Introduction

Introduction

Are your customers ranting or raving? Are you turning on your customers before they are turning on you?

If attracting and retaining customers is important to you, read our story of Rant and Rave and the five principles that will help you turn your customers on before they turn on you.

This book is for the business owner, CEO, manager and employee who serves customers. No matter the size of your organization, delivering an experience that inspires your customers to rave about your company is what every business wants.

Based on our experiences and research, we know that the customer’s experience is a leading predictor of customer loyalty. Most businesses work tirelessly to earn a customer’s loyalty, yet don’t create an experience that motivates them to engage in a long term relationship. We know that high levels of customer loyalty drive profitability and we have identified four business drivers associated with loyal customers. They are:

RevenueRetentionReferralsReputation

We will refer to these drivers throughout the book as “The Four R’s”. You will learn more about these business drivers in chapter one. The experience you provide your customers and prospective customers will have a direct impact, positive or negative, on your Four R’s.

We share a unique approach in our book as we introduce you to two characters, Rant and Rave. These characters represent employees working in your organization handling your customers. The contrast we present between these two characters illustrates the interactions your employees have with your customers. Which employee you have taking care of your customers will have a positive or negative impact on your customer and the experience they have with your company. The experience your employees create for your customers will inspire your customers to rant or rave about your company. Let’s not complicate things here, the

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Introduction

more raves you have, the more loyal customers you will have. That will lead to higher revenues, higher customer (and employee) retention, more customer referrals, and a better reputation. The more rants you have, the greater your chances are for a negative impact to your Four R’s. You get the picture, I’m sure. Speaking of picture, you will have the pleasure of meeting Rant and Rave through a variety of illustrations that depict real customer experiences. We will introduce you to the five principles which will provide a framework for you to engage your customer in a long term relationship. Our goal is for your customers to rave about you, your employees, and your company.

In addition to our characters and their stories, we share facts and statistics that demonstrate the bottom line impact of taking exceptional care of your customers. We will illustrate for you what our five principles look like in action using case studies based on actual customer experiences. We will provide you with some simple service strategies that can be implemented in your organizations immediately. When we reference “customer”, we mean the people you serve. You might call them clients, guests, students, patients, members, or something else-to us they are your customers.

We are really passionate about the customer experience our clients are providing to their customers that we decided to write a book to help them. Although there are hundreds of books written about customer service, we believe ours will have a positive influence on our client’s quest to better serve their customers. We also feel that you, our reader who wants to take better care of your customers will benefit.

After you read our book, you will be inspired and motivated to reflect on your own organization and take action so that YOUR customers are inspired to rave about you. Here are some questions you may want to start thinking about:

When was the last time you spoke to a customer about their experience with your company?

What is your customer’s impression of your company?

What keeps your customers coming back? What can you be doing differently to take better care

of your customers? How is your customer service impacting revenue,

retention, referrals, and reputation?

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Introduction

In order to get the kind of results you want in your business, you need to be committed to take better care of your customers. This book provides you with the framework to do so . Let’s get started.

Randi and CarolThe Rant and Rave Company

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Chapter One

Customer service is a critical component of business performance and is a key driver of profit for every organization. Customer service is fast becoming a business strategy to not only sustain a profitable business but also to thrive in any type of economy, especially during recessionary times. It is often the only competitive advantage you have.

Many companies seem to have good intentions, describing themselves as customer-centric as part of their business strategy. But yet if we as customers continually experience poor customer service that leave us questioning why we are doing business with the company in the first place, are companies really walking the talk? Or are these just “words on a wall”? Clearly companies who continually provide poor experiences aren’t walking the talk.

Making the Business Case for You

Most companies recognize the importance of good customer service and are aware of the financial benefits of providing exceptional service; do they realize the potential cost of negative customer experiences? According to a 2010 Harris Study, “a great customer service experience significantly impacts purchasing decisions: Nearly all consumers (82 percent) have stopped doing business with an organization as a result of negative experience and most (75 percent) do not return 55 percent of consumers became customers of a company based on its reputation for great customer service, and 40 percent of consumers have switched to a competitive brand simply because of its reputation for exceptional service.”

