Posted by Deborah Chaddock Brown on January 20, 2010 under Listening, Missed Moments, Resolving Conflict | 
Have you ever lost a customer and didn’t know why?
I was talking with Business Coach and Professional Speaker Leslie Ungar of Electric Impulse Communications about customers. She shared a story with me that really helped put things in perspective.
As the economy takes its good old time recovering, the trickle down effect of lower revenues is hitting some of the smaller companies and as such, companies are cutting back some of their vendor/freelance relationships. Each time we loose a customer we have to access the situation.
Is there something I could have done differently?
Was it price?
Was it attitude?
Should I have said something different?
Should I have kissed him?
(That’s what Elizabeth Kitt – recent participant who was eliminated from ABC’s The Batchelor is asking herself today.)
Leslie used to show horses. She told me that at the end of a competition participants could approach the judges and ask for advice on what they could do differently next time to place or win in their category.
“I was always the first in line to ask a question,” Leslie told me. “I wanted to know why I didn’t win and what the judges thought I should have done differently.” Sometimes they would remember, or after refreshing their notes they might have a specific comment, but often it was a general bit of advice that they would share. She listened carefully each time to what they had to say.
“If one person told me something, I would listen but I might not make a change. I was listening for patterns that I couldn’t ignore. If I heard the same comment from different judges or multiple times then I knew that was an area I needed to address.”
She was looking for patterns.
We need to do the same thing with our customers. Of course that means we have to engage them in conversation – exit interviews – follow up surveys or phone calls to ask about the service and experience and then listen for patterns.
Customer complaints are another great place to look for patterns. Some times you just have a complainer – but often, if you listen closely enough, you’ll find out about an area of service you need to address because it impacts the customer’s experience.
Have you lost a customer lately? Do you know why? Has it been the first time you’ve heard the reason or has a pattern begun to emerge?
Listen carefully to those patterns you can’t ignore and then start to make some changes!
Posted by Deborah Chaddock Brown on January 5, 2010 under Customer Moments, Missed Moments, making a difference |
It is snowing here.
My backyard is buried in the white stuff.
Yesterday as my daughter and I drove down the snow-covered road she had an interesting observation.
“Sure it looks pretty but it is amazing how quickly it turns ugly.”
It is so true. As I watch the flakes fall I remember that no two flakes are exactly alike and that made me think of our customers.
No two customers are alike.
If we treat them as if they are alike, we run the risk of missing an important piece of information which could lead to:
- The prospect not turning into a customer
- A customer with a challenge turning irate
- A missed opportunity to make a difference
Having policies and procedures are a good thing but only if we realize that they are merely guidelines and shouldn’t supersede our customer’s INDIVIDUAL situation.
Like snowflakes, each customer’s needs are different and we have to be open and aware by using our active listening skills to learn about their unique circumstance.
If we don’t, that individual customer, like freshly fallen snow, might turn ugly before our eyes.
Posted by Deborah Chaddock Brown on December 18, 2009 under Customer Moments, Missed Moments, Resolving Conflict |
I’m struggling to regain my composure. I have just been made to feel more stupid than dirt and it isn’t a feeling I enjoy.
You may have read that I joined a gym recently - happy one week anniversary to me – and I’m using this TechnoGym thingie that keeps my workouts on a computer chip. I insert the handy-dandy thumb drive into each piece of equipment and it tells me the seat height, number of reps and weight I should lift. At the end of the session, I put my thumb drive into a main computer and it tells me how many pounds I lifted (15,680, thank you very much) and gives me more charts and graphs than I care to look at.
But what happens when you have to use one of the old fashion, non-computer pieces of equipment because the fancy stuff isn’t available? Well, that’s what happened to me yesterday and today. It isn’t a prob – I just used the regular equipment, but it messed up the computer thumb drive.
So today I decided to ask for help to fix the problem. The staff member shall remain nameless (but it sounds like TROY) lolly gagged his way across the gym in my direction, the tortoise could have beat him and still had time for a movie, and doesn’t make eye contact but mumbles something.
