Grumpy Must Be a Make-You-Happy Customer Service Fanatic

Whenever I speak on the topic of customer service, I ask a few “audience participation” questions at the beginning to get the group warmed up and introduce my topic.

One of the questions often ask is, “How many of you get “Who’s the Boss” Customer Service? The level of customer service that says to you, This business really understand that I, the customer, am the boss. I give them every pay check they’ll ever get.”

How many of you get that kind of customer service most of the time? No hands go up.

When I say half the time, a few hands go up.

When I said 25%, a lot of times most of go up.

When I said 10% of the time, again, a few more hands go up.

Frankly, I am usually surprised by the number of people who say they receive “Who’s the Boss” customer service 25% of the time. For me, it’s more like 10%

I think it’s because I’ve harped on exceptional customer service so long that I have become jaded. Maybe my expectations of exceptional customer service have gone beyond what’s likely to happen.

I do get it 10% of the time, so I know it’s possible, so I’m going to keep my expectations high. I’m going to stay with my fanatical approach to exceptional customer service.

But I need to warn you, when you get to the point where I am, you’re likely to be grumpy more often because you’ll go into places wanting and expecting exceptional customer service, and you’re not going to get it.

Like today, when I went to lunch. Most of the time when I go shopping or to a restaurant, I’ll say something to the clerk whether the clerk says anything or not. You probably do the same.

But every once in a while, because I’m a customer service fanatic and teaches others how to deliver Make-You-Happy Customer Service,  I don’t say anything… just to see what happens.

I’m absolutely amazed at how often the clerk on the other side of the counter says absolutely nothing.

OK, I really don’t get Grumpy because I know that my clients who practice Make-You-Happy Customer Service love competing with, and beating the competition who doesn’t.

You can get my book, The Happy Customer Handbook for free, just click here. I simply ask that you pay $2.97 for shipping and handling.

Create an Experience

My wife, Patty, and I spent almost all of April on a vacation in Australia, Indonesia and Singapore.  Here’s a customer service lesson from that amazing trip.

Today in lots of businesses, it’s about, The Experience. People shop at Cabela’s and Bass Pro Shop for the experience.  American Girl Doll is about the in store experience.  When my wife and I we in London last year, regardless or the time of day, the line to get into the Lego store was at least 50 long.

Cruising on The Crystal Symphony is all about the experience.

Can you make what you do an experience?

Follow along with me. You’ll see exactly what I mean. Go to the internet, get Louis Armstrong’s, “What a Wonderful World” and start playing it now.

Picture this. You grew up in a lower income family. The address on my birth certificate is #9 Fink Trailer Court, Minot, ND. Vacations were great. I loved them. I got to see my cousins. But visiting far off lands was for rich people – certainly NOT ME. I certainly never pictured myself on a luxury cruise ship in Bali, Indonesia. You’ve just had a wonderful time ashore discovering a new exotic land. You’re dressing for a casual dinner. You realize you’re leaving port so you step out onto your balcony as the sun sets and you hear Louis Armstrong’s, “What a Wonderful World” playing over the ships speakers. As I’m writing this today, I tear up.

“I see trees of green, red roses too
I see them bloom for me and you
And I think to myself what a wonderful world

I see skies of blue and clouds of white
The bright blessed day, the dark sacred night
And I think to myself what a wonderful world

The colors of the rainbow so pretty in the sky
Are also on the faces of people going by
I see friends shaking hands saying how do you do
They’re really saying I love you

I hear babies crying, I watch them grow
They’ll learn much more than I’ll never know
And I think to myself what a wonderful world
Yes I think to myself what a wonderful world”

Now you hear a winsome single cry from the ships fog horn.

By the time we left our last port everyone was outside to hear Louis Armstrong and wipe away tears. No one on that cruise will ever hear that song again and not think of their Crystal Cruise.
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Then later that night, after leaving our last port the ship’s captain gives delivers toast.

“Here’s to tall ships.
Here’s to small ships.
Here’s to all the ships on the sea.
But the best ships are friendships so
Here’s to you and ME!
Until we meet again.”

And yes, we made new friends. With only 850 passengers, verses up to 6,680 on the biggest ships it was easy to meet people. We plan to visit Willie and Elaine Montgomery in Ireland in two years.

