Many times that I meet with business associates it will be over a cup of coffee at a cafe. The environment then tends to be fairly casual in many respects, but still allows for quite in depth discussion. I can even remember another couple at a nearby table praying for each other - they were simply looking at each other and around the cafe and it was only if you were close enough to hear them that you realised that their "conversation" wasn't specifically with each other!
I know I'm not alone in using cafes for business meetings and I'm sure many others who do would find these meetings can often run for over half an hour, perhaps even longer than a full hour.
But how many times do we simply have the one coffee?
Since I noticed this phenomenon every time I've been in a cafe for a business meeting I've seen the same thing. Regardless of how many tables are being used the cafe staff don't ask one question which would significantly boost their revenue:
"Would you like another cup of coffee?"
It would be simple to ask and I then have two choices - either I get another cup of coffee, or we wrap up our meeting and move on (and free up a table for another customer to buy a coffee). Even if the cafe is not particularly full, in many cases if I was approached in this manner I probably would buy the coffee, plus one for my guest. So it's an extra $6 - 10 for the cafe for us just to keep sitting there as we would have if they had not Just asked the question!
Aside from the extra revenue, it also is great service - looking after the customers' needs.
How in your business could your staff boost revenue and profitability by just asking the question?
Showing posts with label Service Excellence. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Service Excellence. Show all posts
Wednesday, April 18, 2012
Sunday, April 15, 2012
When Sales = Service
In my personal time I absolutely love gardening. Getting out in the sunshine to grow our own produce is very satisfying, but also provides a lot of time for thinking. While we're heading into winter shortly, and all our summer crops have finished it is time for planting the few plants that will survive winter.
As such, this morning I took a trip to our local nursery. While it's a little more expensive than the big box hardware stores we have a short distance down the road, I knew which plants I needed specifically and that it would be simpler to get the seedlings here.
Even with my 3 year old son in tow, it was a quick trip. Straight to the seedlings, a quick bee-line to the seeds and then to the front counter. And a quick lesson in customer service.
The first question from the assistant as I put my plants on the counter was "Sorry, what was your name again? And your son's?" While I've not been in there for around 6 months (and I doubt that he would have remembered my name in that time even if he did know it earlier), he asked in such a way to show that he was interested in ME!
And the second question wasn't really a question the way he asked, but could have lead to a great question: "Make sure you put some *** product on the seedlings to keep the moths off them, there are still a few caterpillars around at the moment... " I can't remember the exact product name, but if I notice any caterpillars I'll be back there to ask him about it.
So the question he should have asked is along the lines of "Would you like to take it with you today?"
He got me thinking less of the garden and more about service. By selling me a product, he would have provided even better service than just simply having a nice smile and having my transaction completed quickly. But also, he wasn't just selling me anything - he was selling a product that clearly met my needs, and in a way that he was telling me about a need that I didn't even know about!
How in your business could you offer great service to your clients by actually selling them something?
As such, this morning I took a trip to our local nursery. While it's a little more expensive than the big box hardware stores we have a short distance down the road, I knew which plants I needed specifically and that it would be simpler to get the seedlings here.
Even with my 3 year old son in tow, it was a quick trip. Straight to the seedlings, a quick bee-line to the seeds and then to the front counter. And a quick lesson in customer service.
The first question from the assistant as I put my plants on the counter was "Sorry, what was your name again? And your son's?" While I've not been in there for around 6 months (and I doubt that he would have remembered my name in that time even if he did know it earlier), he asked in such a way to show that he was interested in ME!
And the second question wasn't really a question the way he asked, but could have lead to a great question: "Make sure you put some *** product on the seedlings to keep the moths off them, there are still a few caterpillars around at the moment... " I can't remember the exact product name, but if I notice any caterpillars I'll be back there to ask him about it.
So the question he should have asked is along the lines of "Would you like to take it with you today?"
