Listening to your biggest customers is so important

Getting asked about how effective Mystery Customers are can sometimes be frustrating..

We help many companies understand the Customer Experience which helps in overall profitability and growth. Simple on this level,good solid customer research and Shopper Marketing.

Problem

The difficulty is that we don’t provide a standard Mystery Customer response because all clients are different and hence our response and approach are always going to be unique.

There are huge differences in customer profiles amongst a companies customers and these have to be taken into account.

Too many Mystery Customer companies have surveys the length of your arm with a zillion Yes No questions on them. A host of boxes that ask for rankings and ratings and reasoning…

All this has its place but often the wrong customer gets sent to the wrong place or is clearly not nor will be a customer of that business..its mystery shopping because the use of the feedback is a mystery…why listen to someone telling you how to improve your business who never uses your shop, restaurant,pub,cafe or firm? A person who has no idea of what you do or why you should improve.

Solution

The solution is not to bus Mystery Shoppers in but to talk to customers directly…we think we have the best possible solution that avoids the mismatch of “shoppers” not being profiled and forgetting what happened on their way home to fill in the huge survey..

Customeyes advocate being on site and talking to as many customers as possible making sure that all customer profiles are covered…it avoids getting selective feedback and ensures accuracy. The answers are genuine,it allows proper profiling of customers and it gives certainty.

By asking about Expectations, actual versus preconceived it’s possible to get a clear ROE measure – Return on Expectation which when linked to Advocacy and propensity to recommend produces powerful insights. A better picture emerges.

This picture tells you what really happened and what needs to be done to improve the customer experience to enhance Advocacy and brand awareness.

Customeyes report on solid Red Amber Green platforms and have corresponding Resistors, Acceptors and Generator customer tags to identify who is promoting and who isn’t.Where is your Social Media platform being promoted and where isn’t it? What can be dome to improve that Footprint?

What about Exit Polls? Why did they go into that shop,cafe,Estate Agent, restaurant? Was it destination or impulse? Where does this leave them in terms of Advocacy? Would they recommend based on this visit alone?

The Gift..

This approach takes the nonsense out of dull surveys that are lists of boxes that ticked without feeling or knowledge. It removes the absurdity of surveys being used to tick marketing boxes giving useless percentages that seek to flatter…

The gift is customer gold dust – real views real feedback the building blocks of solid business improvement.

Customer experience could be so much better if one simple question were to be asked..customer complaints would be hugely reduced, it would be hard to get it wrong when you know why they are there..

Every time you use a service this should be a fundamental first port of call. If you are switching from one service provider to another then this small but powerful word should be top of mind and asked..

When you book a table at your favourite restaurant normally you are asked,what time,how many,sometimes even if any in the party have particular food needs.

Never but Never are you asked WHY you are booking…what a waste of an opportunity to be of service before they start to be of service.

If asked Why and you replied ..”because its my birthday.” then that’s a golden opportunity for the restaurant to make it a special occasion for you… free drink perhaps,maybe a small cake..

What ever the occasion a WHY supplies the means to offer even better customer service and build loyalty and hence advocacy.

If you think about it it’s such a small word that can add so much value. It can make or break a customer experience and will always ensure that you get good service as they now know why you are there.

Professional Services

Having recently conducted customer research in the professional services sector we were never asked that simple question.

The brief was to get feedback on the services that these companies were offering,basic enquiries,including, how long it took then to get back to us via email and telephone and what was a sked when they did.

Rarely did that little 3 letter word get used…Why do you want to use us? Why are you considering a move? Why was your previous service supplier not being re engaged?

Most times a list of benefits was trotted out that was meant to convince that they were the right recipients of our money..

In cases like these professional service companies should see a potential client as a great source of customer research..they may be researching you but get feedback…who else have they called? How many others are they looking at? Why do you think we can help? Why are you considering us..

It’s basic Business Intelligence gathering.

It’s good to go back to childhood, keep asking Why..it used to be irritating but now it gets results…

Lovely weather and the chance to sit outside and have a light lunch with some friends…

Cafes, pubs and restaurants are having their own Indian summer as people take advantage of the late summer rush and spend more time and money on having a nice time.

This is the time when these outlets can make customers their brand advocates by going the extra mile and providing an outstanding customer experience. Doubtless some places will be at full stretch as lets face it this is all very unexpected,summer in September…

Even though the weather is unexpected the customer service should be top notch and above normal high standards..

Imagine the Twitter traffic over the last few days that must be telling people to get down to X Y or Z eatery as its so good.

