35% of Employers Admit to Using Facebook to Check Out Candidates

Today I read an article on BusienssInsider.com (and passed the link on via Twitter) about candidates being blackballed by some employers because of what they write on their Facebook pages and on other social medium sites. This prompted me to go back and check out what the 1,500 employers in our on-going research study had to say on the subject.


Over 35% admit to using Facebook and other sites to see what the candidate “is really like”. Said one employer, “If they are rude to their friends, it’s likely they’ll be rude to our customers. I won’t take a chance that they won’t deliver excellent customer service and I don’t hire them.”


Same thing in terms of exercising bad judgement about the images they choose to post or tag themselves in.

So be forewarned: Manage your online profile, watch what you have to say and make sure to set your privacy setting appropriately!

Wealthy People More at Risk of Getting Ripped Off?

Earlier today I read an article on BNET.com that describes how wealthy customers are more likely to be charged higher rates than customers who seem to be in the same income bracket as the people performing the service.

This is not something we have ever researched, but my own experiences support the findings in Kimberly Weisul’s article, “This is Broken Customer Service”.

Recently, the exhaust system on my car started to make worrisome noises so I took it to the dealership – a dealership I had been loyal to since 1994. Through multiple vehicles, I had remained true to the marque... and to the dealer. Even when we moved, I continued to make the 1 hour drive to have my car serviced at the place I trusted. Note the past tense.

Their verdict: The entire exhaust system needed to be replaced. The part alone was $1500. I explained that I did not want to put that kind of money into a car I was planning to replace in the spring and asked if they could do a simple repair.

The answer: NO – there was no way to repair the problem. The fee to render this verdict was discounted to $50 because I was a long-time customer.

Although warned that the car was unsafe to drive and that the entire exhaust could go any minute, I decided to postpone the repair in favour of a new car search. Well they were right; six weeks later the “worrisome” noise progressed to “horrible” and the smell of exhaust filled my car.

This time I went to a local garage that had been recommended by a neighbour. The first person told me that it would likely cost about $400 to repair, but that he would have the owner call me with a final estimate.

When the mechanic drove me home, I had him pull up in front of the triplex up the street, rather than dropping me off in front of my home. On the way home, I also “let drop” that I was in the process of looking for a job. The result of my “experiment”: A $175 repair.

A couple of months ago, I had another experience of being quoted a lower amount than a friend for the same service. The only difference was not deliberate on this occasion: I had gone in wearing old sweats and an even older ski jacket.

These two anecdotes are by no means conclusive, but they tend to make me agree with Ms. Weisul’s assertion that these types of actions represent customer service that’s indeed in need of repair!

The customer is NOT always right

Actual Customer-Change Room Staff exchange… as recorded 12 months ago

 A customer had 16 items she wanted to try on; the change room limit was six. The sales clerk politely told the young woman that she could take six items into the change room and offered to hand in new garments as they were needed.

 

Customer (C) – in a belligerent tone: “No – I’ll take in what I want, when I want.”

 

Staff (S) – politely: “I actually need to ask that you choose six items to start… and then I’ll pass you in whatever you’d like when you’re ready to trade me things.”

 

C (said somewhat menacingly): “Back off B----. I’m taking these in now. Want to make something of it?”

 

S (in a cowed, frustrated voice): “Fine. Go ahead.”

 

Imagine working in a place where that kind of scene was repeated multiple times in a shift. No wonder the staff member left the area to complain to a co-worker (giving the teen in the change room an opportunity to 5-finger a few items)… and not surprising that the 17-year old clerk ended her shift in tears.

 Yes – this tale does have a happy ending.

One of the clients I work with is a mid-size retailer with 12 stores. They cater to a slightly upscale teen audience. The chain had been experiencing increasing employee turnover and diminishing sales. The impact on the bottom line was not pretty.

Ethnographic research (the kind where you watch happens in the stores, listen surreptitiously to conversations, etc.) revealed a couple of interesting things:

• Over 25% of potential customers entering the stores were rude to the sales staff… not simply discourteous but highly disrespectful (okay, “downright rude”) and dismissive of all people working there.
• Only 1 in 25 people who tried on clothes bought anything – a figure below industry average and far below the stores’ historical performance figures.
• Only 1 in 52 people who entered the stores actually bought anything. Again, this figure was below the Canadian average, even allowing for the fact that most retailers seriously over-estimate their “browsers-to-buyers ratio” *. 
•  +50% of browsers who left the stores without buying anything did so because of the negative store atmosphere.
• Sales team members were reluctant to engage customers in conversation and, although they would ask adults if they could be of assistance, rarely offered to help teen shoppers. No great shock given the way that the sales staff was often treated. 

