Customer Service
During an advertisement for an overnight shipping service, an announcer seriously intones 'When it absolutely positively has to be there overnight.' But for many, the question remains if the mail is truly delivered during the night time.
Part of the appeal of customer-centricity is that it takes very little business acumen to grasp its core concept. Focus intensely on customers, align your products or services with their interests, and voila: a customer - centric culture is born. Simple, right? Not quite.
I've had a bunch of phone calls and conversations about a recent paper I wrote called "Do you know why your customers really buy," which explores how using attitudinal data is critical to driving real business change. Based on that, I wanted to comment about two things on my mind:
Without getting into deep research, it seems to me that the average marketing manager should be able to put together a sensible survey simply by using some common sense. Somehow, this is not happening as often as I would expect. My speculation is that people are so hungry for feedback on so many items that they can't resist asking their customers for feedback on all of them.
When speaking to audiences or coaching clients, I am always asked what may have gone wrong upon submitting their proposal to a prospect who was previously interested but now no longer communicates.
The road to Customer Focus Land is paved with great intentions. As the CMC/HRI Magnifying Customer Focus survey indicates, respondents know what needs to be done. They are fully aware of the need for executive sponsorship, ongoing contact with customers and fast complaint resolution. But somehow, due to lack of time, budget or resources, the required actions are not executed at all or are not executed to the extent that they should be.
First off let me just say this, make sure when you purchase a hi end stove to buy from a place that carries mostly hi end products. Major department stores can often do a good job with middle and low end products but rarely have the man power to handle the extra knowledge required with the expensive stuff.
Imagine not having to worry about staffing your contact center. Imagine having sophisticated customer and technical support for your business. Imagine having your center staffed by experienced people focused not only on problem solving, but up-selling your customers as well. If this sounds good to you, then outsourcing your contact center may be something you should seriously consider.
When you fly on a corporate jet, you don't serve wrapped sandwiches or tea and coffee in a Styrofoam cup to the passengers. No way! Corporate jet catering is almost like dining in a five-star restaurant. Passengers have a choice of meal and it is served on real plates with real cutlery. Along with having the appropriate flight attendant training, in order to work in this area of the aviation industry, you need to have training in the preparation and serving of meals.
Loyalty cards have invaded and have taken over our lives! It all started innocently enough. It seemed like no big deal when airlines and hotels embraced the 'frequent' traveler rewards programs. We consumers embraced the idea of earning rewards for our travel.