Dear Celebrity Readers,
(Yes, I mean you)
The team at Donna Cutting Presents, Inc. and The Cutting Edge are launching a Celebrity Experience Paparazzi Photo Contest.
Here's how it works: You send us your .JPG photo of you reading Donna's book -The Celebrity Experience: Insider Secrets to Delivering Red-Carpet Customer Service. At least once a month, we will choose the most creative photo, and post it on this blog, along with a link to your business website. Winners will also receive a Blockbuster Video Card compliments of the team at Donna Cutting Presents, Inc.
The first winner, shown above, is Heidi Caswell, owner of RememberGreetingCards.com and ConnectSimply blog. Thanks, Heidi, for your terrific photo and for being a fan of The Celebrity Experience. Your Blockbuster Video Card will be in the mail to you shortly!
Now - it's your turn! Grab your copy of The Celebrity Experience and your camera, and snap away. Get creative with poses, locations, etc. - the most creative photos will be chosen! Send your photo, a little caption or message to go with it, to Mary Collazo, our office manager, at Mary@donnacutting.com.
If there ever was a time to pay attention to the experience you give your customers, it's now! We live in a world of commodity - people have many choices as to what to buy and who to buy it from. That, alone, is one great reason to deliver a service experience that will create customer loyalty.
Add a bad economy to the mix and people are choosing to buy less and demanding more in the way of service.
A recent study done by Harris Interactive (and sponsored by Right Now), found that 87% of those surveyed stopped doing business with a company because of poor customer service. That statistic is up almost 20% from 2006, when it was 68%. Additionally, 84% will often tell others about their bad experience, and 22% will and have blogged about their bad customer experiences. (Up from 13% in 2007).
On the other side, 58% of those surveyed said they will often or always pay more for a better experience in a down economy. When recommending a company, 58% said outstanding customer service was more important than low price, and top quality products and services.
Truth is, we need those exceptional experiences more than ever. The news has been so bad lately, that we're worried, upset, depressed. Why wouldn't we want to frequent your restaurant, your store, your business if we're made to feel good while we're there? When you make people feel like they belong and you're glad to see them - in other words, you give them a red-carpet welcome - they want to come back - and they bring friends.
True, they may not spend as much today as they would have yesterday. However, the economy will turn around and when it does, you'll be ahead because of the experience you've been providing for your customers all along.
So while you, along with the rest of the country, may be declaring war on your company expenses - customer experience should NOT be one of the casualties.
Here's the good news! Courtesy costs nothing! Red-carpet service, when you get right down to it, is about making the customer in front of you feel important and special. Often the best customer experiences have nothing to do with money that was spent, and everything to do paying attention to your customer.
Here are 10 ABSOLUTELY or ALMOST FREE Red-Carpet Tips that, when consistently applied, will have your customers feeling as if they got The Celebrity Experience.
1. Make Eye Contact and Smile: Acknowledge your customers when they arrive. Think "red-carpet arrival!" You don't have to chase them around like paparazzi (as some commissioned sales people are prone to do) to make a person feel welcome. A simple smile and a warm greeting should do the trick. Sometimes, all a customer really needs to know is that you know they're there. If you've got a long line, a simple smile and "I'll be with you shortly" goes a long way.
Consider this: A woman walked into two similar businesses within the same week. At the first place, she was all but ignored. Although she was the only customer in the shop, no one even acknowledged that she was there. At the second place, she was greeted warmly at the door and, although she was allowed to enjoy her shopping without interference, she received a friendly hello from each employee who passed her.
Which store do you think she's likely to go back to?
2. Know and Use Your Customers' Names: When you consistently and sincerely remember and use the names of your customers, is when you start making them feel like "part of your club." Take the bank teller, Jerry, who not only knows his customers by name, but he knows their dogs' names as well! (The dogs know him too - he provides them with treats!) For each customer, a trip to the drive-through window feels like old home week - and a chance to catch up with Jerry.
Fireside Lodge, of South Lake Tahoe, CA boasts that their customer is "a guest for the first time, a friend for a lifetime." That's what it's all about!
3. Look Fabulous: If the Fashion Police showed up at your door right now, would you get a citation - or be arrested? First, take a look at yourself and your team. Is everyone who represents you well groomed, and dressed in a way that fits your brand? Now...take a look at physical property. Start with the rest- room. Stop reading this article right now and see what it looks like right now. Is it sending the message you want to communicate? What about the rest of the property? Include the 'back stage areas' in your survey.
Then, think about how behavior "looks." Two staff members complaining about another staff member in front of customers are not wearing the brand well!
Get your team committed to looking fabulous in every way, and you'll be ready when the fashion police - and your customers - come calling.
