Recap

Here is a recap to start the "1001 Ways" from the first few contributions to the blog.

1. It all starts with a good look in the mirror.

What are your personal values and ethics about being 'of service'? We're talking about an 'ethic' of service that permeates all you do, all you stand for, and all of the processes that your enterprise crafts for your customers' experience. It all starts with you and what you stand for and create. And you can't fake it.

2. Customer obsession - when service becomes strategic!

For some enterprises most of the time the service is memorable and ... memorable customer service has become a distinct differentiating factor and a competitive advantage. We need a strong word like obsession to break the lip-service and scripting mindset to go beyond. Providing memorable customer service is strategic and 'cultural' and can provide a significant and sustainable competitive advantage.

3. Create the experience that creates a magical connection!

Going beyond customer service to customer obsession creates a memorable experience that creates an intangible in the minds of customers. It is an experience, and the feelings one has about that experience. It cannot be pre-empted. It is strategic - as it establishes the magical and intangible connection between your customer, your brand and your enterprise. Create the experience that creates the intangible connection.

4. Calculate the benefit of a life time customer.

Typical purchase x regular frequency x number of weeks x the number of years = potential revenue from a life time customer. Groceries = over $200,000, Autos = $400,000 +, electronics = $250,000 +, daily tall latte with room to go = $10,000. What is your life time loyal customer worth? Then what about their positive referrals. Do the math and then you can see your $150.00 customer as a $150,000.00 customer, and then treat her that way.

5. No sale is ever final!

To clarify - if for any reason a customer is not 100% satisfied with my (our) product or service we will make it right (to their 100% satisfaction) or we will give their money back, no hassles, no problems, no nonsense. When you (valued customer) choose to spend your money with us we will guarantee you will be satisfied, no matter what.

6. What else does a customer want?

A smile, a thank you, that’s what many of us consider standard. An apology when things go wrong, asking if everything is okay, offering extra services or products. A customer knows when you’re THERE, when you are fully engaged in the interaction, just as they know when you’re really thinking about lunch, or your car payment, or the movie you saw last night. You CHOOSE what you’re bringing to work each day. Engage, care, be considerate, choose to show up and be there!

7. Manage your moments of truth

The moments of truth in business: "Anytime a customer comes into contact with any aspect of a business, however remote, is an opportunity to form an impression." Identify all of your customers' moments of truth, those you and your employees control, and all others. Seize every one of them, even if they are initially moments of misery, as opportunities to show how good you and your organization are! This will go a long way in building long-term customer loyalty and total customer satisfaction.

Wow! If you get these going you're almost there, and we only have 994 ways to go!

Moments of Truth, Misery and Magic

Shep Hyken has a point of view about service:

In 1986 Jan Carlzon, the former president of Scandinavian Airlines wrote a book, Moments of Truth. In his book, Carlzon defines the moment of truth in business as this:

"Anytime a customer comes into contact with any aspect of a business, however remote, is an opportunity to form an impression."

From this simple concept, Jan Carlzon took an airline that was failing and turned it around to be one of the most respected airlines in the industry.

Some examples of moments of truth in Jan Carlzon's airline business are:

• when you call to make a reservation to take a flight,
• when you arrive at the airport and check your bags curbside,
• when you go inside and pick up your ticket at the ticket counter,
• when you are greeted at the gate,
• when you are taken care of by the flight attendants onboard the aircraft, and
• when you are greeted at your destination.

All of these are main moments of truth, and notice that they are all controlled by people. There are many moments of truth that are not controlled by people, such as advertisements (radio, television, billboards, newspapers, etc.). The emphasis of this article is on the moments of truth that we, as people, have control over. These are the points of contact that our customers and clients have directly with us and our organization.

Mentioned above are a number of the main moments of truth, not just at Jan Carlzon's airline, but in virtually all commercial airlines. These are the main ones. And while these may be the most important, there are lots of small ones as well. For example, you might be walking toward your gate at the airport and walk by a couple of Scandinavian employees. They look up and smile at you. Now that may be a small moment of truth, but it is an important one. It adds to the total experience of the customer.

Disney has taken the small moments of truth to an even higher level. They understand the importance that these small moments of truth have on their customers. They train their cast members (Disney's term for employees) to acknowledge the guest (Disney's term for a customer) with a smile or facial expression if within ten feet. If the cast member gets within five feet of the guest, they are to acknowledge them verbally. All of the little moments of truth, combined with the major ones, with the addition of the product or service your organization is selling, add up to the overall level of a customer's satisfaction.

