Chicken Wing Customer Service, and Ready for Business

What do chicken wings have to do with customer service? Well actually quite a lot, when you go to the restaurant and receive chicken wings that are much smaller than what you just had a couple days before. I saw these new wings and thought this must be a mistake, but the server said the new restaurant owner had purchased some new chicken wings. This was no doubt done to save money, but at what cost? Customers will be quite unhappy with the new size, and the negative word of mouth will spread fast, causing customers to stop coming to the restaurant. 


It is always amazing how companies do not see customer service as a powerful marketing tool to keep customers. In this restaurant example, the business will no doubt lose revenue on the new and smaller chicken wings. Also, the negative word of mouth is not good as it will cause some people not to go to the restaurant at all. What more companies need to see is that customer service can be a very powerful marketing tool to increase business revenue and to save on marketing costs. It costs a lot to get new customers, so a business should be very focused on designing a great customer service training program for the staff.


This short chicken wing story brings me to an important milestone in my life. I have been working on a business idea for a few months, and now am ready to announce the official launch date of my business. May 1, 2012 is the official launch date of my business which is called Lightray Marketing. You can check out the website at www.lightraymarketing.ca . This business will be focused on providing customer service training as a powerful marketing tool for small businesses. 
My mission is to help you build your business one smiling customer at a time.

Store Closing Time, Customer Service Story

It always amazes me when I see obvious examples of bad customer service. Since I am in the business of customer service training, I seem to observe customer service more closely than most people. This is an example of what not to do when a customer comes into your small store.


So I go to a small store about five minutes before closing time, and the clerk can clearly see me come into the store. I know there is only a few minutes left, but I know what I want and will be at the counter by closing time. So I have my products and get to the counter, and then I am amazed at what the clerk says next, " We are closed". Sure its maybe about 30 seconds before closing, but I have money and what to buy things and the clerk is basically saying, forget your money, I need to go home, at precisely closing time.


What really amazes me is that the staff saw me come into the store and did not say they were closing, but rather waited for me to come to the counter with my products, and then tell me they were closed. Needless to say I was not impressed, and started to wave my money and say I really want to purchase these items. Can you imagine, its almost like I have to beg to give this store my money. This clerk clearly does not understand that without customers, they would not have a job, and would then not have to worry about leaving at closing time.


It is always interesting when you go into a store near closing time and see what kind of service you will receive. Customers have many reasons why they go near closing time, as we all have busy schedules. If your schedule is busy, you should not feel bad about going to a store near closing time, as you are giving them money, which allows the business to continue to exist.


How do your staff treat customers near closing time? This might be a good time to evaluate your staff to make sure they treat customers great near closing time, so that positive word of mouth develops from this sale. Perhaps to encourage staff to be friendly near closing, you could schedule their shift to end 15 minutes after the normal closing time. There are other options as well, but the main thing to let staff know is that, customers are the reason they have jobs, so treat them great all the time, even near closing time.

What Makes You Smile?

When you go to a coffee shop, what makes you smile? - A good cup of coffee? A smiling server? Or the clean restroom in the coffee shop?


If you want the good cup of coffee, it is the product you want - never mind the smile or the cozy couch or the clean restroom - just get the great cup of coffee and get out of there. Never mind if the cashier smiled or frowned. These customers could be pragmatic and frugal individuals looking for a great product at a reasonable or cheap price. If you, the seller, improve your customer service and increase the price, these customers most probably will frequent another place, looking for the same product at the price they want. On the other hand, if you, the seller, reduce your service to unbearable, and maintain your price, you most probably lose these customers. 


If you walked into a coffee shop expecting to be greeted, smiled at, and be asked about the variety of coffee choices (with great enthisiasm), then it is the service that you want - never mind if the coffee tastes like an ordinary cup of coffee, labelled with a fancy name. If you, the seller, improve your customer service and increase the price by a tiny bit, you most probably will find these customers walk back in, with all smiles. However, if you, the seller, reduce your 
customer service to nothing, and keep the same quality of coffee, these customers most probably will pay more for the same taste of coffee - somewhere else.


