Posted by Deborah Chaddock Brown on September 30, 2008 under First Impressions, Telephone Moments | 
Not to belabor the whole “make or break telephone moments” conversation but today Drew McLellan left a tweet that he’d called a company and got a human. He said:
Just called a company — was surprised to hear a human answer the phone. That’s how rare it is today.
Wayne Hurlbert responded back saying:
Being rare also shows what a powerful customer service & PR idea it is to have a real person at your biz first contact points
When did humans become rare? I can remember being in high school, or it might have been when I worked at the telephone company on the cord board (dating myself, I know) and the girls would comment that someday “robots” would do what we do. We’d all scoff and laugh it off and yet…how many companies have the automated voice answering service that segments the calls.
I have even called residential phone numbers and the computer voice says “press one to leave a message for Mom and 2 for Dad.”
WHAT??
If the telephone is our first opportunity to establish a relationship with a customer – do we really want that impression to be a long laundry list of options – none of which lead you to a person?
If WE don’t like calling a company and hearing the automated options, what makes us think our customers do?
How can we make that first impression a memorable one. Memorable in a good way?
Posted by Deborah Chaddock Brown on September 26, 2008 under Customer Moments, Telephone Moments |
This wasn’t a test. I really wanted to find a colleague from my past, but the experience was just too good to pass up sharing.
I found someone that I used to work with via LinkedIn and according to their profile they work at AM Trust. Of course LinkedIn doesn’t provide the phone number and so I looked on line – found the customer service number which was an exercise in frustration: “push 1 for this and 2 for that” and then there were so many sub-directories I felt like it was the Journey to the Center of the Earth.
So then I used yellowpages.com and found a local Cleveland number. I called and asked to be transferred. She said “okay”, hit a few buttons and my call was dumped. Hurumph.
So I called back and a man answered and said – you need the operator and transferred me to a delightful conversation. The woman that answered had a sweet, soft voice with just a hint of the south. As in South Carolina, not Southern India.
She asked me to spell the name “is that Kathy with a C or K?” I spelled it with a K and then proceeded to spell her last name. The woman said “Oh, thank you so much.” And she sounded like she meant it.
She searched and kept me posted. “I’m typing it in but I just can’t find it.”
She could have said – we have no one here by that name. I would have said “oh, okay” and hung up. Afterall, I don’t know what office my friend works in or if she’s even still there.
But this woman was determined to connect me.
“Let me try this again.”
I explained that we’d worked together and I wasn’t sure she was there but she said, well, let’s just see what we can do for you.
She was so sweet, I found myself apologizing to HER for taking up her time.
In the end we both agreed that we were just not going to be successful. That’s an important point – we were a team, partners in the mystery.
In an age of automated frustration, this receptionist was a delight. I enjoyed listening to her and could just picture having a cup of coffee and sharing family photos from our wallet.
What did I learn?
In this case – I spoke with four people and a computer. In each case I was treated and made to feel differently.
- The computer was a frustration.
- The first real person made me feel insignificant and then stupid because it took me awhile to realize that I wasn’t on hold but had in fact been hung up on.
- The guy made me feel like an imposition.
All of these perceptions and feelings in just less than 3 seconds – in fact, in just a MOMENT. I felt frustrated, insignificant, stupid and bothersome.
However, the last woman was a delight. She was warm and welcoming and a wonderful representation of the company. So what does that tell us?
That it isn’t the name over the door so much as the person you are having direct contact with that forms your opinion about that business.
I think that’s an important statement. So – does that mean that one person in your organization can take all of the good will associated with your company name and flush it down the toilet?
Posted by Deborah Chaddock Brown on under Customer Moments, Telephone Moments |
When we think of customer service, we generally think about face-to-face conversations, yet often our first contact with the potential customer is over the phone.
When I was first promoted to Regional Manager over the Greater Detroit Pearle Vision stores (back in the late 80s) I spent the first few months traveling the stores and getting to know the doctors, opticians and sales associates.
During my visit the phone would ring and customers would come in and the associates would leave me to take care of business. That was my chance to observe!
A Missed Opportunity
On one such occasion the phone rang. Obviously, I was only able to hear the associate’s end of the conversation and this is what I heard – exactly what I heard:
“Pearle”
(silence)
“7″
The associate then turned back to continue her conversation with me, the phone call concluded. Now, I may have jumped to wild assumptions but I’m going to guess that someone had called and wanted to know how late the store was open.