 Our approach

 Employees were encouraged to stick up for themselves. The staff training including sessions where clerks were taught to gently and graciously deliver phrases such as…

 “We really appreciate your business and value you as a customer, so out of respect for you and the others in the store, I’d like to suggest that you and I change the dynamics of this conversation. Now, how may I help you?”

 “Is everything okay? You seem to be having a bad day. Would you prefer to try this on at another time?”

 

If that didn’t diffuse the situation (though it often did), then employees were given permission to respond using the following types of remarks:

“I found what you said [or did] to be disrespectful. To be fair to me, the other employees and your fellow shoppers, I would ask that you speak to me politely.”

“I really don’t feel comfortable with the way you are treating me. Would you please show me more respect?”

“I’m sorry this is not going well. I’d like to invite you to leave the store now and to return when things are better for you.”

 All 50 phrases, with suggestions of what to say when, were printed on pocket-size card stock and given to each employee.

Managers were urged to acknowledge employees who had handled a difficult customer well – or had legitimately refused service to a customer who was behaving badly. Special reward cards were issued that could be exchanged for cash or merchandise.

Being given permission to deviate from the normal “the customer is always right” not only empowered employees, it made them feel valued. Morale soon started to climb.

That was a year ago. We just got the new stats back:

•  Less than 10% of potential customers entering the stores are rude to the sales staff.
• 7 out of 25 people who try on clothes buy something. Yes, there is still plenty of room for improvement, but that’s a 7-fold increase in 1 year!
• On average, 5 out of 50 people who enter the store buy something. 

By making it okay to say ‘no’ to ‘bad’ customers, employees were able to create a better store atmosphere and a better shopping experience for everyone... and that is reflected in a better bottom line, too.

If you’d like to learn about other times when “just say no” has helped a business, please feel free to call me, or to drop me a note: jmc@theQgroup.com.

Until next time. JMC

*Note: The browsers-to-buyers ratio (i.e. conversion rate) is one of the metrics used around the world to assess retail performance. The most accurate way to measure this is by using video of the store’s entrance and comparing the number of people entering the store with the number of sales tickets on any given day. The challenge: The ratios fluctuate by store location, season (weather and holidays).

 

How to Stop Your Service Reps from Messing up Your Marketing Efforts

What do you do when you run a business where the customer’s only contact with you is through a phone rep and/or in-field rep... and they don’t care about their job?

It won’t matter how much time and effort you put into finding a way to differentiate your products and/or service (which is becoming increasingly difficult these days), or much you invest in marketing campaigns and loyalty programs, you will lose customers if your CSRs don’t measure up.

I just had one like that leave my home... and I may be switching providers as a result. He started off acting like a total jerk. He was rude and didn’t really care too much about what he was there to do.

Not wanting my problem to go unresolved, or for it to be fixed in a so-so fashion, I decided to take the “let’s make friends” approach, and said, “It sounds like you must have had a long day in some very cold weather.”

“Huh?” he grunted in response.

As kindly as I could, despite not feeling very charitable inside, I said, “I know haven’t done anything to upset you, but from the sounds of it, someone has. Would you like a cup of coffee?”

With that the service rep turned and looked me in the eye for the first time. “Yeah, that would be great.”

Over the next 30 minutes or so, I learned that...

•  The company hires part-time union members to handle the weekend and after hours calls (which is when most homeowners are home!).
• These part-timers get no training and there is no incentive for them to be nice to customers.
• The emphasis is on getting as many calls completed in as short a time as possible and they are told to avoid going the extra yard. The direction these reps are given, paraphrased of course: “Get it working by doing the minimum work you can. Don’t do anything extra if you can help it.”
• If he gets reported for being rude, there are no real repercussions as long as the job got done. “John” told me, “Yeah, I’ve been written up before, but it doesn’t mean anything and the sheets are thrown out at the end of the month, anyway. Besides, it’s a union job and the rules don’t say anything about customer service, and I can get another one if I have to.”

Is this any way to run a business? No – not unless you only care about profits and are almost the only game in town. Not too smart, if you ask me.