Jan Carlzon said there are good moments of truth and bad moments of truth. I believe there is a third type - average moments of truth. Average is middle-of-the-road - simply acceptable, but not great. I have a term for the good and bad ones. The bad ones are referred to as moments of misery, and the good ones are referred to as moments of magic.

Our goal should be to create all great moments of magic, even if they start out to be moments of misery. Sometimes a customer may have a legitimate complaint. We not only need to fix problems and complaints, we also need to give customers a reason to want to come back and continue to do business with us again and again. Even if we fix a problem, it doesn't mean the customer is coming back. For example, if you own a restaurant and one of your guest's meals is over cooked, don't simply fix it or take it off of the bill. Consider giving the guest a business card with a note that gives him or her a round of drinks or a free appetizer the next time they come back.

At times these moments of misery may not even be our fault. The customer may just be having a terrible day. For example, a customer may be checking into a hotel. This person may have had three flights delayed and he or she is in a very bad mood. It is not the hotel's fault the customer is unhappy due to the airline's delayed flights. But, it is the person who is checking in this irate customer who has the opportunity to start to turn the customer's mood around. It is an opportunity to take someone else's moment of misery and turn it into the hotel's moment of magic.

So, manage your moments of truth. Seize every one of them, even if they are moments of misery, as opportunities to show how good you and your organization are. This will go a long way in building long-term customer loyalty and total customer satisfaction.

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Shep Hyken, CSP is a professional speaker and author specializing in the areas of customer service, customer loyalty and internal service. For more information on Shep's speaking programs, books and tapes visit http://www.hyken.com .

What Else Do You Want?

Monday I was in a little diner, and the waitress came over and asked me if I was ready to order. I told her I hadn’t seen a menu yet. She sighed, then strolled over to the counter, grabbed a menu, and strolled on back. After handing it to me, she stood there, waiting. I mentioned that I might need a minute to make a decision. She said, “Oh, take your time.” She then continued to stand there, tapping her pen against her leg.

I ordered a grilled cheese sandwich, with a diet coke. She came back with a regular coke. I asked her to change it for diet. She sighed, looked back at the kitchen, looked back down at the glass, looked back towards the kitchen… the picked up the glass and said, “Oh, alright.” She came back with my diet coke.

I was left alone for 10 minutes, than she appeared with my grilled cheese sandwich. She dropped it on the table with a thump, and wandered back off. I caught her eye a few minutes later and asked if I could have a napkin and some silverware. She asked, “Why do you need silverware to eat a sandwich?” I admit I was stumped for a moment! I stared at her, she stared at me, than she sighed, again, and strolled over to the counter, coming back with a napkin and a fork.

As I sat there, eating my sandwich and shaking my head in amazement, the waitress again came by, dropped the check on the table, and said, “Hope everything was good. Have a nice day.” Hope everything was good?

Needless to say, I left a very small tip. As I was leaving, the waitress approached me, and asked why I didn’t leave her a bigger tip! As I told her how her service was, well, ‘distracted’, she insisted that she was a good waitress, after all, didn’t I get everything I had asked for? In fact, she said, “You got your sandwich, you got your drink, what else do you want?”

Good question! What else does a customer want? A smile, a thank you, that’s what many of us consider standard. An apology when things go wrong, asking if everything is okay, offering extra services or products (Can I carry that for you? Would you like a matching lotion?). A customer knows when you’re THERE, when you are fully engaged in the interaction, just as they know when you’re really thinking about lunch, or your car payment, or the movie you saw last night. You CHOOSE what you’re bringing to work each day

What do your customers say about you?

No Sale is Ever Final

In Going Beyond Customer Service we introduced a concept of Customer Obsession - that describes a 'strategic' and 'cultural' outlook that can take an enterprise beyond customer service - where providing a 'memorable' shopping experience becomes a competitive advantage. The assertion was - that for most businesses, most of the time, customer service is at best - lip service. There are 'memorable' exceptions some of the time, but these are the result of the behaviours of a very limited number of 'exceptional' people that have somehow found a way to unleash their talent within a structured environment of adequacy and mediocrity. In some enterprises however, most of the time, customer service is outstanding and memorable. In these organizations memorable customer service has become a distinct differentiating factor and a competitive advantage. In these enterprises outstanding and memorable customer service has become 'strategic' and 'cultural' - and a fundamental element of their business model, core values, and operating strategy.

Why memorable service?

It's about more than ten-fold word of mouth positive referrals, loyalty, 'raving fans' and a self reinforcing very powerful upwards spiral of growth. It is also 'strategic' in establishing a magical and intangible connection between your customer and your enterprise. It's a long term and again 'strategic' view of the enterprise and it is fundamental - just because you say so and want it to be. (It's caught up in your values, core beliefs and ethics.)