Please don’t miss this, again, the big thing for Crystal Cruises is doing high end cruising well, but the hook… the way they get you back and have your raving to other is the emotional experience.

I’m guessing they’ll book 20 cruises from people I’ve told about Crystal.

How can you create an emotional experience
for your customers, clients, patients or members?

On Crystal, it starts with the size of the ship. The Crystal Symphony has 850 passengers. An average cruise ship today has around 3,500 passengers and the largest have more than 6,000. With the smaller ship you see many of the same staff often. They get to know you and you get to know them.

When Patty and I were not with my brother and his wife and Tirso saw us he asked, “Where are Ron and Mary?” When he saw us in around the ship he’s exclaim, “It’s martini time soon. Will I see you on Lido deck?” That’s doing a little thing right… and it becomes a big thing.
image

You also start seeing people who like to do the same things as you. The entertainment on the ship was fabulous and that’s where we met Willie and Elaine.
They had an early show and a late show every evening. Willie and Elaine, my brother and his wife, and Patty and I went to the late show and we always sat middle left. We were soon talking with Willie and Elaine all over the ship.

Follow this link and discover how to deliver
WOW, emotional customer service in your business.  

What Would Walt Do?

You may have seen that I’m leading a Customer Service Expedition to Disney World with my friend Vance Morris in February.

I’ve, mostly, been discussing it in my Customer Service tips and newsletters, but it’s critical to understand that ALL GREAT CUSTOMER SERVICE STARTS WITH GREAT LEADERSHIP.

While at Disney World, you’ll discover the secrets Disney leadership uses to get minimum wages employees (cast members) delivering, what is considered by many to be, THE MODEL for The World Best Customer Service.

My friend and mentor Dan Kennedy is a self described curmudgeon (a bad-tempered or surly person), yet he seldom goes on vacation anywhere other than Disney World. He says, “One of the reasons I go to Disney World is that I am never told no.”

Vance Morris, my co-host on our Disney Business Accelerator Service Boot Camp is a past ten year executive with Disney. I’ll be asking this question to Vance and other current Disney execs we meet with at the boot camp. “My friend says he comes to Disney World because he’s never to no. How do you train your team to not say no when the answer is no?”

What question will you ask the current
Disney execs when we meet with them?

P.S. February in Orlando sounds pretty nice eh?

What would Walt do
with your business or practice?

There is an insidious decline in customer and client service in America with many customer service departments focused on neither service nor customers. This gradual, seemingly harmless, decline may not be easily noticed, but it is having a grave effect on the profits of businesses across America. And if Walt Disney were to rescue some these laggards of customer service, here is what he would do…

The first thing Walt would do with your business is to infuse some magic into it. But not the magic that you may be thinking of… A different sort of magic.

You generally do not hear or use the word magic in business, unless of course you are a magician. You won’t find magic on a balance sheet or in a financial statement of any business. Most bean counters will probably not be able to measure the return on investment (ROI) for magic, nor is it depreciated or amortized over the next 20 years. How then, does the Disney company, a multi-billion dollar global enterprise manage to generate so much money around magic?

We all know that there really is no magic. Only the illusion thereof. To the audience the magic show is something that can be completely amazing, filled with wonderment and joy. Not knowing how the trick or illusion is performed is all part of the fun of a magic show. However, to the magician performing the show, the perspective is the polar opposite.

A magic show is merely a very systematic event, a series of repeatable steps designed to create a specific outcome; the delight and amazement of the audience. Now to answer the question posed above… Disney really has practical magic all figured out. I hate to burst your bubble, but contrary to popular legend, Disney does not have a mine where pixie dust is extracted and then showered on the cast members (Disney speak for employee) before every working shift. They just have a REPEATABLE, replicable system to perform their show.

It is practiced.
It is updated.
It is practiced again, and again and again.

Then it is performed. Whether it be at a restaurant at one of the resorts, an attraction at a park or the route the buses take, all the magic at Disney is created with repeatable, replicable, practiced systems.

The next thing Walt would do with your business would be to implement some WOW components to how you serve your clients. The question Walt would ask you is “how can you create an experience out of the mundane”

The Wow Component means not only to meet the expectations of your clients or guests, but to exceed them, on a repeatable and consistent basis. To be sure, there are many companies that may WOW their clients occasionally. Maybe the occasional “above the call of duty” experience. Getting upgraded for free on a flight, extra whipped cream on a sundae, or an employee just did everything possible to make an unhappy client, happier.

