LASTING IMPRESSIONS: Raiders of the “Lost Art”

Lasting Impressions with Sian Lindemann

Of Customer Service… and Lack of Personal Attention


Have you recently tried to contact a company to make an inquiry about your account ? Have you been placed on hold for an inordinate amount of time?

Have you been redirected to 14 other contact points only to discover that your particular question is not addressed in “the list?”

There is much to be said for the Art of Customer Service as an “engagement” consideration. While we are often excited and ready to help a new customer access our service base, how one handles the “problems” or the ongoing “client retention” is quite another topic.

I have had the pleasure to experience the best of service with current companies and I’ve encountered the opposite. And I believe, as perhaps we all do, that there needs to be some balance between the two.

In my personal experience, on the nature of the art business, there definitively needs to be considerable attention to customer satisfaction, with a long term exchange, not unlike a “personal” relationship one would have with a romantic partner.

Consideration and delicacy in an art acquisition, it is essential to deal directly with the same emotional triggers of “love,” and its vulnerabilities.

Customer service is by definition the relationship that ensues once the purchase has been made. The best example I’ve experienced over the last several years is the personal exchange I’ve had with the automobile company, Hyundai.

I purchased my car in Washington State and subsequently have required service is five different states since its acquisition: Washington, Arizona, (two locations in Arizona ) Wisconsin, and Colorado.

Bar none, the service in each location was above and beyond the best personal experience I have ever encountered. Not just about the car being serviced, but also the attention to my time, payment, and ongoing notifications and support. Hyundai, no matter the location, has been consistent throughout with the best and most generous support, going well above the call of duty in all of the locations. Their service would insure that I would buy from Hyundai again, and have actually looked into doing so.

Additionally, the follow up regarding the option for a secondary sale is spectacular.

They have my loyalty, and have for over nine years.

There is no need to define “bad” service as I’m sure we’ve all had an experience of it at some point in time. But what in particular would be an extra mile you could offer as a means and method to support your customer to consistently choose your company and service base first… should be positioned as the highest priority.

There is surely no need to go into those situations which have been less than exceptional as we all know what that feels like. So in keeping with the “romantic nature” of an art sale what could you do to make your client continue to feel exceptionally well cared for?

It can be as simple as the little gestures that you would naturally impart to a romantic partner that make one feel extremely special.

The List

1) Invite your clients to participate in something that is light, friendly and is not a constant request for a sale. ~ Hey what a concept ~ A friendly phone call!

2) An occasional card, birthday card, special event card as a wedding anniversary or anniversary of one’s last purchase, to discover how they are enjoying the original painting or other object d’art they have received.

3) A small gift sent directly to your client’s door. I rarely ever receive real mail other than bills, so how much fun would it be to receive the gift of a “hand painted” greeting card, or the like, to be used at the customer’s discretion, sent directly to the client’s home as a reminder of how much you appreciate their business.

4) An invitation to lunch, dinner or a wine tasting that has nothing to do with another art sale.

These may seem simple actions. Yet in such a harried and rushed environment in the business world, we seem to have lost these intrinsic niceties that make the other party feel great. The client may not take you up on your offer, but the thought and consideration to have extended the invitation will not go unnoticed.

In parting ~ I once ran the office ~ now many, many years ago ~ for a freight logistics company. It was a horrifically busy business, with many problems due to freight damage, late arrivals of major shipping and truck lines, and a plethora of problems. Yet with all of the problems, we implemented a variety of services that literally quadrupled the company’s business, and were specific to beefing up the “customer service.”

1) We implemented services that included that WE handled all the claims for freight damage incurred by the trucking lines. An occasional pizza and beer for the whole shipping and claims office assured our claims got first consideration for payment.

2) We called and chatted with the claims supervisors, truck drivers, and the end receiving offices for all companies involved.

3) We provided the best pricing we could find by building our access and database for private and company-based shipping services.

4) We provided solutions for consideration of repackaging product to minimize damage.

5) We had fun doing so!

These may seem simple solutions. But where art and beauty go together so too does a well timed delivery of a single flower delivered impeccably to the recipients door.