I hate mumblers.
I am already frustrated but I know it is human error, my human error - I just want a work around. Show me how to get credit for the sweat I just left all over the bike.
He put my thumb drive in the machine.
“You didn’t do the exercise.”
“Yes. I did. I already said that. I just did it on a different machine.”
“Well, it says here you didn’t do it.”
“Y..e..s..I know that. That is the problem. How do I get credit for it?”
“You can’t because you didn’t do the exercise.”
I am about to learn a new exercise called strangulation, but I take a deep breath. I decide to take a different tack. Because here’s the deal – if I don’t figure out how to get credit it won’t allow me to access my other workouts.
“How can I get out of this computer mode?”
“You can’t until you do the exercise.”
URG.
So, what did I do? I got on the Techno bike and RE-DID my exercise so the computer would feel better.
He came over and said. So did you figure it out?
AHHHHHHHH.
I felt like he thought I was stupid. I felt like the computer thought I was stupid and now my legs are like rubber because I did the exercise twice just to make the computer feel better. How stupid is that?
And guess what? I AM PAYING FOR THIS!
I am not a happy customer right now. I am not happy that I paid EXTRA for this computer support and I definitely don’t feel like I experienced good customer service. I limped out of there bordering between anger and tears over a stupid exercise.
How often do we follow the rules and policies to a tee and make our customers suffer the consequences? When we talk down to our customers, use company jargon, don’t listen carefully to the issue we run the risk of making our customers feel stupid. What customers wants to pay their HARD EARNED MONEY to feel stupid?
Not me.
Posted by Deborah Chaddock Brown on December 16, 2009 under Customer Moments, Missed Moments, making a difference |
I was reading Leslie Ungar’s monthly newsletter from Electric Impulse Communications - always a great read but one of her Lessons this month really hit home:
Retail – In Person and Email
This particular boutique emails to me their monthly newsletter and sales announcements. I assume the purpose of Internet marketing is to create sales. I walked into the small store. One person was behind the desk, I was no more than five feet away and talking to her when she picked up the phone and called a vendor, totally ignoring my presence.
Lesson Learned: One way to create sales is to get people into the store. The marketing worked, I was there in person. Yet, a phone call appeared to be more important than engaging me in even trivial conversation. All the marketing in the world will not succeed if people do not transform prospects into buyers. It is not the job of the prospect to buy it is the job of the seller to sell. Are you taking advantage of face to face time to engage prospects and clients?
Here is a perfect example of marketing driving the traffic and a sales person dropping the ball. I used to have a franchisee who said to me “you bring them to the door and I’ll close them.”
That’s fine and good, but if the sales associates don’t understand the importance of those first 30 seconds, then you’ve missed the opportunity to make a difference. We only get one chance at a first impression and Leslie’s first impression clearly isn’t positive in this example.
Do your associates understand the value of a smile, eye contact and a quick hello.
In this case, the associate could have done both: greeted Leslie warmly and answered the phone. It isn’t an either/or proposition.
Does your marketing drive traffic?
How well do your associates handle that first make or break moment with the customer?
Posted by Deborah Chaddock Brown on December 1, 2009 under Customer Moments, Honest Moments, Missed Moments, Trust |
“Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words can never hurt me.”
That may be true, but some words can alter how one person feels about another or how a customer feels about a business.
Take this little romance story: Once upon a time there was a man and woman of a certain age who shared a deep and abiding friendship over many years. One weekend the couple got together and spent a lovely time. In the end the man turned to the woman, sighed and said “This is perfect.” However, two hours later the man confessed that, perfect though it may be, “he didn’t feel the magic.”
Although the friendship spanned many years, the words branded in the woman’s brain were the disconnect between perfection and a lack of magic. The man couldn’t help how he felt but the woman couldn’t help that all the words and actions that had gone before were erased by the “lack of magic” branded in her brain.
Now, this story is one of emotion and you may feel has no baring on business and yet if you believe that a customer/company transaction is without emotion and is limited to dollars and cents – you would be wrong.
