Customer Service: A Token of Appreciation Still Has Value

"We don't give away giveaways!"

That was an actual advertising line used by a local bank at a time
when giving away everything from matches to pens to small appliances
was common in financial marketing.

The point the bank was attempting to make was that their customer
service counted for more than giveaways.

The bank is no longer in business but giveaways of one kind or another
continue to be a part of business.

This is a roundabout way to answer a question posted this week.

Do premiums still have a place in business?

Call them what you will: chotchkies, premiums, promotional items, advertising apparel or giveaways.

You've probably got two or three in or on your desk. Go to a trade show or conference and you end up with a plastic bag (appropriately imprinted) full of giveaways.

So what has all this got to do with Customer Service?

Three things:

1. Customers want to be recognized
2. Customers like to be thanked
3. YOU want to remembered

Small tokens and remembrances still seem to address all three. Besides, everyone likes something for FREE.

No need to get carried away, but small useful or entertaining items, tastefully imprinted with your company logo, can provide simple recognition or an inexpensive "thank you" … while providing at least some means of continuing exposure.

But if you have some giveaways -- or decide to order some -- let your people use them. That's what they're for. Hoarding them in a closet does no one any good.

You still have to provide the same quality, price and level of service but sometimes even a small token will DELIGHT CUSTOMERS!

Customer Service Self Analysis: the "Stop Light" Approach

Management, Sales, Marketing and Customer Service all need to be on the same page when it comes to Customer Satisfaction.

Information needs to be:

• Timely
• Relevant
• Simple
  

No one wants or needs another meaninglessly complex account by account report.

While Customer Satisfaction Studies are essential and yield valuable insights, most managers want near time data on a continuing basis.

Customer Service Self Analysis can be simple if you use the Stop Light Approach. Everyone understands how a Stop Light works. Green means GO, Red means STOP and Yellow means CAUTION (okay, for some of us it means speed up).

So translate a Stop Light into a simple RED/GREEN/YELLOW report.

Use colored DOTS on an Excel spreadsheet to indicate the "Current Account Status". It's very easy to see at a glance the current level of satisfaction for all key accounts.

You can add more to the report, as you deem necessary.

Some suggestions:

• The colored DOT from the LAST report (to indicate any change)
• Current spending level vs. budget
• Comments for ANY Red or Yellow DOTS
• The name of Account , Sales or Management Executive responsible for the account (maybe all three).

While easy to create, the report does require management followup.

What is being done to resolve a Yellow or Red status?

Also be careful not to "kill the messenger." Operate in the best interest of the account, not in finger pointing mode. If anyone thinks there is a problem on an account, the concern should be aired in a positive and receptive atmosphere.

Implement this simple report and you'll find more ways to keep accounts GREEN and DELIGHT CUSTOMERS!

Customer Service and Social Media Now Inseparable

Just as much as Marketing and Sales, Social Media is a new, inseparable component of Customer Service.


Last Friday a recruiter called me for a recommendation and mentioned she had been to my Linked In listing and even visited this blog. Before speaking with me she already knew a great deal about both my professional career and my current thinking on a number of business issues.


She told me she that Social Media is become increasingly important in recruitment and that she "has to start Twittering". I encouraged her to start ... the sooner the better.


"Start now" is the advice I give everyone whose job it is to "stay connected" ... and who's isn't?


It reminds me of the advice given to me years ago by a friend's father, who happened to be an undertaker in a small Alabama community.


"Speak to everyone, be nice ... and you'll get them in the end," his father told us, tongue firmly in cheek.


Years before "Six Feet Under" on HBO, he understood that in his small world today's friend is tomorrow's customer.


What was true of a small community then is today true of whole industries and markets in an ever shrinking globe.


So what's a fella or gal to do?


Get connected, get social, become informed, follow people you respect (or just like) on Twitter. Follow blogs on broader issues effecting your industry.

Understand the Facebook Community and how it differs from MySpace. Check out the new tools on Google and Twitter. Update your listings on Linked In and Plaxo.

Customer Service managers, in particular, have a responsibility to discuss Social Media and support best practices.


Find out what's happening in Social Media and you are much better prepared to DELIGHT CUSTOMERS!