Through the Eyes of the Customer

Great Customer Service is Greater Marketing.

Many years ago - in fact, it was back in the last century - a customer service manager said to me,

"Sales sells the first one, and Customer Service sells every one after that."

He said it because he felt like his team of Customer Service people were unsung heros in the company.  The company experienced significant growth in the 90's, and the sales people were lauded as the engine for growth.   They drove the nice cars, went on the extravagent incentive trips, and were constantly recognized in company-wide emails from the president (who himself, had risen up through the sales ranks).

Sales got the applause for brining in the new customers, while a team of faceless Customer Service reps worked tirelessly in the engine room, keeping those customers happy, and buying again and again, long after the sales people had moved on. 

That was long before anyone coined the term  "social media."

15 years later, things aren't so quiet anymore in the Customer Service engine room.  Today, customers will openly tell the free world all about the Customer Service Experience they had five  minutes ago; they'll reach more potential customers, and impact a brand's reputation in less time than it takes to call a meeting of the marketing team.  Sales can still sell first one, but more often, it's the wildfire reputation of sensational Customer Service that ignites the interest of the new customer.

Given our hyper-sensitivity as customers; a sensitivity to both good service and bad service, and our willingness and ability to share our feelings with the entire world in just a couple keystrokes, good customer service absolutely, positively  should be treated as a marketing tool.

I certainly hope that the Customer Service Manager from the 1990's has kept at it long enough to finally get his due credit - from the social recognition of thousands of vocal customers.

Selling Skills for the New Customer Experience

The salesperson’s role is changing, from selling a product to a customer, to selling new ideas to the customer; ideas that will change the customer’s life, or way of doing business, for the better.  While there’s normally a product involved, the product is becoming less central to the sales process, and instead, becomes more involved as these newly-accepted ideas are implemented.

Yes, the product is still important.  But what matters most to the customer is receiving new ideas, and leadership on how they can make the complex parts of their lives simpler, make their lives easier, and make their lives better.  The companies and sales people that can deliver these ideas and provide that thought leadership are the companies and salespeople who’ll succeed in the future.

Let’s look at two examples.

Many of us associate Apple Computer with their innovative, intuitive products.  But when you walk into an Apple store, those great products are not the centerpiece.  The focal point in every
Apple Store is the “Genius Bar.”

Inside their stores, Apple isn't primarily promoting products.  They're selling ideas, expertise and leading customers toward doing things in ways that are simpler and  easier to make improvements in their lives.   Yes, their customers buy plenty of i-products, but it’s the knowledge, the thought leadership around different ways of doing things that define the Apple stores.

Dieticians in Supermarkets 

A recent New York Times article cites Hy-Vee is the only grocery chain in the country that posts a registered dietitian in almost every one of its 235 stores.

“That puts it at the forefront of a phenomenon sweeping the grocery business as it tries both to capitalize on growing consumer awareness of the role food plays in health and wellness and to find new ways to fend off competition from specialty markets like Whole Foods and big-box stores like Walmart.”

In other words, Hy-Vee sees a competitive advantage in offering expert advice beyond the product.  These dieticians in the grocery stores are there to help the customer make improvements in their lives, by seeing foods differently and by consuming foods differently.  Yes, the customers do leave the store with groceries; the product on the shelf may no longer be the real product that Hy-Vee customers are buying. 

Why is this happening?  What’s driving it?

Products today are becoming more similar to one another, and more commoditized. Customers today can learn a whole lot about a product through researching it on the Internet, before ever going into the store, or engaging with the company that sells the product.   Therefore, the salesperson that’s a “product expert” is less relevant than he or she used to be.   To attract customers into a store to make a purchase, a business must provide something beyond the product, or product knowledge. 

So, what does this mean to you if you’re business owner, manager or salesperson in a business that sells products similar to those of a competitor?  For starters, think about how you can change your approach to selling, and how your product can fit into your customers’ lives in ways that are different from how they currently do things.