But to truly Disnify your business, you need to make exceeding your clients’ expectations your standard operating procedure. In order to consistently exceed your clients’ expectations, you must be dogmatic, strict and unyielding in your pursuit. Analyzing your clients’ experience (from their perspective, not yours), understanding your Client Compass (Needs, Wants, Stereotypes and Emotions) and committing every part of your business (Processes, Infrastructure, Design and Training) to creating a magical experience.

The next thing, Walt would introduce to your business is to have an obsession with details. Walt Disney was famous for his attention to every detail and he dictated that everyone had the same attention that he did.

Every business should be about the details. One small oversight of the smallest of details is the beginning of the end for you. You must be unwavering in your demand for adherence to every detail in your business.

One of the chief causes of failure today is the striving for unearned success. Doing just the bare minimum in providing service and then wondering why your client never calls you back. I recently had an appliance repair company come to the house to fix a noise in the drier. When they arrived the technician was in a clean uniform (it was already 2 oclock and he had been working), placed a mat on my porch to wipe his feet, placed a towel under his tool bag and used special mat to slide out the drier so he would not scratch the floor. Now mind you, the drier is in my basement on a concrete floor and he still used the special mat. Deciding on the right “level” for each thing we do is important.

Walt once said: even if I’m the only one that notices, some things are still worth doing, because I need to be prideful to be motivated. I’m paraphrasing, but I’m close. I have to be proud of what I do, at least comfortable with it, regardless of others’ appreciation. And if I lived on others’ appreciation, my service would be nowhere as powerful as it is. Few clients can appreciate every nuance, my reasoning and the psychology behind the service I provide, many take it for granted, hardly anybody faints from awe or gives my technicians standing ovation.

Walt would then create a Service Theme and Service Standards for your business. Disney’s Service Theme is “To create happiness for people of all ages everywhere.” Vaguely sounds like a USP, doesn’t it? This Theme is the foundation and prerequisite for all undertakings at Disney. Every decision made by the cast and management is measured against it.

Service Standards are then set to create the specific actions that are necessary to achieve the Service Theme. Disney has ONLY FOUR Service Standards. Here they are in order of importance: Safety, Courtesy, Show and Efficiency.

This is cut in stone.
It is immovable.
There is no questioning it.
This is the guiding principle for everything that happens at Disney.

Safety: Safety is built into everything they do. It is the first consideration when they are designing Rides and Resorts, Emergency Services, Environmental Protection, Prevention, Training and Policies & Procedures.

Courtesy: Courtesy is taught from day 1. The fundamentals include Treating every Guest as a VIP, knowing the answers to questions (or finding the answers), giving the personal touch, using friendly phrases and gestures and being aggressively friendly.

Show: Show is integrated into every element of setting and theme. This includes Cast Appearance, Costumes, Documentation, Show Quality reviews, Standards Manuals, and of course, Cast Members are performers as well as service providers.

Efficiency: Efficiency involves both the utilization of facilities and systems and the cast members who operate them. Points that are considered include: Capacity of Facility, Guest Flow Patterns, Sales, Speed of Service, Space Utilization and Operational Readiness.

In order to have over 75,000 employees providing a seamless, exciting and memorable experience to millions upon millions of people 365 days a year, you must have a systematic process to avoid the utter chaos that would ensue.

There are processes for every little thing that occurs at Disney. From putting air in bus tires, to the bus drivers’ greeting to guests, from how many lanes are needed at the entrance to the park to how the parking lots are filled up, there is a step-by-step, exacting procedure for each.

And as with any good plan, process or system, there are clog or combustion points, and breakdowns can occur. And instead of creating a happy memory for a guest, that clog point can turn a good day into a bad one rapidly. One example we worked on was the “Lost Car” problem.

Imagine if you will that you have rented a car, (Continued P10 – What Would Walt Do?)
that by the way looks like just about all the other rental cars in Orlando, and you parked it in a veritable ocean of other cars early in the morning. Then after 8, 10, twelve hours at the Magic Kingdom, they emerge only to forget where they parked. Was it Goofy 5, Pluto 4 or Daisy 9? (Disney names and numbers its’ lots after their characters). The tram drivers also announce those locations as guests board the trams, but still, cars are lost.

