How Loyal Are Your Customers?

Suzanne Chambers Customer Care Manager • 30+ years experience in payroll • and accounting • Helped develop and currently leads the Customer Care Center for G&A Partners • CPP (Certified Payroll Professional) and is Customer Service Certified (CSC)

It Is Wise to Remember. . . That the average customer is: • Educated • Knowledgeable • Time Driven • Value-oriented • Opinionated • Skeptical

A solid service quality plan is as critical to a successful improvement effort as a good map is to a successful journey.

Present Situation of Customer Service Today. . . • Bad, and getting worse • Companies distancing themselves from customers • Companies train in terms of their “policy” • Employees care about self, not customers or company • Employees don’t see training as “for themselves,” rather as a pain in the butt and a “necessary evil” of the job. • Service people are not prepared to serve in a memorable way.

• Do not utter the words “our company policy” unless they are followed by “is to exceed your expectations.” Jeffrey Gitomer

The Challenge for the 21 st Century is Not Just Serving Customers. . .

• It’s understanding customers • It’s being prepared to serve customers • It’s helping an angry customer immediately • It’s asking customers for information • It’s listening to customers • It’s being responsible for your actions when a customer calls • It’s living up to your commitments • It’s being memorable • It’s surprising customers • It’s striving to keep customers for life • It’s getting unsolicited referrals from customers. . .regularly!

These Days Customers are. . . • Smarter • Leaner • Price conscious • Lower morale (downsized) • Hit on more by competitors

• More demanding • Less forgiving • Harder to satisfy • Less loyal

Companies can boost profits anywhere from 24—125% by merely retaining 5% more existing customers. A 2% increase in customer retention has the same effect on profits as cutting cost by 10%.

??????????? ? What prompts you to more often return to a particular store or business rather than “shop around?’

NEWS FLASH! • According to John Franco, former president of Xerox Learning Systems, 8 of the top 10 reasons customers give for buying a specific product or service have to do with the delivery of customer service. Things like responsiveness, technical knowledge or skill, & professional attitude. • British Airways’ found that friendly staff was twice as important as operational factors, like food service and speed of check-in, for generating goodwill with their customers. • The Strategic Planning Institute found that companies considered to be service leaders can charge 10% more for their products or service than average companies. They also tend to grow twice as fast and are 10 times more profitable. • A Forum Corporation study found that 7 out of 10 customers said they left a business because of poor service—not price or quality.

• Answer from Sales People? – “Because prices were too high.” • Answer from Customers? – Only 9% even mentioned price. – 68% said it was because of indifferent treatment by an employee. More than 50% of customers rank the service they receive as “only fair” or “poor.”

It takes twelve positive actions to get rid of one negative experience.

Just What Is Quality Service to the Customer? • What makes it distinctive? When it comes to defining quality service the only perception that really counts is the customer’s, because it’s the only one that will determine their decisions— their decision on whether to continue to do business with you or not.

CUSTOMERS • Satisfied Customers • LOYAL customers Will Shop Anyplace will fight before they switch.

• AND they will proactively refer people to buy from you.

What is a Satisfied Customer? • One that felt okay about dealing with you. • Their needs were met. • The product was okay. • The service was okay. • The experience was okay. • They are satisfied (happy) with their purchase. • They may or may not talk about the experience. • They may or may not refer someone to you. • Their overall feeling about you is between neutral and positive, and their experiences with you have not been negative. • Not bad—but not great.

What is a Loyal Customer? • One who feels GREAT about dealing with you. • Their needs were met and/or exceeded. • Your delivery was GREAT. • The service was GREAT. • The experience was GREAT. • They are ecstatic with their purchase. • They will proactively talk about the experience. • They will proactively refer someone to you. • Their overall feeling about you is wonderful and their experiences with you have been memorable. • WOW!

Loyal Is. . . . . .unyielding . . .unrelenting . . .ever faithful . . .true to the end

How Do You Get to “Loyal” in the Relationships with Your Clients? • Apply the principles that build loyalty in every other aspect of your life. • Loyalty is more delicate with customers because there is a balance of money and value. • Loyalty is not just granted—it is an earned distinction.

Loyalty is. . . • The highest mark • Success • Solid gold • Golden business • Your golden opportunity to win by earning it from others

Who is the Most Important Person in the World? • The problem is when you are speaking with a customer they think THEY are the most important person in the world—and your job is to treat them that way—but you do not. • You say. . . – The person who takes care of that is on vacation for a week. – We are out of stock, and I do not know when we will have more. – I am sorry, this is the best we can do. – That is not my job. – I do not care how you got it before—this is the way we do it now. – I do not have to take this. – (computer voice) Your call will be answered in the order in which it was received. – I am either on my phone or away from my desk. – Our policy says. . .

“The customer only wants two things—show me you care about me personally, and tell me what you’re going to do for me now (help me, please).” Jeffrey Gitomer

The Fortune Being Made in Service—and the Fortune Being Lost. • “We have a 97.5% customer satisfaction rating!” • That means 2.5% of your customers are mad and they are telling everyone. • 97.5% of your customers will shop anyplace the next time they go to market for your product or service.

