The goal of a company is to have customer service that is not just the best, but legendary.
-Sam Walton
It’s a question we should always ask and yet we often find so difficult to answer. How an organization handles this question (and the answers) will determine its ultimate success. If you consistently offer your customers what they want (at a price they feel is fair), you’ll have all the customers you can handle.
In 2009, Stiritz Group surveyed several thousand people across the country on “what do customers really want”?
Here are the results of that Service Survey. The results are in ranked order from most popular response to least popular.
"What Do Customers Really Want?"
1. Listen to me.
2. Know more than I do (about your product or service).
3. Be easy to work with.
4. Help me get what I came for.
5. Smile.
6. Tell me your name.
7. Acknowledge my presence.
8. Don’t treat me like I’m an interruption.
9. Show me you care.
10. Don’t waste my time.
11. Be honest.
12. Offer alternatives if you don’t have what I want.
13. High quality and low prices.
14. Don’t try to sell me. Just help me.
15. Do what you say you’re going to do.
16. Keep me informed.
According to Stiritz, “This survey is based on real answers from real people so we think it can be useful for many organizations as they work to improve their customer service. This list of 16 customer wishes seems basic and intuitive. Yet we don’t believe most organizations are delivering these things to all their customers all the time. If they were, this list would have been much shorter.”
This list is your gold-plated ticket to increase customer loyalty.
So, if you’re not delivering on these 16 “service wishes”, maybe your competitor is?
Monday, June 28, 2010
Saturday, June 26, 2010
Is Anybody Listening?
Organizations of all sizes are scaling back their marketing budgets due to declined revenues in a recessionary period. This is especially true for traditional media which saw a 67% decrease in 2009 ad spending*.
What has since transpired is a shift to less expensive marketing solutions such as email, search and social media. The shift in ad dollars from traditional media to online and social media has inevitably created a unique opportunity for advertisers. Traditional media, radio in particular, have a lot of unsold inventory available.
Most radio stations run an average of 15 ad units per hour which means there are around 1.8 million ad units per day and 657 million ad units per year. On average, 5-15% of that inventory goes unsold annually. That is a lot of unsold inventory! And a majority of the inventory is prime airtime. If radio stations cannot monetize their unsold inventory, they will lose that potential ad revenue and most stations cannot afford that option.
They are desperately looking for last minute advertisers, even if they have to sell their inventory for significantly reduced rates.
And even though ad dollars overall are slipping, the radio audience hasn't gone anywhere. In fact, the audience is holding strong - up 3% from 2007-2009.** Advertisers have the ability to capitalize on this trend and ultimately are in a win/win position.
With access to prime unsold inventory available at reduced rates (which means greater reach without spending more ad dollars), advertisers can reach and engage the highly coveted, loyal radio audience...who are still listening.
Somebody IS listening!
What has since transpired is a shift to less expensive marketing solutions such as email, search and social media. The shift in ad dollars from traditional media to online and social media has inevitably created a unique opportunity for advertisers. Traditional media, radio in particular, have a lot of unsold inventory available.
Most radio stations run an average of 15 ad units per hour which means there are around 1.8 million ad units per day and 657 million ad units per year. On average, 5-15% of that inventory goes unsold annually. That is a lot of unsold inventory! And a majority of the inventory is prime airtime. If radio stations cannot monetize their unsold inventory, they will lose that potential ad revenue and most stations cannot afford that option.
They are desperately looking for last minute advertisers, even if they have to sell their inventory for significantly reduced rates.
And even though ad dollars overall are slipping, the radio audience hasn't gone anywhere. In fact, the audience is holding strong - up 3% from 2007-2009.** Advertisers have the ability to capitalize on this trend and ultimately are in a win/win position.
With access to prime unsold inventory available at reduced rates (which means greater reach without spending more ad dollars), advertisers can reach and engage the highly coveted, loyal radio audience...who are still listening.
Somebody IS listening!
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Who Are You and What Do You Do?
1. The only tools you have are persuasion and experience. Use them judiciously. You are in control if you THINK you are. This is especially true of managing employees and managing the marketing process.
2. Constantly think about how to improve your customer’s experience. Carry a pencil and paper with you at all times. You never know when an idea will hit you and the “spirit” moves you. "What did you do today to increase your company's revenue?", is a sign I keep in my office.
3. Spend time at your business, especially on Friday and Saturday nights. See what open play bowlers are doing and how they "buy” your product. See the customers. Talk to them. Speak to the desk people, the mechanic, the porter and the waitress. They are closer to the customer and can provide qualified feedback to you.
