The Engaging Brand

Customer Service Tips from a Child

I bet I am not the only person who has felt completely exasperated from a child - one that seems to enjoy in sending your emotions into the stratosphere, and one that sends you crazy from delighting in doing the absolute opposite of what they are supposed to....please back me up otherwise I will feel a dreadful human being :)

But you know we could all learn from how a child turns you from a coiled spring to a proud, loving human being again.

• They smile that smile that makes you feel like a million dollars
• They suddenly do something so surprisingly good that you see the goodness in them again
• They give you a little gift that although totally useless....which makes you feel special.
• They give you a hug, say they are sorry.....all for free but the value is immense.

Now I wonder if customer service was run by children, that they smiled down the phone, that they surprised you with something you weren't expecting, that they gave a little free gift, that they hugged you emotionally...wonder what it would be like?

We spend our early life wanting to be older...maybe we should spend our adult life building the childlike innocence into our personal brand?

Monetary Bribes do not Customer Service Make...

I have just spoken to my best friend who has had a dreadful time with Carphone Warehouse on her mobile contract. The bill has consistently been incorrect and not to the contract price...she has now come to the end of the contract so went into store and said that she wanted to end the contract.

The store offered a couple of great deals to try and keep her but she said that no money would change her mind because she wanted to be treated as a valued customer i.e she wanted service not freebies. The man asked her if someone could ring her and she said yes....True to their word they phoned. A Carphone Warehouse guy said "Ok what will it take to keep you?" She explained it was not about money, it was about being listened to, about receiving acceptable customer service....guess what happened next?

The guy promptly put the phone down! Clearly he did not have a superb contract deal that would solve that problem :)

She said she was so frustrated that when she met her friends she told them, she told me, she told her family - (imagine how many people's perceptions of that brand have been affected this weekend?)......in this modern world, advertising is the price of having to cover up for the actual brand experience.

The interesting part for me, was that she wanted to be valued, she was not money focused..in fact what she was saying was "I don't want free as that gives you an excuse for unacceptable service..I want to pay but in return you value my custom..."

Brands are not and never will be built on who has the largest advertising budget, they will be built on who has the ability to deliver consistently on their brand promise in store, not on paper.

Healthy Customer Service

Still in hospital, however I have had some great learnings from cutomer service.

I look forward to nightshift. These wonderful nurses come and speak to you, ask how you are, laugh with you...make you feel special. I asked one about her appproach and she said she sees herself as an illness holiday guide.

Don't be side tracked by where the pain is often the problem is deeper. So true with employees don't forget to find out the real source of their unhappiness not just what they are telling you.

People need communication even if it is we don't know! When you get nothing you fill in the gaps and feel "unloved".....when you feel isolated you stop communicating as well.

We wil see what today will bring but I hear through the grapevine of nightshift after 6 days I may be heading for operation. Cannot thank you all enough for your warm wishes x

Where did all the Virgin's goodness go?

I was a huge Virgin fan, emphasis on was....why am I changing?... because the brand promise keeps getting broken ..here are 4 reasons why reaffirming your brand each and every day has to be key

1. I get my new phone based on THEIR recommendation, only to find that most of the attributes don't work on their service  - like e-mail! (I actually asked for a phone with e-mail, internet etc...as a key feature I wanted to use, never did they say actually we do not support that feature on our mobile service)
2. When I ring up to say why sell that phone to me, they say the phone does all the things we said, even though you can't use them on our service!
3. Oh did I say it took 42 minutes to get through to customer service and I believe I was being charged for it!
4. My broadband was through NTL, Virgin took them over. I rang to ask about my package and found out that unless I change my email address I have to pay more than the original Virgin customers and have a reduced broadband speed....now clearly I want to change but they cannot redirect my business e-mail.

