Posted by Deborah Chaddock Brown on February 15, 2010 under Customer Moments | 
On Monday, February 14, 2005 I opened the doors of AllWrite Ink, a freelance writing business. Having worked in the corporate world more than 25 years I decided to give it a go as an entrepreneur. I had experience. Working side by side with Pearle Vision Franchise owners had taught me a lot. But oh, what I didn’t know then….
As I look back on five years a few lessons come to mind and since this is a customer relationship blog – I’m going to talk about the one big lesson I’ve learned.
PICK THE RIGHT CUSTOMERS
When you first start out – or even if you’ve been around awhile but times are tough – you want to say YES to any customer and to any project. Here are a few I said yes to than I learned quickly the error of my ways:
- A European company bringing an adult porn telephone service to the U.S. They needed content for their marketing material. At first I thought – one product is just like any other – it is all about the customer’s needs….that’s as far as I got. I realized that although the company sounded like it would be successful and the people I talked with were great – I wasn’t so sure I wanted to align my company name with theirs. So I quickly said “I wish you all the best but I’m not sure I’m the best writer for the project.” Lesson Learned: Align your company with those that match your mission, vision and values.
- A website project for a company managing liquidation sales. The guy was awesome. The company terrific. The challenge was in writing styles. He wanted Harvard Business Review and I offer People Magazine. We tried. But it was stressful for both us. We finally said “best of luck” and I gave him a recommendation for a different writer. Lesson Learned: There is such a thing as a “good fit.” Make sure you are the right solution for your customer – you’ll both be happier.
- A small business with a limited budget and big ideas. The scope of the project creeped and creeped until he wanted four times what we’d originally talked about for the original price. This was my fault. I didn’t set boundaries. I didn’t fully explain the value of the original project. I completed the project but the next time he called I was more confident about what I offer. We didn’t work together again. Lesson Learned: if I don’t value what I offer – neither will the customer.
One other lesson I learned was about positioning with my customers. As a writer I thought it made perfect sense to offer my services to web developers. One of the biggest complaints I hear from developers is that they are forever waiting on website content from their customers. It seemed like the perfect solution. I would offer that content. It never took off.
I was walking the track at the gym recently with a developer and said – why didn’t this idea make sense?
“What did you offer the developers?”
“Content.”
“Ahhh, that’s your problem.”
“But that’s what they need.”
“Yes, but you didn’t show WHY they can’t live without it. What you were really offering them was SALES.”
“How do you figure?,” man, sometimes I’m dense.
“If they have great content, the reader stays longer and then picks up the phone or emails or places an order, right?”
“Yes – that’s what I offer. Words People Read.”
“Nope. You are offering them sales. You didn’t position it right so that the customer truly understood what you could do for them.”
Ahhhhh.
Light Bulb. So I’m always learning. What has your business taught you about your customer relationships?
Posted by Deborah Chaddock Brown on February 1, 2010 under Customer Moments |
Are you a multi-tasker? I am the Queen of doing seven things at once and inevitably doing none of them well. That’s why one of the feature articles in the recent Manta Sales newsletter caught my eye. The article is entitled 6 Ways to Build Rapport but it starts with a story in which the author, Larry Prevost fails to build rapport because he is trying to do too many things at once.
As he reviews the details of the conversation, which didn’t go well for either party, he realizes something:
“…I could easily see that I had failed to establish rapport at the top of the call. Both of us were preoccupied with other tasks and wanted to complete the sales process so we could check it off our to-do list.
One of the most important elements in the sales process is establishing and building rapport with your prospect or client. When you have rapport, the sales process moves forward easily. When you don’t have it, every step becomes a struggle.”
Building rapport or as I like to call it, building customer relationships, does start from the first hello. (Remember Jerry Maguire?)
If we are conversing online or over the phone – the desire to multi-task while we talk can be overwhelming, but if you read Larry’s article you can hear just how wrong that decision was. As he goes on to discuss the 6 ways to build rapport, they involve in person interaction or at the very least the ability to talk over the phone and hear their vocal cues.
But what if you are trying to build a relationship via email or through an online customer instant message?