Over the edge

To go beyond customer service for strategic advantage you will have to embrace new concepts and new values and challenge everything you do from the fundamental position, value, belief and ethic of Customer Obsession. Let's start with one.

No Sale is Ever Final

How can any sale ... of any product or any service ... to any customer or client or consumer ... ever be ... final? How many times have you seen the return and exchange policy of an enterprise posted (or in fine print) that dictates that you need a receipt and that you have only so many days to return a product, and then, only in certain specified circumstances will you be able to exchange the item, get a credit, or in very limited circumstances get a refund? Why is that?

Why would I need a receipt? I know I purchased it from you. You know I purchased it from you. It's your brand isn't it? Or a brand that you carry isn't it? Don't you stand behind your products to do what you said they would? I expected that the product would be what you said it would be, and stand up to normal wearing or whatever I expected when I bought it. I expected that the equipment would do what I told you I needed it to do. I expected it would arrive on time. That's why I bought it from you. And you need the receipt for me to prove that I bought it from you? Why is that? Do you think I would come back to get my money back from you if I bought it somewhere else? Why would I waste my time and do that? Do you think I'm dishonest? You didn't think so (or didn't care) when you took my money. Why do you think that now?

Do you need a receipt to know what I paid for the item? I know what I paid. You also do if I told you when I bought it. Why does it matter what you can prove I paid for it? I know or at least have a reasonable idea of what I paid for it. Don't you trust what I'm saying?

Why would the length of time matter? So it's 16 days since I bought it. Or 50 days. Or 365 days. I don't care. I don't wear or use this thing everyday but when I used it a few times it didn't work. Just perhaps I took it home and it sat around and after a month or so I concluded that it just didn't fit. And I didn't really check the fine print of your 'every sale is final' policy when I bought it - because I thought you somehow wanted me to be satisfied with the purchase. I thought the deal was that I pay you money and I get a product or service that works for me.

I don't know if I want an exchange. If the item I bought didn't work I don't trust that you have anything else that will work for me. A credit also won't do me any good if what I bought in the first place has gotten me so wired up that I can't trust in your products to work for me. I think I just want my money back. You sold me something that was supposed to meet my needs and it didn't. I don't care if it fits within your policy. It didn't work, or perhaps my wife didn't like it, which also means that it didn't work for me. I can't live with it now. I am now unhappy with what I purchased from you.

How can any sale ever be final?

Groceries - average spend about $150 per week. That makes me a $150 x 52 x about 10 years at least or about a $78,000 customer. Menswear - average spend about $2000 per season x 2 x 10 years or about a $40,000 customer, excluding referrals.
PCs - leasing at about $160 monthly x 12 x forever or at least a $30,000 customer. Figure it out: Any product or service = average spend x days, weeks, months x years of loyalty and repeat purchases plus word of mouth referral factor = true value of customer. Life insurance - estimate $40,000. Automobile - estimate $200,000. Books - estimate $25,000. Music - estimate $30,000. Software - estimate $30,000. Business travel - airline, hotels, meals estimate $250,000. Coffee - daily tall latte with room to go estimate $6,000 - Wow! Bottom line = customers and their loyalty and repeat business and referrals are very important.

Here is what I mean by embracing a new concept of Customer Obsession and challenging the fundamentals of everything you do.

Customer Obsession Rule #1 - No Sale is Ever Final

Repeat - No Sale is Ever Final! Embrace it. Look at the words and think about what it would mean to have that as your one and only return policy. Then do it, now!

You must change your return, exchange, refund policy today to the only customer obsessed policy that makes sense - No Sale is Ever Final! It requires a complete and total abandonment of the bullshit specifications and fine print of the past. Take the old refund and return POP signs - Destroy them! Burn them! Celebrate their anihilation! Let them go - make the leap - go over the edge!

To clarify - if for any reason a customer is not 100% satisfied with my (our) product or service we will make it right (to their 100% satisfaction) or we will give their money back, no hassles, no problems, no nonsense. When you (valued customer) choose to spend your money with us we will guarantee you will be satisfied, no matter what. Sit with this for a moment - examine it carefully. It is very empowering.

If we are honest, if we are ethical, if we believe in the value of our products and services, if we believe in being of service - how can we not act otherwise? Anything less is lip service to customer service. Anything less is ... dishonest, unethical and a disservice to our customers and our own enterprise. Anything less ... and please think strategically for a moment ... means that you do not believe that your product or service is of sufficient quality or utility or value to stand up in the marketplace. If that is true you had better fix it fast or you will soon be out of business.