 

We’ve worked with clients that depend on infield service people to represent their company and this is what we always tell them to do the following things:

•  Hire well and pay even better.

• Be fair, supportive and create an environment better than anything else available in the market and you will likely get great cooperation from your staff because they want to keep working for you.
   
• Same idea expressed a different way: Let your employees know that they matter and that the job they do is important... and do so on a regular basis.
   
• Let your employees know – specifically – what you expect in terms of customer service and make sure that this service is delivered consistently (mystery calls, follow-up with regular calls, etc.).
   
• Encourage employees to go the extra yard to help your customers (remember the power of Word of Mouth, especially given how easy it is to share using Facebook, twitter and other social media vehicles).
   
• Provide training: Technical and customer-service-related.
   
• Provide regular feedback and performance reviews; reward excellent performance.
   
• Facilitate the sharing of knowledge and insights among employees.
   
• Communicate regularly with your employees letting them know about changes, things that are happening in the company, etc.

 “Doesn’t this add to the overhead?”, you might ask.

 

The answer: “YES it does... but not as much as it adds to the bottom line!”

 

 

 

Great Service at Taco Bell

We went into a Taco Bell over the holidays (there’s only so much turkey you can stuff in... so to speak) and, to my surprise, encountered excellent customer service. Truly.

When I asked the woman behind the counter how long the apple empanadas had been sitting there, she told me that they had been there about 30 minutes. Then she told that although they were probably still fine that she would make me new ones if I wanted to wait 4 minutes. I did.

Then she said she would wait to serve my fries until the pies were ready so that everything would be hot.

On top of everything else, she actually smiled a genuine smile when she handed over our food order when it was ready. Wow.

Why tell this story?

To show that it doesn’t matter where you work, or what your position... you can still make someone happy by offering courteous, customer service.

Handling the Top Five Hotel Mishaps – According to Travellers

In the fall of 2010 we conducted research with business travellers and hoteliers across North American. Interestingly – though not too surprisingly – what hoteliers thought constituted a problem for travellers, and what travellers thought were real problems, were not always the same.

For instance, many hoteliers thought that not offering reward “miles” or credits was a problem – yet only 14% of respondents listed this in their top 10 complaints about hotel stays.

On the other hand, non-smokers being given a smoking room made it to 78% of all lists – and to 98% of non-smokers’ lists. Hoteliers? Only 17% of the 201 surveyed included this on their top 10 traveller problems list.

The top 5 things on the travellers’ list – and some suggestions on how to handle the problems – can be found below. For the full article, please go to: http://www.theqgroup.com/articles-b.php?ArtID=41.


1. The room not being available – after having confirmed a late arrival

Although not a common occurrence, this rated the most ire among business travellers. Said one executive, “There’s nothing worse than being in meetings all day, catching a late flight and then finding out that the hotel has given away your room. And that they have not made arrangements for you elsewhere.”

So what do travellers want?

• It’s simple - if a guest confirms a late check-in, don’t give away the room! You already have the credit card number and are getting paid for the room night. As one frequent traveller expressed it, “You’ve got my money. Why get greedy?”

• Don’t let your front desk staff defend the action by saying, “Well, you’re late.”

Said one executive, “No kidding. I know I’m late. I’m also tired and grumpy and just want to go to sleep – not travel to another hotel.”

• Put the guest in a suite – at your charge – before sending him/her elsewhere.

• If there’s been a screw-up, arrange transportation for the guest – at your cost. Don’t leave him/her stranded in the middle of the night.


2. The hotel “losing” a reservation

It is very frustrating to travellers to be told that the hotel does not have their reservation, or that the hotel has it listed under a different day. The problem is further compounded when the hotel offers the guest a room, but insists that the guest pay full rack rate – for whatever reason the front desk clerk comes up with. Seasoned travellers know to take their e-mail confirmation with them, but not everyone remembers to print it off before they leave.

One hotel manager's approach: “If someone is attending a conference, and we have a room, we give them the room at the conference rate – no questions asked. If we can get them in to a slightly better room, we do so and give them the same rate. Even if it’s not as easy as how we handle the conference situation, we usually do something to accommodate the guest, without charging them the full rack rate. If we can’t accommodate them, we get them another room elsewhere, at a comparable rate.”