Take the time to treat your clients like royalty. and you will create a magnificent and spectacularly loyal fan base. Most importantly, in these times where the “personal” seems to have gone out the window with the wild wild west of the Internet, make sure that your communications are personal, beautifully executed and well constructed.

Wishing you continued success in your career !

Sian Lindemann
February 2010


For more information, please visit Sian's TNNW Bio.

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LASTING IMPRESSIONS: Raiders of the “Lost Art”

THE RETENTION FACTOR: Do You Know What That Call Costs You?

The Retention Factor with Rosanne D'Ausilio, Ph.D.

Do you know what a bad call experience costs you? More specifically,

Here are 3 questions for you:

1. What is the cost of defection for your company?
2. Do you know what percentage of your callers have a bad experience?
3. Do you know the dollar amount attached to that bad call experience?

If you don’t, I suggest you find out. Even if you are guesstimating, this will at least give you an idea. I think you’ll be surprised--perhaps even amazed at the cost.

Here’s an example where we’ll use a call center that has:

200 agents

100 calls per day per agent

5% bad customer experiences

$50 customer revenue per sale

Now let’s do the math:

100 calls per day per agent

x 5% percentage of bad call experiences

5 bad calls per agent

200 agents

1000 bad experiences per day

240 days yr (20 days a month x 12)

240,000 annually (bad call experiences)

$50 customer revenue per sale

$12,000,000 million in lost revenue!

Many companies I’m familiar with have a much higher revenue per sale. I’m only using $50 here as an arbitrary example so you can see the impact. And this example used 5% as the percentage of bad customer experiences.

Plug in your numbers and see what your own true bottom line is in lost revenue.

The good news is that with just 1% improvement you can see recovered revenue. Using the same example:

240,000 bad call experiences annually

x 1% improvement

2,400 additional customers

$50 customer revenue per sale

$120,000 recovered revenue

What’s your fastest path to recovery? What’s a proven way to improve your customer service?

We say: Invest in your people. The better care you take of your employees, the better care they’ll take of your customers.

Train them, re-train them, and provide refresher courses that are strong in communication skills. But not just any kind of training. Be sure it’s customized to your applications, your issues, your challenges, and your customers so that you are hitting the nail on the head. It should be robust, highly interactive, with role playing of scenarios provided by your people, not off the shelf hit or miss topics.

An article I recently read put soft skills at 20% of training programs. While 20% is certainly better than nothing it’s not nearly enough.

Why?

Three reasons come to mind immediately:

1. Because today’s customer is more sophisticated and requires skills not previously exercised. They have the power to choose who they will work with and what mode of communication works best for them.
2. Because I believe that it’s in the space of communication relationships are formed, trust is established, and issues, complaints, problems are solved or resolved. Otherwise we could all use self service.
3. When there is something more complex or complicated, we need to speak to a human. At this point it’s usually an accelerated call. That human need requires tools and techniques to engage and delight that customer---otherwise the customer is going to your competition.

Hardware and software support people, they don’t replace them! People make the difference.

ROSANNE D'AUSILIO, Ph.D., an industrial psychologist, consultant, master trainer, best selling author, executive coach, customer service expert, and President of Human Technologies Global, Inc., specializes in human performance management. Over the last 25 years, she has provided needs analyses, instructional design, and customized, live customer service skills trainings as well as executive/leadership coaching. Also offered is agent and facilitator university certification through Purdue University’s Center for Customer Driven Quality.

Known as 'the practical champion of the human,' she authors best sellers “Wake Up Your Call Center: Humanize Your Interaction Hub,” 4^th ed, “Customer Service and the Human Experience,” “Lay Your Cards on the Table: 52 Ways to Stack Your Personal Deck (includes a 32-card deck of cards)—motivational and inspirational readings, How to Kick Your Customer Service Up A Notch: 101 Insider Tips , How to Kick Your Customer Service Up A Notch: ANOTHER 101 Insider Tips (http://www.customer-service-expert.com), and The Expert’s Guide to Customer Service (http://www.customer-service-expert.com/report.htm) as well as her popular complimentary ‘tips’ newsletter on How To Kick Your Customer Service Up A Notch! at http://www.HumanTechTips.com

Rosanne is also a Certified Call Center Benchmarking Auditor through Purdue University's Center for Customer Driven Quality. This certification training focuses on the access and use of key performance data to help better understand benchmarking results so as to advise on practical solutions for improvement.