We spend hours, days and even months perfecting our company tagline in hopes that it becomes branded in the minds of our customer. Yet, it is the words of those most closely connected with our customers that are actually remembered. And if there is a disconnect between what we stand for and what the customer experiences – the ultimate branding experience won’t have a happy ending.
Are the words branded in the minds of your customers the ones you desire or are they:
- What part of “that’s not our policy” don’t you understand
- The coupon expired yesterday – there’s nothing I can do
- Frankly, your business isn’t that important to me
- That’s not my job
- I don’t care what your story is – we don’t give refunds only store credit
- We don’t have any more, but maybe one of our other stores does – you’ll just have to go and check
- I know it was promised today but that’s just not possible
- That may be how we did it in the past but we don’t do it that way anymore
Relationships with customers are emotional. They are built on trust and if our words and actions belie that trust, the brand image the customer remembers is one of disappointment, dissatisfaction and even betrayal.
Do the words your customer hears match your tagline? What message is branded in the mind of your customers based on their actual experiences?
Posted by Deborah Chaddock Brown on September 1, 2009 under Customer Moments, Greeting, Missed Moments, Resolving Conflict |
There is nothing that makes me angrier than being ignored. Well, there are a few things but as a CUSTOMER, being ignored is unforgivable. It’s rude. It makes me question my loyalty.
Yesterday I stopped by the local Wal-mart where I’d ordered photo prints via the Internet. The pictures were supposed to be completed by 5:30pm. I arrived at 6pm. As I entered the department I made eye contact with the single associate who was helping a woman make a camera purchase.
He didn’t greet me. He didn’t acknowledge my presence. He just continued to talk to the woman, leaning against the counter and answering her questions.
She was still in the decision-making process.
I watched as he unlocked the cabinet and retrieved different models.
THIRTEEN MINUTES LATER.
The woman walked away without purchasing and he asked me ”Picking up? Name?”
“Brown.”
He walked over to the counter, retrieved the package and handed it to me.
Our transaction took less than 20 SECONDS.
No apology.
No thanks.
No personality.
No relationship building.
Is it a training issue? Is it apathy? How hard is it to ask the first woman “Please excuse me for a minute?”
You may be thinking “It was Wal-mart – what else do you expect?”
But I’ve experienced this same scenario at a variety of businesses. We are failing to teach our sales associates how to manage more than one person at a time.
My ex-husband used to tell me that he believed asking to be excused was rude to the first person. Here’s why he is wrong:
- Customers understand that you have more than one customer in your life.
- Often customers appreciate the break in your interaction to think through all you’ve told them.
- Customers know that if they were the second person coming into the department – they’d like to be acknowledged rather than waiting indefinitely.
It isn’t rocket science. It is COMMON COURTESY.
Think about hosting a party. The doorbell rings with the first guest. You invite them in. Take their coat. Offer them a drink.
The doorbell rings again. Do you wait to answer the door until you’ve seated the first guest and fed them the first course?
No. Of course not. You say “Please excuse me for a minute” and you answer the door inviting in the next guest.
Target refers to their customers as GUESTS. Their training views customers as guests in your home. That’s what our customer are – they are guests to our business.
When you think of it that way – it is easy to see how simple it becomes to manage more than one customer at a time.
By asking to be excused – you can ask the second customer “how may I help you today?”
If the customer’s need requires a lengthy experience you can get them started and then return to the first customer.
However, you may find that the second customer only requires a 20 second pick up – like me.
One simple question – how many I help you – and you’ve taken care of a person satisfactorily and can return to the first customer.
Instead – you run the risk of ticking off all of the customers.
Think of it this way. The first customer isn’t blind – they can see you have more than one customer waiting. They become uncomfortable. Maybe even guilty for taking so much time to make a buying decision. Rather than be uncomfortable – they may say “thanks – I’ll need to think about it.” Now you’ve lost the first customer and ticked off the second.
Bonus.
What is your thought on handling more than one customer at a time. Do you agree with my ex-husband – that it is rude and you should focus your entire attention on the first person – or do you agree that managing more than one customer can be done effectively, smoothly and in such a way that you endear yourself to everyone that comes to visit your department/store?