He got me thinking less of the garden and more about service. By selling me a product, he would have provided even better service than just simply having a nice smile and having my transaction completed quickly. But also, he wasn't just selling me anything - he was selling a product that clearly met my needs, and in a way that he was telling me about a need that I didn't even know about!
How in your business could you offer great service to your clients by actually selling them something?
Friday, December 11, 2009
Non-Profit Organisation Customer Service
I have a sister who is currently receiving treatment within a hospital run by a non-profit. I was amazed during my visit with her at the lengths that the hospital staff go to in ensuring that they follow high standards of customer service.
There are many motivational posters through the hospital (even in public corridors) referring to customer service, and also to excellence. In addition, there are also charts that the staff have worked on to develop simple strategies that will help them demonstrate customer service. The nursing and medical staff then follow through using these strategies with their patients.
For example, when the nurse enters a patient's room, their first statement is "Hello Miss/Mr ****, it's (nurse) here. I'm just going to ****. This way, if the patient is resting or not fully alert, the patient at least knows why this person's just walked in. And doesn't awake to a stranger who they don't think should be in the room!
I've mentioned in previous posts that my thinking is that non-profit organisations need to ensure that they are providing great customer service. What this hospital demonstrates is that patients (ie. the hospital's customers) will be willing to choose the services of this hospital over another when required in future. Originally my sister had planned on moving to another hospital, but now is extremely happy to stay and continue to receive excellent care.
There are many motivational posters through the hospital (even in public corridors) referring to customer service, and also to excellence. In addition, there are also charts that the staff have worked on to develop simple strategies that will help them demonstrate customer service. The nursing and medical staff then follow through using these strategies with their patients.
For example, when the nurse enters a patient's room, their first statement is "Hello Miss/Mr ****, it's (nurse) here. I'm just going to ****. This way, if the patient is resting or not fully alert, the patient at least knows why this person's just walked in. And doesn't awake to a stranger who they don't think should be in the room!
I've mentioned in previous posts that my thinking is that non-profit organisations need to ensure that they are providing great customer service. What this hospital demonstrates is that patients (ie. the hospital's customers) will be willing to choose the services of this hospital over another when required in future. Originally my sister had planned on moving to another hospital, but now is extremely happy to stay and continue to receive excellent care.
Sunday, December 6, 2009
The Link between satisfaction and customer retention
Today I was revisiting some academic readings about customer satisfaction and the effect it has on loyalty. While it is from an academic perspective, it highlights how customers need to be delighted (as opposed to "only" satisfied) to be extremely loyal. The study found that a truly delighted customer will become an evangelist of the business.
This model comes from another book (titled Service Profit Chain: How Leading Companies Link Profit and Growth to Loyalty, Satisfaction and Value), however I've taken it from Lovelock, Patterson and Walker's "Services Marketing: An Asia-Pacific and Australia Perspective" (2007).
Just to explain my thinking on this model, I'll use the airline industry as an example.
A little while ago we had to fly with one airline in Australia who fell well short of what we expected of an airline. My wife and I have always taken a car seat for our daughter and son to sit on while we're travelling by air, and despite having taken her on around 20 flights, with about 7 airlines in total, one airline refused to permit us to take a car seat on board (even though we'd paid adult fares to be able to reserve seats for both children (our son was six months old at the time, our daughter 2 years). Anyway this airline I wouldn't even rate a 1 out of 5 in terms of their service. The model predicts I would then be a terrorist - in real life I very much discourage anyone from flying with this airline, and even with all the travel that we undertake, we will also never fly this airline again.
We've also flown some other airlines, who while they weren't providing over the top service we at least hospitable, and got us from A to B. These airlines I wouldn't actively promote, but am happy to fly with them were their schedules or pricing works well for us.
Then there are two other airlines that have gone over the top with providing great service. These airlines will always be our preference for flying (Singapore Airlines for international travel, SouthWest for US domestic), and we will always recommend to our friends and family (and now, blog followers!). I would definitely rate both these airlines as a 4.5 or 5 out of 5 in any customer surveys.