As I always say, for all the advertising in the world it is not what you say your brand stands for..it is the experience that the customer feels when they interact with you. (1) broke my trust....(2) broke more trust and left me totally frustrated...(3) made me feel devalued...and (4) makes me want to find a new supplier, if I have to change email address anyway!

The interesting thing is that I want to be a Virgin customer which shows how much they had built their brand with me...it reminds me of all the promises that you make to your employees at meetings or at recruitment...never forget an employee trust needs building for life not just in one off comments at  meetings

I will announce the winner to the latest business book give away tomorrow so for your chance to win just leave a comment to 5 Thoughts on Bonfire Night!

Bathroom Blogfest - Loo Must Be Joking!

I have been delighted to participate in the Bathroom Blogfest 2007.

The event is coming to an end but  I came across this TrendHunter article - that is not necessarily about customer experience or bathroom's per se...but loved the idea as it illustrates the power of design today and illustrates the power of creating a personal brand that stands out from the crowd...Here is a man who has built a house in the shape of a toilet!

"Mr. Sim, who is 74 years old, was born in a toilet and plans to live in the house until he dies.

“It was intentional. My mother followed advice from my grandmother that people born in restrooms will enjoy long lives,’’ he said. “Toilets were once regarded as stinking and dirty places. Not any more. They must be treated as the sanctuary that protects human health.”

SIM Jae-Duck was born in a toilet and now he plans to live and die in one - a $US1.6 million ($1.8m) toilet-shaped house designed to promote his tireless campaign for cleaner loos worldwide. Mr Sim will open what is billed as the world's one and only toilet house on November 11 to mark the launch of his World Toilet Association"

Here are the links to this year’s participating bloggers:

• Kate Rutter—Adaptive Path
• Laurence Helene Borel—Blog Till You Drop
• Iris Shreve Garrott—checking out and checking in
• Susan Abbott—Customer Experience Crossroads
• Maria Palma—Customers Are Always
• Becky Carroll—Customers Rock!
• Toby Bloomberg—Diva Marketing
• Stephanie Weaver—Experienceology
• Linda Tischler—Fast Company Now
• C.B. Whittemore—Flooring the Consumer
• Ed Pell—K+B DeltaVee
• Helene Blowers—Library Bytes
• Claudia Schiepers—Life and its little pleasures
• Katie Clark—Practical Katie
• Sandra Renshaw—Purple Wren
• Reshma Anand—Qualitative Research
• Marianna Hayes—Results Revolution
• Carolyn Townes—Spirit Women
• Sara Cantor—The Curious Shopper
• Anna Farmery—The Engaging Brand
• Dee McCrorey—The Ultimate Corporate Entrepreneur
• Katia S. Adams—Transcultural

Here are the links to this year’s participating bloggers:

• Kate Rutter—Adaptive Path
• Laurence Helene Borel—Blog Till You Drop
• Iris Shreve Garrott—checking out and checking in
• Susan Abbott—Customer Experience Crossroads
• Maria Palma—Customers Are Always
• Becky Carroll—Customers Rock!
• Toby Bloomberg—Diva Marketing
• Stephanie Weaver—Experienceology
• Linda Tischler—Fast Company Now
• C.B. Whittemore—Flooring the Consumer
• Ed Pell—K+B DeltaVee
• Helene Blowers—Library Bytes
• Claudia Schiepers—Life and its little pleasures
• Katie Clark—Practical Katie
• Sandra Renshaw—Purple Wren
• Reshma Anand—Qualitative Research
• Marianna Hayes—Results Revolution
• Carolyn Townes—Spirit Women
• Sara Cantor—The Curious Shopper
• Anna Farmery—The Engaging Brand
• Dee McCrorey—The Ultimate Corporate Entrepreneur
• Katia S. Adams—Transcultural

Focus on Customer Experience Delivers Profit

Peer Insight did a 3 year study of 40 Fortune 500 companies - the results show that companies that focused upon customer experience design outperformed the S&P 500 by a 10-1 margin from 2,000 to 2,005.

