http://www.budd.uk.com/blog/chief-customer-officers-emotional-analysts/ How do we stop doing dumb things to customers and people? Thu, 01 Mar 2012 16:26:19 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.2 http://www.budd.uk.com/blog/chief-customer-officers-emotional-analysts/comment-page-1/#comment-15 Marion Howard-Healy Wed, 03 Oct 2007 14:15:00 +0000 http://www.budd.uk.com/blog/?p=108#comment-15 This CCO Forum was a good experience too for those of us who helped organise it. Learning and sharing from experts in their field is such a strong motivator. It also makes you think differently about those operational challenges that sales and service staff tackle daily. Large organisations have their work cut out to keep both customers happy, and staff also happily productive and on track with customers. Understanding what delivers a good customer experience whether it’s in sales or service is no easy task. But as today’s news brief by MARC in the US (see www.thewisemarketer.com) shows, it really is important to get beneath the ‘thank you for calling us’ façade of sales/service. MARC finds that poor service loses companies in the US retail sector 16% of the 12,000 shoppers in their survey. That’s a lot of unhappy people (and lost revenues). In my view, sales and service are the same experience (in a moment of time) but they don’t have the same meaning to the supplier as they do the customer. Too often, for suppliers, customer service focuses on the opportunity for up-selling and cross-selling. For customers, sales AND service is about getting what you need, when you need it, with the whole experience exceeding your expectation. This is what I mean as a customer: last week I had half an hour to find and buy a dress. Not only did I find it, but I tried it on and was out of the shop in 15 minutes. This was my first buying experience with this retailer (although I had been given a dress of their brand about 20 years ago, so my expectation was already high), but I came out not only with what I went in for, but also having had a brilliant service experience - and with a new friend in the sales assistant. And yes they did sell too - I was even registered for a store card in those 15 minutes. But overall, it was not just the quality of the transaction but the quality and level of communication that took place that made my customer experience so positive. The retailer? Jaeger. Will I go back again? Definitely. I’m already saving up! And, of course, this experience is now my personal benchmark for every other company I deal with as a customer. This CCO Forum was a good experience too for those of us who helped organise it. Learning and sharing from experts in their field is such a strong motivator. It also makes you think differently about those operational challenges that sales and service staff tackle daily. Large organisations have their work cut out to keep both customers happy, and staff also happily productive and on track with customers. Understanding what delivers a good customer experience whether it’s in sales or service is no easy task. But as today’s news brief by MARC in the US (see http://www.thewisemarketer.com) shows, it really is important to get beneath the ‘thank you for calling us’ façade of sales/service. MARC finds that poor service loses companies in the US retail sector 16% of the 12,000 shoppers in their survey. That’s a lot of unhappy people (and lost revenues). In my view, sales and service are the same experience (in a moment of time) but they don’t have the same meaning to the supplier as they do the customer. Too often, for suppliers, customer service focuses on the opportunity for up-selling and cross-selling. For customers, sales AND service is about getting what you need, when you need it, with the whole experience exceeding your expectation. This is what I mean as a customer: last week I had half an hour to find and buy a dress. Not only did I find it, but I tried it on and was out of the shop in 15 minutes. This was my first buying experience with this retailer (although I had been given a dress of their brand about 20 years ago, so my expectation was already high), but I came out not only with what I went in for, but also having had a brilliant service experience – and with a new friend in the sales assistant. And yes they did sell too – I was even registered for a store card in those 15 minutes. But overall, it was not just the quality of the transaction but the quality and level of communication that took place that made my customer experience so positive. The retailer? Jaeger. Will I go back again? Definitely. I’m already saving up! And, of course, this experience is now my personal benchmark for every other company I deal with as a customer.

]]> http://www.budd.uk.com/blog/chief-customer-officers-emotional-analysts/comment-page-1/#comment-14 David Naylor Tue, 02 Oct 2007 10:09:00 +0000 http://www.budd.uk.com/blog/?p=108#comment-14 My son was really pleased to donate one box of Scalextric and get two back! My son was really pleased to donate one box of Scalextric and get two back!

]]> http://www.budd.uk.com/blog/chief-customer-officers-emotional-analysts/comment-page-1/#comment-13 petermassey Tue, 02 Oct 2007 09:59:00 +0000 http://www.budd.uk.com/blog/?p=108#comment-13 I bet Oliver had a great time. Liked the hat I bet Oliver had a great time. Liked the hat

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