How to plan for conversations in service management?

1. The art of
conversation
management.
Service management for conversations.
© InSites Consulting
Polle de Maagt (@polledemaagt) for Heliview Conference Service Management
Conversation readiness 1

2. Hello. I am Polle de Maagt.
I failed in most things during my
life (including being a rock star) but am
still trying to reach #worlddomination.
This time by helping companies change
to be more about acts and
conversations, less about ads.
Guess that makes me a change agent.
© InSites Consulting
Conversation readiness 2

3. Managing expectations ...
I only have 25 minutes. That is not
enough time to change the world, but it
might be enough to change some of your
minds. If you have any questions or
ideas, just send me a message at
polle@insites.eu.

4. These are crazy times.
Twitter, Facebook, Foursquare, etc.
Social media this and that. The world is
changing bladibla.

5. But it’s not about being on Facebook. Or Twitter.
Yes, Twitter is huge. And Facebook even bigger. But they are both platforms, not end
goals. So it really is about if and how both can help you reach your end goal. Which is
most likely not about having a Facebook fan page and more about driving
conversations, customer retention, sales or brand value.

6. It’s not about being a big brand.
With big brands come big problems. Never look
for an excuse in just being a small company with
little budgets. When it comes to connecting with
consumers, real relationships work. And size, for
once, doesn’t matter.

7. And it certainly isn’t
about being the first
mover in adopting new
technology.
Mobile, augmented reality, location
based services are all just awesome.
And yes, there is PR-value in being the
first Augmented Reality bakery in your
neighborhood. But is that really what
you want your consumers to talk
about?

8. It’s about acts, not ads (and
certainly no fancy technology).
It is about doing things that people want
to pay extra for.
It is about doing things that are worth
sharing.
And building upon your unused
potential.

9. Doing things that people want to pay for: No hassle.
Really add value.

10. Doing things that are worth sharing: KLM Surprise.
In other words: what drives conversations, what travels through networks and
what helps us being an engaging brand online?

11. Building upon your unused potential: Il Giglio d’Oro.
The BEST service marketing case ever: Il Giglio d’Oro turned their Bed &
Breakfast into Italy’s #1 Bed & Breakfast.

12. Over-the-top-delivery
Makes negative conversations
Over-delivery
Makes positive conversations
Expectation Delivery
Gives no reason to talk
Under-delivery
Makes negative conversations
In the end, it’s all about managing expectations.
Under-promise, over-deliver in everything you do. Not only towards customers but
also to your colleagues.

13. Some businesses felt personal contact cost them money and
started callcenters and made it more difficult to contact them.
Some businesses started to reward their employees for speed, share of wallet and upselling, not
for service quality or service.

14. Over-the-top-delivery
Makes negative conversations
Over-delivery
Makes positive conversations
Expectation Delivery
Gives no reason to talk
Under-delivery
Makes negative conversations
How? Observe, facilitate and join conversations.
See what your customers are doing and learn from it, help them to talk about you and
actively engage in conversations.

15. Some businesses felt that helping individuals
didn’t make that much sense.
You might be surprised that 11% of all organizations doesn’t answer
customer emails. Even more when you know that exceeding customer
expectations builds loyalty (81% repeats, 63% recommends) and falling
below customer expectations erodes loyalty (5%/71%).
So start helping.

16. Some businesses
adopted fancy
technology to deal
with people.
Zappos does an amazing job in making
technology invisible and really
understanding consumers.
(Thanks Steven Verbruggen for the tip!)

17. Over-the-top-delivery
Makes negative conversations
Over-delivery
Makes positive conversations
Expectation Delivery
Gives no reason to talk
Under-delivery
Makes negative conversations
How? Observe, facilitate and join conversations.
See what your customers are doing and learn from it, help them to talk about you and
actively engage in conversations.

18. Remember this one?
The BEST service marketing case ever: Il Giglio d’Oro turned their Bed &
Breakfast into Italy’s #1 Bed & Breakfast.

19. Embed new ways of
measuring success.
Try measuring the Net Promoter
Score to see how likely it is that your
colleagues will recommend your
company.

20. With employees/consumers talking, it’s about stuff worth sharing.
Ambassadors just want to tell other, so help them! Choqoa support fans by giving
them chocolate bars and highlighting them in their newsletter.

21. Advocacy is the new retention is the new acquisition.

22. Act on your pot of gold.
Recognize both monetary and conversation value.

23. Over-the-top-delivery
Makes negative conversations
Over-delivery
Makes positive conversations
Expectation Delivery
Gives no reason to talk
Under-delivery
Makes negative conversations
How? Observe, facilitate and join conversations.
See what your customers are doing and learn from it, help them to talk about you and
actively engage in conversations.

24. KLM is 24/7 and realtime.
KLM helps customers Monday to Sunday from 8AM to 11PM. That
is almost a 24/7/365 realtime customer support center. Imagine the
implications for your organization.

25. Proactive versus reactive.
Decide on reactive versus proactive and marketing versus service.

26. Conversations work in every part
of the customer/consumer
journey.
See where you can make a difference.

27. Where conversations can make a difference.
Have a look at the consumer or customer journey: where do
conversations really make the difference in buying behavior?

28. Difficult? Yes. So, managing change.
Implementing conversations and consumer connect isn’t easy. Use different
change mechanisms to gradually change the organization.

29. You can forget most of the fluffy
things I told you in this
presentation.
But please, remember these 3 things.

30. 1) Do stuff worth paying for and
worth sharing.
Acts, not ads.

31. 2) Build upon your unused potential
and use conversations.
Recognize you have to change the way
you communicate. Commit acts, not ads.

32. 3) Listen. Facilitate. Join.
Repeat.

33. Read the manual.
Seriously.
Read it.

34. I hope I was worth sharing.
If so, spread the word.
Send me an email at polle@insites.eu
or find me on twitter at
@polledemaagt.
Find the presentation at
http://polle.me/heliview11