Now instead of leaving those sunburned, exhausted and weary tourists wandering will-nilly through the acres of parking lots, the cast came up with a fix of sorts. Since the parking lots are filled in a specific order, the tram drivers began keeping track of what lot and row they were in at the time the cars were parked in the morning. That list was then distributed to the next shift of parking attendants. So if the guest could remember at least an approximate time they arrived, they could narrow down where the car was.

Examining your processes and choke points could reveal some serious client and guest pain points.

Finally, and this really is the bottom line point: You are running a business. Disney, at the end of the day is a BUSINESS. And the whole point of running a business is to generate PROFIT. As of this writing, Disney has just increased it park entry tickets by another 5%, and NO ONE is complaining. If they are, they are doing so quietly, as the theme parks are having record attendance. Also, as of this writing, Disney announced that they have raised their stock dividends a whopping 34% after a year of record results.

IF that’s not a reason to Disnify your business, I don’t know what is.

Join Vance Morris, ten year Disney exec and me at Disney World Ferbruary 27 – March 2 and discover how to Disnify Your Business.

Get your Invitation and complete details at https://keithlee.com/disney-info.

Create Customer Service Legends

“Create Customer Service Legends” 

The goal of Make-You-Happy Customer Service is to create a culture in which exceptional customer service is the norm. A culture in which indifferent customer service is simply not an option. Creating Customer Service Legends is a great way to do that and here’s a great way to create customer service legends.

We encourage every team member to send an ‘Atta Boy’ or an ‘Atta Girl’ whenever they notice another team member who has gone ‘Above and Beyond’ in providing Make-You-Happy Customer Service to another team member, or client.

When someone sees that a team member has gone above and beyond they simply send an email to the entire company with the subject line ‘Atta Boy’ or ‘Atta Girl.’ This simple idea is one of the best things we’ve ever done to create a culture of providing exceptional customer service. With no effort from management our “Atta Girls” and “Atta Boys” keep our Make-You-Happy Customer Service philosophy in the forefront continually.

Here’s an ‘Atta Boy’ from Mark Turner about our POS tech crew. Remember, this gets sent to the entire company.

“I asked the tech guys if they could answer a question (no charge) for a prospect who has RMS from another vendor in one store and is adding a second store. Her current vendor could, or would not answer and she tried the online help at Microsoft to no avail. Our guys agreed to help her, Brian called and left a message, the prospect called back and Peter took care of her.

I talked to her today and she said, ‘He was wonderful! Your quote was a few hundred more than the other guys and money is tight, but you guys are getting the business for sure.'”

Here’s another ‘Atta Girl’ from Ariane in sales about Dorothy in purchasing. See the article below for a discussion about internal customer service.

“Thank you Dorothy for helping me enter a Lozier order. This is my first one and Dorothy took the time to come sit with me to make sure I understood how to enter the order so it made sense for sales, purchasing, and the client! Way to go, Dorothy for an “..and then some attitude”

Atta Boys and Atta Girls have been a great addition for our company and I bet they will be for yours also.

Implement ‘Atta Boys’ and ‘Atta Girls’ in your business.

You can get my hardcopy book (not an e-book), The Happy Customer Handbook, 59 Secrets to Creating Happy Customers Who Come Back Time and Time Again and Enthusiastically Tell Others About You at www.TheHappyCustomerHandbook.com. Your cost is $2.97 and that includes shipping and handling.

How Would You Like an Unpaid Employee?

“You have reached the highest level in sales when your Client views you as an unpaid employee.”                                                                                           ~ Zig Ziglar

That statement has had a profound impact on my life and now that I teach customer service I change it to, “You have reached the highest level in sales when your Client views you as an unpaid employee.” 

I’m not bragging, but when I was a sales rep I did very well, and it was because I believed and practice the statement above from Zig Ziglar.

When I started at American Retail Supply (Thompson Marking Service) in 1978 the only products we sold were hand-held price marking equipment and labels.  My job was to drive, or walk, from one retail store to the next, sell price marking guns, service the guns for existing Clients, and sell them labels for their price markers.  I was paid on straight commission.

Zig’s statement of, “You have reached the highest level of sales when your Client views you as an unpaid employee” was right in line with what I learned from Dick Thompson, the founder of American Retail Supply.  Dick said, “You can only get in direct proportion to what you give.”