I didn’t find a lot on the Internet to answer that question – sure would love your thoughts – but I did find an old article by Darren Rowse on Problogger offering IM Etiquette tips. Most involve contacting a blogger of which you are a fan but some can translate to building relationships with customers over the computer:
1. Introduce yourself. Make sure you take a few sentences to briefly identify who you are, your role within the company and then turn the tables and ask the same of the customer. It helps to add a little personal touch to the conversation before jumping into the question or issue at hand.
2. Keep your conversations on task – brief and to the point. Rather than try to communicate multiple thoughts in a single message – talk through one item before moving on to the next. This helps to ensure the customer thoroughly understands what you’ve said before tackling another issue.
3. Avoid jargon. We can get wrapped up in our industry and forget that most normal people don’t live and breathe our world and as such – probably aren’t familiar with our abbreviations or jargon. Keep that in mind – don’t assume they know what you are talking about.
4. Some things don’t convey well in writing. Oh man am I ever guilty of this. Humor and sarcasm do not translate well. Keep it to the facts – questions and answers.
5. End the conversation well. The pleasantries we learned in Kindergarten still work well. Please and Thank you are very appropriate.
But the biggest thing to remember is STAY FOCUSED ON THE CUSTOMER. If you are conversing on line or over the phone – put aside distractions. They can hear them in your voice and in the background and it sends a message loud and clear that there is something else you’d rather be doing than building rapport.
Hard lesson. I am so guilty. How about you? Any stories like Larry’s in which your multi-tasking efforts have sacrificed a customer relationship?
Posted by Deborah Chaddock Brown on January 29, 2010 under Connecting Moments, making a difference, social media |
Yesterday morning I attended the monthly ABC meeting: Akron Bloggers Connect and we had a wonderful turnout w ith some friendly, familiar faces and a few that were new to the group.
Chris Brown of Branding and Marketing (Marketing Resources and Results) led us through a packed agenda. But first we went around the table and introduced ourselves. It is an electic group of bloggers and blogger-newbies:
Ivana Taylor of DIY Marketers
Ron McDaniel of Buzzoodle
Norma Rist of Small Biz Coach
Donna Zabel of Dream Maker Destinations
Tom Crain of Going Green Guy
Patti Renner of The Landing Page Lady
and Jill McCauslin and Mary Helscl who are just getting started.
We talked about creating FAST content for the web that is a constant task master wanting more and more words of wisdom. We talked about using Market Samurai to research key words and the value of finding the right niche product to connect with targeted prospects. We shared resources and websites/blogs that we’d found of value like Nathan Kievman with Link Strategies Group and Frank Kern’s videos.
In the end,we all commented about the wealth of information that had been shared and in particular, how some so experienced, were willing to share what they knew with those just starting out.
It was a make or break moment in my mind.
We’ve been taught to hold our cards close to our vest. If we find out something new and exciting – we should keep it a secret so that we have a leg up on our competition. Yet isn’t there some value in sharing what we’ve learned so that we can all become better in business, better using social media, better with our customer relationships?
So do you hold knowledge as a closely guarded secret or do you share the wealth?
Are you local? Consider joining us for our lively discussions. We meet monthly at the Mocha Joe’s in Stow - last Thursday of every month from 9:30-11am. Hope to see you there.
Photo courtesy of Chris Brown and her amazing camera!
Posted by Deborah Chaddock Brown on December 3, 2009 under Loyalty |
I feel strongly about developing relationships with customers which I believe, in turn, develops loyalty; customers who remember, refer and return.
So I’m often on the look out for other’s opinions on the topic. This morning I read a post by Susan Abbott entitled Loyalty or Loyalty Programs: There is a Difference. She gives a great example that shows how a customer’s use of a loyalty program could APPEAR to mean that customer is loyal when in fact that isn’t the case.
If you need loyalty points to get repeat purchase you may have a great loyalty program, but you might not have much true loyalty…It’s a mistake to confuse consumer commitment to your loyalty program with the true preference for your service offering. We just love the points.
Developing a loyal fan base of customers requires more attention to the relaltionship than just a good deal or accumulating points against a future purchase. It involves understanding your customer’s needs and expectations and then working hard to make it easy to do business with.