3. Being given a smoking room – when a non-smoking room has been requested

Luckily hotels are saving more and more rooms for their non-smoking rooms. There are, however, times with non-smokers end up being assigned smoking rooms. How should you handle this situation?

• Do not simply send your guest to a stinky room hoping they won’t notice. Over 50% of non-smokers have said this has happened to them on more than one occasion and they resent the extra time this costs them at check-in when they have to get a new room. Most will not willingly return to a hotel where this has happened.

• Do not force someone to take a stinky room. Said one woman, “I had specified at the time of reservation that I had a smoke allergy. When I was told that there were no other rooms available, I spend the next 10 minutes on my cell and found a room elsewhere. I will never return to that hotel.” Her sentiments were echoed by dozens of people in the survey.

• If you have managed to persuade the guest to try the room on the understanding that you are going to spray it, put in heavy duty fans, etc. – don’t make a fuss if they are still bothered by the smoke after all your efforts. Move them – some way, some how. If for some strange reason you can’t work it out until morning, then that first night should be on the house.

4. Being over-billed – and the front desk not graciously correcting the mistake

Despite online travel advisories and other warnings, travellers continue to be overbilled at hotels around the world. Nothing deliberate, of course, but human and computer errors (yes, they do happen LOL) result in the in the average business travellers being over-billed by about $14.00 a night.

Research we conducted in early 2010 suggests that over 70% of the time, the amount quoted at check-in will, on average, be $3 - $4 dollars higher than the amount quoted when reserving the room. As long as it sounds right, most travelers don’t notice the difference.

Errors also occur in other room charges (for a complete list, please read: “Hotels Overbilling Costs Travellers +$.75 Billion a Year” on this site: http://www.theqgroup.com/articles-b.php?ArtID=42).

Good rule of thumb: When the matter is not clear, give the client the benefit of the doubt. Given that research suggests that less than 0.5% of business travellers (and less than 1% of vacationers) lie about having been billed incorrectly, we feel it’s better to side with the customer.

5. Getting my name wrong – over and over

One comment from the research just about sums up what everyone had to say on this matter, so I’ll let this executive's words address the point.

“I know that the Front Desk staff are told the need to address people by name – so I don’t squirm too much, even when they overdo it – but they should at least get the name right. Last week, when I checked into a hotel that I use regularly I was greeted very pleasantly by the young man behind the desk. I gave him my name; he got the folio out and then proceeded to call me by a different last name. I mentioned twice that my last name is Kessler, not Johnson and he kept on calling me Ms. Johnson. I showed him the name on the form; he apologized – and then said, oh so enthusiastically, “I hope you enjoy your stay with us Ms. Johnson. I saw him a few times after that, and each time he greeted me with a huge smile – and called me by the wrong name. Several of them, actually. If you can’t get it right, don’t bother!"

What about the other things that can go wrong at a hotel? Check out the other articles on The Q Group site at: http://bit.ly/QGroupArticles.

Top Five Embarrassing Hotel Moments – According to Hotel Employees

We do a lot of work in the hospitality industry and thought I’d share a couple of tidbits from things we’ve learned along the way.

I know, I know, when things go wrong in a hotel, they seem so much worse than the missteps that happen in “regular offices”. They are also a lot more comical – and far more embarrassing for all concerned.

The top 5 “Most Embarrassing Moments” as reported by hotel employees are listed below, along with suggestions on how to handle them.

Obviously the first thing you do is to apologize sincerely, profusely and even abjectly depending on the situation. Apologizing is such a given that it won’t be repeated in every answer below, but rest assured it’s there in BIG CAPITAL LETTERS.

Side note: What seems a little scary is that only 1 employee out of 150 surveyed indicated that losing a guest’s luggage, fax or other belongings was embarrassing. Most chalked it up to “stuff happens in a hotel” – obviously not a great customer service thought.


1.  Spilling something… on someone.  Interestingly, only very new waiters listed serving the wrong meal to a diner as an embarrassing moment (perhaps more experienced staff know there are things that are far worse). After clearing away the worst of the debris and fetching salt, soda water and clean napkins, you should a) provide the guest with your full name and card if you have one, b) give him or her the manager’s card, c) offer to pay to have the clothing item cleaned, and d) comp the dessert, drinks or meal depending on the severity of the spill.