For 10 years prior to starting her own organization, Rosanne had responsibility for marketing, budgeting, promoting and ultimately producing domestic and international computerized trade shows in the US, London, Belgium, and Frankfurt. She inaugurated, created, trained and directed a telemarketing on-site staff and was one of the first 150 people to attain CMP (Certified Meeting Professional) certification.

She is a columnist for TMCnet.com, Ask the Expert at supportindustry.com and The National Networker.. She represents the human element on the Advisory Board of an Italian software company, authors numerous articles for industry newsletters, and is a much sought after dynamic, vibrant, internationally prominent keynote speaker.

For more information, please visit Rosanne's TNNW Bio.





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THE RETENTION FACTOR: Do You Know What That Call Costs You?

THE RETENTION FACTOR: The (Sad) State of Customer Service Today

The Retention Factor with Rosanne D'Ausilio

The state of customer service today is not good--to put it mildly--be it over the phone or using self service. Because 92% of people (BenchmarkPortal study) feel their call experience is important in shaping the image of a company, it reinforces the importance of branding the image of your company.

A recent survey* reports that the cost of customer service in 15 major industrialized economies causes businesses to lose a total of $338.5 billion per year when customers defect and/or abandon purchases.

Hardest hit industries include financial services, cable and satellite TV providers, and a variety of telecommunications companies. The average value of each lost relationship across all countries surveyed is $243 per year.

Why did customers leave according to this survey?

1. Being trapped in automated service
2. Being forced to wait too long for service
3. Repeating themselves (a pet peeve of mine)
4. Representatives that lack the skills to answer their inquiry

In other words, poor customer service.

When asked to identify what makes the biggest difference in improving satisfaction, these four were the responses:

1. Competency
2. Convenience
3. Proactive engagement
4. Personalization

Is any of the above new? I don’t think so. However, this survey seems to be the first large scale attempt to put an economic value on lost revenues from customer service across channels.

And it’s actually quite simple and basic to attain great customer service, but as years of surveys and customer service statistics reflect, it’s not easy to accomplish.

We believe strategies for success for world class customer service should include:

• Respond promptly
• Handle requests through the customers’ choice of medium
• Be brief and clear
• Reduce back and forth communications (especially in writing, i.e., email, kick it up to a phone call if it goes beyond two emails)
• Personalized service
• Delight the customer

What do we mean by delighting the customer?

• Inform and educate them
• Establish your expertise and professionalism
• Offer options
• Diffuse upset, anger, when and if necessary
• Escalate, if required
• Take Ownership of the call

Hire for attitude, teach aptitude.

ROSANNE D'AUSILIO, Ph.D., an industrial psychologist, consultant, master trainer, best selling author, executive coach, customer service expert, and President of Human Technologies Global, Inc., specializes in human performance management. Over the last 25 years, she has provided needs analyses, instructional design, and customized, live customer service skills trainings as well as executive/leadership coaching. Also offered is agent and facilitator university certification through Purdue University’s Center for Customer Driven Quality.

Known as 'the practical champion of the human,' she authors best sellers “Wake Up Your Call Center: Humanize Your Interaction Hub,” 4^th ed, “Customer Service and the Human Experience,” “Lay Your Cards on the Table: 52 Ways to Stack Your Personal Deck (includes a 32-card deck of cards)—motivational and inspirational readings, How to Kick Your Customer Service Up A Notch: 101 Insider Tips , How to Kick Your Customer Service Up A Notch: ANOTHER 101 Insider Tips (http://www.customer-service-expert.com), and The Expert’s Guide to Customer Service (http://www.customer-service-expert.com/report.htm) as well as her popular complimentary ‘tips’ newsletter on How To Kick Your Customer Service Up A Notch! at http://www.HumanTechTips.com

Rosanne is also a Certified Call Center Benchmarking Auditor through Purdue University's Center for Customer Driven Quality. This certification training focuses on the access and use of key performance data to help better understand benchmarking results so as to advise on practical solutions for improvement.