Valerie Maltoni talks about the importance of our reputation as it relates to customers referring us to their friends and family in her post entitled The Value of Reputation. She offers up a study that shows the seven key areas that relate, in the customer’s mind, to our reputation:
product/service
innovation
workplace
governance
citizenship
leadership
performance
Valerie goes on to explain that “according to the Institute’s research, if you improve reputation by 5 points, support goes up by 6.75%.” 
Her article explains the importance of every department – even those traditionally not connected with the customer – needing to focus on the customer in order to positively impact the corporate reputation.
In my last corporate job I spent most of my years on the operations side – directly connected to the customer, but in my final two years as Director of Communication – I was in the “shared services” department of the company. You know – those departments that never talk to customers; HR, finance, real estate, and IT. I found that the employees felt no connection to the company performance on a day to day basis because it didn’t mean anything to them. They had blinders on to their tasks at hand. There wasn’t any connection between what they did and how it impacted the customer.
I wonder how many companies operate that way – assuming that only the operational folks need to worry about how the customer views the company reputation. If every person in every department understood their value in making it easier to do business with, I wonder what impact that would have on reputation and thus recommendations and ultimately loyalty.
Valerie asks the question
How many of you are actively working on communicating with the people and communities that contribute to influencing your brand’s reputation across these seven dimensions? Customers, employees, partners, investors, and so on.
You know that reputation has an impact on the perceived value of your company and brand.
Are you actively working to improve your company reputation in the eyes of your customer or do you rely on loyalty programs to keep them coming back. As Susan stated – if it is just for the points – then what happens if you take away the program or reduce the point value? Wouldn’t you rather have customers coming back because they know you understand them, you care about their needs and you strive to make life easier for them?
How are you building loyalty? Through a points program or through customer relationships?
Posted by Deborah Chaddock Brown on August 14, 2009 under Connecting Moments, Customer Moments, First Impressions, making a difference |
You’ve seen them, haven’t you? The signs that shout out all of the rules before you even say hello?
Once you enter, you might find more signs:
- No refunds
- No credit cards
- No personal checks
- No substitutions or exchanges
- No, No NO!
You wonder if they will say no to cash. Signs like that set a tone of negativity.
Well, I saw another sign the other day while taking a walk on the grounds of the Chautauqua Institute that I fell in love with:
That should be the mantra for excellent customer service – nothing is carved in stone. Except that we are here to MEET YOUR NEEDS.
Whatever that means. You’ve heard the story of a customer returning a car tire to Nordstroms and receiving a full refund without comment and Nordstroms doesn’t even sell tires. It may be a myth, but the point of the story is that we should be there to take care of our customer needs without setting a bunch of “no” rules in the way of building that relationship.
Have you ever dated? Are you dating now? Imagine going on a date and before you even sit down for dinner, your date says:
- No conversation about sports, politics or religion
- Don’t order meat, it offends me
- No wine with dinner – it’s a false stimulent andI intend to keep my faculties about me
- No hand holding or eye gazing across the table, it’s sappy
- Don’t dominate the conversation, you aren’t the only person here
- And under no circumstances will I come back to see your etchings
What is the tone of the “relationship”? Is it any different with our customer.
For exceptional customer service we should start with “how can I help” and not say another word until we’ve listened carefully and then customized our responses based on their needs.
Nothing carved in stone.
No negative caveats.
Just a desire to uncover and fulfill the needs of those who come to purchase our products or services.
What customer rules do you have carved in stone? Are they really necessary?
Posted by Deborah Chaddock Brown on June 30, 2009 under Customer Moments |
Our tour was jam packed with activity and along the way our tour guide, Ellen, gave us little insights into the minds of Italians. We also learned a few of our own. Here are three I learned the day we visited the Coliseum, Roman Forum and St. Peter’s Baslica:
1. Make eye contact with Italians when you enter their place of business. Owners believe it is important to make eye contact with every customer. In fact, if you enter the store and appear to want to have a conversation rather than make a purchase – that makes them the most happy. If you enter a store and the workers are not welcoming – leave – don’t reward them. There are too many other places to make a purchase where you will find someone friendly. Two points here: the shop owner who is most successful puts building a customer relationship ahead of the sale. And competition is fierce – don’t reward bad or indifferent customer service. Wow!