Posted by Deborah Chaddock Brown on August 13, 2009 under Missed Moments |
I live in a small town that is blessed to have a variety of swimming options. In Ohio we don’t get many sunny days but when we do – the opportunity to take a dip in the pool is welcome.
Most homes don’t have private pools but there are neighborhood and community pools to which you can purchase a membership.
Last year I belonged to just such a pool. I purchased a family membership and although my kids didn’t use it often – I enjoyed soaking, floating and reading in the pool while basking in the shade of the surrounding trees.
As a member, we provide our name, address, phone and email. I assumed that I would be contacted to retain my membership for this season.
The owner could have:
- Sent periodic emails that address summer fun or ways to stay healthy and active during the long winter months
- Provided a completed application in the mail prior to the season – making an assumption that I would continue as a member – just requiring my payment
- Offered a “prior customer” or “early bird” discount along with the membership reminder
- Called or emailed when he didn’t receive my payment for this season
- Surveyed me for ways to make the pool environment more user friendly
Coulda-woulda-shoulda
He didn’t do ANYTHING. So…he didn’t get my business.
Not because I didn’t love it there.
Not because I couldn’t afford it.
Not because I’d taken my business elsewhere.
Nope – I just got busy with life and forgot. I’ve been traveling and the weather has been icky. But today is beautiful and warm – the perfect pool day.
Sadly, I don’t have a pool to go to.
Had the manager/owner kept in contact with me, reminded me, strived to keep a relationship with me – he’d have my money and I’d have a pool to float in today.
Sadly – we have both missed a great opportunity.
How do you connect with your customers to keep the relationships alive? I know that my dentist has me fill out a postcard that he can send to remind me of my six month check up. I just bought jewelry at an art fair and the owner had me do the same thing – I’m sure it is so he can send me notice of his next sale or art show.
How do you connect so that you don’t have a missed opportunity?
Posted by Deborah Chaddock Brown on May 19, 2009 under Communication, Customer Moments, Missed Moments |
You’ve read articles on how to improve your business, lose weight, be a better lover and all have a long list of things to do to be successful.
This list has one item:
Fail to communicate.
That’s all it takes to really tick off a customer and potentially LOSE them for life.
I’m waiting on a product that I need to help complete a project for a customer. I called the vendor and was told it would be ten working days for delivery.
Ten days came and went six days ago.
No email from the vendor.
No phone call.
No explanation.
So yesterday I called him. At ten am. His voice mail said “I’m in today but away from my desk. Leave a message and I’ll call you right back.”
So I did.
Nothing.
I called at 11am. Left another message.
Again I called at 1pm. Figured he’d need a lunch break so I didn’t call at noon.
At 2pm I called the main number. Sorry only Mr. Cartright has the information on your file.
I left another message at 3pm.
Finally a call from Mr. Cartright at 4:30pm. No apology. No excuses. No – in fact – he chastised me for not leaving my account number on the voice mail which required he look it up by my name.
“I don’t know when that product will be available. I’ve sent an email to the person that provides the product. I think they may have been on vacation. I’ll give you a call when I hear something.”
I was promised delivery. Yet, when delivery was impossible I wasn’t communicated with. I had to hunt down the information. The answer I received showed no compassion, no empathy, no concern, and certainly no customer service.
When we promise something – the very least we need to do is deliver what we’ve promised. THE MINUTE WE KNOW WE CAN’T DELIVER – we need to act by calling or emailing the customer to keep them informed. The less the customer knows – the more they imagine and the more angry they become.
Our customer makes decisions and promises of their own based on the information we provide. And when we fail to communicate – we put our customers in a position of not making their deadlines. Our products may be needed by the customer to fill an order of their own or may be something they desire for a personal reason. It doesn’t really matter WHY our customer needs our products/services. They just do. And when we fail to deliver when promised and then fail to keep them in the loop – we might just as well kiss them goodbye as a customer.