For 10 years prior to starting her own organization, Rosanne had responsibility for marketing, budgeting, promoting and ultimately producing domestic and international computerized trade shows in the US, London, Belgium, and Frankfurt. She inaugurated, created, trained and directed a telemarketing on-site staff and was one of the first 150 people to attain CMP (Certified Meeting Professional) certification.

She is a columnist for TMCnet.com and Ask the Expert at supportindustry.com. She represents the human element on the Advisory Board of an Italian software company, authors numerous articles for industry newsletters, and is a much sought after dynamic, vibrant, internationally prominent keynote speaker.

*The Cost of Poor Customer Service: The Economic Impact of the Customer Experience and Engagement - sponsored by Genesys Telecommunications Laboratories an Datamonitor/Ovum.

For more information, please visit Rosanne's TNNW Bio.

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THE RETENTION FACTOR: The (Sad) State of Customer Service Today

THE RETENTION FACTOR: What is Great Customer Service?

The Retention Factor with Rosanne D'Ausilio, Ph.D.

In the past I’ve written about my experiences with various organizations and their extraordinary customer service.

However, in order to discuss customer service, here’s the definition I use: Customer service is those activities provided by a company's employees that enhance the ability of a customer to realize the full potential value of a product or service before and after the sale is made, thereby leading to satisfaction and repurchase.

Today I want to write about the hotel industry, specifically luxury lodging by Ritz-Carlton. They are the only service company in America that has won the Malcolm Baldridge National Quality Award twice, and Training Magazine has called it the best company in the nation for employee training.

They focus on three fundamentals:

1. Location – making sure they have the absolute best location
2. Product – the right physical product, i.e., the rooms
3. People – their motto is “We are ladies and gentlemen serving ladies and gentlemen

How do they carry it out?

Every day they have a ‘lineup’ where for approximately 15 minutes all employees are together. Shared are ‘wow stories’ great things that their ladies and gentlemen have done. This is a great training, learning, and communication tool.

In our trainings, we call these ‘clearing meetings’ where we want you to offload whatever is on your mind so that you are 100% present to what is in front of you, a customer, potential or current, a co-worker, direct report, family member, significant other, etc. We know when someone isn’t giving us 100% and we don’t like it – and so does everyone else know and feel that way.

By having clearing meetings, everyone is being responsible for taking care of business, and whatever is on their mind can be handled outside of business hours. It could be that prior to arriving at work the dog ran away, a child forgot his or her lunch or missed the bus, someone was going 35 miles per hour in the left lane on the highway, and s6 you could arrive at work with all this ‘stuff’ in your head. Offloading it is the purpose of a clearing meeting.

Ritz-Carlton also empowers their employees to spend up to $2000 on a guest—not per year, but per incident. Interesting enough, it doesn’t get used much and as interesting, it isn’t about there being a problem. Examples are instances where someone learns it’s a guest’s birthday and there is champagne and cake in the room. If it’s over $2000 it requires a manager’s approval, and usually gets it.

Their culture is built on trust, from the top down. The feet definitely go where the mouth goes. In other words, they walk their talk.

As the preamble to the US Constitution says, “We, the people.” I believe ‘we the people’ are who make the difference. It’s certainly the case at Ritz Carlton.

For more about Rosanne please see her TNNW Bio





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THE RETENTION FACTOR: What is Great Customer Service?

MAKING IT WORK: Networking and Customer Service Go Hand In Hand

Making It Work with Bruce Newman

I was at McDonald’s of all places (note: I hate McDonald’s), but my daughter wanted to go there, when I had a revelation. My daughter ordered a McFlurry ice cream while I contemplated a much cheaper and lower caloric small cone. Because of the cost and size of the McFlurry, I decided to make that my only purchase. The cashier, however, took note of my interest in the cone and gave me a free small cone anyway. Think about this. McDonald’s did not make an extra sale and it cost them a few cents to give me the free cone. But in that one simple action, they altered my perception of them.