While a 4 out of 5 may seem like a good rating for a customer to give (in action, I prefer using a 10 point scale to give customers the option of giving a 9 to allow for "room for improvement" as some customers like to), the reality confirmed by this model is that those customers are just satisfied with the service received (not delighted) and are less loyal and less likely to promote your business.
This model comes from another book (titled Service Profit Chain: How Leading Companies Link Profit and Growth to Loyalty, Satisfaction and Value), however I've taken it from Lovelock, Patterson and Walker's "Services Marketing: An Asia-Pacific and Australia Perspective" (2007).
Just to explain my thinking on this model, I'll use the airline industry as an example.A little while ago we had to fly with one airline in Australia who fell well short of what we expected of an airline. My wife and I have always taken a car seat for our daughter and son to sit on while we're travelling by air, and despite having taken her on around 20 flights, with about 7 airlines in total, one airline refused to permit us to take a car seat on board (even though we'd paid adult fares to be able to reserve seats for both children (our son was six months old at the time, our daughter 2 years). Anyway this airline I wouldn't even rate a 1 out of 5 in terms of their service. The model predicts I would then be a terrorist - in real life I very much discourage anyone from flying with this airline, and even with all the travel that we undertake, we will also never fly this airline again.
We've also flown some other airlines, who while they weren't providing over the top service we at least hospitable, and got us from A to B. These airlines I wouldn't actively promote, but am happy to fly with them were their schedules or pricing works well for us.
Then there are two other airlines that have gone over the top with providing great service. These airlines will always be our preference for flying (Singapore Airlines for international travel, SouthWest for US domestic), and we will always recommend to our friends and family (and now, blog followers!). I would definitely rate both these airlines as a 4.5 or 5 out of 5 in any customer surveys.
While a 4 out of 5 may seem like a good rating for a customer to give (in action, I prefer using a 10 point scale to give customers the option of giving a 9 to allow for "room for improvement" as some customers like to), the reality confirmed by this model is that those customers are just satisfied with the service received (not delighted) and are less loyal and less likely to promote your business.
Thursday, November 26, 2009
Great Phone Service
I know that when we look at customer service, it's very easy to take note of poor service and sometimes difficult to recognise good service.
I'm in the process of buying a new car at the moment and amongst a number of companies that weren't replying to emails and phone calls, there was one mechanic that was excellent with their responses. I was just calling to get quotes for some work that may be required, and one business answered promptly and one of their (non-mechanic) staff were able to provide a quote, let me know all the information I needed and suggest a time to book it in. Since everything lined up, it just made sense to book it in and if I buy this car, they've earned $3,000 for a simple phone call. I'm still waiting for return phone calls from other companies...
I also needed to call a technical help desk to reset our TV today. The steps in the manual weren't working, so I was ready to throw the remote at it (my technical skills aren't very high), but I thought that I'd give the customer service line a call. The gentleman on the phone was able to clearly step me through what was required and resolved the issue very promptly.
In many businesses electronic communication is a great asset that can help improve revenues. However, they do also create a higher sense of expectation with the customer as many users will simply assume that if it's electronic communication it should be immediate. Being able to respond promptly to phone calls as in these cases goes a long way to ensuring that you meet the customer's expectations.
I'm in the process of buying a new car at the moment and amongst a number of companies that weren't replying to emails and phone calls, there was one mechanic that was excellent with their responses. I was just calling to get quotes for some work that may be required, and one business answered promptly and one of their (non-mechanic) staff were able to provide a quote, let me know all the information I needed and suggest a time to book it in. Since everything lined up, it just made sense to book it in and if I buy this car, they've earned $3,000 for a simple phone call. I'm still waiting for return phone calls from other companies...
I also needed to call a technical help desk to reset our TV today. The steps in the manual weren't working, so I was ready to throw the remote at it (my technical skills aren't very high), but I thought that I'd give the customer service line a call. The gentleman on the phone was able to clearly step me through what was required and resolved the issue very promptly.