If you walked into a coffee shop, ordered the coffee, enjoyed the cozy couch and the high tech, sparkly clean restroom, then it is the comfort that you want - never mind the ordinary tasting coffee, never mind if the cashier didn't smile or suggest coffee flavours. If you, the seller, improve your customer service and ambiance, you most probably will find these customers coming and staying! However, if you, the seller, reduce the comfort level of the shop, leaving the coffee tasting the same, you most probably will find these customers looking for another cozy spot (your competitor!) to hang out for hours on end, paying for more than what you are charging.


It is not always great customer service that wins the day. It is the ability, on part of the seller, to recognize, what the customer wants, and deliver it exceptionally, within the budget constraints, with all the creativity, and many times better than what the competitor is offering. This is what makes the customers smile. It is not just great service, it is great analysis, identification, and deliverance of the promise of excellence, at every potential point of sale.


The next time you walk into a coffee shop, ask youself this question: What makes me smile? And then observe if the sellers know what might make you smile. Chances are, the sellers who have a successful business know what made you smile.

Corner Store Style Customer Service

Does your business deliver corner store style customer service? Corner stores often have great customer service, because its a small family business, and every customer is very important to them. Often, the staff get to know their customers personally, and are very friendly. The staff realize that every customer is important and are the reason they are in business. 


There is a great emotional bond that is built  with their customers, because of the personal relationship that is built up between store and customer. When you go to a corner store, you are not just some nameless customer, often they will get to know you by name, or for sure by face. Now remember the corner store friendly service when you want to improve your customer service at your business.


Now here are a few things that can be applied to larger businesses, to improve customer service. First off, have staff simply work on being more friendly by smiling and chatting with customers to build that emotional bond. Then you could have staff practice having a great proactive attitude when it comes to customer service. Once staff get to know customers, they can proactively offer customers helpful suggestions as they are shopping. As a final word about this, its important to convince staff that every customer is important and is the reason they have a job.


Once you train your staff in corner store style customer service, you will have a loyal customer base, that is great for business.

IVR And The Customer Relationship

Almost everybody at some point will have to deal with customer call centers. A lot of companies have toll free customer service centers to handle various requests. These centers are the face of the company they represent. They are often the first point of contact between a company and customer when there is a bad customer service issue.


However, to save money most call centers use  automated voice systems to try and limit how many calls actually come thru to the live agents. Now these so called IVR systems can save money, because the company needs fewer employees, but it causes a lot of customer frustration. The customer must navigate a voice machine maze and correctly use the system, or they can not complete the task correctly. Also, it is very difficult for the customer to find out which number to press to get a live agent. This is done on purpose by the company, because it prevents many calls from going to the call center agent. 


However, when calls go to live agents, this can create many advantages for the company, such as creating opportunities to build a stronger customer relationship or sell customers other products. Another important aspect is that the company will be able to collect more data on customers through the live interactions, which will help refine the service or product to better meet customer needs. Also, the customer will appreciate not having to fight through the IVR maze.


A call center can design a IVR voice system so that it can not only help with self service for a customer, but also offer a very clear option for the customer to press so they can get through to a live agent. This way if a customer wants to complete a task themselves, they can, or if they want to get a live agent, its very easy to do so. Companies need to begin to see the advantages of having more calls go to live agents, as this will help build quality customer relationships and produce a stronger customer base.

Should You Focus On Sales Or Profits?

In tough economic times should a business focus on increasing sales or profits?  This is really a trick question, as sales and profits are both very important, but gaining more profit per customer is really the key. Often, you can see companies focus so much money on gaining new business that they forget how to maximize profit per customer. When you increase profit per customer, you will have a reliable revenue stream, that will build a solid business foundation. Also, by maximizing the revenue per customer, you will be implementing retention practices, that will produce loyal customers, who will do a lot of word of mouth advertising, thus reducing marketing costs. 


The cost of gaining new customers is so high, it only makes good business sense to focus on keeping existing customers, as this will cost less and build a strong company profit. A strong relationship building process will need to be in place, to build an emotional bond between the customer and business and to discover their needs. This process will look different from business to business, but the principles are the same, look for ways to build a customer connection. 