And this made me ask, what do we really need to do to stand out to our prospects and clients?

Companies spend many millions of dollars to brand themselves so we, as the customer (or client), perceive them in a certain manner and yet, by one simple action, a cashier had accomplished more than had McDonald’s entire advertising campaign.

My wife likes shopping at Stew Leonards, an extremely popular and successful chain of four large supermarkets in New York and Connecticut. One of the things she really likes are the free samples they give out while you walk through the store. Not only does it – very successfully - induce her to buy new products, but it also enhances the experience of shopping at their store. This is even more valuable for it is this feeling of goodwill and trust that enables Stew’s to be so successful. Have something to return? No problem. They’ll take it back and refund your money plus an extra dollar – no questions asked.

Stew’s stands out because of the way they treat their customers and the benefits they literally proffer.

A client of mine was recently having a problem with an expensive piece of software. We couldn’t solve the problem because of the software’s internal design and the company that developed it was uninterested in helping us. Instead, we found another company that was willing to modify their existing software to provide the functionality we required. We have since done additional work with that company.

A company that helped us meet our client’s needs – largely at their own expense - stood out and received additional business as a result.

The question: What do you need to do to stand out before your clients and prospects? (Think about this before you answer it.) If your answer is: better customer service, more knowledgeable personnel, or any generalization like that, then you need to rethink your value proposition about what makes you unique.

Here’s a final example. I make a non-technical product called PC Mirror and have sold tens of thousands of them to both small business and Fortune 500 companies. Simply put, it’s a well-engineered mirror with a hinge that attaches to any computer monitor. Each mirror is individually packaged in a 4mm polybag (i.e. thick plastic bag). The company where I had bought the bags went out of business so I contacted several other companies for samples. Only two of them followed after sending the samples. When I called back the first company, the salesperson I had dealt with was out and no one had any idea what they had sent me. When I called back the second company, a different salesperson also picked up the phone and said, “Hello, Mr. Newman. How did you like the polybag samples?” They got my business despite being slightly more expensive. (I received my order one day after making the purchase.) On a side note, if your company does not use a CRM (customer relationship management) system, you might want to consider it.

In all these examples, you can readily discern which action(s) makes these companies stand out. Think about your life every day. Focus on a few things that stand out and why they stand out. Make a list of the reasons. You’ll be amazed with what you come up with. Then, apply that thinking to your business – and your networking.

It’s much easier to be a successful networker if your product or service stands out in some noticeable manner that you can readily explain to your target audience. Knowing this will help ensure that your networking and support go hand-in-hand and that you have a happy and growing customer base.

Bruce Newman, an expert on consulting, is a columnist for The National Networker and the Vice President at The Productivity Institute, LLC. Speak to us about our nine years of success stories increasing clients’ productivity and profitability. Imagine how even a 1% improvement in your bottom line can aid your financial flexibility. How can we help you? Just contact us. P.S. We also bathe dogs. Subscribe to our informative and free newsletter (circ 7,500+) and read our blog. Bruce can be contacted at bnewman@prodinst.com.

For more information, please visit Bruce's TNNW Bio.

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MAKING IT WORK: Networking and Customer Service Go Hand In Hand

U.S. MID-ATLANTIC: The Power of Good Customer Service

by Bruce Newman

U.S. Mid-Atlantic Bureau Chief
(New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, Washington, DC)

Customer service should always be considered an important part of networking. No longer is it realistic to gain (or retain) a client solely through successful networking. I have seen too many instances when companies have worked very hard to land new clients, only to let them fritter away through poor customer service and inattentiveness.

Recently, one of our clients required a substitute for Crystal Enterprise, a very expensive software program (exceeding well beyond $15,000). Since they didn’t require most of its functionality, they did not want to incur its expense and overhead. As such, we looked into many alternatives.

We spoke with numerous companies, downloaded several programs and extensively tested their functionality – all of which took a considerable amount of time. Most notably, our efforts were largely futile, resulting in much frustration by both the client and ourselves.