4. Visit other businesses in the area. What are the restaurants, health clubs, night clubs and bars doing to attract and retain customers?
5. If you find yourself just trying to “get through” the day, stop! Challenge your self to not just get through, but to get through with the mind set that you can make a difference in the results of your business…if you want to.
6. To determine if your marketing recommendation is the best it can be; ALWAYS perform this mini exercise:
* What is the specific problem - be VERY specific - you are trying to solve or
opportunity you are trying to maximize?
*How many different recommendations could solve this problem?
* Why is the recommendation YOU chose, the BEST one?
* Will your target segment be 'wowed" by the offer?
* Is it ethical?
* Does it represent a good value?
* Is it easy to communicate?
* Would you or your spouse or kids/teens buy it and what pleasure would it increase or what pain would it reduce?
2. Constantly think about how to improve your customer’s experience. Carry a pencil and paper with you at all times. You never know when an idea will hit you and the “spirit” moves you. "What did you do today to increase your company's revenue?", is a sign I keep in my office.
3. Spend time at your business, especially on Friday and Saturday nights. See what open play bowlers are doing and how they "buy” your product. See the customers. Talk to them. Speak to the desk people, the mechanic, the porter and the waitress. They are closer to the customer and can provide qualified feedback to you.
4. Visit other businesses in the area. What are the restaurants, health clubs, night clubs and bars doing to attract and retain customers?
5. If you find yourself just trying to “get through” the day, stop! Challenge your self to not just get through, but to get through with the mind set that you can make a difference in the results of your business…if you want to.
6. To determine if your marketing recommendation is the best it can be; ALWAYS perform this mini exercise:
* What is the specific problem - be VERY specific - you are trying to solve or
opportunity you are trying to maximize?
*How many different recommendations could solve this problem?
* Why is the recommendation YOU chose, the BEST one?
* Will your target segment be 'wowed" by the offer?
* Is it ethical?
* Does it represent a good value?
* Is it easy to communicate?
* Would you or your spouse or kids/teens buy it and what pleasure would it increase or what pain would it reduce?
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
Panera Bread Wins Me Over
Driving down the road to a client meeting, I realized I did not have my Fall League graphic to present to the client. I figured I could pick it up at the client, but alas, he has no WIFI in his center. So to ease my pain, I stopped at a Panera Bread, got a bagel and coffee and settled into USA Today when I realized that Panera had a WIFI connection. Oh Happy Day! Dashing out to my car, I got my computer and plugged in. Thank you Panera Bread!
So what really happened here. I had a problem that I couldn't solve when I came upon Panera Bread. And almost unbeknownst to me, they solved it. THEY REDUCED MY PAIN. They made a customer out of me. They made me do, "the word of mouth thing." They won me. They had me at "You are connected!"
What do we do to reduce customers' pain? Do we offer WIFI? Do we approach and greet every customer like she was "Grandma." ("How are you today Grandma?") Or do we exclaim "Sorry I can't fix your bowling ball, Grandma."
Every customer is an opportunity to showcase our business, to spread word of mouth, to create a legendary story for future customers and for employees.
What are you doing now to create a memorable story?
So what really happened here. I had a problem that I couldn't solve when I came upon Panera Bread. And almost unbeknownst to me, they solved it. THEY REDUCED MY PAIN. They made a customer out of me. They made me do, "the word of mouth thing." They won me. They had me at "You are connected!"
What do we do to reduce customers' pain? Do we offer WIFI? Do we approach and greet every customer like she was "Grandma." ("How are you today Grandma?") Or do we exclaim "Sorry I can't fix your bowling ball, Grandma."
Every customer is an opportunity to showcase our business, to spread word of mouth, to create a legendary story for future customers and for employees.
What are you doing now to create a memorable story?
Friday, June 18, 2010
The Top 10 Reasons Why People Buy
Certain motivations are inherent in human behavior. Motivation for food, shelter and reproduction are universal. But what about other motivations. Below, I have listed, what I believe, are the top 10 reasons why people buy anything. Except for shoes. I still haven't figured out why my wife buys shoes when she already has a closet full.
1. Appeal only to a prospects reason and you may have no appeal at all; you must connect emotionally.
2. Sell Hope. People hope that which they purchase will increase their pleasure or reduce their pain. All motivation falls into these two categories. There is nothing else. Nothing!