2. Accidentally outing a guest.  Whether it's letting it slip that the person is gay, or that the guest has been to the hotel before with someone else, it can be very painful for all parties. Seasoned staffers suggest the best thing is to take your cue from your guest and respond accordingly. Follow your guest’s lead. You messed up, so it’s only right that you help fix things as best you can. If you can cover your mistake by suggesting that you simply made a mistake, this may be the best option. To read how one quick-thinking concierge handled, things, please go to: http://bit.ly/ha9d2y.

You can, however, avoid this situation altogether by changing your greeting to "Welcome; it's a pleasure to have you here" - without adding "again", when the person is travelling with someone. This is especially if you don't know the guest's travelling companion very well.

3. Walking in on a naked guest (or worse, one engaged in a “private” activity). After apologizing (okay, I couldn’t help but add it here), turn and leave (instead of the customary backing out) and don’t bring it up again.

Don’t talk about it and don’t indicate you saw anything when you see the guest the next time. Over 90% of guests who have been “caught” this way are embarrassed enough that they don’t want any reminders of what happened – and they don’t want to feel like they are the only ones to whom this has happened. Making it seem like a novel event compounds the situation for most guests.

4. Falling as you show a guest around a room (especially if you land on their luggage or bed). Usually humour is the best response. Also, unless you are seriously hurt, save checking on your bruises until you have left the room. Instead, let them see you check to ensure that their luggage was not damaged, and restore the room to its initial state (smooth the bedspread, pick up the chair, etc.).

5. It’s late and no room is available – despite the guest having confirmed a late arrival.

Although not a common occurrence, this rated the most ire among business travellers surveyed. Given the remarks of one executive, which echo the thoughts of most respondents, it’s not surprising that front desk people rate this situation in their top five most embarrassing moments, too.

Said the Sr. VP Sales, "There's nothing worse than being in meetings all day, catching a late flight and then finding out that the hotel has given away your room. And that they have not made arrangements for you elsewhere."

What to do?

• It's simple - if a guest confirms a late check-in, don't give away the room!

• Put the guest in a suite - at your charge - before sending him/her elsewhere.

• If there's been a screw-up, arrange transportation for the guest - at your cost. Don't leave him/her stranded.

Says one hotel manager: "On the few occasions when we have had to turn away a confirmed guest who has arrived in the middle of the night, we make sure the person is given a superior room - at the rate of the originally reserved room - and we arrange transportation to the other hotel (and back if the person's attending an event at our hotel) and we still award the frequent guest points. Yes, it costs us some - but it sure makes them come back again."

Whether it’s at home or on the road, life is filled with its share of embarrassing moments, but if you handle them with prevailing hotel standards of concern, courtesy and discretion, you and the guest should be able to surmount just about any obstacle “thrown” your way

Whether it’s at home or on the road, life is filled with its share of embarrassing moments, but if you handle them with prevailing hotel standards of concern, courtesy and discretion, you and the guest should be able to surmount just about any obstacle “thrown” your way

For more about handling hotel mishaps, please see: http://www.theqgroup.com/articles-b.php?ArtID=41.

In the meantime, I wish you and your colleagues a wonderful 2011 and “uneventful” travels as you get back to work.  Jane-Michele

Happy and Sad at Montana’s

Imagine a waitress hurrying to serve the hungry dinner crowd. Amid the laughter and bustle she notices the middle-aged man sitting alone in her section. He seems a little sad and somewhat uncertain about being in the restaurant at all. Despite being busy, she takes a little extra time with the gentleman and learns that this is his first visit to a restaurant since losing his wife to cancer.

Over the course of the service she gives him a little extra TLC. She also learns a little more about his way of thinking and realizes that she has a book in her schoolbag that might be of help. Without thinking twice about it, she gives the man the book. His quiet tears and tremulous smile are enough thanks, but the story doesn’t end there.

A few days later the man returned with some of his late wife’s books that were in a similar vein he was given; they were books that his wife had loved. He gave these books to the young woman who had befriended him on that first night out and is now regular customer.

And yes this is a true story. I know because my daughter works at Montana’s with this waitress. How luck the company is to have her on staff.

It also shows how important simple kindness and courtesy are in building long term relationships – and not just in the business world.

Garda Gotta Get it Together

The phone rang a couple of days ago. A woman introduced herself as M. ___ from Garda; she was calling to do a background check for one of my students who had given my name as a reference. Now, I have been contacted by this firm before, so I know that what follows is not the normal way in which they conduct their affairs, but I also know that I will no longer recommend their services to clients.