After weeks of searching, we found Origin Software from a Google advertisement – proof that advertising does work. We loaded their system, extensively tested it – and it also didn’t do what we wanted. However, as a result of our frequent communications, they implemented the changes we needed in their software - which could also help their current and future clients. We worked closely with them, testing each new release as it appeared.

As of this writing, they are working on and nearing completion of this product which we expect to be able to present to our client in the very near future.

What was accomplished by this endeavor?

* We will have a happy client.
* Origin Software made a sale.
* Good communication was essential for a successful outcome.
* A long term relationship was built.

We didn’t find Origin Software through networking - the vehicle was advertising. They could have been non-responsive or uncommunicative. Instead, they listened to us and worked us. As a result, we will work with them again and network for them. (Hopefully, they will also network for us.) A high degree of trust was constructed.

The lessons here are very simple:

Whenever you are speaking with a prospect, the ability to convert them into a loyal customer – and then retain them - depends on your ability to consistently listen and communicate.

Furthermore, if you want them to tout your expertise (i.e. communicate and NETWORK), always be ready to support them and do an outstanding job.

Too many people in the networking arena forget these crucial tasks and instead, merely collect business cards and followers without providing the real value that companies require.


Bruce Newman, an expert on consulting, is the mid-Atlantic editor for The National Networker and Vice President at The Productivity Institute, LLC. The Productivity Institute has provided consultant and client-centered solutions that significantly increase productivity and profitability to small and mid-sized companies since 2000. P.S. We also walk dogs. Subscribe to our informative and free newsletter (circ 7,000+). Bruce can be contacted at bnewman@prodinst.com.

For more information, please visit Bruce's TNNW Bio.

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U.S. MID-ATLANTIC: The Power of Good Customer Service

SALES AND MARKETING: Playing To Win -- Baseball CEO Shares Secrets of Success

Sales and Marketing with Bill Doerr


Bill's section is brought to you by qAlias

Earlier this month, I had the pleasure of being present when Bill Dowling, President and CEO of The New Britain Rock Cats, the Double A affiliate of The Minnesota Twins shared his perspective on what's made his operation the most successful franchise in the Eastern League.

Bill Dowling, is no stranger to baseball. Prior to becoming the head of The New Britain Rock Cats, he was the Executive Vice President of The New York Yankees and reported directly to George Steinbrenner, III. Bill's career is extensive and as varied as it gets. A graduate of Columbia University and Boston College Law School, he was an Assistant District Attorney in Manhattan and later served as Chief of The New York State Attorney General's Criminal Division for several years. Then he joined the Yankees organization and still practices law in New York City.

Bill spoke to a small group of business people who are members of Our Breakfast Club, a business organization I belong to, as well.

Because Peaches Quinn, Co-Founder of Our Breakfast Club is an old friend of Bill Dowling's, he agreed to share his perspective on what it takes to 'do well in not-so-good times'.

Here's what I took away from the pearls of wisdom that Bill shared with us . . .

"We're not in the baseball business"

The previous owner of the franchise was in the baseball business. He ran a baseball team that fed the major league teams with up-and-coming talent. That model worked once. But it wasn't working in a small town (New Britain, CT) that's seen the economic boom of the 90's go bust and the previous franchise owner was floundering.

But Dowling understood that every business needs to be what it's customer wants. So if it wasn't baseball . . . what was it?

POINT:

What you think you're selling isn't necessarily what your customer wants to buy!

"We Have To Know Who Our Customer (Really) Is"

"We had an epiphany . . . we had to be in the family entertainment business . . . or we'd be following the path the old owner had already taken!".

Dowling knew that if he could create a business 'experience' that appealed to women and kids, then good old dad would drive them all to the ballpark -- literally! It was that insight that helped Bill and his team of people make decisions and take actions appropriate to that understanding. And boy, was that a good thing for the Rock Cats!

The strategy's worked. After buying the franchise in early 2000, Eastern League President Bill Troubh chose Bill Dowling as the 2000 Eastern League Executive of The Year. Dowling's continued to drive attendance, revenues and profits to new levels . . . year after year after year.

