Posted by Deborah Chaddock Brown on September 30, 2009 under General, making a difference | 
The finalists have been announced in this amazing competition that focused the spotlight on small business.
NBC and American Express have combined forces to create a competition in which three finalists have been selected and how YOU can to vote on the winners:
Sacred Wind Communications out of New Mexico
Happy Baby, organic baby food company from New York City
Beacon Paint and Hardware – serving customers for 109 years!
Voting ends October 16, 2009
Shine the light on Small Business – the foundation of our country. Read their story. What are they doing that has put them in the spotlight that you might copy?
Posted by Deborah Chaddock Brown on September 26, 2009 under Customer Moments, empathy, making a difference |
I’m out of town. Using someone else’s car. I don’t know anyone here or where anything is. Isn’t that the way most horror movies start?
So I’m at this after hours marketing event in Fountain Hills, AZ - AMAZING GROUP! and when I leave to head for a restaurant, my friend’s car wouldn’t start. Crap.
I can’t call my friend – they aren’t available. So I pull out my AAA card and within 30 minutes Jason arrived.
“It’s the battery,” he says. “They don’t last long in Arizona – all this dry heat. Now you can let the car run and the charge build up for 20 or 30 minutes, but it looks like a dead battery to me. You’ll only have to call me to come back and jump start you again.”
It’s dark. The dealership – if I even knew where it was – is long since closed. The nearby auto mechanic…closed.
“You know,” Jason says. “I’m pretty sure the Checkers Auto Parts store will put in a new battery for you but they close pretty soon. Or you can call AAA and order a battery installed by us but there is a pretty hefty charge.”
I ask where I might find Checkers and he tells me. It isn’t far away – within ten minutes and so I opt for that option. I thank him very much and expect him to be on his way.
“I think I’m going to follow you there to make sure you find it and to make sure they can fix your car.”
You are kidding?
And that’s just what he did. I got to Checkers and they said “Oh -we used to put in batteries but we don’t do that any more.”
I told him that Jason had suggested I come and and in fact had followed me here. He said “where’s your car?”
We walk out to my running vehicle and Jason gets out of his truck and says “Are they going to take care of you?”
“They don’t do that any more,” I tell him.
Oh really – Jason looks at the employee who pops my hood and takes a look.
He comes back – faces Jason and says “I’ll do it.”
I have a happy story to share because of Jason. He had done his job when he jumped my car. There wasn’t anything that said he had to make sure the battery kept working, let alone follow me to a store and then gently convince the employee to help me. Jason puts himself in my shoes and showed empathy for my plight.
A stranger in a strange town with car trouble – that’s almost a guarantee for being taken advantage of and yet not with Jason and not with AAA. I’ve been a member for over 10 years and although I’ve used them many times and each time they have been wonderful = Jason’s assistance was certainly more than I expected and I am very grateful!
So what did it cost Jason or AAA to make me so happy – not to mention safe?
A total of 20 minutes and the gas to drive four miles from where I was parked to the Checkers store. And hats off to Ed at Checkers for doing something he wasn’t supposed to do any more. But he did the right thing by the customer. Again – showing empathy.
A simple gesture that means a lot!
Thanks to Jason and Ed for their help!
Posted by Deborah Chaddock Brown on September 23, 2009 under Customer Moments, making a difference |
Whether it is an unexpected flower delivery, a “thinking of you” note in the mail or a free auto freshener when you get your car washed – surprises are fun. (okay – maybe not all surprises, but for today’s post we are thinking ‘happy’)
Our customers are just like us; they like surprises too. I was just reading a post by Steve Curtin called Providing Pleasant Surprises and he shares a few examples of surprises he’s received that caught him off guard and made him feel all warm and fuzzy about the business he was dealing with.
How can you surprise your customer and make them smile?
As a service provider – freelance writer and social media consultant – I don’t really have products I can give away (maybe a pen or a post-it note pad) but what I CAN give away is information.
Here’s Your FREE Surprise! Consider this: have you run across a tool, a book or a website that offers great information or a value-added resource that you can share with your customers?
Advanced Marketing Institute. They have the most amazing headline analyzer tool and it’s free! Just type in your sentence, title or header and it will let you know how it will be received from an intellectual and emotional level by the reader. We all know how important headlines (including email subject lines) are in determining the likelihood someone will read the article or post we’ve written. Try out this free tool!
What can you surprise your customers with that will make them smile?
Posted by Deborah Chaddock Brown on September 21, 2009 under General |
Business Week announced their 2009 Customer Service Champs; the top 25 businesses offering the best customer service experience. This is the third year Business Week has ranked businesses based on the quality of staff, efficiency of service, likeliness to refer and the percentage that will make a return visit.
Leading the pack this year is Amazon.com. No surprise there – their understanding of what the customer wants and making it easy to obtain is a key to their success. Interestingly enough – they didn’t even make the top 25 in the first Customer Service Champs list of 2007.