3. Familiarity breeds business. Spread your word however you can and as frequently as you can.
4. Take advantage of the "Recency Effect". Follow up brilliantly.
5. Forget looking like the superior choice. Make yourself an excellent choice.
Then eliminate anything that might make you a bad choice. People do not look to always make a "superior choice", they just want to avoid making a "bad choice".
6. People don't just make snap decisions; they get anchored to them.
7. Each impression you make will - temporarily, at least- be your last. So,make it strong.
8. Build the quality into your service, but make it less risky too.
9. The best thing you can do for a prospect is eliminate her fear.Offer a trial period or a test project.
10. The more alike two services are, the more important each difference becomes. Accentuate the trivial.
PLUS ONE:
11. Tell the truth, even if it hurts.
1. Appeal only to a prospects reason and you may have no appeal at all; you must connect emotionally.
2. Sell Hope. People hope that which they purchase will increase their pleasure or reduce their pain. All motivation falls into these two categories. There is nothing else. Nothing!
3. Familiarity breeds business. Spread your word however you can and as frequently as you can.
4. Take advantage of the "Recency Effect". Follow up brilliantly.
5. Forget looking like the superior choice. Make yourself an excellent choice.
Then eliminate anything that might make you a bad choice. People do not look to always make a "superior choice", they just want to avoid making a "bad choice".
6. People don't just make snap decisions; they get anchored to them.
7. Each impression you make will - temporarily, at least- be your last. So,make it strong.
8. Build the quality into your service, but make it less risky too.
9. The best thing you can do for a prospect is eliminate her fear.Offer a trial period or a test project.
10. The more alike two services are, the more important each difference becomes. Accentuate the trivial.
PLUS ONE:
11. Tell the truth, even if it hurts.
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
Baby Boomers Meet Their Past
I met my past tonight, along with 36,598 other Baby Boomers at Madison Square Garden, who loved every minute of the James Taylor and Carol King Concert.
Utterly amazed at the turn out, (I heard they were sold out for 3 nights!) I observed these Boomers in full stride shell out a minimum of $100 for 3 hours of music that reminded them of their youth and wondered, of course, how we could get them to bowl.
After all, there are 72 million of them, roughly one out of four people in the USA and they want what everybody else wants. FUN. And whats more fun than bowling?
Couldn't we set up a retro bowl night, especially in the summer, from 8p to 11p on a Saturday night and play 70's music, decorate the center with old record album covers hanging from the ceiling, have a dance contest, take special request and award prizes for the best 70's outfit (bell bottoms and all), for correct answers to trivia and for "crazy" bowling contest. We know how to do this. And with our data bases, email tools, Craig's list and Facebook ammo we can communicate this offer WELL. We could even use direct mail 4 color oversize postcards to people 44 to 59 in our market. Check with PKGRAPHICS.COM in Florida. They can turn a postcard around in about 48 hours with great creative and great professionalism. They're relatively inexpensive too!
We could go to churches, synagogues, temples and create fund raisers for them. We could sell tickets for $10 or $15 for 3 hours of bowling and shoe rentals and then let the religious institutions sell them for an additional $5 or $10, which would go back to the fundraiser organization. They'll buy food and beverage and even play some arcade games.
This is the generation that never wants to get old. And bowling, like Carol King and James Taylor, reminds them of their youth.
And bowling is a lot cheaper than Botox!
Utterly amazed at the turn out, (I heard they were sold out for 3 nights!) I observed these Boomers in full stride shell out a minimum of $100 for 3 hours of music that reminded them of their youth and wondered, of course, how we could get them to bowl.
After all, there are 72 million of them, roughly one out of four people in the USA and they want what everybody else wants. FUN. And whats more fun than bowling?
Couldn't we set up a retro bowl night, especially in the summer, from 8p to 11p on a Saturday night and play 70's music, decorate the center with old record album covers hanging from the ceiling, have a dance contest, take special request and award prizes for the best 70's outfit (bell bottoms and all), for correct answers to trivia and for "crazy" bowling contest. We know how to do this. And with our data bases, email tools, Craig's list and Facebook ammo we can communicate this offer WELL. We could even use direct mail 4 color oversize postcards to people 44 to 59 in our market. Check with PKGRAPHICS.COM in Florida. They can turn a postcard around in about 48 hours with great creative and great professionalism. They're relatively inexpensive too!
