There are only three things to focus on in business:

1. Finding customers.
2. Keeping them happy.
3. Making money from the good value of your offer

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These last few weeks have been hectic ones.  Lots of big decisions, traveling….you know… busy.  I needed some outside services to get through it all and some of them have been quite frustrating. 

1. A travel agent poking around and then not booking the trip fast enough so it ended up costing me another 30%.  (Obviously I won’t be using them anymore)
   
   
2. A car rental company trying to charge more than the original quote.  (I’m done there as well)
   
   
3. A real estate agent who was always going to call back with information but never did.  I had to call them constantly.  (I confronted this issue and will give them another chance but would use someone else next time)

And on the home front:

1. A bank who made me wait another day to buy a money order for another modest amount because I wasn’t dealing with my own branch and no one knew me.  (A senior person called me on a Saturday morning to apologize – that was good.)  I have done many deals with this company over thirty five years and someone realized it.
   
   
2. A mechanic who was too busy to communicate how long I had to wait and then complained about how tough it is to make money.  (Good heavens!)
   
   
3. The largest TV/phone monopoly continued to bill me for a summer service at my cottage even though the service was suspended like it normally is.  (what an incredible waste of time but again, I am stuck with this overpriced monopoly for now.

Hey, I’ll bet you could make your own list if you thought about it.  How difficult it is to book airline tickets on-line, etc.?

Keeping customers happy, even in today’s very competitive, fragile, and tight markets is very difficult to do.  All the costly spin from the marketing and sales departments can’t keep us coming back if the service sucks. You and I have to constantly re-commit to making customers happy or our cost of sale will go up and our margins will go down. 

The commitment to making customers happy does not make it to the top of the priority list in many companies. Most are busy trying to increase sales and reducing costs.  If customer satisfaction is important at your company, here are some tips that will help you live your commitment to your customers.

• Building customer loyalty with gimmicks and come-ons isn’t as important as giving exceptional service, regardless of the economic downturns and the constant technological advances.
  
  
• Rather than surveying what customers liked or didn’t like after the fact, it is better to implement systems that track the customer's buying habits and be proactive about creating offerings that genuinely help the customer as much as they do you.
  
  
• Put the Blackberry down for a while and experience your own services.  Use your own products. See the reality from a customer’s perspective. As a friend and successful business owner once told me, “Never believe your own Kool-aid.”  Try being on hold for a long time or bounced around from department to department.  How’s the Kool-aid now??
  
  
• Quick, friendly, genuine responses to service failures and the opening and closing of transactions are the most critical. These are emotional times in customer service.  If your team gets these right, you can beat the competition.  Service is part of your total offering.  For example, direct flights from Buffalo or Niagara Falls to Florida can be cheap, but just try figuring out their website or calling them to book a flight.
  
  
• Build websites that give valuable information rather than simply a continual sales pitch about how great you are. You can build in features such as chat buttons, toll free numbers with quick response, e-mail buttons for a more personalized experience and give information without demanding visitors sign up on the site. As more and more business is done on the internet, don’t get lost in or over excited about technical advances. Use them, but put more emphasis on how to be more personal. What else can I do for you ‘Jerry?’ Send a note of appreciation or gift.  Always use a customer’s name, give them your, friendliness, and full attention. (put down that Blackberry again)  This is what really matters.
  
  
• Work on improving your offering.  Is it speed, price, personalized attention and relationship, or guaranteed return on investment?  Look at Amazon.  Basic services are offered repeatedly to eliminate frustrations in customer experience.  (One click purchasing, direct link to UPS, recommendation of other similar products, customer info and credit card is stored.)
  
  
• Regardless of your offering, make sure you put in place operational tools to support it. For example, someone to handle complaints well, follow up after the complaint, and ensuring that you have staff capacity.  Doesn’t it drive you crazy when you hear, “I’m the only here, can I get back to you?”  Have a problem-solving complaint resolution system in place.
  
• Hire and develop caring people who provide quick service and who do what they say they will do. Develop service standards, (never let the phone ring more than three times) spend 2% – 3% of your budget on training and development;  practicing clear communication; handling the emotional part of a complaint; (you can handle the complaint well and still turn off the complainer) and how not to be condescending and arrogant; (“Did you plug it in?” said the service rep from a large Hamilton electronic store after I gave them lots of money to install everything in my home) Record all problems and complaints into a file that can be reviewed and shared quarterly. We are supposed to learn from reality, so we can be inspired by our vision. And lastly, put in a ‘non-cheesy’ reward and recognition system for your people. Genuinely support your people for supporting and taking care of your customers.

You may have heard all of this before, but that really doesn’t matter.  We are not in school.  In our real world, we generally judge ourselves on our intentions and others by their actions. Our customers just experience our actions.  What is the most important action you can take this week to advance your customer service competitive advantage? Now schedule it and do it!