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Now let’s look at some startling facts that represent the Four R’s.

Positive Financial Impact Negative Financial ImpactRevenueStudies from scientists like Dr. Gerald Zaltman at Harvard Business School’s Mind of the Market Laboratory have shown that the most important aspect to the consumer is the experience and not the tangible attributes of a product or service. A customer’s retention is based on the sum of all total positive interactions with a company, each interaction being that moment of truth that could send them packing to competitors. The Forrester 2007 Customer Experience Index found that customers want their interactions with companies to be useful, easy, and enjoyable. This means that all employees must make sure every decision they make puts the customer’s need first.

According to Walker Information, “Loyalty Report: Online Retail”The companies that obtained top consumer loyalty ratings had a three-year average annual operating income growth that was 682% higher than the companies that scored low in customer loyalty.

Research indicates that 85% of consumers will pay more for exceptional customer service.

RevenueAccording to The Wharton School’s David Sirota and Louis Mischkind, who based their findings on 30 years of research involving 2.5 million employees in 237 companies, organizations with high morale outperform their competitors by roughly 20 percent. In contrast, companies whose employees are discouraged and do only enough work to get by, suffer when it comes to results. What exactly is the cost of bad service to your company? Are you brave enough to figure it out?

ReputationAccording to the fifth annual Customer Experience Report, a Harris Interactive study sponsored by RightNow Technologies, 55 percent of consumers became customers of a company based on its reputation for great customer service, and 40 percent of consumers have switched to a competitive brand simply because of its reputation for exceptional service.

ReputationAfter having a bad customer service experience in the past year, four out of five (80 percent) U.S. consumers told the people around them, while 17 percent shared their bad experiences via social media, according to the latest edition of an annual consumer behavior study by Accenture.  A good reputation is hard to achieve but easy to lose.

Social media has put more power

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in your customer’s hands. Check out the YouTube video, United Breaks Guitars, to see how one unsatisfied customer who didn’t feel like the company “owned” their problem, took matters into his own hands. He created a YouTube video that, to date has been seen by more than 10 million viewers. Can you imagine the impact that video has had on United’s reputation.

RetentionIt can cost up to 5 times to attract a new customer as it does to retain existing customers.

Customers are less likely to switch to a competitor if they are receiving great customer service.

RetentionAccording to the Harris Interactive Customer Experience Impact Report, 2010, eighty-two percent of consumers have stopped doing business with a company because of bad service. This is up from fifty-nine percent just four years ago. The experience we are having isn’t inspiring us to “stick it out”.

Referrals78% of consumers trust peer recommendations according to Socialnomics® data on Youtube.

According to the 2010 Customer Experience Report, customer advocacy should be a key focus for businesses because: Customer service is still the number one reason consumers recommend an organization, more than products or price Word of Mouth is the number one influence on consumers’ purchasing decisions (76 percent), followed by customer reviews and online feedback at 49 percent 79 percent of consumers that have had a negative experience with an organization told others about it, and 97 percent chose to share their experience via word of mouth 85 percent wanted to warn others about the pitfalls of doing business with that company and 66 percent wanted to discourage others from buying from that company.

ReferralsWhen customers have a bad experience with a company, they are inspired to tell lots of people about their bad experience. When friends and colleagues ask for recommendations on which company to patronize, customers who have had a bad experience are the first to volunteer what companies NOT to do business with. If you don’t want your company to be on this list, you’ve got to make sure that the stories your customers are telling are good ones. The financial impact is felt in two ways, the loss an existing customer and the lost opportunity of a new customer. This means that the experiences you are providing to your customers need to be good ones, especially in your customer’s minds.