I just called the vendor again to see what the status was. He said he didn’t know anything. I said – so what is your plan of action?
Wait for a call.
I see. That sounds mighty powerful.
I said – when can I expect to hear from you?
When I hear something, was his customer-focused reply.
How about you call me within 24 hours even if you don’t know anything – just to keep me in the loop, I suggest.
I could do that, he responds.
That would be the customer-service thing to do.
Yes, I guess it would, he said.
Wow. Let me just hold my breath.
Posted by Deborah Chaddock Brown on February 12, 2009 under Customer Moments, Missed Moments |
There are two kinds of hair cut people:
Those who meticulously schedule their salon visits every 4-6 weeks, always with the same stylist and usually at the same time and day of the week.
And then there’s me: I wake up one morning, look in the mirror and scream “I need a hair cut RIGHT NOW!’
That day was today. I was out and about running errands and drove by a salon. I noticed the sign in the window “We Welcome Walk-Ins.” It is a local salon, not a chain and I’ve been there on occasion. They are reasonably priced and have skilled stylists.
I walked in at 10:42 this morning. They opened at 10am. I could see that the salon seats were empty and the only customer was paying after having received his cut. (Before he left, he pre-scheduled his appointment for next month – clearly the first type of hair cut person.)
I was greeted pleasantly and I asked if I could have my hair cut. She smiled and said “All of our stylist are going into a meeting. We’ll be happy to take you this afternoon.”
I said no thank-you and as I turned I heard her snigger “WELL!”
When I was a store manager with Pearle Vision we also had meetings with our entire staff – Saturday morning BEFORE the store opened. Team meetings are a great opportunity for:
- Communicating current goals
- Motivating employees
- Sharing recent successes
- Asking for feedback and suggestions for how to make the customer experience better
- Training on new products and services
- Discussing challenging customer situations and how they might have been handled differently
I would bring doughnuts and coffee and by the end of the meeting we’d be pumped for our busiest day of the week and all be on the same page – a great outcome of staff meetings.
But during the work day? Choosing a meeting over paying customers?
Let me ask you – do you think this is the only salon in town? Of course not. There are six pages of beauty salons in the local phone directory.
Will I wait until they are available to get my hair cut? Not me, remember I woke up screaming at my reflection. I’m going to one of the other myriad of salons in the area.
So what is the learn?
Tell me – do you have staff meetings? When do you have them? Which would you chose: a meeting or a customer?
Here’s an article about conducting effective staff meetings by Susan Heathfield.
Posted by Deborah Chaddock Brown on January 18, 2009 under Connecting Moments, Missed Moments |
Have to tell a little tale on myself.
Today I went to the post office to mail a few copies of my new book Back to Basics: 30 Tips to Market your Small Business and Establish Your Expert Status in the Industry. I use envelopes that have an oversized label with my photo and slogan on them. 
I don’t usually like to have my picture taken but Kristen Rist did a great job. She met me at the Akron Public Library and took about 25 pictures of me that I’m able to use with my marketing materials. I’ve heard it said that your name and photo will be the new brand image going forward – taking the place or at least taking precedence over your company name and logo.
I wait my turn in line and then hand the stack of envelopes to the postal clerk. She weighs and measures and then looks at the label, up at me and back to the label.
“Wait – is this YOU?” she exclaims with great surprise. Now cut me some slack, it is Saturday morning – frigid winter temperatures and perhaps I haven’t put my professional face on. Okay – maybe I’m totally without makeup, barely ran a comb through my hair and am dressed in sweats.
“Yes, that’s me,” I admit. “Guess I look a little different.”
She does another double take and says – “Did you have a professional take your picture?” Read between the lines – with special filtered lenses and lots of touch up???
Okay, so let’s say this was my make or break moment, an opportunity to share my brand with the community because of course there were seven other people in line listening to the conversation and straining forward to see the labels in question. I missed the opportunity to put my best foot forward.
Has this happened to you? Just like the Boy Scouts or the Armed Forces – when you go out and conduct business (even if it is just a trip to the post office) do you dress in the uniform of your brand image?