Any possible complaints should be dealt with immediately so that bad feelings don’t get taken home…it is amazing how many restaurant groups still are not dealing with complaints at once,its commercial suicide not to..waiting a day to begin a service recovery process is not sensible.

Going the extra mile should be driven home to all customer facing facing staff at the start of their working day so that they know the success of their unit is down to them.

Managers and owners should be taking more time to indulge in some customer research by asking what is good and what can be improved..this is the perfect time to find out how often customers visit and what would draw them back when the normal weather returns.

Make hay while the sun shines and listen to those customers, they should be back again next week when the snow starts…

Dolly Parton’s 9 to 5 has a great chrous..

It’s all takin’  and no givin’

They just use your mind

One thing that I have learnt in nearly 30 years in business is that you have to look after your customers because if you don’t somebody else will!  In the ever-automated world that we live in, larger businesses have rightly used technology to help them provide their products and services to their markets, quicker and with fewer mistakes and at lower cost to them and their customers.

BUT…

Oh yes there is a but, in recent times I have seen technology being put in charge of managing the client relationship more and more and let’s be honest in most customer situations it plain doesn’t work.  We will all have stories of getting stuck in a virtual circle in some large corporate companies phone system only to be back at square one 15 minutes later despite being told “Please continue to hold your call is important to us”!

A slick technology based customer facing system can work for some of the “New World” businesses, Amazon is a great example of this, great customer delivery system backed up by an astonishing personal marketing strategy that sells you stuff you never knew you wanted!

I sometimes feel that businesses of all sizes lose sight of what is important to their customers, conversations tend to exist on a transactional level and little or no time is spent these days on understanding customers and where their business is going.  As face to face account management has become less common being replaced by more remote forms of customer care can we still maintain that all important relationships with customers?

There is no doubt the Internet is a powerful market but if your model is more traditional how do you best serve your customers?

• Make your best customer feel special, if you have a new product or fresh service offering make them feel special by offering it to them first and ask them what they think and how you can improve your service.

• Have a regular opportunities to call or visit clients, in sales a “Reason to call” is one of the most powerful marketing tools, bring your customers into your business introduce your key staff it all helps to strengthen the business-to-business relationship.

• Make sure you have a process for dealing with a customer complaints, take them seriously after all is often said that the very best customers to have are the ones who forgive you when you make mistakes!

The reality is none of us own our customers but we do share them with other suppliers.  The real challenge is to make the service we offer stand out.  Make them feel special, help them out when they are stuck and most importantly value their custom!  Use technology to serve your customers but be careful not to replace the all-important personal touch.

About the Writer

Clive Mulligan is the Principal of Simply Consulting, a Sales & Marketing Development Consultancy focused on helping small and medium sized businesses grow their businesses by developing a strong sales & Marketing Strategy.

A Sales Professional since 1984 Clive has been described by colleagues, business partners and colleagues as being “Challenging and Supportive”, being a “Knowledgeable professional and a pleasure to work with” and as having “wealth of business development experience across a number of sectors”, Clive harnesses this experience to work with forward thinking business owners to help them realize their full business potential.

For Further information please visit the website at www.simply-consultancy.co.uk or to contact Clive at clive.mulligan@simply-consultancy.co.uk or call 01923 831 725

Content sticks as well...

I’ve just come to the end of this brilliant book and am amazed at what it’s telling me.

Amazed I might add because it has changed the way that I think about marketing, the old rules truly are dead and finished if this book is anything to go by.

Grant Leboff has again come up with a major book that challenges the marketing approach.

The traditional marketing approach has been one of shouting at the consumer with the hope that some will listen and use your products.This route has proved to be an effective path for many a company…until now…

The internet has changed our relationships with others, we interact more we have choice like never before and we have the ability to be what the book calls “attractive”. It’s about reputation and about the experience that these companies give the consumer.

Never before has it been more important to enter into a process of engagement.As the book says its about the “Return on Engagement” not the “Return on Investment”.

Customers demand that engagement so that they feel valued and included.No longer can they be ignored or passed over without consideration being given for what they feel and want.

Companies need to deliver a consistent experience and tailor their services to that experience…if you are an accountant do you provide accountancy or reassurance and support? Not all accountants are the same….

Whilst striving for that consistent experience it’s crucial to monitor it so that it remains so.Customers are increasingly aware of when attention slips and they vote with their wallets.

Listening to your customers before someone else does really should be a major priority.

Read the book,digest the learning and begin to engage…

Is the Light finally on?

Last night was the end of the series of Secret Shopper the Mary Portas TV event that has opened our eyes to the changing customer service for the better.

