Category Archives: How to Deliver Customer Service

Mission Accomplished? Say So!

Posted on 30 April 2012 by | Leave a comment

President George W. Bush claimed credit for winning a war only just begun and Vice President Al Gore once famously claimed credit for inventing the internet.   Probably a good idea to do some fact-checking before opening one’s mouth, but claiming credit itself isn’t wrong.

In a previous post I wrote that claiming credit was an optional step in customer communications.  But it would have been more accurate to say that claiming credit is natural step as a company evolves.

At the start of a customer experience journey you may spend all your energy investing in delivering basic service.  At that juncture, claiming credit may well be an afterthought.  However, as Andy Sernovitz reminds us in a thought-provoking post, claiming credit helps change the WOM (word of mouth) dynamic.

Focusing on strengths and victories can also invigorate an entire ecosystem.

  • Employees – Imagine what a positive charge your customer service team would experience if they were reminded of happy customers.  It’s as basic as positive reinforcement vs. negative.  Positive momentum includes every department in the company.  Human Resources?  Sure.  It makes it easier to attract great talent.
  • Shareholders – Institutional and individual investors alike want to know that your company is doing things well and impressing customers.  First person testimonials are worth sharing!
  • Prospects and Customers – People want to be associated with success.  Positive WOM helps de-risk buying decisions and validate good choices.  Negative WOM gets out one way or another.

Now consider 2 alternatives to positive WOM:  silence OR negative press.  Neither is going to boost share price, energize employees or add loyal customers.

So I stand corrected, the pivot point is to make the most of your wins.  Make sure you’ve accomplished the mission… and then say so.  It’s important to point out your good work and to thank customers.  It is even more important to let your prospects, employees, and shareholders know the same thing.

→ Leave a comment

Posted in Best Practices, Customer Service, How to Deliver Customer Service

Tagged , , , ,

Free Support is Best Solution

Posted on 1 April 2012 by | Leave a comment

Free Support is Best Solution

As Dan Schaeffer stared at the small font on a mind-numbingly large spreadsheet he decided that Tuesday would be a lot like Monday.  Half way across the country, Steve Penderman looked at the top message in his inbox and reached a different conclusion – Tuesday was going to stink.

Earlier in the month Dan’s software company sent his customer Steve an invoice for annual maintenance fees.  Like other software companies around the world, Dan’s sent hundreds of invoices each day which charged fees to provide ongoing support.

Steve’s team depends on the software each day.  If it breaks or is configured incorrectly, his company loses millions in lost productivity.  The note Steve saw when he gazed into his inbox was an invoice from Schaeffer.

On most days the arrival of an invoice would start a pre-determined set of processes.  Steve’s team would analyze expenses, perform a competitive analysis, and make a business decision to see if they could satisfy the needs more cost effectively elsewhere.

Today however, the invoice presented a problem because their budget, finalized weeks ago, had not included the fees.  So Steve picked up the phone.

As Steve’s name popped onto the caller ID screen Dan groaned and thought “ugh, this guy works us over for concessions all year long and then nickels and dimes us each time we send an invoice.  Looks like today won’t be like yesterday after all.”

After complaining about the high price for a few minutes, Penderman finally came to the point.  “Your product doesn’t work and is basically useless,” said Steve.  “So you need to waive the annual fees as compensation.”

Dan replied “Steve, we can’t just waive fees, we use those to support you by hiring and training the people who answer inquiries, repair defects (bugs) and make product innovations.”

Unmoved, Steve indicated that the product was so bad that they hadn’t even budgeted the fees.  “Look Schaeffer,” said Steve, “the money just isn’t there.  Unless you waive the fees we’ll be forced to look to your competition for a replacement.”

How would you handle Steve’s predicament?  What about Dan’s?

(For the past few years, I’ve tried to come up with clever posts on April Fool’s day.  On occasion the posts have been convincing enough to vex those who care deeply about customer service.  This post has many elements of an April Fool’s day post, contains a deliberately facetious title and uses fictional characters to protect the innocent and the guilty.  Unfortunately, it is also true.)

What’s the pivot point?  Are you kidding me?  Any kid who has ever operated a lemonade stand can figure this one out.  If costs exceed revenues you may quench your thirst by making lemonade from lemons, but you’re bound to go hungry.  If you try this same model in business enough times you can expect to become acquainted with the term Chapter 7.  The pivot point is that free support is no solution.  While it may help Steve in the short term, Dan’s company will suffer and as it does, the support Steve receives “for free” will get worse and worse.

For fans of irony I include these points:

  • To create an environment where decisions are based on facts and free from the appearance (real or imagined) of quid pro quo Steve’s employee ethics guidelines prevent him from accepting anything (even something as trivial as a cup of coffee) from vendors.  Steve sees no conflict in asking for free support.
  • Steve’s company is, by all accounts, very successful and profitable.  They insist that their customers pay them.

→ Leave a comment

Posted in How to Deliver Customer Service, The Right Kind of Customer Service

Tagged , , , , , , , , ,

Urgency Without Direction is Chaos

Posted on 5 March 2012 by | Leave a comment

John P. Kotter’s book “A Sense of Urgency” provides four (4) tactics to jumpstart change in your organization.  However, the most compelling reason to read the book is to internalize the distinction between a true and a false sense of urgency.  One is high in activity; the other high in achievement.  One capitalizes on crises; the other is paralyzed by them.

Few would argue that accomplishing a goal quicker is bad.  After all, speed allows companies to exploit their advantages and minimize their weaknesses.  What good is innovation if you can’t get to market before your competitors?

The problems develop when casual practitioners confuse speed with true urgency.  That is, they spend more time and effort on the appearance of activity (false urgency) than they spend accomplishing initiatives which help the business move forward.

To leverage a sense of true urgency one must first develop a sense of direction.  Consider this scene between the Alice and the Cheshire Cat in Lewis Carroll’s “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.”

“Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?”

“That depends a good deal on where you want to get to,” said the Cat.

“I don’t much care where – ” said Alice.

“Then it doesn’t matter which way you go,” said the Cat.

“—so long as I get SOMEWHERE,” Alice added as an explanation.

“Oh, you’re sure to do that,” said the Cat, “if you only walk long enough.”

Many customer service teams suffer from such unguided initiatives.  They improve a meaningless metric or solve a trivial issue while the game-changers remain unsolved (or worse, unidentified).  Here are four ways to avoid false urgency.

Failing to tackle false urgency has serious repercussions to the long and short-term health of your business.  Ask yourself “how long can you afford to walk SOMEWHERE?” How many of your employees will follow you without knowing the destination?  And which of your investors (shareholders) will give you the latitude to stumble without direction?

The pivot point is that direction and urgency go hand in hand.  Direction without urgency yields no change.  Urgency without direction yields change without meaning.

Don’t end up like Alice walking aimlessly through life.  Get directions first.

→ Leave a comment

Posted in How to Deliver Customer Service

Tagged , , , , , , , ,