4. Anticipate the Details: True star treatment is about answering your customer's questions before they are asked, and anticipating and taking care of every little detail. Don't you just love the server in your favorite restaurant who has your big glass of ice tea, and favorite steak sauce on the table before you even sit down because she saw you come in? You probably tip her better too!
Star treatment is provided by John Wood, CEO of HUB Plumbing and Mechanical in Boston, MA when he realizes that people don't want to open their front door to strangers, and sends an email to every customer with a photograph of the plumber who'll be coming to their house.
Star treatment is provided by Donna Spears, Richmond, Indiana Realtor, when she greets her clients at the airport with freshly-baked cookies and bottles of water. Also, when she notices the lawn of her client's new home has been 'let-go' by the previous owner, and she arranges for it to be mowed before they ever arrive.
Star treatment is provided by Sherral Krytus, a manicurist and nail technician who works at Bleu Salon and Spa in Valrico, FL when she provides umbrellas for customers whenever it rains. Expensive? No. Yet - it's a little detail that people appreciate and remember.
If you work in a place where people are often asking for directions, take a tip from the housekeeping staff of the Gaylord Opryland Hotel and get to know those "lost" signals. When you see someone sending them out, don't wait for them to ask you - proactively offer to help.
5. Escort and Entertain: And while you're at it - don't point to where they need to go. Take them there. Yes, some people in some jobs in some positions can't do this. For instance, if you are a security guard who can't leave your post, you may have to learn to give excellent directions without actually taking the customer to their desired location. However, many times we point because we're choosing our own convenience over the customer.
Whenever possible, escort the customer to where they want to go, and engage them in friendly conversation along the way.
One hotel customer was floored when the desk attendant came out from behind the counter, escorted him to the elevator, and handed him her card. That kind of red-carpet service costs nothing - and it's priceless.
6. Own the Problem From Start to Finish: Is there anything more frustrating that having a question or problem and being bounced from one "customer service rep" to another? If you really want to WOW your customers, the next time one of them comes in with a problem, question, or complaint, stick with them until the problem is resolved. Don't send them somewhere else. Don't tell them you can't help them. Don't hide until they give up and go away. Do everything you can to resolve their problem. If you must send them to someone else who can help better, fine. However, stay involved in the process and follow up until you know the customer is happy.
If a mistake is made, own it, and do what you can to make it right. In fact, go above and beyond to not only resolve the issue, but to exceed your customer's expectations. Often times, the great customer service stories people share with their friends start with an error, that is rectified in an above and beyond manner by the service professional.
7. Maintain the 'Illusion of the First Time': Stage actors who have said the same lines, performed the same actions, and worked with the same co-stars throughout the rehearsal process and the run of the play, try to create 'the illusion of the first time' for each audience. The show is the same, but the audience has changed, and they deserve a fresh performance.
Within the context of your job, you may perform the same actions, say the same words, answer the same types of questions hour after hour, day after day. However, for your customer - your new "audience" - it's the very first time. They, too, deserve a fresh performance.
Hey, perhaps you could do your job in your sleep. That doesn't mean you have to. Choose, instead, to bring energy to your work, be present, and have a little fun! Your customer will be thankful and you'll find that your day will go by faster and you might just find a little joy in your job!
8. Say Thank You: These are two words that never go out of style! You can say them verbally, in a hand-written note, on the telephone, or put them on a cookie! Come up with as many creative ways to say thank you, and try a new one each day.
9. Solicit Feedback: Want to know how to give a better service experience? Ask the experts - your customers. The folks over at HUB Plumbing & Mechanical follow every service call up with a 5 question survey asking the customer about their experience. If the customer is unhappy, John Wood, CEO will call the customer himself to do whatever he can to make them happy. (See #6)
Ask your customers this after each visit: "What could we have done to make your experience with us even better?" When they answer, thank them, take notes and make changes.
10. Invite Them Back: You want them back, don't you? Invite them! Let them know how much you look forward to seeing them again. Say it out loud.
When they do come back, start over with #1! Use this down time to work on those red-carpet impressions. You'll build a reputation for treating your customers like stars that will last well into the next economic up-turn, and you might find yourself having more fun to boot!
Donna Cutting is the author of The Celebrity Experience: Insider Secrets to Delivering Red-Carpet Customer Service (Wiley, 2008), and the President and CEO of Donna Cutting Presents, Inc. She can be reached via her website at http://www.donnacutting.com.
Copyright, 2009, Donna Cutting. If you would like to reproduce this article, in it's entirety, in your online or print publication, you may do so if you include the bi-line above and the website for Donna Cutting Presents, Inc. Please send us a copy of the issue where the article appears via email or at PO Box 76461, St Petersburg, FL 33734.
Donna Cutting is the author of The Celebrity Experience: Insider Secrets to Delivering Red-Carpet Customer Service.
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