With Dick and Zig’s advice, along with parents who taught me the same principles, I headed out to sell price marking equipment and labels.  The Client’s in my territory hadn’t had anyone calling on them for almost three years and I found that most of them had started buying from another company who had a sales rep coming around periodically.

As I entered the Client’s store I looked at the labels on their product to determine the type of pricing equipment they used.  While I did this I looked for labels that weren’t printing properly.  In those days the price marking equipment needed periodic adjustments and the tracks needed to be cleaned for the price marker to work properly.

As I introduced myself, many of the Clients told me they didn’t buy from us any longer because we had not been around to service them and another company came in once in a while.

I had learned from my parents that what you say isn’t nearly as important as what you do, so I simply told them that’s fine, and let them know I would still love to clean and service their labelers.  If they hesitated, I would point out the labels that weren’t printing properly and almost always was able to clean and service their labelers.  Then I showed them what I did to fix the problem and often gave them a hint or two on maintaining the labelers.  Sometimes I walked out with an order.

Most of the time I thanked the Client and told them I would be back in a few months.  Most of the time when I told them I would be back in a few months they reminded me that they didn’t buy from us any longer.  I simply replied, “That’s fine.”

When I showed up a few months later I was often reminded that they no longer buy from us.  I again serviced the labelers and left with more orders.  Over the three years I was an outside sales rep almost every Client who originally told me they no longer bought from us became my Client and many are Clients today.

Zig’s lesson that, “You have reached the highest level of sales when your Client views you as an unpaid employee” served me well as a sales person, and is still our goal today at American Retail Supply.

I originally published my newsletter for my American Retail Supply in 1993 with the thought that I would research an issue and bring what I found to my customers with the hope that it would be of value and help their business thrive… which of course, meant they would need more supplies and fixtures.

“You have reached the highest level in sales when your Client views you as an unpaid employee.”                                                                                           ~ Zig Ziglar

You can learn more about Zig Ziglar at www.ZigZiglar.com

You can get my hardcopy book (not an e-book), The Happy Customer Handbook, 59 Secrets to Creating Happy Customers Who Come Back Time and Time Again and Enthusiastically Tell Others About You for free.  We just ask that you pay $2.97 to help cover shipping and handling.  Go to www.TheHappyCustomerHandbook.com.

Email Sucks

In many cases, email is an absolutely terrible way to communicate effectively.  In the The Happy Customer Handbook I discuss “Putting You into Every Client Contact”. 

I discuss the fact that communication experts say that body language and intonation account for 90% of effective communication.  How does email fit into body language and intonation?  It doesn’t.  Often, email communication should be called email miscommunication.

I’ve actually had people tell me they didn’t like the tone of an email they received from someone.  I asked them to send me that email.  As someone not involved in the issue I saw no tone what-so-ever.

Sure, a great writer can put tone into their writings, but to expect that a particular email, that may or may not have been hugely important to the sender, that may have been composed in a matter of seconds was sent with a particular tone is, at best, a guess. 

I often remind our team at that “Email Sucks”.  If you have something important to say and it could be taken incorrectly, “Email Sucks!”

Also, unless you’re willing to upset the recipient much more than you can imagine, you should never send an email that is negative or critical.

Another, rule of thumb that we’ve found that works is, “If you go back and forth about something with email quit typing and get on the phone, or go see the person.”

 You can get my hard copy book (not an e-book), The Happy Customer Handbook, 59 Secrets to Creating Happy Customers Who Come Back Time and Time Again and Enthusiastically Tell Others About You for free at www.HowToControlYourBusiness.com.  I just ask that you pay $2.97 to help cover shipping and handling.

 “Do What You Do So Well
That People Can’t Help Telling Others About You” 

 Keith Lee
www.keithlee.com

Who’s Your Competition

The Competition is Anyone the Customer Compares You to

I learned this from Disney.  One of the ways people experience Disney is by telephone. Disney gets thousands of calls every day.  Many of the calls are from the same people who call businesses that are known for their great telephone service.  Businesses like LL Bean, Cabela’s, and FedEx.

So when the same people who call Cabela’s or FedEx, or anyone with superior telephone service, call Disney, Disney understands that they are being compared to the service people get when calling Cabela’s or FedEx.  Disney then does what they need to do to “compete” with FedEx’s telephone service.