It was a great series with some cringe worthy examples of blatant poor customer service coupled with some pretty memorable lines,”West facing is the new South facing”from last nights show…

Sharp practices were exposed,rude assistants shamed and arrogance dispelled all in the name of better customer service.

Did it achieve anything? Does a high profile TV show over 4 weeks change the way we are served? Is it the start of something big?

Sadly I would argue that the answer to all the above is NO because the change needs to be based at a more grass roots level.

There is pressure to make profits which is not always consistent in the short term with achieving operational goals. Slim staff budgets often mean that training is a secondary option,new recruits get a condensed training period which means condensed customer service.

Sales training looks at the “close” not the “Listen”…get the sale at any cost-the sofa and mobile phone shows being prime examples.

There needs to be an understanding that the customer experience is vital to sustained profit which translates to improving the customer journey and Listening to the customer before someone else does…

It would be great top think that a revolution in service standards has begun…the reality is that it will be short lived and many operations be they retail,hospitality,leisure and commerce will gravitate back to shorter well trodden paths…customer needs avoidance….

Black Horse...should be faster

Lloyds TSB has had some problems over the last year or so what with the economy and being bailed out by tax payers.

It strikes me that they should really be making more of an effort to display at least a modicum of customer service skills.

Over the last two months I have been trying to get another company credit card.I have filled in all the forms and the new person has given their details  and off they were posted.

Last week a letter arrived instructing both of us to go to our nearest branch and sign so different forms along with presenting ID.

Today was that day…problem was that it didn’t go well.

After an age we were told that we had been sent the wrong forms and that new ones would have to be dispatched and that we would have to come back again…I was screaming by this point..

The people behind me waiting to be served were screaming louder…not one of the people behind the glass who were all standing arounding chatting moved a muscle to help.

Eventually I presume the Manager came out and helped with people who just needed to pay money in.

Currently Customer Service is all the rage and will be more so when Scary Mary hits our screens on Wednesday.It seems incredible that in a bank the size of Lloyds TSB that you can wait fro nearly ten minutes and no one takes control and smiles and apologises for the delay.Staff seem to have been trained to look down,over or through customers rather than at them.

Come on Lloyds lead the way and stop ignoring us…

Research can reveal some interesting things if you look

Not just a tree....let me know what you see

It is sometimes difficult to see what is in front of you,sometimes even harder to act upon what you’ve seen.

It is easier to ignore or sideline issues until we are ready to face them,that normally means we never will really deal with the issue.

This can have very serious consequences, a leaky pipe often becomes a burst pipe which means gallons of expensive water all over your new Axminster.

The same is true when considering research and cost effective approachs to listening to your customers.

Factoring in a regular customer research budget needn’t be expensive or a drain on resources.Would companies rather spend a small amount of money regularly or lose valuable customers?

The answer seems obvious but very few companies seem to follow this simple maxim.

The 1-10-100 rule applies here.

Every pound that you have spent on research is well invested.If you had to correct a problem then it would cost you ten times the amount to adjust had you not have spent the early amount.

Should an issue go totally unnoticed until very late in your  customer experience cycle then you may end up paying 100 times what you could have paid in the research phase to put it right.At this point you would have lost valuable customers and the viral impact could well escalate out of all proportion.

In any recession or turbulent trading conditions the three must haves are Training,Customer Research and Marketing…and customer research is a crucial element.

The full Buisness Week Editors  quote went along these lines

“The customer has become a bloody nuisance whose unpredictable behaviour damages carefully made strategic plans,whose activities mess up computer operations and who stubbornly insists that purchased products should work”

Managing that unpredictability is what makes some companies great and others no so.

Research has shown on numerous occasions that customers don’t always complain, when they do they tell more people than would a customer who has a positive story to tell.

In some ways its good to have complaints as it can engender loyalty.If the issue is put right then waves of positive comments will spread form the once disgruntled customer.It’s important to recognise that no complaints can mean the opposite of good news…customers are unhappy but you just hear about it, they’ve voted with their wallets and gone to a rival.

Theodore Levitt said “Absence of complaints is the surest sign of a bad relationship with customers”.

So how can you have a better relationship with your customers?Get more complaints….

Not exactly…you need to make sure that better is a mechanism for complaints and that you make sure that complaints are discovered when they are niggles and not full blown anger tinged issues…

The easiest way to do this is of course to make sure that you have systems in place that regularly checks the customer experience and that you are in touch with your customers and the market in which you operate.

Research,Listen, Learn and benefit from good feedback…can anyone afford not to?