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Chapter One

When customers have a bad experience with a company, they are inspired to tell lots of people about their bad experience. When friends and colleagues ask for recommendations on which company to patronize, customers who have had a bad experience are the first to volunteer what companies NOT to do business with. If you don’t want your company to be on this list, you’ve got to make sure that the stories your customers are telling are good ones. The financial impact is felt in two ways, the loss an existing customer and the lost opportunity of a new customer. This means that the experiences you are providing to your customers need to be good ones, especially in your customer’s minds. How is this playing out in YOUR company? Have you asked yourself this question yet?

Who takes care of your customers determine what kind of experiences they have with your company.

Customers aren’t looking for transactions. They are looking for relationships. They want personalization. These qualities come from engaged workers who take ownership in their job and are committed to providing a memorable customer experience while improving the bottom line. While CEOs and managers emphasize the idea of pleasing the customer, it’s the employees who are most often responsible for delivering the experience on a daily basis.

Speaking of employees, now it’s time to introduce you to our two characters, Rant and Rave. As we mentioned in our introduction, these characters represent employees working in your organization taking care of your customers. Which employee you have taking care of your customers will have a positive or negative impact on your customer and the experience they have with your company.

Let’s talk for a few minutes about the type of behaviors that are associated with each type of employee. If you are a “Rant”:

you care about the company

Think about the last time you had a bad customer service experience. How did it make you feel? Did you tell others

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about that experience? Did you feel inclined to give this company your business again?

Now imagine if this happened to one of your customers and they ranted about your company. How would you feel if your customer then shared that bad experience with their friends or colleagues and decided to take their business elsewhere?

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Rant in action.

Here are some quick stories describing what it feels like to meet Rant. Has this happened to you? Could this be happening in your company?

They act as if I’m a bother and that they’re doing me a favor by dealing with me. I feel devalued and as if all they want is to take my money and then have me disappear. Of course they don’t say these words, but the vibes I pick up speak volumes. Here I am, spending my hard-earned money with them, and all I want is a smile, to be taken care of in a friendly, professional manner and to be thanked for my business. Why can’t I get that? I don’t think I’m asking too much, do you?

I just want someone to "own" me as a customer, whether things are going well or there is a problem.I called a service business to ask them to correct a problem. I was transferred to three different people, but the problem was never resolved. So, I called back and asked to speak with a manager. I was put on hold and no one ever came back to the phone. When I called a third time and explained my situation and what I needed, the person hung up on me. That’s right. The person on the other end simply didn’t want to talk to me or help resolve my issue. Can you imagine? Talk about lack of ownership. I’m done with them!

I had been doing business with a company for years. The one time I needed them to fix a problem and it didn’t go very well. When I called, I reached people who didn’t care - people who were indifferent, unmotivated and uninspired to take ownership of me and the situation and make something happen. I won’t be doing business with them anymore. If I hear “It’s not my job” one more time, I’m going to scream.

Now let’s explore the “flip side”. When was the last time you had a positive memorable experience?

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Chapter One

Think back for a moment, and ask yourself, “How did it make you feel about representative and the company”? Did this inspire you to share the experience with your friends, family and colleagues? Did this experience increase your desire to continue doing business with this company? Now imagine your customers having a similar experience with your employee. How does it feel to have the customer raving about your employee and your company? How does it feel to know the customer is referring a friend or colleague to do business with your company?

Rave in action.

Here are some quick stories describing what it feels like to meet Rant. Has this happened to you? Could this be happening in your company?

Need to add stories…

Now that we have talked about the impact of customer service has on business drivers, shown contrast and depending on who is taking care of you… lets talk about the five principles of providing exceptional customer care

Introduce the five principles…(This will help to translate definitions)

Transition to chapter two, now that we have introduced you to the five principles lets get started

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Chapter Two

Principle One: Think like an Owner

Single Illustration depicting the negative principle – B&W Version

Definition of principle

If your workforce doesn’t think like an owner, your service advantage will vanish. What do we mean by “think like an owner”? Definition: take responsibility to create a positive memorable experience with every customer interaction.

Obviously the illustration above does not depict an employee thinking like an owner. An owner would never …….