Loyalty. What Is It? How Do You Get It? • By giving it first. • The more loyal you show someone you are, the more likely they are to be loyal back to you. • Compare to the institution of marriage—the reason most marriages fail in the loyalty factor is that the other person in the marriage fails to continue to earn the loyalty. • Loyalty does not disappear all at once. It erodes day by day. The same way you can continue to build it day by day.

What actions do you take each day in order to be able to keep your spouse or your customer in the category of loyal? How are you earning loyalty?

Let’s Define Your Customers. . . • Overbearing • Demanding • Cheap • Past Due • Back Stabbing • Wolf Crying • Disloyal • Lying • One more thing. . .

PAYCHECK! • The owners of your companies do not pay you. They are just a conduit for funds. The customer pays you. The owners just sign the checks for money put in the bank by customers. It’s not your boss you need to be afraid to make angry...it’s your customer.

JustTryThis. . . • Here’s a way to ensure you understand who the customer is. Every time you lose a customer, and he stops doing business with your company—the net result from the loss of revenue is. . . your kids eat less!

YOU’RE FIRED! BY THE REAL BOSS—YOUR CUSTOMER.

15 Reasons Why Customers Fire You: 1. Showing no genuine or personal interest. 2. Poor response. 3. Unavailability (people or product). 4. Hard to do business or order. 5. Unfriendly person on the front line. 6. Poor or rude collection practices. 7. Over-promising. 8. Inadequate capability to handle the customer’s problem.

15 Reasons Why Customers Fire You: 9. Too eager to do more business. 10. Poor professional package or image. 11. Dumb excuses about why you “can’t.” 12. Nickel and dime-ing. 13. Poor product quality. 14. Poor service delivery. 15. Poor training.

Why Customers Get Upset: • They did not get what was promised • Someone in your organization was rude to them • They perceived an attitude of indifference • No one LISTENED

Customers Want You To: • LISTEN • Take responsibility and ownership • Pay attention to the details • Remember it is their time and money!

Customers Like. . . • Value • Tangibility • Communication • Assurance • Attitude • Empathy • Reliability • Exceptional Service

Two Questions. . . • What are you doing to build loyalty and ensure repeat purchases? • Are your customers resigning or resigning?

• You do not even have to go the “extra mile”—sometimes an “extra inch” will do. The value-added inch. The inch that can make a big difference.

8 Advantages of Great Service 1. It is free. 2. It builds goodwill. 3. It builds customer loyalty. 4. It creates memorable experiences that will be retold time after time. 5. It makes your customers salespeople for your business. 6. It leads to referred business. 7. It makes it harder (impossible) for competitors to steal away customers—even at a lower price. 8. It creates a clear distinction between two companies engaged in the same business. AND people will tell others!

. . .The only trouble is the customer makes up the rules and decides whether or not you get to keep playing.”

Customer Care Tip 30% of people shopping for a new product or service will hang up and go elsewhere if their call is answered by automation.

Customer Care Tip Imagine you are being called by your best friend (you are).

Customer Care Tip What you say is far less important than how you say it.

Customer Care Tip Listen through your customer’s ears.

Customer Care Tip “People will believe what they see before they believe what they hear.” » BERT DECKER, HIGH IMPACT COMMUNICATIONS

Customer Care Tip “It costs 5-6 times more to gain a new customer than to retain an old one.” » THE POWER OF CUSTOMER SERVICE

Customer Care Tip If you’re right, there’s no reason to lose your temper; if you’re not, you can’t afford to!

Customer Care Tip Polices should never surprise or inconvenience a customer.

Customer Care Tip Customers are like a box of chocolates . . .you never know what you’re going to get, so enjoy each one.

Customer Care Tip Customizing shows people you really care about them, and it virtually eliminates your competition.

Customer Care Tip Customers. . . . . .Are the most important people who will ever be in this office. . . .Are those special VIPs who call on the phone. . . .Are not interruptions of our work. . .they are the reason for it. . . .Are individuals with names and feelings. . . .Are not people I argue with. . . .Are the reasons I have a job. . . .Are not always right, but they are always. . . THE CUSTOMER

Customer Care Tip “Imagine that every customer is wearing an invisible sign that says: ‘Make me feel important.’” Mary Kay

Customer Care Tip People hope for friendly, but rarely get it. You can capture business with friendship gestures. . . You can lose business without them.

Customer Care Tip Everyone has a complaint department, but no one has a praise department. Why not open up a praise, problems, and information department?

Astounding Customer Service is like a Fitness Program. . . • Time • Repetition • Consistent message • Reinforcement GREAT Customer Service does not just happen!

Question & Answer For More Information: Suzanne Chambers G&A Partners 4801 Woodway, Suite 210 Houston, Texas 77056 (713) 235-8201 www.gnapartners.com schambers@gnapartners.com

How Loyal Are Your Customers? - webinar

by G&A Partners on Dec 10, 2009

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How Loyal Are Your Customers? - webinar — Presentation Transcript