareness, generational differences, sales, performance management, and professional development. Ann brings nearly thirty years' experience in consulting and training to each of her clients, including Marriott ExecuStay, Accenture, the Securities and Exchange Commission, and many others. Ann is also a member of the faculty for the American Management Association and is a regular presenter for Progressive Business Conferences.
JILL APPLEGATE is project manager and client coordinator with Performance Research Associates. She served as right hand to the late Ron Zemke for nearly fifteen years and takes seriously the responsibility of wowing customers. Jill works closely with PRA clients to ensure that their efforts hit the mark. She is also a coauthor of 101 Activities for Delivering Knock Your Socks Off Service.