Here is a perfect example of a telephone make or break moment. Let’s step in the caller’s shoes for a moment:
They planned to come to the store for some unknown reason and needed to know if our hours would allow them a visit on that day based on their schedule. They found out we were open until 7pm. We don’t know if that fit with their schedule. However, if the basic need was to know when we closed – their need was met.
Their BASIC need.
What Information Did We Miss?
I don’t even want to start with the poor phone greeting or the fact that we didn’t bother to say good-bye and thanks for calling - let’s just touch on what we could have learned and didn’t, by just offering the fact that we closed at 7pm. Just the facts, madam.
We don’t know WHY they planned to come in:
- To make a purchase,
- To see the doctor,
- For a repair, or
- With a question
We might have been able to save them a trip if we’d asked a few clarifying questions.
If they planned to see the doctor, we could have an angry customer on our hands if we don’t have a doctor on staff in the evening.
If they needed repair work done – we might have been able to pull their records and had replacement parts ready or checked to see if they were in stock.
Worse yet – we should have verified our location – often people get confused, thinking they’ve called the Main Street location when in fact they’ve called the South Street store.
In your business, what might you want to know before someone comes in to make their trip more efficient? The price of gas has every consumer second guessing their need to make a trip and if your customer travels all the way to your place of business only to be told you could have saved them a trip: oooh, we now move on to “angry customer make or break moments.”
How Can You Manage Customer Expectations Over the Phone?
The next time someone calls and asks how late you are open – how might you respond?
“We are open until 7 this evening. Is there something specific you need help with? Do you know where we are located? Is there something I can do to help you over the phone and save you a trip? ”
In the case of a location where a specialist (doctor, manicurist, mechanic) works shorter hours than the store, take the time to clarify who they hope to see to ensure you set appropriate expectations.
Make or Break Moments Mystery Shop Program
The telephone is the perfect place for mastering make or break moments. Sadly, most moments are missed in an effort to hurry on to the next task. I will be starting a new feature in which I’ll be calling different businesses and asking a few basic questions as a potential customer. I’ll report here if the telephone experience was a Make/Break or Missed Moment.
If you’d like to have your business “mystery called” send me an email with your business phone number and hours of operation. deborah@makeorbreakmoments.com
What else might this associate have asked or said to help make the telephone moment for helpful for the caller?
Posted by Deborah Chaddock Brown on September 24, 2008 under Customer Moments, Missed Moments |
Before I even start my story, you know it will be wildly wonderful. Why? Because it happened at Trader Joe’s. Can you imagine having your name so closely associated with great customer service that all people have to hear is your name and know right away that it will be great? Like Jell-o is synonymous with gelatin; some companies have so closely tied themselves to superior customer service that it is assumed.
I was chatting with Mary Perlmutter of Twinsburg Eye Associates (locally associated with great customer service) about marketing and business and service and she told me a great little story that just happened to her yesterday.
She lives near the Trader Joe’s in Beachwood and frequently shops there. She loves the layout of the store, the products and of course, the service. Yesterday she had a list of four specialty items that she needed. She walked into the store and upon being greeted by an associate made her request:
“I shop her frequently but I’m not sure if you carry these items. I wonder if you could save me some time by looking at my list and telling me if you stock these things.”
The associate said, “Not a problem. Why don’t you have a seat and I’ll go get them for you.”
She sat down near the front door and away he went, her list in his hand, and proceeded to do her shopping for her. Moments later he returned, all four items in his arms. He placed them in her basket, returned the list and left her with a smile and a great story to share.
You should know that my friend is not old, or infirm or physically challenged in anyway. It never occurred to her that he’d go and get the items, she just figured he would know by looking at the list if the items were in stock.
Here’s how the same circumstance might have played out elsewhere and how we’d respond.
- We enter the store, we aren’t greeted by anyone and we fend for ourselves. We wouldn’t have thought twice about it.
- We are greeted and the person says- oh, I don’t know if we have those things. I haven’t worked here that long. We say thank you and fend for ourselves, never thinking twice about it.
- We are greeted and the person says you can find those items in aisle 3 on the left and aisle 5 on the right. We say thank you and marvel that the associate would know their stock so well as to know which side of the aisle the product is on.
