All companies will tell you that customer service is one of their top priorities. But what does great customer service look like in your organization? If employees don’t know, they are each left to their own interpretation. That leads to an uneven experience for customers. A good way to address this situation is to provide…
Any single person in your company can make a positive or negative impression on a customer. And today, thanks to social media, that one impression can be multiplied, exponentially, within hours. “Think of Yelp or TripAdvisor,” says Kathy Cuff, coauthor of Legendary Service: The Key Is to Care. “You can go online and read hundreds…
Each year the American Customer Satisfaction Index compiles the results of 70,000 random customer interviews to identify customer satisfaction in 43 industries and 10 economic sectors. The top industries for service: Televisions & Video Players (score 86), Credit Unions (score 85), Internet Retail, Internet Brokerage, Full-Service Restaurants, Automobiles & Light Vehicles, Personal Care & Cleaning Products, and Soft…
I recently had a potentially bad experience that turned into a great customer service story and restored my faith in humankind! A couple of months ago I was flying from Savannah, Georgia to Chicago on a business trip. I made it to the Savannah airport in time to call a client while waiting for my…
Early in my career I worked in the hospitality industry, including a stint at Marriott’s Rancho Las Palmas Resort in Rancho Mirage, CA. While there I had a chance to work with Robert Small, a passionate general manager with a vision for the resort. His goal? To earn a coveted Mobil Travel Guide Five Star…
In his article, The One Number You Need to Grow, Bain consultant Fred Reichheld identifies one essential question to ask customers: “How likely is it that you would recommend this company to a friend or colleague?” In Reichheld’s experience researching thousands of companies over the past ten years, the higher the percentage of people who…