So the lesson is, don’t just think of your competitors as the businesses that sell the same things you do.  Think of the competition as anyone who deals with your customers in any way. Learn the best practices from anywhere you can, determine how you can use them in your business, and implement them.

Here’s an example of how we did this in our business.  Many years ago, we did what everyone in our industry did.  When we got an order for a stock item it shipped two to four days later.  I happened to call Cabela’s to get some fly fishing supplies and they said the order would ship that afternoon.  So, thinking of what I learned from Disney, I said to myself, “We need to do that,” and we did.  Today if an order is received within 30 minutes of our FedEx pick up, it ships that day.

You can get my hardcopy book (not an e-book), The Happy Customer Handbook, 59 Secrets to Creating Happy Customers Who Come Back Time and Time Again and Enthusiastically Tell Others About You at www.TheHappyCustomerHandbook.com.  Your cost is $2.97 and that includes shipping and handling.

We Always Have Perfect Customer Service – NOT!

We Always Have Perfect Customer Service – NOT!

In all of my businesses, we make mistakes.    We spend lots of time and money to make our procedures as efficient and foolproof as possible, but we still make mistakes.  So, where do I get off telling people like you that you need to have Exceptional Customer Service?

While nobody likes to be at the receiving end of a mistake, we all know that people make mistakes.  Exceptional Customer Service requires that we first person your customer talks to solve the problem?”

Does everyone in your business know how to help an upset customer?

Do your customers know that Exceptional Customer Service is what they should expect from you?

I get a few phone calls each year from customers who don’t think they are getting Exceptional Customer Service from us.  Almost all of these calls start with, “I read in your newsletter that customer service is important to you, I don’t think I’m getting very good service…” or “A few months ago when I was on hold I heard that you wanted me to call you if I had a problem that wasn’t being taken care of…”  Sure nobody likes getting calls like this but in another way I LOVE GETTING THEM!

What’s the alternative?  For most businesses it’s a customer who really doesn’t want the hassle of complaining.  The customer who goes to the competition and not only doesn’t recommend you to others, but maybe even bad mouths you.  I love customers who give us the opportunity to MAKE THEM HAPPY.  Find a way to tell your customers that you want to know if they are not happy.

I stole an idea from Stu Leonard’s Supermarket in Connecticut.  He has a big sign with his picture that says, What Do You Like?  What Don’t You Like?  I’d Like to Know.  Every invoice we send out has a flyer that asks the same questions Stu Leonard asks.  While it is redundant to send it out with every invoice, we do.  I want to be sure that every customer knows that they should expect Exceptional Customer Service and that I want to know if they don’t get it.

Act

The video, In Search of Excellence, says most suggestion boxes get little to no use.  They say the reason is customers know that their suggestions will get no action.  Stu Leonard’s box is filled, mostly with good comments, every day.  Why do people take the time to write?  The video says it’s because they know something will be done.  If customers take the time to contact you, take the time to let them know what you are doing.

Every customer who writes to us at any of our businesses, whether it’s a good comment or a complaint, gets a response.

You can get my hardcopy book (not an e-book), The Happy Customer Handbook, 59 Secrets to Creating Happy Customers Who Come Back Time and Time Again and Enthusiastically Tell Others About You at www.TheHappyCustomerHandbook.com.  Your cost is $2.97 and that includes shipping and handling.

Think Upside Down

Think about growing your business. What are you going to do to grow your business this year? Take a minute right now and think.

If you’re like most people, when you think about growing your business you think about getting new customers. The mega retailers spend millions of dollars each year trying to get new customers to come into their stores… and it continually amazes me that once they get me into their store the customer service is often so bad I won’t ever go back.

I’m suggesting that when it comes to growing your business Think Up-Side-Down. In order to grow your business, rather than thinking about getting new customers first, think first about keeping your existing customers.

Let’s look at the numbers. Assume that “Their Store” wants to grow by 10% next year. Let’s further assume that their customer service is typical of most major retailers and 2 out of 10 customers decide they are going to take their business elsewhere because of the lousy service. Let’s assume another 5% go somewhere else for a multitude of reasons. So they lose 25% of their business each year. So now, rather than growing by 10%, “Their Store” needs to grow by 35% to hit their target growth rate of 10%.