- We are greeted and the person says – yes we have those things – let me take to you to them. We say thank you and think to ourselves – WOW that’s really nice!
So where on the thermometer of customer service measurements does Mary’s experience at Trader Joe’s rank? Off the charts?
Why is that? Why is extra special service so rare? This associate exceeded Mary’s expectations and I’m sure it took no time at all and yet great customer service is so out-of-the-ordinary that we hold it up as if it were the Hope Diamond of experiences.
Make or Break Moments happen everyday and most of the time they are so basic and so simple, we totally miss them. Look around. Is there a moment in which you could be making a difference for someone that you’ve missed?
Posted by Deborah Chaddock Brown on September 23, 2008 under Customer Moments |
When I first started working at Pearle Vision as a store manager I attended a variety of sales training sessions. In those days (the dark ages) we didn’t have computers and when we sold a pair of glasses the details were written on a multi-part order form. One form per pair of glasses.
This was the 1980s and glasses were still considered a medical device rather than the fashion statement it is today.
I remember watching a video interview of an employee in Atlanta GA who was tauted to be one of the best sales associates in the country. When asked her secret, this is what she said:
“When a customer comes in I grab six or seven order forms and head to the door to greet them. I ask them questions and learn about their life and then start making recommendations. People need more than one pair of glasses and so I just keep selling until they tell me to stop!”
She assumed the answer would be yes and felt it was her duty to offer the different options. She had an obligation to that customer to make recommendations based on the customer’s life style. Rather than being an ORDER TAKER and just filling out a form, she partnered with that customer and discussed the different ways in which they used their eyes during the course of a day and made recommendations for multiple pairs, BASED ON NEED.
She wasn’t pushing product; she was matching solutions to uncovered needs.
She faced the make or break moment with each customer with the attitude that she had the solutions to make their life easier; more enjoyable.
How often do your associates view the customer as an interruption rather than their whole reason for being?
When faced with the initial greeting of a customer, suggest your associates do the following:
- Greet with a smile and an air of warmth and welcome
- Rather than jump right in with “what can I help you with” or “what do you want”, strike up a conversation – the customer is a person, not a profit line item on your P&L
- Use open ended questions to uncover their needs
- Listen carefully and ask additional clarifying questions
- Make sure you have all the information you need BEFORE you start selling
- DON’T SELL – make recommendations based on the needs just uncovered
- Listen carefully for understanding or additional questions or concerns on the part of the customer
- Establish a relationship that creates in the customer a desire to return
Prospects/customers come to you with a need; a problem that requires a solution. Whether you sell products or services, you have something they need and so of course, the answer should be YES.
Yes, I’ll buy from you!
Yes, I want more than one!
Yes, sign me up for on-going service!
Yes, how much and do you take credit cards?
Assume the answer is yes. If you’ve uncovered their needs, created an atmosphere of trust and matched solutions to need: then the answer will be yes!
Photo courtesy of Keetsa
Posted by Deborah Chaddock Brown on September 22, 2008 under First Impressions, Non Verbal Moments |
The stars were on parade at the Emmy’s last night – each having their Make or Break Moment live on the red carpet as paparazzi snapped and interviewers grabbed the most famous of the famous for a 30 second sound bite.
Make or break moments can happen even before you open your mouth. So often we make assumptions about people based on their dress. Remember Bjork and the famous swan dress?
As a speaker, a rule of thumb is to dress one step up from the dress code of your audience. When I was still working for Cole National/Pearle Vision, we were acquired by Luxottica Corporation/Lenscrafters. As a home office employee going through the long drawn out process of being sold, the dress code had been down graded from business to business casual to “whatever the hell you want.” Most of us wore t-shirts and jeans.
The day after the purchase was final, the Luxottica officials were scheduled to come and meet with the department heads, directors and vice presidents. The Lux people had done their research and were familiar with our lack of dress code. Following the “dress one step up” rule, they arrived in polo shirts and Dockers expecting to address an audience in jean chic.
However, in an unspoken gesture of solidarity, without exception, the Cole/Pearle managers arrived in full on dress mode. We all dusted off our two and three piece suits, spit shined our infrequently worn dress shoes and even took a shower. We knew that the first impression would be critical if we wanted to continue as a valuable asset to the company.