Do you and your salespeople focus beyond the product, and think of the challenges that arise, when a customer uses your product? 

With groceries, a common challenge is preparing a meal that’s fast, easy and nutritious.  The challenge becomes greater, when customers need to plan an entire week’s worth of meals that fit those criteria.  Hy-Vee gives their customers direct access to dietary thought leaders and their expertise to lead their customers toward new ways to solving these problems.  How can you take the same approach within your business?

The Importance of the Experience Before the Customer Experience

Last week I spent a few days at the Ritz Carlton Atlanta.   The Ritz is an icon for the Customer Experience, but even before I arrived, my experience was a good one.  And this, by the way, had nothign to do with the Ritz, and everything to do with MARTA - the "Metropolitan Atlanta  Rapid Transit Authority."

If you've ever ridden a New York subway, or any other typical  big-city subway, you'll appreciate this...

A major subway stop usually offers the option of several exits up to the streets above.  If you're not familiar with the stop, you have to guess which exit is the best one; the one that will be closest to your destination.

But MARTA was different....

As soon as I got off the train, I noticed a large sign with the names of all the area hotels, and points of interest, listed alphabetically.  And there, right between "Resident Inn" and "Sheraton"  was "Ritz Carlton" with an arrow pointing me in the right direction.

At each walking intersection in this large subway interchange, there was a similar sign, again, with the names and arrows clearly pointing the way.   Thanks to MARTA's clear signage, I had not trouble  finding the Ritz - and I never had to stop to ask for directions!

 

The Point is This:

Customers don't always receive clear directions, but when we do, we really feel the difference.   And if it's  easy for us to arrive at your core experience, we're likley to enjoy more once we get there. 

Companies invest a lot of resources in creating a great core customer experience, but what they often overlook is the "Pre-experience" - the experience before the experience.  As any  tired traveler will tell you, the Pre-experience can be every bit as important as the core experience. 

What kind of Pre-experience do your customers experience?

Marketing Morality and the Cost of Lobster in Maine

It's summer on the coast of Maine, and people are eating lobster - lots of it.

Lobster prices have hit record lows, due to a glut in the supply.  But if you go  into a restaurant, don't expect to pay any less than you normally would - it appears that restaurants are still charging top dollar for the highly-craved crustacean.  Should their customers be upset?  Should they feel cheated?  Is the restaurant risking its customer-friendly reputation, by not sharing?

When there's a glut of oil in the market, gasoline prices drop at the pump, and the consumer benefits.  But when there's a glut of lobster in the market, the prices are no lower at the plate than they are when the supply is "normal."

Should a restaurant lower their prices on lobster dishes, when the restaurant pays less - a lot less - for the lobster?  Should customers expect to share in the savings?  Does a business risk its trustworthy reputation by not sharing the savings with its customers?

When a company reduces its costs through its own innovative efforts, it's "earned" the savings, and can more easily justify keeping those savings as profits.  But when the savings were not "earned" by the company, is there any "marketing obligation" to pass those savings on to the customer?

 

How Trust in the Customer Leads to Growth in Business

In the August 2012 Issue of CRM Magazine, "The Guiding Assumption" by Lior Arussy describes how many (too many, in fact) business create policies to prevent customers from ripping them off, or "abusing the system."  Building business operations in response to those few bad apples can be a bad idea, because it unjustly punishes the masses, and over time, will limit the growth of business.

By my own experience as a customer, I've realized that the converse of this - extending the benefit of the doubt to all customers, despite the behavior of a few bad apples - can be a pretty powerful catalyst in growing a business.

When I moved to Maine 23 years ago, I began shopping at LL Bean regularly.  I was very comfortable buying anything from them, because I knew they'd let me
return anything I bought, for any reason, at any time .  You can say I have trusted them because they have trusted me.  While a small percentage of
customers surely abused the policy, the vast majority did not.  And LL Bean profited greatly, by extended trust to all.