Bill and his investor group estimate that, if they were to sell their franchise today, they'd be able to sell it for about 10 times what they paid for it in 2000. And they've money each year, too. Not bad!

POINT:

Knowing who you want to appeal to makes your decisions easier and your results better!

"You Can't Manage From The Back Office"

Bill Dowling attends to many aspects of The Rock Cats -- along with a group of young, talented and highly committed staff whose compensation reflects more bonus and less base -- a practice the early years demanded due to the need to build revenues not expenses and Dowling's philosophy supported . . . "You make things happen, you'll be paid well". It's worked for him.

"Performance matters . . . and if you perform well, you get paid accordingly".

Dowling is also highly visible. He attends every home game and not from a skybox. He's easily found standing around in Section 108 behind the home plate. He talks with the customers, greets the regulars (and there are growing ranks of those!) and generally makes people feel like they're welcome guests. ". . . because they are!".

Bill told us about how some people began to complain about the parking adjacent to the stadium. It's not operated by the Rock Cats. It's a separate vendor. But Bill carries a wad of $1 bills on him. "If I hear someone complain about the parking, I give them $3 and say, "I'm sorry you had a problem . . . here, let me get your parking today". Dowling knows they'll go to the concession stands and buy some popcorn, hot dogs or beer. "It's going out of one pocket and right back into another . . . but they'll go out and tell their friends about us and that goodwill is priceless".

POINT:

If you're going to be successful, you have to be accessible and in touch with your customer!

"You Have To Invest In Your Customer's Experience"

After taking over the Rock Cats, Dowling and his partners made the deliberate decision to go into the 'family entertainment' business as I'd cited earlier. That strategic commitment required both aligned decisions and appropriate actions. "We had to clean up our facilities . . . you don't want Mom coming to a place that isn't appealing or you'll never see her come back". As a result, concession sales have been substantial for the Rock Cats and previous attendance records have been shattered again and again. "We know we're selling fun . . . so every game is full of fun . . . for the kids" That makes the moms happy and happy moms keep the families coming back for more. "We have "Family Nights" where a family of four can come to a game, enjoy food and beverage and get it all for around $30. We understand our market and finding ways to be affordable reflects that understanding". With 'something special (and free!) for the kids' at every game, entertainment between key innings and the ever-present 'Rocky' the Rock Cat's mascot working the crowd until the last pitch is thrown, Dowling's created an irresistable experience. And the proof is in the steady growth of attendance, revenues and profits.

Point:

Give people what they want and they'll give you what you want, too!

I left the time I had with Bill Dowling a little more humble and whole lot wiser about what it takes to be successful in business . . . regardless of the economy. Thank you, Bill Dowling!

Bill Doerr, CCO of SellMore Marketing, LLC is the creator of The Preferral Prospecting System™, The Expert Directory™ and The Ultimate Client Development System™. He is an Authorized Duct Tape Marketing Coach and a licensed facilitator of Get Clients NOW! Bill uses these resources to help service providers generate AIR -- awareness in their marketing area, interest in their services and revenues in their bank. Reach Bill at: 860-798-6964, online at: www.sellmoremarketing.com or via the TNNW Blog: http://www.thenationalnetworker.blogspot.com

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SALES AND MARKETING: Playing To Win -- Baseball CEO Shares Secrets of Success

Good Customer Service Alone, Does Not Mean Referrals

Networking Success with Dr. Ivan Misner

Ivan's section is sponsored by qAlias.com

Many entrepreneurs are under the impression that if they just provide good customer service, people will refer business to them. Just like that. However, they only have part of the picture. Sure, customer service is important. But, good customer service is just a prerequisite...it’s a minimum expectation.

Think about it. Would you refer somebody to me if I provided lousy customer service? Of course not. You’d end up looking like a dope in the eyes of the prospect. Your own credibility would suffer.

Good customer service is part of what the prospect expects when you refer him to me. If you’re recommending me to him, I must be something pretty special, right? And if I want to keep that customer coming back, I’ll need to give him more than the minimum expectation of simply good customer service. I’ll need to provide great, outstanding, memorable customer service to really stand out.