We could go to churches, synagogues, temples and create fund raisers for them. We could sell tickets for $10 or $15 for 3 hours of bowling and shoe rentals and then let the religious institutions sell them for an additional $5 or $10, which would go back to the fundraiser organization. They'll buy food and beverage and even play some arcade games.
This is the generation that never wants to get old. And bowling, like Carol King and James Taylor, reminds them of their youth.
And bowling is a lot cheaper than Botox!
Sunday, June 13, 2010
6 Step E Mail Plan Just for You
One of my first jobs out of grad school was for a subsidiary of Citicorp, an independent credit card company in the Baltimore Washington DC area called NAC.
This credit card company was miles ahead of the bigger banks in that its operations were "computerized." We were actually able to send out customers' statements and include advertising messages, inserted electronically rather than inserted manually. Wow!
With this new ability, I was able to get information on the amount of customer's purchases, how frequently they used the card, and how recently used the card. This data was breakthrough and from it we were able to garner information to sell other products; from instant pay day loans to fireproof wall safes to vacations.
It was heady times. we were experimenting with new technologies and never even scratching the surface on what was to come.
Today,bowling proprietors have incredible email capabilities at their disposal and yet many treat it as if it is a substitute for direct mail or worse a substitute for in center fliers.
Where is your email marketing plan? You may not have one so I am going to give you one that you can try. Here's an example of a quick 6 step approach that I hope you will at least try to implement.
1. Select all people 15 to 29 years old and send them a special coupon offer that is ONLY valid for this Saturday night's cosmic bowl. Encourage them to print out as many as they want to give to their friends. Offer 50% off pricing. Lets say that you sent out 500 of these emails.
2. Now on Saturday nights, 50 people come in with their coupon and you require them to fill out a three line data base card (name, email and birth date) in order to accept the coupon.
3. At this point you probably think the promotion is over, but it's just getting started. Get out your camera and take some video of the event. Try to get some of the people in the event to give you an on air testimonial. (get them to sign a waiver so you can use what they say)
4. On Monday send a thank you email (and the video) to the 50 people that came in the previous Saturday, inviting them to return again the following Saturday and asking them to bring a friend; again extend the 50% offer to all of them.
5. To the 450 people who didn't show up, send them the video of the event with a "we missed you" offer of 50% off entry tot he event and 50% off a pizza.
6. On the night of the event, 40 of the 50 people show up and 110 of the 450 people show up. Again you get their name, email and birth date information.
If you don't follow up like this, you won't be getting the most from your emails. Instead all you will be doing is "blasting" stuff out.
And that turns a lot of people off, which is the exact opposite of what you want to accomplish, isn't it?
This credit card company was miles ahead of the bigger banks in that its operations were "computerized." We were actually able to send out customers' statements and include advertising messages, inserted electronically rather than inserted manually. Wow!
With this new ability, I was able to get information on the amount of customer's purchases, how frequently they used the card, and how recently used the card. This data was breakthrough and from it we were able to garner information to sell other products; from instant pay day loans to fireproof wall safes to vacations.
It was heady times. we were experimenting with new technologies and never even scratching the surface on what was to come.
Today,bowling proprietors have incredible email capabilities at their disposal and yet many treat it as if it is a substitute for direct mail or worse a substitute for in center fliers.
Where is your email marketing plan? You may not have one so I am going to give you one that you can try. Here's an example of a quick 6 step approach that I hope you will at least try to implement.
1. Select all people 15 to 29 years old and send them a special coupon offer that is ONLY valid for this Saturday night's cosmic bowl. Encourage them to print out as many as they want to give to their friends. Offer 50% off pricing. Lets say that you sent out 500 of these emails.
2. Now on Saturday nights, 50 people come in with their coupon and you require them to fill out a three line data base card (name, email and birth date) in order to accept the coupon.
3. At this point you probably think the promotion is over, but it's just getting started. Get out your camera and take some video of the event. Try to get some of the people in the event to give you an on air testimonial. (get them to sign a waiver so you can use what they say)
4. On Monday send a thank you email (and the video) to the 50 people that came in the previous Saturday, inviting them to return again the following Saturday and asking them to bring a friend; again extend the 50% offer to all of them.
5. To the 450 people who didn't show up, send them the video of the event with a "we missed you" offer of 50% off entry tot he event and 50% off a pizza.
6. On the night of the event, 40 of the 50 people show up and 110 of the 450 people show up. Again you get their name, email and birth date information.
If you don't follow up like this, you won't be getting the most from your emails. Instead all you will be doing is "blasting" stuff out.