Now let’s look at “Your Store”. You also want to grow by 10%. But because you and everyone on your staff understands that customers give each and every one of you your paycheck, and your vacations, and your raises, and everything else you get; you simply do not lose customers due to poor customer service. You do lose about 5% of your customers each year for a variety of reason – they move, they die, misunderstandings, whatever. So after you take into account losing customers, you need to grow 15% to reach your 10% growth rate.

So the morale of the story is… It’s a lot easier to grow your business if you take care of your existing customers.

When you think about growing your business Think Up-Side-Down. Think in this order:
1. What can I do to keep my existing customers?
2. What can I do to increase business with my existing customers?
and finally…
3. How can I get new customers?

Concentrate on keeping your existing customers and doing more business with your existing customers and you’ll get the Happy Customer Bonus… dozens, hundreds, maybe even thousands of people selling for you. You’ll have Happy Customers telling others about you. And then you’ll have the absolutely best kind of advertising – advertising that money can’t buy – “WORD-OF-MOUTH ADVERTISING”… and you’ll have those new customers walking into your store.

  • Here are ideas in Out-Nordstrom Nordstrom, Creating the World’s Best Customer Service that will help you keep existing customers, increase business with existing customers, and get new customers.
    Be sure everyone in your company understands Who’s The Boss. See secret #40 in Out-Nordstrom Nordstrom.
  • Be sure everyone in your company understands How To Take Care Of Upset Customers – Secret #43.
  • Can your business pass the acid test of Exceptional Customer Service? Are the huge majority of customer complaints resolved by the first person who talks to the customer? Secret #23.
  • Does everyone in your company know what exceptional customer service is? Secret #4.

You can get my hard copy book (not an e-book), The Happy Customer Handbook, 59 Secrets to Creating Happy Customers Who Come Back Time and Time Again and Enthusiastically Tell Others About You at www.TheHappyCustomerHandbook.com.  Your cost is $2.97 and that includes shipping and handling.

What Do Customers Want?

What Do Customers Want?
A survey of 1 million consumers provides valuable insight for today’s marketers.

By Keith Lee

This article was adapted from an article Murray Raphel wrote.  You can find out more about Murray and his works at the end of this article.

In the immortal words of Andy Rooney, “Didja ever wonder…..?”  Today’s question is whether or not you read those weekly polling reports from The Wall Street Journal, ABC News or the bottom left-hand corner of USA Today and wonder how accurate they are?

If you look at the tiny print at the bottom, most say they are based on interviews with about 1,000 people and have a plus or minus factor of 5 percent.  One thousand people?  To tell me if we should have a health plan, how the President’s doing, how many diet Cokes are sold in one day, and how many angels fit on the head of a pin? (Only kidding.)

How can that be?

And so I always look askance at the results of this small sampling.

But when I ran across a survey taken by Brit Beemer and America’s Research Group, I sat up, took notice and read everything very, very carefully.  What made me sit up?  This sentence: ‘The statistics are based on over a million interviews giving valuable insight into consumer behavior and how stores match the needs and values of customers.’

“Whew” — 1 million interviews.  Now is the time for all good merchants to come to the aid of their business by knowing what the customer really thinks of your business — well at least one million of them…

Here are some conclusions from the interviews:

“Customers decide if they feel comfortable to buy in your store.”

And: “4 out of 10 customers judge how much you know by how professional you look.”

What does that have to do with your store?  What is the first impression your customers get when they walk into your store?  What is the first impression they get when you mail them something?

“Most customers know very little about the product you have to sell.”

We recently went shopping for a DVD player.  We asked the salesman in the appliance store this question:  “This VCR is $89.  And this one over here is $149.  What’s the difference?”  And he said, “fifty dollars.”  (now you can’t make that  up).

What does that have to do with your store?  The old adage of, “the more you tell, the more you sell” works for your business.  The more specific you are about what you sell, stressing the benefits you offer, the greater degree of comfort you give your customers.  The same is true with your direct mail advertising.

Years ago, Murray Raphel did a mailer to his customers on children’s yellow raincoats that had a place to write the child’s name on the inside collar.  Since most children at the time wore yellow raincoats to school they are often mixed up and switched.  We emphasized this benefit in a mailing and sold out the coats in three days.

“Most customers say all consumer ads look the same.”