On several occasions, my colleagues and I have discussed the point, which I made in my book, The World’s Best Known Marketing Secret, about how people were under the delusion that good customer service alone was enough to enable people to build their business through word of mouth. We shared stories about people we’d met over the years who had gone out of business by just sitting back, and waiting for good word of mouth to rescue them. This got us thinking and talking about all the other delusions people had about networking and referral marketing…including the misconception about customer service we are talking about here.

People don’t refer business to you because you meet their minimum expectations. They refer you because they expect you to do a good job which, in turn, enhances their relationship with the person they are referring. They may not even be doing business with you, so customer service may not be an issue with them personally—but of course they expect you to provide outstanding value to the prospect. They want the prospect to come back to them and say, “Thanks for sending me to Joe Trueblue. He had just what I needed, and the service was great. You sure know some outstanding people!”

Your referral source has a strong interest in making sure everyone comes out a winner. She knows that when the happy customer comes back to you again and again, you’re more likely to send business her way when the need arises. The great service you provide to the customer comes back to you in the form of a stronger relationship with your referral partner.

One of my colleagues is Bob Burg, author of Endless Referrals, and here is his take – on what it ‘takes’ – to consistently receive referrals:

We all know of companies and salespeople that couldn’t stay in business, despite having superior products. We’re also familiar with companies and salespeople that were remarkably successful with just an average product.

Of course, having an excellent product is important. However, technology today has made that commonplace and expected. In order to have qualified prospects “beating a path to your door,” you must be able to network and to market yourself and your product or service in such a way that it makes people want to do business with you and refer you to others. You need to provide them with such a great buying experience that they know they made the right decision. However, to get them there in the first place, it’s the networking and marketing that’s most important.

Being in a referral group like BNI is one of several important parts of an effective word-of-mouth marketing plan. One of the things these groups emphasize is that you need to be very specific in what you do and in how your product or service is uniquely valuable. If you use general terms, you’re at the lowest level of competitive effectiveness. And if you say, “customer service,” that’s not what people are buying.

Another of my colleagues, says that you don’t sell the process – you sell the result:

Talking about what you do does not motivate people as much as what happens to their client or friend as a result of what you do. I used to sell copiers, and I never met anybody who was buying good customer service. They were buying the ability to make photocopies quickly and reliably. They weren’t shopping for customer service, because that’s a prerequisite. It’s part of what creates that end result.

As I have pointed out for many years, unhappy customers are eleven times more likely to talk about your business than happy customers. Good customer service only reduces negative word of mouth; it doesn’t necessarily increase your business through positive word of mouth.

Now, it is important to keep this in mind: If you provide outstanding customer service, AND your referral partner has experienced that as a customer, it can definitely increase the number of referrals you receive. As already mentioned, good customer service is a prerequisite for cultivating your referral network…but great customer service to a referral partner can be a jump start!

Referral networks and other referral settings often feature third-party testimonials, in which someone who has used your product or service (in this case, your referral partner) tells the group, “I’ve used Moe’s products, and I’m here to tell you, they’re the best I’ve ever found.” Hearing it directly from someone they know is often enough to get people to believe it and act on that belief.

I often tell people that testimonials are a very important part of the referral process, especially within referral groups. Never underestimate the power of the third-party testimonial. When you stand up and say, “I’ve used this person, and you should use this person too, because . . .” and then go on to explain why, it makes a huge difference in how people view that service provider. Your experiences become my experiences. This, of course, makes it much easier for people to refer that provider…even if they haven’t personally used his services yet.

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Called the “father of modern networking” by CNN, Dr. Ivan Misner is a New York Times bestselling author. He is the Founder and Chairman of BNI (www.bni.com), the world’s largest business networking organization. His latest #1 bestseller, Masters of Sales can be viewed at www.MastersBooks.com. Dr. Misner is also the Sr. Partner for the Referral Institute, an international referral training company (www.referralinstitute.com). He can be reached at misner@bni.com .

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Good Customer Service Alone, Does Not Mean Referrals