After greeting the audience, the clearly uncomfortable Lux leaders joked that they had wanted to fit in by dressing in a business casual mode and were surprised by our formal dress.
“We’re here for a week,” the president said “and we’ve only packed business casual clothes, so could you please go back to your normal fashion of wearing jeans?”
The point was – without us saying a word – our dress had set the tone; had raised us up in their estimation.
Isn’t the same true for you with your customers? What does your fashion sense say about you to your customer? Do you project an image of cleanliness, professionalism and authority? Or have you just thrown on your most comfortable clothes hoping that WHAT you say will be valued above HOW you look?
CNN offers an article on how to dress for success.
Interested in helping others make a statement? Check out Dress for Success a charitable organization that provides business attire for those in need.
Meagan Francis offers a guide to creating a Dress Code for your Associates.
Finally, in the background of the above picture of the lovely Felicity Huffman, check out this guy. Don’t you wonder what impression he was striving for?
Posted by Deborah Chaddock Brown on September 20, 2008 under Customer Moments, Employee Moments |
I just met my old boss at Panera for a cup of coffee and a chance to get caught up. I wanted to hear about his company, a retail chain continuing to thrive even in these challenging times and I also wanted to share the excitement about my Make or Break Moments initiative.
It was great to reconnect and reiminse but also to talk about how, what we’d experienced in the past served as a great foundation for what we are doing today and in our future.
In the past he was the VP of corporate stores for Pearle Vision and I was the Director of Stores. Under his leadership, we worked hard to help associates understand how they could improve the customer experience through the use of conversation.
He told me a story that exemplifies the importance of those make or break moments. He was visiting a store in Cincinnati and chatting with a long time optician/sales person who really struggled to understand the benefits of the customer interaction.
David asked him “What is it that you like most about what you do.”
“Helping people see,” the employee replied.
David said “So if your customer was a welder, would you have specific recommendations that you would make to help them see better?”
“Of course,” replied the employee.
“What if the customer was a teacher,” continued David. “Would you make the same recommendation?”
“No, I would recommend something different.”
“How about if the customer worked in an office – would you recommend the same thing as the teacher and the welder?”
“No.”
“So it would be important to know what the person does for a living when you make eyeglass recommendations?”
“Yes,” agreed the employee.
And then David went in for the KILL – for the “aha moment.” David asked, “So how do you KNOW what the customer does if you don’t engage them in a conversation?”
Ahhhhh. You can hear it, can’t you? The moment when the employee realizes the critical element they’ve been missing. They had been facing make or break moments with every customer they’ve helped over the past 17 years. In this case, they didn’t do anything to MAKE the moment memorable and they didn’t do anything to BREAK the relationship. In this case, they MISSED the moment all together.
Does that happen in your world? Do you miss those critical moments when you could be making a customer for life?
Posted by Deborah Chaddock Brown on September 18, 2008 under Employee Moments |
I love going to my local drug store. The employees are more than just clerks, they have become friends. We know each other by name, ask after our kids and even celebrated birthdays together. When I got divorced last year they helped gather boxes for my move and always asked how the kids and I were doing.
Recently the corporate headquarters of this chain of stores implemented an employee recognition program. Each time a postcard is sent to the home office mentioning an employee by name for going the extra mile, they receive a star sticker for their name badge.
I love programs that recognize outstanding service; it shows the company values customer service and helps motivate and boost the morale of employees.
So is it working?
Nope. Customers don’t know about the program. There aren’t any signs instructing you to send in a card and unless an employee blatantly asks a customer to fill out a form mentioning their name, gold stars remain the longed-for goal.
It seems that one employee, relatively new on the job, has been advocating for herself and has amassed three gold stars in the past month.
While my favorite employees Becca and Monica, who always have a smile, greet me by name, joke and play with me, help me find what I’m looking for and always leave me wtih a good feeling….no stars.
Neither feel comfortable soliciting gold stars. I asked “what about all of the times I tell Craig (the manager) just how great you are?”
“It doesn’t count because it wasn’t on a postcard sent to home office.”
“So how does that make you feel,” I asked Becca.
“Like crap. Here’s this new employee with three stars and Monica and I don’t have any and yet we are the ones who have made it our life’s work to befriend every customer.”
How’s that for an employee morale boosting program?
Do you have a recognition program for your staff? Did you partner with them to help in the creation of the program to see if it was practical and would actually provide motivation?