So what is it that has my Customer Service Excellence hackles standing at attention?

When she asked how I knew the young women, I explained that I had been her prof. Ms. M. from Garda responded with a challengingly-toned, “So, she didn’t work for you?” The tone of the question threw me off a bit so, for a moment, I thought I might have been thinking about the wrong person. After a little back and forth, it turned out the call was indeed about student “K”.

At that point, she asked: “So what were her responsibilities to you?”

I reiterated that I knew “K” as a student so she didn’t have responsibilities to me beyond classroom participation and hand-in assignments. At that point, the Garda Gal starting talking to me as if I were mentally-challenged and didn’t understand the whole process.

I really didn’t appreciate it. Nor, I’m sure, would the bank client on behalf of whom she was conducting these interviews.

When I pushed back a bit to try and explain that it was a different situation that the traditional employer relationship, she said in clipped tones, “Yes, but I still have to ask the questions.”

From the way in which subsequent questions were posed, Ms. M. made it clear that she was pissed off with me.... which resulted in me giving shorter answers than would normally have been the case.

Not wanting to hurt my student, I said nice and appropriate things, but it was not the normal way I would give a reference for someone I believed would indeed be an asset to their client.

Not good for my student – and not good for the bank, either as they may miss out on a good candidate as a result.

If I were using this as a teaching case or training example, what lessons would I convey? A couple that come to mind:

• Due diligence is critical when selecting a third-party firm to represent your company in any way. If their employees don’t treat people the way you treat your customers and employees, then you should not work with the firm.

• It’s important to do a good job of training and monitoring the people who represent your company to the public – especially when they are not on your direct payroll. You have the right to request random recordings of the calls, or to listen in from time to time.

• Create separate guides for the various types of people in your target audience (in this instance +90% of the questions could have been identical).

• Structure your discussions guides/ interview questions in such a way that enables the interviewer to choose a different line of questions if necessary, based on the previous answers given.

• It’s as important for your staff to be well-versed on the way you want them to handle out-bound calls as they are on how to handle in-bound queries.

There are other things to have learned from this example, of course, but those of the ones that stick out.

If you’d like to chat about this further, please feel free to leave a comment of drop me a note. JMC

Now the Flowers are Fresh and Fabulous

My replacement flowers just arrived and they are gorgeous! Not only that, they smell divine. Just looking at them and smelling their wonderful scent makes me feel happy.

I called the florist right away to let her know how much I appreciated the new bouquet – and the way she had handled everything. Callie (the woman who rectified the problem for us) seemed as pleased as me about the way things had turned out... and that as much as anything has totally restored my faith in the Flower Nook.

You can be sure that I will make sure to recommend them whenever anyone in the area needs flowers. Which just goes to show that another of the standard customer service truisms is indeed true:

Namely, that when you resolve disgruntled customers’ problems in a way that makes them feel important to the company, and do so with good grace, they will usually tell twice as many people about what transpired as they would if only recounting the bad experience.

Fixing Flowers that Flopped

Earlier today flowers arrived that my youngest had sent me for my birthday – they were a day late and more than a dollar short.

Okay, okay. I sound ungrateful. The flowers were nice (read ‘nice’ with that elongated sing song tone men hate so much that really means “good effort dear but no cigar”). Of course I called my daughter immediately and thanked her profusely – after all I was truly touched by the gesture and that she had spent so much on her strict student budget. That part really did move me. Still does.

Then she asked about the flowers themselves. I sort of hedged (okay, except for things related to Christmas gifts and the like, I have a hard time lying to my kids) and she just knew. That finely-honed intuition of hers kicked in on cue and she said, “They’re not the pink, purple, cream and white flowers I ordered, are they?”

I described the bouquet that had arrived: Fall-coloured daisies punctuated with bright purple asters. Ughh. Kat was already groaning knowing that I hate rust-coloured flowers, but when she heard the description her displeasure increased.

Why? I had described a much cheaper bouquet she had seen on the website. It appeared as though the florist has simply added a couple of clashing asters as a token response to her actual online request for spring blooms.

I’ve heard of florists sometimes sending “less-than-fresh” flowers, or less expensive bouquets when they are pretty sure the sender will never see the actual bouquet, but have only experienced such a thing once before.

