Customer service is the
new marketing
Thor Muller, CEO
Lane Becker, President

The expectations game
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QkyNtvNz3DQ

The sacred hospitality code

A drink before introductions

8 waitstaff per guest

This is a great approach to customer service

This is a great approach to customer service
But it doesn’t scale.

There’s more than one way to succeed in the
marketplace
Customer-focused Product-focused Operations-focused
Four Seasons, Zappos, Craigslist Apple, Google, most web Telecommunications, cable,
startups some widget companies?

The best way to deliver excellent
customer service is...
stop trying

Here’s what “trying” looks like...

Here’s what you end up
with
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BjSTTb_siCU

3% of US employed in related support roles
(That’s the population of Florida!)

It’s often worse for startups

The surprising solution

Secrets of the Concierge
1. Put conversations at the center of
the business
2. Reduce your sphere of control to
increase sphere of influence
1. Smash the silos

1
conversations at the
center of the business
“Markets are conversations”
-The Cluetrain Manifesto

Disconnected tools lead to customer
disconnection
Trouble
Contact FAQ Ticket Forum Wiki
page System
}
Disconnected support tools

Instead, use support tools on top of discussions
Trouble
Contact Ticket
page FAQ Forum Wiki
System
Conversations

“Customer interactions are our best
branding opportunities” Tony Hsieh, Zappos

Reduce support tasks while
increasing engagement
from 50% issues unresolved (with trouble ticket system and dedicated staff)
to 50% answered by other customers...

Timbuk2 customer service page

Timbuk2 customer service page

Embrace critics

Twitter’s responsiveness spawns evangelists

Twitter’s responsiveness spawns evangelists

Foster ideas wherever they come from

Dangers: the Digg Revolt

2
Reduce your sphere
of control
...to increase your sphere of influence

In your hands, but out of your control

Don’t create systems that place constraints on
customer interactions

Harness the natural flow of feedback

Stop building FAQs that break

Your story is your customers’ story

Danger: people are messy

The special role of company representative
Photo: Heather Champ

3
Smash the Silos
(Think like the network)

The “it’s not our problem” problem

A customer-centric view

Expose content for discovery

Nobody’s in charge anymore!

Dangers: Competition

So ask yourself:
What would a concierge do?