This could be as simple as front line staff being friendly and getting to know customers by name, and in the process gaining valuable feedback to improve your service or product.  Now other companies might hire survey companies to phone the customer base, or they may have a retention team which contacts the consumer. Whatever method a company chooses, it needs to have a strong relationship building objective. As this relationship grows, it will provide invaluable feedback that can be used to improve company products or services. 


Once staff get to know their customers, there will need to be a process, that allows them to document the customer needs or wants, so the marketing department can  produce a more relevant  retention process or address any customer concerns. Every business should be prepared to evolve to meet these changing customer needs, thus allowing the company to become stronger. Once a company becomes more customer focused, it will build a stronger and more profitable company.

Great Customer Service Lesson

How often do we really see customer service that shines? Well, I am sure most of you would answer, not very often, which is not good. Often you can go to a store, and the staff will seem very disinterested in you as a customer. They are trained to ask, can I help you, but really they often do not care, whether you leave or stay in the store.


We are almost shocked when we do receive great customer service. For example, lets say  you go to your local coffee shop, and the staff are smiling when you come in, and they remember your favourite coffee drink, you would be very impressed. It creates a positive relationship between the customer and the company, which benefits all involved.


I am going to provide just one fast example of great service I recently received from a small town cafe. This will show the true spirit of above and beyond customer service, and will show a great example of how to really impress a customer. Now I know every business is a little different from a cafe, but its the customer service attitude example, that can teach a customer service lesson.


I was just finishing my gym workout, and wanted to buy some muffins. I thought I left the gym by 5:30pm, ( cafe closing time)  however once I got to the local cafe, I noticed it was closed. I checked my watch and sure enough it was 15 minutes past close time, but I could still see staff inside, cleaning up. The manager saw me looking through the window, and came outside to see if I wanted to make a purchase. So I said that would be great, as I was looking forward to these muffins, as they are delicious. So I went in and bought the muffins and thanked the manager for allowing me in the store after closing.


How many staff would really want to come out after closing and help the customer, I can tell you, not very many. This showed a real customer centered attitude to go above and beyond for a customer, instead of just saying, " sorry we are closed ".  Look for ways in your business to motivate staff to go above and beyond for customers, and you will have many happy customers.

The Long, Stressful Christmas Shopping Lineup

At some point during the Christmas and holiday season, we all are going to experience a long line. No one really likes a long lineup, but there are some ways companies can make it a more tolerable situation. 

The most important thing for staff to do, is to smile at the customer and not look frustrated with the long line. A simple smile can do wonders, as often customers are greeted by non-smiling staff, who almost look annoyed at the long line. Now smiles are great but there is much more that can be done to deal with peak business times. It will very important to have all staff help out with the rush, and put aside non-essential duties, until its less busy. Customers will hate seeing some staff just stocking shelves or doing some other non-essential task, while they wait in a long lineup. Also, the worst thing that could happen is if there are staff just standing around chatting, this would cause huge customer frustration.

Another important step will be to keep the conversations between staff and customers short, in the interest of reducing the lineup. Now that does not mean being rude, but it does mean not asking a lot of open ended questions to get the customer talking. Its perfectly fine, to generate small talk during non-busy times, as this does build a good relationship between the company and the customer. In addition, everybody in the lineup will appreciate the staff keeping conversations short with other customers in the interest of trying to keep the line moving at good pace.

Now during peak business times, it will be very important to ensure all staff take breaks, to ensure they do not burn out, and start to show their stress. These breaks will refresh the staff and ensure they are more prepared to deal with this stressful and busy time of year. Staff breaks are even more important during busy times, as stress can build up, and can really affect staff by causing them to have a short temper and look frustrated. We all know everybody deals with stress differently, but breaks can help staff to avoid projecting that stress to customers. One more point is to have supervisors ensure the staff actually take their breaks, as sometimes when its busy people can forget their break time.

The holiday season is a very busy time, but these tips can help your company any time of the year, when there is a big influx of customers all at once. Keeping customers smiling can be tough during busy times, but managing staff stress, can help to reduce customer frustration, which is good for everybody.