Knowing that my daughter puts a lot of thought into birthdays and other occasions, I couldn’t let it rest. I called the florist to complain. I remained friendly and started with a gentle, “What I’m going to say is going to sound ungrateful, but...” and went on to explain what my daughter had intended and that the sum involved constituted a major expense for a university student.

While I was on the phone, I learned that my daughter was on their other line. Kat knew who to call because our family has purchased bouquets from this florist on numerous occasions over the years.

Long story short: The florist was upset/ embarrassed by what had happened and will be sending me a new bouquet in the morning. She has also offered to use a few extra flowers in the new bouquet to make up for our collective disappointment.

The genuine concern the florist expressed, the pleasant/professional way in which she responded to our calls and her correct (from both professional and personal perspectives) response to the situation means that we will continue to be loyal customers.

Had the response been different in any way, the retailer would have lost us as customers. Given that my mom, sister, sisters-in-law and colleagues also use this floral boutique, and that we collectively orders many, many bouquets each year, they would have lost a sizeable piece of business.

The reasons I consider the florist’s response to have been correct go beyond the potential business loss from our family:

• The Life Time Value of loyal clients (+$1500 for diapers, +$12,000 for fast-food, etc.),

• The cost to acquire new clients vs. the cost to retain existing ones (5x – 25x depending on the industry),

• The number of people that unhappy customers tell about their experience (the accepted average used to be 16, but recent studies that has increased slightly... even without taking into account public posts on sites such as facebook),

• The potential for online “retribution” when disgruntled customers air their grievances in social media forums (remember what happened to the Motrin advertisements thanks to a mom with 5,000 twitter followers)

• etc.

There are bound to be “Life Happens” moment in every business, but how you handle them can determine whether or not these moment hurt you in the long run. Hopefully we will all be able to fix our flops the way this florist did!

Kudos re Queue Comments

I had to call Goodlife Fitness the other day and got put in the proverbial queue. I heard a pleasant voice tell me that I was #8 in line. As I sighed, thinking that I could be a while, I heard the same voice tell me that I was now #7. “Hmmm,” I thought, “A company that knows how to treat its callers”.

All too often customers are left listening to sappy music (why can’t they find something good?!!), sometimes waiting in limbo for over 20 minutes. Awaiting your turn to be abused by a customer service rep can be a frustrating experience. Even if you have hands-free and can continue to work while waiting, it’s a pain. If another call comes in, you have to decide if you want to risk losing your place in line to take the call. Ditto if you need a bio break or need to leave the phone unattended for any other reason.

Not great if the person is at work. (Side note: It is estimated that 95% of workers make personal calls from work because of a) queue wait times and/ or b) the ability to do other things while on hold.)

Anyway, back to my Goodlife Fitness call. As I waited, I was told they valued my business and would answer my call just as soon as possible, was informed when I moved up on the queue and got to listen to fitness tips while on hold.

As far as having to wait, it was the best such experience I’ve encountered in a while. Even better, when the rep took the call, he was knowledgeable, helpful, polite and friendly. Kudos to Goodlife; they seem to know how to treat their telephone callers.

Why does this matter? Because research we conducted on behalf of a client in early 2010 suggests that 74% of people living in North America believe that the way customers are treated by telephone CSRs is a reflection of how the company’s employees will treat customers in person. In fact, handling in-bound calls well can have a dramatic impact on customer retention rates.

To quickly recap points from earlier posts and articles (see www.theqgroup.com/articles-a.php):

• Make it easy for a caller to get in the right queue; aim for 3 prompt levels or less.

• Minimize the number of minutes a person has to wait in a phone queue. Aim to have callers talking to a human in under 2 minutes (not always possible, but it’s a great goal).

• Let callers know where they are in the queue and how long it will take for their call to be answered.

• Provide the caller with interesting things to listen to while on hold. In order of consumer preference: Information related to your company’s service or product, news reports, upbeat middle-of-the-road music (not elevator muzak or sleepy/dull stuff).

• Give callers the option of listening without music. With this option you will need to sound a soft beep every 30 – 40 seconds, along with a message every 1 ½ minutes or so, to let the person know their call is "being held in priority sequence".

• Have the calls answered by friendly, professional staff who know the company’s product line, services offered... and who have the ability and authority to make decisions/ take action that can help the customer.

If you would like help in determining the best ways to handle your customer call queues, please feel free to drop me a note (jmc@theQgroup.com) or call me at 416.424.6644.

Either way, I wish you all excellent customer service experiences! JMC