2. Know your customer. I passed a vendor outside the Coliseum selling tourist favorites (t-shirts, mugs, key chains, etc) and as I passed he said “Prego, souvenirs cheaper than Target.” Now according to the Target website there is a store in Italy, SC and Italy, Texas and you’ll find items depicting Italy if you shop at a Target in the United States, but I didn’t find a Target in Rome, Italy. The vendor understood his customer and crafted a pitch that would get my attention and be immediately recognizable to me. I learned later that other vendors used the same phrases and substituted KMart and Wal-Mart.
3. Plant the seed for additional purchases. I went to a snack shack for a Coke. They also sold other snack items like pizza, paninis, pretzels and pastries. I just wanted a Diet Coke. So I greeted the sales person and said “Coke Light, please?” And he said “And….” He didn’t assume the sale was ended with my request – he assumed there was something else I wanted but just hadn’t asked for. In truth, I just needed a Coke - I was thirsty. But his prompting to add an additional purchase led me to order a pretzel before I even realized it was what I wanted. Clever.
Simple stories – powerful messages.
Andiamo! (Let’s Go!) We are off to Florence – Firenza.
Posted by Deborah Chaddock Brown on January 7, 2009 under Customer Moments |
I just finished writing a short document that relates seven customer service concepts to familar fairy tales. We all strive to provide superior customer service and several companies (i.e. most) claim they provide an excellent customer experience and yet few deliver on a consistent basis.
So that’s why I thought I’d take the concepts of customer service and apply them to tales we are all familar with. Stories that, had they been more customer focused, might have turned out completely different.
I used Animoto to create a short video and have been “tweeting” about each of the seven points. The goal? Get the word out about how to build customer relationships.
In this economy we need to re-evaluate how we view our customers. Their needs have to come first. But even more important than offering a friendly greeting – we have to take the time to get to know them. We have to strive to develop a relationship with our customers so that they remember us the next time they are in the market for our products/services and that they refer us to their friends and family.
Make or Break Moments: Lessons in Customers Relationships from 7 Classic Fairy Tales is my gift to you. It just touches the iceberg but hopefully will get you thinking about the value of the customer relationship.
Posted by Deborah Chaddock Brown on December 15, 2008 under Connecting Moments, social media |
Peter Kim recently asked several social media/marketing leaders to share their thoughts about the trends for this phenomena in the upcoming year. The 23 page document entitled Social Media Predictions for 2009 holds lots of interesting insights and Peter sums up the thoughts this way:
After reading through the thoughts here, some key themes emerge for me:
- We understand the technologies but need to employ them with a human empathy
- Mass participation will continue to grow, while experienced users employ refined filters to drive
increased relevance
- Measurement needs to be addressed, soon
I think the last point was covered well by Todd Defrean who said “…it may be the way of the future but you still gotta eat.” True.
As I read through the thoughts one theme kept resonating for me and that was the theme of human emotion: relationships, empathy, passion and a sense of commitment.
In order for social media to be successful (and by successful, it isn’t necessarily the number of Twitter followers as it is the wave of influence and quality of relationships built) it has to be used with a desire to reach out and connect.
Those blogs that TALK AT their readers are less interesting to read than those that ask questions, share a controversial but passionate opinion and reach out for a response.
Rohit Bhargava compared the current social media experience with what the trend should be in 2009 and in one case said that we currently assign the task of social media to the most logical person on the communications team when in fact it should be given to the most PASSIONATE.
Peter Blackshaw says “intimacy touches emotion; emotion POWERS conversation.”
It is all about building relationships – making connections.
Companies need to get off their high profitability horse and face facts that if they want to remain in the game going forward, their focus needs to shift from the bottom line to the customer relationship.
If ever there was a make or break moment it is TODAY. The start of the new year. The bottom of the economy. A “no place to go but up” time in our lives and if we want to succeed – we have to start listening to our customers in person and on line.
Andy Sernovitz nails it on the head when he says “there will be a customer satisfaction uprising.” People will not hesitate to share their views on the Internet.
What will your customers say about you?
What trends do you see for social media in the coming year?
Posted by Deborah Chaddock Brown on December 5, 2008 under Customer Moments, Missed Moments |
I must admit; I got angry today.
I was getting caught up on my magazine reading and came across an article that appeared in the August 2008 Good Housekeeping magazine entitled “Sorry, That’s Our Policy.”