Create Word Of Mouth Champions To Grow Your Business

Does your company create word of mouth champions? A word of mouth champion is someone who champions your business and is very loyal because of your amazing customer service delivery, and quality product or service. These customers will promote and defend your company, because of the emotional bond they have with the company. They will be champions of the company, which is clearly good for business.


In addition to the company marketing efforts, you will gain many referrals from these loyal customers. These champions will also make it harder for the competition to compete because amazing customer service is rare, so now the competition will have to compete using other tools, such as price. This is a crucial point, as price is very easy to compete on, but superior customer service is not so easy for other  companies to duplicate. They would have to create new training programs, which takes time and money. Most companies will choose to compete on price, because its easier and cheaper. 


Now the key is how  to have your company create these word of mouth champions. The company will need to deliver exceptional customer service that really surprises the customer. This will not be easy, but can be achieved through a strong training program for all staff. Also, the company will need to recruit the right staff with great attitudes. The old saying, hire for attitude, train for  skill  is very true when it comes to creating a superior customer service culture within a company. In addition to the training and hiring, the staff will need to be given the proper authority and power to solve most issues. Having this needed authority will save the customer time, because then the staff do not have to consult the manager for every issue.


One way to create content  for the training is to study several successful companies, who consistently deliver great service, and find some basic ideas that can be implemented into your business.  Then you could put a few of these company success stories together, so staff could read and understand some success principles. The main thing is to have staff learn and remember the essence of what superior customer service is all about. Also, these stories will often be easier to remember than page after page of training materials and often will be more useful.


However, basic ideas still need to be put into the training program. One such principle, is to always have staff be solution oriented towards customers. Customers do not want to hear, that this is against policy, they would rather hear, "I will work on this issue for you and get it resolved" . Customers want solutions to problems, not staff just repeating company rules, that state this problem can not be solved.The training program could also focus on scenario based customer service examples, to allow staff to be creative in their solutions to deliver great customer service.  This will help staff develop creative solution ideas and create the habit of superior service.  


This training and hiring process will, over time produce many word of mouth champions, which will cause the business to become more profitable and will produce many smiling customers.

Secret of Customer Service

The secret to great customer service is really no great mystery at all, its just so rare, that  you would think that  there must be some great hidden mystery. It would seem like there are some  hidden steps, because  you will go to some companies and receive amazing service, but then go to many more businesses and receive very poor service. This would lead you to believe that there must be some concealed steps  to great customer service or else this would be delivered by all companies.


Perhaps the secret to great customer service is so obvious, that it is often overlooked by employers and employees. The great secret is: Treat a customer like how you would like to be treated. This simple yet hard to implement concept will transform your customer service into a happy and loyal customer creation machine. Most people will want to be treated with respect and receive attentive, helpful customer service. Just imagine how happy and loyal customers would be if staff could be trained to deliver this kind of quality service.


Now of course this is a simple concept, but its very difficult for most companies to implement into their training programs. Most staff just want to get through the day, and just get home. The employees are thinking more about themselves, than about actually trying to help out customers. You can see this attitude everywhere, just look for it when you go shopping. See what happens  when you go into a store just before closing time, you can often  see the look of horror in the faces of the staff, as they are thinking they might have to stay later. 


So how can companies reveal the secret of customer service to their staff? The most important aspect will be to hire staff with the right attitude and then train them in the ways of superior customer service. There will need to be a constant emphasis on remembering to treat others as you would like to be treated. This is where role playing can play a crucial role, to have staff play out various scenarios to show them the correct way to handle various situations. Have employees remember when they received great service, and let them describe the situation, so everybody can learn. Also staff can list the ways they expect to be treated as customers, and then  encourage them to deliver that kind of customer service.


Once the training is finished, then its time  for staff to practice what they have learned. This is where quality monitoring will be important to ensure, they are following the training and delivering amazing service. Monitoring and encouraging the staff will pay off in a big way, as the staff will develop the habit of delivering superior customer service. Once the staff implement this secret, you will have many loyal and happy customers