If your organization is not customer-centric or does not invest the time and money to hire and train employees who think and act like owners of the company, the chance of failure will increase significantly. It is not enough to create policies and procedures for your employees to follow. You must make sure that front-line staff and their managers know that they must continually strive to go above and beyond when dealing with customers.

What’s your pain-think back to a time when this happened to you, how did it make you feel? Now imagine if this happened to one of your customers?

Think about the last time you had a bad customer service experience when you didn’t feel as if the person taking care of you was taking ownership of you and your situation. How did it make you feel? Did you tell others about that experience? Did you feel inclined to give this company your business again?

Single Strip

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Chapter Two

Now imagine if this happened to one of your customers and they ranted about your company. How would you feel if your customer then shared that bad experience with their friends or colleagues and decided to take their business elsewhere?

Customers who have experienced this said… – Voice of the customer call outs

I felt like they didn’t care about me or my problem.

If they cared about me, they would have handled this differently.

Why are they acting like they don’t want my business?

Impact to Business Drivers :Identify four behaviors that are associated with this principle and use each one as the heading for the 4 drivers

Negative impact to Revenue – bullet points

Customer could abandon current purchase Loss of future purchases

How would lack of ownership by an employee impact YOUR revenue?

Negative impact reputation – bullet points

When customers feel like there was a lack of ownership by the person that was supposed to be taking care of them,

they might tell people about their negative experience and suggest to them that they shop elsewhere.

they might post their negative experience on Facebook and Twitter which could expose our company in a negative light to a large group of people.

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Chapter Two

How would lack of ownership by an employee impact YOUR reputation?

Negative impact to retention – bullet points

If a customer feels like they were neglected by an employee, they probably won’t be coming back.

If a customer feels like there were neglected by an employee, even if they have been a long-time customer, one bad experience could send them to your competition.

How would lack of ownership by an employee impact YOUR retention?

Negative impact to referrals – bullet points

If a customer doesn’t feel like the person taking care of them really cares about them:

they won’t recommend your company to others

the customer will make recommendations to your competitor

How would lack of ownership by an employee impact YOUR referrals?

Rant strip-representing the negative principle in B&W

Case study representing the negative principle

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Chapter Two

Case Study – Think like an Owner in Action

The Triple PlayI called my insurance company to inquire about a rate change on my policy. A man answered my call. I gave him all of my information as well as why I was calling. He asked me to hold on. After a minute, a woman picked up the phone to ask if she could help me. I told her someone else was already helping me. She told me to hold on. A minute later, a different woman picked up the phone and asked if SHE could help me. I told her I was already being helped by a man. She said it was very busy and she would be helping me now. I had to tell my whole story all over again even though I had already told it to the man who originally answered the phone (and didn’t give his name). She said she had to call the main office and would call me back. It’s been two weeks. I’m still waiting for her to call me back.

What happened in this scenario that should have been handled differently?

The first person who took my call should have identified themselves by name and handled it my call. The person who transferred my call to another employee should have provided my information and reason for calling to the employee they transferred the call to so I wouldn’t have to repeat myself.

Next you’ll read about Rave’s take on Think like an Owner and learn how you can put this principle into action within your own company.

Single Illustration depicting the positive principle – Color Version

Definition of principle = reminder

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Chapter Two

If your workforce doesn’t think like an owner your service advantage will vanish. What do we mean by “think like an owner”? Definition: take responsibility to create a positive memorable experience with every customer interaction.

If your organization is not customer-centric or does not invest the time and money to hire and train employees who think and act like owners of the company, the chance of failure will increase significantly. It is not enough to create policies and procedures for your employees to follow. You must make sure that front-line staff and their managers know that they must continually strive to go above and beyond when dealing with customers.

What’s your pleasure - think back to a time when this happened to you, how did it make you feel? Now imagine if this happened to one of your customers?

Think about the last time you had a positive customer service experience when you felt like the person taking care of you was taking ownership of you and your situation. How did it make you feel? Did you tell others about that experience? Did you feel inclined to give this company your business again?