In his advertising class Murray would often place five ads from local supermarkets, with their name cut out, on the board.  Each student is given a sheet of paper with the names of the five supermarkets.

“Match up the name of the supermarket with the ad?” Murray asked.

No no one ever got it right!

What does that have to do with your store?

You need to avoid what Dan Kennedy calls Marketing Incest!  In almost every industry everyone copies everyone elses advertising so it all looks the same and nothing is effective.  Get a Free Trial to Dan Kenndy’s newsletter at www.nobspugetsound.com to find out how to avoid Marketing Incest.

“Customers expect a specialty store to have the largest selection in their chosen product area.”

Many years ago when Murray first started in business, his annual volume was around $20,000 a year.  He couldn’t afford to advertise… anywhere.  But he knew people would shop with him if he had the biggest selection of… something.  He chose children’s hats and gloves because they were so inexpensive.  He put hand-lettered signs on his windows: “We have the largest selection of children’s hats and gloves!”

He soon became known as the store to go to for children’s hats and gloves.  Not big sales, but once in the store the customer might buy a snowsuit – which was like selling 20 pairs of gloves.  They became important, well-known, and business grew.

       What does this have to do with your store?

Be a specialist in what you sell.  It does not have to be merchandise… it can be service.  Murray once asked an elderly woman why she shopped the local pharmacist when the chain store’s prices were lower.  Her explanation: “They say hello to me when I come in.”

The customer is reassured when you offer an in-depth selection of any item.  It makes them feel you are an expert in that field and gives the perception you are an expert in other areas as well.

When Murray bought clothing in Europe the total inventory was less than 10 percent of what he carried.

He promoted, advertised and talked about the European clothing so much that it became the main emphasis of his inventory.  Soon the customer felt everything in the store was imported from Europe.

“Half of America buys with credit, half buys with cash.”

Some of the best and smartest marketers are the credit card companies.  First came the cards.  Then came the affinity cards.  (When you use your credit card you are giving money to your alma mater.  Or the humane society.  Or building mileage on your favorite airline.)  Now there’s co-branding, where the name of your business appears with the name of the credit card.

What does that have to do with your store?

This: The more ways you offer the customer to pay, the higher the return.  Offer cash.  Or check.  Or credit card.  Or lay-away.  Or monthly payments.  Or your own co-branded card.  Better: offer them all and then be sure to include the internet.

“A private sale flyer must scream value.”

Retailers have negatively impacted between 25 percent and 40 percent of their core customers by sending false pretense private sale mailers.  Many businesses are mailing more often and giving less value.

Here’s what customers see as real value: real lower prices.  Deferred credit promotion.  Free delivery.  Free vacation promotions.  Free gifts.  First choice at a warehouse or clearance sale.

What does this have to do with your store?

An old and works-every-time adage: “Make sure the story isn’t better than the store.”  Another one (Cont. P.6 – What Do Customers) to remember: “Promise a lot.  Deliver more.”

If your product has six good selling points, only tell five.  Have the sixth featured when the product arrives at the house or is purchased at the store.

This gives the customer even greater confidence that their purchase is even better than “what you advertised.”

Some other guidelines from the survey:

  • “The number one reason for buying a big ticket item is No Down                      Payment.“
  • “The number two reason for buying is No Interest.“
  • “A very low interest offer will beat out a ‘6-month interest deferred’ offer.”
  • “Radio reaches the youngest audience, newspaper the oldest. Radio is the best medium to create a personality for your store.”
  • “The word ‘FREE’ in an ad has the greatest impact.”

How much attention should you pay to all this information?  A lot.  Remember the basic rule in selling is only one sentence: “Find out what the customer wants… and give it to them.”

For more great tips on customer service, go to TheHappyCustomerHandbook.com and get a FREE copy of my book. I reveal 59 secrets to creating happy customers who come back time and time again… AND enthusiastically tell others about you.

Remember, Only Happy Customers Come Back
Keith Lee

Murray Raphel has been telling the retail direct mail story as a columnist in Direct Marketing for more than 30 years.  He has developed Gordon’s Alley, a multimillion-dollar pedestrian mall in Atlantic City.   

       You can reach Murray at Raphel Marketing Inc., 12 S. Virginia Ave., Atlantic City, NJ  08401.  His phone number is 609-348-6646.