Now, I know Becca and Monica and they aren’t going to change how they treat customers because of a little gold star, however, I imagine seeing the gold stars on their peer’s name tag grates on their nerves.
It’s just a star sticker, you scoff.
That’s the beauty of recognition programs…they don’t have to be big and fancy, they just have to say “hey, I noticed you did a good thing. Congrats!”
What recognition programs do you have in place? How are they working? Have you asked your employees what they think?
For more information on employee recognition:
Jackie Larson has created a guide to providing employee recognition with awards.
Zane Safrit has a great dialogue going on at Small Business Trends about how to keep your best employees.
Posted by Deborah Chaddock Brown on September 17, 2008 under Customer Moments |
I have been divorced for about 18 months and have been faced with home improvement projects I wouldn’t normally tackle. This past weekend one such project came up which led me to a Make or Break Moment.
The door handle of the front storm door came off in my hand sending its corresponding partner skittering across the front porch. I retrieved the pieces and tried to reassemble but quickly realized I was missing a part – it looked like a little pin should have gone in a tiny hole and I couldn’t find it anywhere.
So off to Lowes Home Improvement I go with both handle pieces and a feeling of dread as I enter the monstrous big box store. I ask the first person I see where handles are kept and I’m sent to Aisle four – home of the front door knobs. Seeing nothing that looks like the one I have in my hands I seek out another employee. I found Chris.
I show him the pieces and he says “You are in the wrong aisle, come with me.”
He never hesitated, but took me to the right place. He clearly could see I was overwhelmed by the magnitude of retail offerings and immediately alleviated my fears.
However, once in the correct aisle the price tags were surprising: $39, $49, $69 for a door handle. I have a handle, I’m thinking to myself – I just need whatever thing is missing that goes in that tiny hole.
Chris takes my handles and says – “Hey – I think the set screw is still in there. Let’s go see.”
Off I follow him to the tool department (after he asks if I mind going to the other part of the store – of course not). He patiently tries one allen wrench after another until he finds one that fits and sure enough, there is a broken screw in that tiny hole.
“See?” He shows me. “Let’s go get a new one.” Off I follow like a faithful puppy to the parts section of the store where he sorts through a variety of sizes – all in neat little packages.
Now he could have handed me a pack and said – this should work, but he didn’t. He took a pocket knife out and slit open a package and proceeded to replace the broken screw for one that worked.
Viola! Fixed and all for just 68 cents!
Now while this exchange was going on – Chris was paged from another department. He took the page and said “not a problem, I’ll be there shortly.” As we walked from tools to parts another employee sought him out for assistance and he cheerfully called out “be there in a minute, I’m helping this customer.”
He never lost his cool. He didn’t just point me in a direction to fend for myself. He didn’t try to sell me more than I needed.
He read the situation clearly, empathized with my plight and empowered me to fix the problem with the right tools necessary, at an affordable price. And how long did all this take – this extra mile that Chris traveled? Less than five minutes. Less than five minutes to make a difference that I’ll be talking about for a long time!
Chris handled that Make or Break Moment brilliantly. I’ll be back the next time I have a home improvement project.
What would you have done differently? Have you been in similar circumstances where the associate just assumed you could figure it out alone? How did that make you feel?
Posted by Deborah Chaddock Brown on September 16, 2008 under General |
Have you had this experience…
You are talking with someone (customer, parent, spouse, boss, vendor) and you just know that the next words out of your mouth are either going to make the relationship or break it for all time.
What do you do?
It may be a new customer walking in the door or an existing customer breathing fire.
It could be your boss with a project you just know is going to send you over the edge or a team member who you counted on to provide facts that looks like they are going to bale.
It could be your teen with a fresh dent in your precious car or your Mom with the family silver you just know she wants you to polish.
What do you say? Does emotion take over?
Fact is, we have make or break moments multiple times during the day however, many times we just don’t know it. Those are the missed moments, the times when the ocean came up on the sand, taking with it a once in a life time chance to make a difference.
Here at Make or Break Moments we are going to talk about those time, those instances of opportunity. I’ll share observations I’ve made (good and bad) and hope you will too. We will talk together about how we can face those Make or Break Moments with confidence.
I welcome your comments and look forward to learning together.
Deborah Chaddock Brown
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