Another title might have been “Nah, nah, nah, nah, nah , nah.”
or
“How to say I don’t give a darn without swearing.”
As I read the article I realized it was a primer for customers to counteract sales and customer service representatives that stink at customer service.
At one point in the article the author, Sybil Adelman Sage, offers 7 ways to fight policy and win:
1. You (the customer) bring up the fact that it is probably against the policy FIRST so that the card is on the table and can be dealt with.
2. Don’t rush your story – the associate should be willing to listen.
3. Know what you want and what you’ll settle for.
4. Don’t be too quick to give up.
5. Express your gratitude along the way.
6. Interject humor in the conversation.
7. Remember, it never hurts to ask.
She goes on to outline an acronym for negotiation failure: STAB:
Shout
Threaten
Accuse
Blame
Sybil says “I knew perfectly well that companies train employees to say the phrase (sorry that’s our policy) because it sounds more professional and official than “no way.” I also recognized that the infuriating comeback is the business equivalent of a parental “because I said so”, a way of pulling rank and claiming supremacy without reason or rationale.”
Pulling rank?
Claiming supremacy?
What is this kindergarten? Have we lost sight of the fact that this is a customer/sales person relationship and the customer is the one PAYING?
Has customer service gotten so bad that customers need a manual for how to navigate their way through the obstacles sales people throw up to keep the customer from having a satisfactory experience?
Color me appalled. Am I alone in feeling this way? Since when did the POLICY become so all important as to shun, belittle and turn away a customer?
When I worked for Pearle Vision in New England I had a franchise owner who truly did not understand the importance of the customer relationship. They had handmade signs all over the store:
NO REFUNDS
NO EXCHANGES AFTER 30 DAYS
NO CREDIT CARDS
NO SHIRT, NO SHOES, NO SERVICE
NO
NO
Makes you want to spend money, doesn’t it? I had more customer complaints from this one store than any of the other 50 stores I supervised in a six state area. To this owner the policy was more important. They were willing to lose a customer and their friends and family over a five dollar argument.
And now we have articles providing scripts and strategies to help us spend our money with sales associates who just don’t get. I shouldn’t just blame the associate, they are just following the rules.
Okay – I’ve ranted enough. Weight in here – is the policy more important than the relationship? Do you find it sad that articles have to be written to help us navigate poor customer service?
Posted by Deborah Chaddock Brown on November 20, 2008 under Connecting Moments, empathy |
Some people think only intellect counts: knowing how to solve problems, knowing how to get by, knowing how to identify an advantage and seize it. But the functions of intellect are insufficient without courage, love, friendship, compassion and empathy.
Dean Koontz
Intellectually, we understand the value of empathy; the effort of putting yourself in someone else’s shoes, to feel their pain.
But reality says “I just don’t have time.” “I don’t know how.”
If today’s consumer is looking to do business with a company that wants to build a relationship then our associates need to understand the value of empathy in undercovering customer needs.
But what if you don’t know how?
I’ve developed three easy ways to FAKE it. You’ve heard the saying “fake it ’til you make it.” Wake up on the wrong side of the bed in the morning, but if you put on a fake smile – pretty soon the responses will turn the fake smile into the real thing. Same with empathy. Here’s the three tips:
- Learn to put yourself in the other person’s shoes by acknowledging the fact that they in fact have DIFFERENT shoes.
- Listen with a desire to truly hear rather than quietly allowing the customer to talk while you formulate your response in your head.
- Understand that their view of the situation might be entirely different than yours and since they are the ones making the purchase – whose view do you think is more important?
That’s it. So simple. The most important thing to remember is that the customer is coming at your conversation with other things on their mind that have nothing to do with you or your products. They have walked a different life than you and so their perceptions may be different.
You don’t have to understand what they are feeling, you just have to respect the fact that they may view the interaction differently from you.
What they feel has value and should be treated as such.
So how do you show empathy with your customers?
On Monday, February 14, 2005 I opened the doors of AllWrite Ink, a freelance writing business. Having worked in the corporate world more than 25 years I decided to give it a go as an entrepreneur. I had experience. Working side by side with Pearle Vision Franchise owners had taught me a lot. But oh, what I didn’t know then….