 

The deepest, longest lasting and most mutually successful relationships - both business and personal - are built upon Trust.  Openly exhibit trust in your customers.  They'll more likely respond in kind.

 

Don't let that one bad apple determine how you run your business.

 

Are there better ways to use QR codes?

They're everywhere.  QR codes are on magazine pages, billboards, the backs of buses, and yes, on the bodies and backs of humans. QR codes are a convenient way to link the physical world with the digital world.  And this instant linkage offers the potential to dramatically improve the customer experience.

But how well are we using QR codes?  Are we using them randomly, without a lot of forethought?  Or are we using them in simple ways to land more fish in our marketing nets, or are we using them in innovative ways to make our customers' lives easier? 

Based on some examples I've seen and read about recently, we're at the low end of the learning curve; we're using QR codes more, but haven't fully figured out how to make the most of their potential, for the benefit of buyer and seller alike. 

The QR code in the customer experience is a bit like the Internet in education - we know there's huge potential , but we haven't yet figured out how the best ways to use it, to drive transformative results.

A July 25 post "Quesitonable Practices and the QR Code" in the 1:1 Media Blog described a large QR code that appeared on the back of a city bus, linking the viewer to a special offer.   The trafffic safety folks probably were not consulted in this scenario:  busses are followed by cars,  and drivers of cars have smartphones, and drivers using smartphones while driving have a higher likelihood of getting into an accident - an unintended consequence of an ill-considered use of the QR code.  Before placing the QR code, consider the context of the customer.

During a recent vacation on the mid-coast of Maine, I checked out the 65th Annual Maine Lobster Festival.  A large plackard was placed at the entrance to the festival, with three QR codes displayed. One of the codes lead to the Festival schedule,  so I scanned it with my  iPhone, to see when Jonathan Edwards would appear on the music stage.  I  landed on the website for the Festival - a site that wasn't designed to be viewed from the smaller screen of a smartphone, and therefore, not an easy way to view the schedule.  Before placing the QR code, consider the context of the customer.

At the other end of the spectrum, there have been some pretty innovative uses of QR codes that really have improved the customer experience; not just by making it easier to purchase a product, but by making it easier to enjoy using the product.  The McLellan House of the Portland Museum of Art is a two-hundre year old mansion that's open for  self-guided tours with some fascinating displays from its era.  One wouldn't normally expect to see QR codes in an environment like this, but the Portland Museum of Art has done a tremendous placing the codes on walls and exhibits to enrich the customer experience.  A visitor can simply scan the code to learn more about the design of that famous "Floating Staircase."

QR Codes offer great potential to improve the entire customer experience well beyond sales and marketing.  If we give more forethought to the use and placement of the codes, we'll be more likely to tap  into that full potential, and deliver a better experience fo seller and buyer alike.

 

How International Delight Highlights "Personalization" to Build Stronger Customer Relationships

“Talk to someone about themselves and they'll listen for hours.”

Dale Carnegie said that in his best seller, “How to Win Friends and Influence People.”  The point is that a person will engage with you longer, when the "conversation" is about that person.

If we're to re-state Mr. Carnegie's quote in the parlance of Customer Relationship Management, we might say,

"If you make your product (or service) about your customer, they'll buy from you for years."

In the Business Section of the August 1 New York Times, Andrew Newman described a new commercial  International Delight in the article, "Coffee Creamer Brand Focuses on Simplicity and Identity." 

International Delight, or "ID" has recognized that in addition to having a favorite flavor, coffee drinkers  have their own personal ways of  adding the creamer to their coffee to make it "just the way they like it."  ID is using the commercials to highlight this personalization factor to build a stronger bond with their customers.

The Point is this:

Make your product relevant to the customer; give your customer a way to make your product their product.  When a customer takes ownership of  your product, they’re building a tighter bond to you, your company and your brand.  And tighter bonds make for stronger relationships.