And that turns a lot of people off, which is the exact opposite of what you want to accomplish, isn't it?
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
Technology Atatcks
Sometimes you just can't win for trying.
For the last week, I have been trying to write my blog, but the private (and customized) mail server I have been using has bounced many of them all and, of course, my techie guy is on a vacation with his beautiful Brazilian girlfriend in Turks and Cacaos. thus, I have been scrambling to get this blog out to you. I hope for those of you who have missed some of my "pearls of wisdom" :-) that you catchup on some of my recent blogs.
The techie guy split and his last words to me as I dropped him at the airport were, "uh, we might have had this problem for a while. See you next Sunday. Bye." And off he went. Its good I didn't crash the Saab I was screaming so loudly.
So friends, I don't know how long it has been since last you received one of my blogs and for this I am terribly sorry, but hope these will reach you in fine fashion.
Which brings me to my subject. I would not have known about this problem, if I had not done a little research and asked some people, as I frequently do, to provide me with some feedback on recent blogs. When they said "what blogs, haven't seen one recently", I could tell there was a problem. Unfortunately, I found out about it after the fact.
But you can avoid this kind of problem.
First, put yourself on every email that you send out; every facebook ad or post you create and every communication or direct mail that you send. Be the customer. How does it feel to get your mailing piece, email or other communication?
Second, get yourself a reliable email distribution system that you can test repeatedly to make sure that information you send isn't being bounced back...and you're not getting any feedback.
Third, if you're going to have a custom program built (like i did), make sure that your techie guy is aware of the importance of your communication and he tests it for you at least once per week. I now have the ability to send personalized blogs to all of you, which is something that Constant Contact or Icontact cannot do and I also have the ability to create my own templates without going to their customer support center all the time, all the time, all the time!!
Fourth, and this is the most important...keep asking customers for feedback. Use your emailing ability to send out surveys asking people if they are interested in LTB classes, short season leagues, fund raisers, etc. You'll be surprised at how much feedback and lead generation you get.
Fifth, hire a techie who does NOT have a beautiful Brazilian girlfriend, doesn't like the Caribbean Islands, is afraid to fly and has no life. He'll always be by your side.
And finally I have to wait for my techie guy to get back to fix the graphics on the blog and I hope you'll understand that "we are renovating, so pardon our dust."
Thank You for your patience.
Fred
For the last week, I have been trying to write my blog, but the private (and customized) mail server I have been using has bounced many of them all and, of course, my techie guy is on a vacation with his beautiful Brazilian girlfriend in Turks and Cacaos. thus, I have been scrambling to get this blog out to you. I hope for those of you who have missed some of my "pearls of wisdom" :-) that you catchup on some of my recent blogs.
The techie guy split and his last words to me as I dropped him at the airport were, "uh, we might have had this problem for a while. See you next Sunday. Bye." And off he went. Its good I didn't crash the Saab I was screaming so loudly.
So friends, I don't know how long it has been since last you received one of my blogs and for this I am terribly sorry, but hope these will reach you in fine fashion.
Which brings me to my subject. I would not have known about this problem, if I had not done a little research and asked some people, as I frequently do, to provide me with some feedback on recent blogs. When they said "what blogs, haven't seen one recently", I could tell there was a problem. Unfortunately, I found out about it after the fact.
But you can avoid this kind of problem.
First, put yourself on every email that you send out; every facebook ad or post you create and every communication or direct mail that you send. Be the customer. How does it feel to get your mailing piece, email or other communication?
Second, get yourself a reliable email distribution system that you can test repeatedly to make sure that information you send isn't being bounced back...and you're not getting any feedback.
Third, if you're going to have a custom program built (like i did), make sure that your techie guy is aware of the importance of your communication and he tests it for you at least once per week. I now have the ability to send personalized blogs to all of you, which is something that Constant Contact or Icontact cannot do and I also have the ability to create my own templates without going to their customer support center all the time, all the time, all the time!!
Fourth, and this is the most important...keep asking customers for feedback. Use your emailing ability to send out surveys asking people if they are interested in LTB classes, short season leagues, fund raisers, etc. You'll be surprised at how much feedback and lead generation you get.
Fifth, hire a techie who does NOT have a beautiful Brazilian girlfriend, doesn't like the Caribbean Islands, is afraid to fly and has no life. He'll always be by your side.
And finally I have to wait for my techie guy to get back to fix the graphics on the blog and I hope you'll understand that "we are renovating, so pardon our dust."
Thank You for your patience.
Fred
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