Now imagine if this happened to one of your customers and they ranted about your company. How would you feel if your customer then shared that bad experience with their friends or colleagues and decided to take their business elsewhere?

Customers who have experienced this said… – Voice of the customer call outs

I felt like I was dealing with the owner of the company.

They treated me like I was their daughter.

I felt like they really cared about me.

Impact to Business Drivers:

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Chapter Two

Positive impact to Revenue – bullet points

Customer makes their original purchase and buys even more than they intended

Customer comes back again

How would taking ownership by an employee impact YOUR revenue?

Positive impact reputation – bullet points

Customers will tell other people how important they felt as a customer when dealing with your employee.

How would taking ownership by an employee impact YOUR revenue?

Positive impact to retention – bullet pointsCustomers will be motivated to develop a long term relationship

How would taking ownership by an employee impact YOUR revenue?

Positive impact to referrals – bullet pointsCustomers want to share positive experiences with friends, family and colleagues which turn customers into advocates for your business.

How would taking ownership by an employee impact YOUR revenue?

Rave strip-representing the positive principle in Color (flip scenario)

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Chapter Two

Case study representing the positive principle

Do you have a Kate?

I went to my local pharmacy (National chain or CVS Pharmacy) to shop for compression hosiery (knee highs, to be exact) for my mother. The store appeared to stock Futuro brand “mild” compression in sizes medium and large. I wanted “moderate” and “firm” compression so that my mother could try on both in order to determine which would be best for her. I approached the service representative at the counter with a box in hand and asked who I could speak to about ordering the other two compression hose. She said “It would be the manager, but he isn’t available”. Then she said, “I will take down the information and ask my manager and call you. My name is Kate.” She took the information on the moderate and firm compression hosiery and my name and phone number. I thanked her and walked away feeling, wow-this person really cares about what I need and took ownership of me and my needs! Kate called me back in less than one hour from leaving the store.

What did Kate do that represents this principle? She offered her name and took responsibility to help

me in the absence of her manager. She called me back when she said she would.

The Business Traveler

I travel to a client in upstate New York. After one of my stays with the hotel I always stay at (International hotel or Hilton Garden Inn), I discovered that when I arrived home I didn’t have my garment bag. This is the first time I left my belongings at this hotel. When I called the hotel and spoke to Cassandra (the front desk representative) she immediately apologized for what happened and demonstrated empathy for my situation, and without hesitation offered to mail my garment bag. I asked if there was going to be a charge and she said “Absolutely not.”

Beyond Cassandra’s willingness to own my situation, respond to my needs and demonstrate empathy, is the fact that I wasn’t charged a shipping fee. She acted like an

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owner of the hotel-swiftly resolved my situation and cared about me as a customer first.

P.S. The way she handled my situation inspired me to write a letter to the general manager of the hotel raving about Cassandra and the service I received.

What did Cassandra do that represents this principle? She was empowered to resolve the situation. She focused on me first. She exceeded my expectations.

Self reflection: time to look in the mirrorConnect to the four behaviors associated with the principleAre you displaying behaviors associated with Rant or Rave?

Simple how to’s/take aways – tied to case study and other suggestions

Tips for putting this principle into action: Communicate what you expect your employees to do

to service a customer in your absence. Help your employees develop strong decision making

skills. Define what it means to you to service the customer

from an owner’s perspective and communicate that to your employees.

Establish what it means to go above and beyond the customer’s expectations.

Coach your employees for success. Give immediate feedback when they deliver exceptional customer care.

Call to Action: What action steps can you take to this principle to life in your business?

Call to Action

What action steps can I take to bring this principle to life in my company?

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Inspiring quote

Revolve your world around the customer and more customers will revolve around you.

Heather Williams

Or

Would you do business with you?

-Linda Silverman Goldzimer

(Add graphic visual reminder to represent “5 Principles, ie. String tied around finger) –Or is it Rant or Rave’s illustration? Or a pair of glasses – Or Rave wearing a pair of glasses

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