To repeat - No Sale is Ever Final. If you think you can get away with anything less you are under an illusion that you can fool most people most of the time. Fortunately, or unfortunately, customers are indeed intelligent and at some point what goes around comes around, perhaps very indirectly and insidiously as you 'wonder' why on earth your daily bread and butter keeps slipping away.

Trouble is if I have to try to convince you that No Sale is Ever Final is the only viable and meaningful strategy for competitive advantage you don't get it. I suggest you go back through Going Beyond Customer Service to get clarity on why it's important. But on the other hand it's not so hard to 'get' intellectually. It's usually a lot harder to 'make it so' and make it 'real.'

Making it So

Change your policy to No Sale is Ever Final. Celebrate the change and ensure that all POP and marketing material boldly proclaim your new commitment to genuine customer service. Add the words to your signing and promotional material. Add the words to sales receipts. Add the words to your e-mails. Add the words to your business cards. Add the words to your invoices, and packing slips, and receivable collection letters, and paint or etch the words on your bulkhead for all customers and all associates to see everyday. Put it out there for everyone to see all of the time.

Communicate to your front line why it is important and that it is a value and a fundamental ethic of your enterprise. Communicate also that it is 'strategic' - it is a fundamental element of your strategy to win vis a vis your competitors. Reinforce that it is 100% supported with no exceptions - it is important - it is vital.

The greatest resistance will come from within - your management and front line who don't believe it. They will continue to 'protect' the assets of the company from evil customers whose only interest is to steal, lie, and return goods fraudulently. (Perhaps all would be perfect and 'in control' if all customers just stopped showing up.) Lesser resistance will come from your customers - more of a disbelief that you will live up to your 'claim' ... so make it a 'promise.' But there is a catch - you have to live up to it.

The initial resistance, disbelief and curiosity of associates and customers require a significant role modelling, coaching, over communicating and performance management equal to or greater than any of the fundamental and strategic aspects of your operating strategy. You have to live it and 'walk the talk' visibly and consistently.

Immediately implement a return measurement tracking system (accolades if you have one already, most don't have a serious system.) You will find a short term blip in returns and it will then settle back to your normal numbers, and then, over time it will drift below your historical return rate (fewer returns - wow!) Why? Your true commitment to Customer Obsession and No Sale is Ever Final at the front line will transfer upstream to quality initiatives and full accountability at all levels. As soon as your front line 'gets it' and is sincere, committed and passionately proud to execute it every day with every customer - they will demand it from all supporting systems and structures.

There is another interesting side effect. Sales go up! No Sale is Ever Final - what a closer! Imagine ... if for any reason at any time you are not completely satisfied with the product/service we have provided to you we will either make it right, provide an exchange, or a refund or whatever you want to be 100% satisified. Imagine the impact on associates ... we are honest, we are ethical, we believe in the value of our products and services, and we believe in being of service to our customers - no exceptions, none, ever! It's powerful in action - it inspires confidence, it inspires trust, it inspires loyalty ... and sales will go up.

Customer Obsession - to go beyond lip service to customer service you have to take the leap. No Sale is Ever Final - it is the only position to take that matters and makes a meaningful difference. Strategic and competitive - just because you say so and want it to be. Stay tuned for more.

Going Beyond Customer Service

From the offices on high we hear the missions and mantras of customer service, customer driven, exceeding our customers' expectations, customer care, the customer comes first, and so on. I think it's safe to say that most enterprises get it - where the 'it' is an awareness that customers somehow matter in their business model. Customers matter in the words and rhetoric, but for most businesses, most of the time, customer service is abysmal. It's bunk! It's bull! It's a sham and it's a lie! Customer service for most businesses, most of the time, is at best - lip service.

How many truly memorable shopping or purchasing experiences have you had last week, or last month, or in the last year? I'll bet it's no more than 'a few' or 'several' at best. I'm sure you will admit that in terms of the potential number of service encounters a memorable experience is indeed a very rare occurrence. The batting average on service delivery for most enterprises would bounce them out to the minor leagues. What a shame given the research, the rhetoric and the investment most organizations make to intend to serve their customers.

There are some exceptions some of the time. Occasionally, a specific individual will provide an incredible experience, through their extra care, attention to detail, perhaps a courageous solution to your dilemma, possibly going beyond your expectations to ensure your needs are satisfied, or perhaps just a smile and sincere appreciation for choosing them.

At my local Home Depot I always wait in line for Margaret. She has turned cashiering into a memorable encounter and never fails to engage you in a conversation of what you're up to with what you've bought today. Faith and Anna at The Keg have a lot of that too - they seem to take a sincere interest in you while providing impeccable and attentive service for your party. A young man at Dell provided outstanding technical advice and followup on my last purchase. Most recently a wonderful young lady at Gap Kids took the time to help my daughter coordinate little outfits for the twins - and even took a shirt off a display to make it work.