In the article spotlighting customer service in a tough economy by Jena McGregor, she says that many companies are struggling with their service as they face layoffs which make it more difficult to offer the higher level of service consumers are demanding. However, she says that those on the top of the service charts are finding ways to make cuts other places beside programs and policies that focus on providing great customer service:
…the best performers are actually doing more to safeguard service in this recession. Bruce D. Temkin, principal analyst for customer experience at Forrester Research (FORR), says about half of the 90 large companies he recently surveyed are trying to avoid cuts to their customer service budgets. “There’s some real resilience in spending,” says Temkin.
That’s especially true for many of the winners of our third annual ranking of Customer Service Champs. Top performers are treating their best customers better than ever, even if that means doing less to wow new ones. While cutting back-office expenses, they’re trying to preserve front-line jobs and investing in cheap technology to improve service.
If anything, the tough economy has made starker the difference between companies that put customers first and those that sacrifice loyalty for short-term gain.
Now is the time to stand out from your competition by understanding the customer’s expectations and providing what they need and expect! As you look down the list of this year’s top 25, I think you will find yourself nodding in agreement with the selections. Businesses like The Ritz, Nordstroms, Trader Joe’s, and JetBlue Airways. If they can do it – why can’t we?
Interested in making comparisons?
2007 Champs
2008 Champs
2009 Champs
Posted by Deborah Chaddock Brown on September 18, 2009 under Customer Moments, Loyalty |
Big Lots has launched a loyalty program – The Buzz Club. Make 10 purchases of at least $20 each and receive a discount.
If I’m a regular customer of Big Lots – that’s a nice unexpected bonus. Will it drive me there if I’ve never been a customer? Probably not. To make a commitment to a new retailer of ten visits – that’s asking a lot.
I’m not suggesting it won’t work. I have too many little plastic loyalty cards hanging from my key chain to suggest otherwise. But here’s what caught my eye in the article from DMNews announcing the program:
“The program will allow us to learn more about our core customers’ shopping tendencies and opens up micromarketing capabilities we’ve have never had before,” said Steve Fishman, chief executive of Big Lots.
So they are gathering information from prior shoppers rather than trying to entice new customers. He went on to say “marketing messages going forward will be more aggressive and more completely focused on value and savings.”
So who is the loyalty program for? It sounds like it is more for the company than the customer.
What is the purpose of a loyalty program? For me – as a customer – it can be a major frustration. If I leave a loyalty card for a particular store at home – I often have to go to the customer service desk and have them look the card up. With a common last name like “Brown” it is no small feat to find my loyalty card number. In the interest of time – I have left my grocery cart without purchasing because I shopped based on the loyalty discount but didn’t have the time to wait for them to retrieve my card number.
There are two sides to everything:
As a customer - we receive tailored discount and marketing messages – but is it what makes us a loyal customer? If we are shopping based on discounts, is loyalty really our motivation? Isn’t it finding the best deal in town?
As a company – we can track purchases to create the tailored marketing messages – but does it drive new traffic? And if our loyalty messages are wrapped around the “best deal,” isn’t there always another competitor willing to loose more money just to drive the traffic?
What do you think? Do loyalty programs work or do we really create a loyal customer through the behavior and the relationship our employees have with each customer?
Posted by Deborah Chaddock Brown on September 17, 2009 under making a difference |
We are all tightening our belts – physically and figuratively. In a recent edition of Direct Mail News, they provided a chart showing the percentage of change consumers have made in their lifestyle spending habits. Needless to say – only a small percentage have made little or no changes.
One area where prices are going up and packing is shrinking is at the grocery store.
In an effort to eat healthy, we’ve heard about just shopping the outer aisles of the grocery store and avoiding the prepacked, processed foods. In fact, on the Today Show this morning they had a segment called Meal or No Meal where three chefs were given a budget of $25 and challenged to produce a tasty, healthy affordable meal for FOUR. All had selected fresh ingredients in an effort to save money.
But fresh foods spoil.
Have you ever purchased a load of lovely grapes only to turn around and find they are halfway to becoming raisins? Have you opened the refrigerator to pour a glass of milk and noticed the Sell By date had passed?
Before you throw the food down the drain, check out Still Tasty. They have a wonderfully comprehensive site offering advice on how to keep fresh foods, fresh LONGER and how to decifer those dates. What does “Best if used by” really mean?
Still Tasty gets it. They understand that the customer is on a tight budget and they want to have their food last as long as possible. For instance – my red grapes that go bad…it is because I bring them home and wash them all. Still Tasty says – store them in a perforated bag in the frig and only wash them as you prepare to eat them. Great information!
Still Tasty is making a difference! Thanks for a great resource. I’ve saved it to my Favorite web addresses.
What sites have you found that exists to offer great value and save money for consumers?
Posted by Deborah Chaddock Brown on September 16, 2009 under Books, Connecting Moments, Customer Moments |
I was thrilled to run across the book, What the Customer Wants You to Know at Borders yesterday. Author Ram Charan shows by example the importance of putting the customer at the center of all you do in your organization from product selection to marketing message to the all important sales process. The subtitle of the book is “How everybody needs to think differently about sales.”