In many businesses electronic communication is a great asset that can help improve revenues. However, they do also create a higher sense of expectation with the customer as many users will simply assume that if it's electronic communication it should be immediate. Being able to respond promptly to phone calls as in these cases goes a long way to ensuring that you meet the customer's expectations.
Saturday, November 14, 2009
Platinum Class Service
I thought that I'd follow up the introduction piece with some thoughts on Platinum Class Service.
The analogy starts with many credit card companies and airlines. Generally you'll have a silver level above the basic level, rising through gold up to platinum. Thus, Platinum Class Service is the highest level of customer service.
It also happens all the time - frequent flyers on the highest levels don't get once off privileges to use each year. They fly so frequently that simply quoting their frequent flyer number allows them use of their privileges with every flight. Likewise, Platinum Class Service is giving the highest level of customer service - all the time.
The textbook definition of platinum service would be exceeding customer's expectations in the service they receive. I'll relate this to ordering a pizza. There's a well known pizza restaurant in Chicago that is considered by some as the home of Chicago-style pizza (well, one of the restaurants laying claim to that fame!). My wife and I have eaten there on many occasions but decided one night to order take out via their website.
On placing our order, we were advised that it would take up to 45 minutes. While this is significantly higher than what a chain store pizzeria could cook a pizza in, it is well worth the wait. After 45 minutes I turned up to the restaurant and was shuffled to three different areas before finding out that the pizza was going to be another 30 minutes away (since the store uses a third party to process the order there is an additional 30 minute lag).
The pizza store has fantastic pizza and even a 45 minute wait (since I was warned on the website) didn't upset my wife and me, however it then gave me a new expectation on the store's service. When I then turned up at that stage and was told that it wouldn't be ready for another 30 minutes, my expectations weren't met, and thus I didn't receive Platinum service.
We probably will still visit this restaurant as we've dined in their restaurant on a number of instances without issue, but if we'd been a first time customer I would have been looking for another pizza store.
I'll compare this to an experience with Singapore Airlines a few years ago, on my first overseas trip. My wife and I had flown on an around the world ticket with Star Alliance, and as a result had been on a number of different airlines. At the time, our only knowledge of Singapore was that they had seat back entertainment (only a handful of carriers had this during this time). Aside from that, we had no idea of their service.
A few hours into a 12 hour flight from Frankfurt to Singapore, I was having trouble resting as the seat I was sitting in was broken. I let the attendant know about it, simply so that when we landed they could look at having it fixed for the next passenger. Soon after, he returned with a replacement cushion which fixed the problem, and a small bag of merchandise as an apology for the discomfort. While it was only a minor inconvenience, it exceeded my expectations. Shortly after this, he then delivered two piping hot mocha's from the business class galley for my wife and I!
In future posts I will go into more detail about the "hows" of Platinum Service, this is to help give an idea of a baseline.
The analogy starts with many credit card companies and airlines. Generally you'll have a silver level above the basic level, rising through gold up to platinum. Thus, Platinum Class Service is the highest level of customer service.
It also happens all the time - frequent flyers on the highest levels don't get once off privileges to use each year. They fly so frequently that simply quoting their frequent flyer number allows them use of their privileges with every flight. Likewise, Platinum Class Service is giving the highest level of customer service - all the time.
The textbook definition of platinum service would be exceeding customer's expectations in the service they receive. I'll relate this to ordering a pizza. There's a well known pizza restaurant in Chicago that is considered by some as the home of Chicago-style pizza (well, one of the restaurants laying claim to that fame!). My wife and I have eaten there on many occasions but decided one night to order take out via their website.
On placing our order, we were advised that it would take up to 45 minutes. While this is significantly higher than what a chain store pizzeria could cook a pizza in, it is well worth the wait. After 45 minutes I turned up to the restaurant and was shuffled to three different areas before finding out that the pizza was going to be another 30 minutes away (since the store uses a third party to process the order there is an additional 30 minute lag).