In most enterprises it's rare and I suspect these exceptional individuals are just exceptional - they somehow just enjoy serving others, having an interesting conversation, and making a difference in the lives of others. They are also likely the highest performers in their organizations and are unfortunately the exceptions to the rule. They have somehow 'broken the mold' or at least have avoided being broken by the mold. The trouble is - they are the exceptions, and the rest is lip service.

In some enterprises on the other hand, most of the time, the service is outstanding and memorable. Everytime I've been in a Delta hotel the service has been phenomenal. The check-in is very fast and accurate - the associates are superb - they're into service, they smile, they are sincere and I like it! I have never had a bad experience with Delta. And more importantly, I have always had a very positive experience there - and obviously I do tell others. Also with WestJet - Canada's answer to Southwest Airlines. I will always book them first. The price is right, but the ride is an adventure. I like the extremely efficient check-in, the smiles, the casual and kooky style, and the lightness that they add to my travelling day. I am very happy they are doing very well and expanding their routes. I like it when the best win.

So the point of this article is that for most enterprises most of the time customer service is lip service, aside from a few very special people who go beyond because that's who they are. The best these organizations will ever be able to do is to attempt to recruit more of these special people and hope it transfers to others. This will always be a significant challenge as the best or special individuals will always be attracted to environments where they can unleash their talent. The reality is, unfortunately, that in most organizations memorable customer service will always be a rare occurrence.

But for some enterprises most of the time the service is memorable and ... please listen slowly to this one ... memorable customer service has become a distinct differentiating factor and a competitive advantage. That is where we are going. Beyond lip service to customer service - to real customer service and beyond. We call it customer obsession - where providing memorable customer service is strategic and 'cultural' and provides a significant competitive advantage.

Why memorable?

'Good' - is the price of admission, whether it applies to quality, service, order fulfillment or any measure of satisfaction and performance delivery. You have to be 'good' to be in the game today. So anyone in the game is at least 'good' or going out of business. But if the price of admission is 'good' in terms of customer service, it cannot be a differentiating or 'strategic' factor if it's the same. Good is merely adequate. Meeting expectations is 'expected.' And 'sameness' is not strategic - it doesn't make a difference in terms of influencing the decision of a customer.

How many people have you told about having a good or acceptable shopping experience? Perhaps one or two. More likely only if asked specifically for a referral. Why would you tell anyone if the experience just met your expectations? You had a need, your need was met, and life goes on. Loyalty - perhaps, it depends - on your needs, interests, curiosity, whatever.

On the other hand, think back to the most memorable experiences you've had. How many people have you told about them. Perhaps a dozen, or more? I tell the stories all the time to thousands of people because it is so rare to experience truly memorable service. The point is that exceeding expectations, or in other words, providing a memorable experience, results in more than a ten-fold word of mouth positive referral for your enterprise. It's free marketing - and it's valuable and deep marketing as it comes from 'more than satisfied' customers - something like 'raving fans' - positive and credible testimonials from people you know and trust. Loyalty - you bet! And it's a self reinforcing upwards spiral of memorable experiences and positive referrals that can be very very powerful.

We all want to differentiate ourselves, add value and avoid the commodity game. But most of us most of the time have competitors that can, if they choose, match our quality, match our convenience, match or beat our prices, or otherwise preempt us on the tangibles. That is why we invest to build brands and the 'share of mind' to move to compete in the realm of the intangible. It is the intangible appeal that ultimately is strategic. True competitive advantage exists only in that magical realm of the intangible.

Going beyond customer service to create a memorable experience creates an intangible in the minds of customers. It is an experience, and the feelings one has about that experience. It is indeed powerful, because ... no one can take that away. It cannot be pre-empted - it has happened. And it lives long in the mind and greatly influences the behaviour of an individual and their network of associates. It is strategic - as it establishes the magical and intangible connection between your customer and your enterprise. Going beyond customer service to customer obsession is very strategic and will provide your enterprise a distinct and unique competitive advantage, if you get it right.

As we attempt to differentiate ourselves from our competitors we must first acknowledge that it is the entire experience the customer has that is significant, not just the brand or the product or the facility or the interaction. All elements are vital - the product has to be right from the customer's point of view, the environment has to be comfortable for the customer, the value has to ring true to the customer, your people have to be knowledgable - it all has to work to be effective. To go beyond customer service for strategic advantage however, you will have to embrace new concepts and new values - and go over the edge and challenge everything you do.

It's a powerful and empowering concept - and it will be an adventure. Stay tuned.