He shares the story of a company that is struggling with the fact that they are loosing market share. They offer quality and affordability – so what’s the problem?
Chapter Three shares the learn that you need to become the customer’s trusted partner. Once they figured this out and then convinced the sales/executive team that the customer needed to be at the center of their sales process – things started to happen.
Ram calls this a VCS strategy: VALUE CREATION SELLING.
Are you struggling with making connections with your customer? Are you loosing market share? Is your sales process focused on profits, product movement and margin?
How about changing your philosophy to understanding what the customer WANTS (not what you want to sell), building that relationship of trust and then meeting the needs of your customer.
I highly recommend Ram’s book as a great place to start for a better understanding of the value of putting the customer first.
Posted by Deborah Chaddock Brown on September 14, 2009 under Customer Moments, making a difference |
“I tried to open a savings account for my two boys,” Nancy told us at a recent business meeting. Her boys are 10 and 11 and each had $600 to contribute to their first bank account.
It was a big moment. The beginning of a life long lesson in saving, investing, and smart money management.
Nancy went to the bank she normally does business…1st Merit.
“Do you have their social security cards?” the teller asked. “No, but I have their passports.”
-sigh-
The teller had to ask others if that would work. Then had to call a manager, then had to make a phone call. After almost 40 minutes the teller finally came back and with a heavy attitude said, “yes, I guess that will work. And do you have your social security card?”
No. But I have $1200 to put in your bank. I have a desire to do business with you. I have an existing account in your bank. I have a voice and won’t hesitate to use it to let all my friends know just how difficult you are making it for me to give you money.
Of course, Nancy didn’t say any of those things. She just politely said thank you, walked across the street to National City and within 20 minutes had successfully opened two bank accounts for her sons. Future businessmen. They have started their financial career with National City and will most likely continue there for decades to come. National City made it easy. They were welcoming. They now have two customers for life.
And a happy, satisfied Mom.
When our customers offer us money – why do we make it so difficult to take it?
Posted by Deborah Chaddock Brown on September 9, 2009 under Communication |
It’s not in my nature to brag, but I was surprised and pleased to receive an email today from the US Commerce Department informing me that the monthly e-newsletter I send out to just under a 1,000 generous souls has been recognized as the Best Service Newsletter for my community.
I’ve been writing Words People Read for just under five years. Each month, faithfully on the first of the month I’ve produced an e-newsletter that shares one primary theme. It isn’t a sales pitch – in fact until just recently I would forget to even include an invitation to call me. I share tips and suggestions revolving around customer service, communications, social media and small business marketing. Sometimes I’ll include a few side bars notes with links to cool resources I’ve discovered. Not all 1,000 recipients open/read my newsletter but those who do are kind enough to send me thank you emails. I’ve even heard one reader say that she uses the newsletter as the kick off point for her staff meetings.
Many have poo-pooed newsletters as old hat – last year’s marketing tool – but if done correctly, a newsletter can be a great way of providing value and keeping your name in front of your target prospects.
Just a few tips:
- Keep it short – one page – people are busy and don’t have time to read magazine-length newsletters
- Be focused – keep it to one primary theme
- Offer value – be thought provoking, cutting edge or informative
- Don’t sell – people will stop opening your newsletter if they expect it to be another sales pitch
- Be consistent – it takes a commitment to create a following – if you are going to start a newsletter, make sure you can commit to a schedule whether that is monthly or quarterly
- Be readable – just like with any marketing or communications content – use small words, short sentences and lots of white space – capture the attention with bold phrases and bullet-pointed lists like this one
- Be entertaining – the use of stories to get across your point is much more fun to read than dry, textbook content
I’m honored to have Words People Read and the efforts I’ve put forth recognized. It’s pretty cool stuff!
So do you have a newsletter? What suggestions do you have for someone just starting out? Care to share?
Have you thought about starting a newsletter but need help? Call me 330-414-8792. I offer newsletter writing as one of my services and would love to help.
Posted by Deborah Chaddock Brown on September 8, 2009 under Connecting Moments, Customer Moments |
I’ve just started the Ed Dale Thirty Day Challenge in which Ed’s team leads you through the process of defining a niche market, creating products to service that market and then generating traffic to grow your business.
In the first lesson Ed talks about the Magnificent Symphony in Four Parts to marketing/business success on the Internet:
1. Market Research – is there a market and is the market willing to buy?
2. Traffic! – how to drive traffic to your site or blog
3. Conversion – getting the audience to take action
4. Product – developing a product or service to meet the needs of the market
In his introduction of the symphony he says something brilliant:
Most people start here, with the product first, and it’s a tragedy, because they can spend months writing a book or recording a video or doing some sort of very creative, intense process, only to figure out that nobody actually wants to buy it.
Brilliant. You must put the customer first – before even defining your business. What are you passionate about and WHO will be interested to know what you have to share?
I have been guilty of coming up with the product and then looking at the lovely finished product and saying “now what?”
So I’m starting with the customer – using the Thirty Day Challenge and researching what my niche market will be.
Is this a twisted way of starting? Looking for a customer before you know what you will sell them?
What do you think?