The pizza store has fantastic pizza and even a 45 minute wait (since I was warned on the website) didn't upset my wife and me, however it then gave me a new expectation on the store's service. When I then turned up at that stage and was told that it wouldn't be ready for another 30 minutes, my expectations weren't met, and thus I didn't receive Platinum service.
We probably will still visit this restaurant as we've dined in their restaurant on a number of instances without issue, but if we'd been a first time customer I would have been looking for another pizza store.
I'll compare this to an experience with Singapore Airlines a few years ago, on my first overseas trip. My wife and I had flown on an around the world ticket with Star Alliance, and as a result had been on a number of different airlines. At the time, our only knowledge of Singapore was that they had seat back entertainment (only a handful of carriers had this during this time). Aside from that, we had no idea of their service.
A few hours into a 12 hour flight from Frankfurt to Singapore, I was having trouble resting as the seat I was sitting in was broken. I let the attendant know about it, simply so that when we landed they could look at having it fixed for the next passenger. Soon after, he returned with a replacement cushion which fixed the problem, and a small bag of merchandise as an apology for the discomfort. While it was only a minor inconvenience, it exceeded my expectations. Shortly after this, he then delivered two piping hot mocha's from the business class galley for my wife and I!
In future posts I will go into more detail about the "hows" of Platinum Service, this is to help give an idea of a baseline.
Monday, November 9, 2009
Welcome to Platinum Class Service!
Over the past few years I have been completing some post graduate studies and through this have researched many companies, especially in regards to customer service. Most companies either within their vision or mission statements will have some link into customer service, believing that this statement will lift the service levels within the organisation leading to higher revenue and profitability.
Unfortunately, I am sure that you have experienced a phenomenon much distant to excellent customer service. Most of the time the message from the CEO becomes so diluted when received by the shopfloor worker, that there is not the same sense of urgency in delivering customer service.
Responses such as "that's not our policy", or staff asking "how is your day" when clearly not interested reaffirm to most customers that customer service in reality is not held highly.
As an example, an old episode of Mad About You saw the ditzy waitress Ursula provide her customer service to Paul and Jamie in the restaurant they visit regularly. After a serious confrontation at the table with Paul and Jamie's friends Mark and Fran the whole table is clearly on edge with each other. Ursula then walks up asks if everything is OK, and without giving anyone a chance to respond, she walks off with a "good to hear...".
I am sure you can recall similar instances in your own dealings with businesses. Staff members who say the "right" thing, but have no real interest in what your response will actually be.
So, this blog is all about trying to help with ways to improve customer service, as well as marketing of your business to get traction (increased revenue) as a result of your customer service. Simple tips that may help improve service directly, ways to market your services to your customers, how to rectify service breakdowns are just some examples of topics that will be covered.
Unfortunately, I am sure that you have experienced a phenomenon much distant to excellent customer service. Most of the time the message from the CEO becomes so diluted when received by the shopfloor worker, that there is not the same sense of urgency in delivering customer service.
Responses such as "that's not our policy", or staff asking "how is your day" when clearly not interested reaffirm to most customers that customer service in reality is not held highly.
As an example, an old episode of Mad About You saw the ditzy waitress Ursula provide her customer service to Paul and Jamie in the restaurant they visit regularly. After a serious confrontation at the table with Paul and Jamie's friends Mark and Fran the whole table is clearly on edge with each other. Ursula then walks up asks if everything is OK, and without giving anyone a chance to respond, she walks off with a "good to hear...".
I am sure you can recall similar instances in your own dealings with businesses. Staff members who say the "right" thing, but have no real interest in what your response will actually be.
So, this blog is all about trying to help with ways to improve customer service, as well as marketing of your business to get traction (increased revenue) as a result of your customer service. Simple tips that may help improve service directly, ways to market your services to your customers, how to rectify service breakdowns are just some examples of topics that will be covered.
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