The test would be whether these companies are STILL focused on customer experience. For instance, I love Amazon...they took the pain out of much of my shopping for me....last night I tried to order some stuff ready for Xmas. Order process great...but delivery for products in stock, ordered now...Dec15? What??...if they are in stock why would the delivery be so long...large order cancelled as the delivery date is far too near Xmas. This is now the 3rd time I have cancelled orders based on the delivery dates they have given me in the last 3 months. Amazon was the ultimate experience for me...but over the last months the delivery element is falling way behind my expectations.

My customer experience is on the decline and it reminds me of something my maverick Uncle used to say...my Uncle was a multi millionaire several times....bankrupt several times!!!...he said "Anna, it is easy making a million, hard part is holding on to it"

When a brand connects with their customer, that in some ways is the easy part, the hard part is keeping the customer at the centre after the success/profits comes flooding in. Success can breed complacency, success can breed arrogance.

I was once in a meeting with a marketing person who said "The customer feedback is irrelevant, they don't understand marketing"

I would argue ...that marketer is irrelevant, as they don't understand customers!

Engaged - Meeting in Process!...More Bathroom Blogfests

Based on yesterday's story about employee engagement and customer service in a Devon toilet...Eric

Fraterman e-mailed me this story

"There is a service legend story that goes back well over ten years. Greyhound bus lines had a new CEO who was rejuvenating the brand and trying to break out of the mould of bus travel being only for those who could not afford anything else.
Of course, the bathrooms in bus stations were notoriously un-clean more often than not. The CEO issued several edicts to have them cleaned up and of course explained why... The change resistant organization did not respond very well, though.
His solution to communicate that he meant what he said?
When travelling around he started convening his meetings with the station managers, guess where... 
You got it! 
The word spread fast of course. And guess what happened to bathroom cleanliness from there on?"

Thanks Eric...as I always say actions speak louder than words.

If you have a story for the Bathroom Blogfest then e-mail me at anna@theengagingbrand.com

 

Bathroom Blogfest - A Story of an Engaged Consumer and Toilet Attendant!

I was delighted to be asked to participate in the Bathroom Blogfest 2007 which runs from Sunday, October 28 through Friday, November 2.  It features 22 bloggers from around the globe, writing about the importance of bathrooms in the customer experience.

Today I wanted to talk about a bathroom that I visited several years ago - unfortunately I cannot remember the name of the family store in Devon,  not because it wasn't memorable but because of my age!

I remember speaking to the person cleaning and saying "Thank you, you must be very proud of how beautiful you keep this room?"
The lady turned and said "My boss is a very strange man, he understands women!"
After laughing I asked "What do you mean?"

She said "When I was interviewed he told me that this was part of the retail store. That women make the majority of the buying decisions and did I want the chance of helping to influence the ladies! He asked me to think of how I could make the restroom a marketing tool! Well, I didn't even know what marketing was, I am 64 you know, but I just thought how do we make this a place that makes people leave and want to buy from us. So I brought in a couple of soft chairs for older people to sit whilst waiting, fresh flowers to give that natural smell, decorated inside the cubicles like you were at home with scenic photo's etc and put a few of our products on display saying if you like this there is one waiting for you in store....I even added little promotions at different times of the year."

I was desperate at this stage to go to the toilet myself by this point!!!
But I said "Your boss made a great decision in recruiting you" She smiled and said "It helped being his mother!"

I laughed - maybe her engagement was because she wanted the retail store to succeed, but the most telling part for me was that the running of the bathrooms was done by the owners' mother! ...Because that room was an extension of the retail experience....wow!

Do you have any stories or if you would like to contribute, please e-mail me your photos and explanation , and I will link to you and include them in the festival.

Here are the links to this year’s participating bloggers:

• Kate Rutter—Adaptive Path
• Laurence Helene Borel—Blog Till You Drop
• Iris Shreve Garrott—checking out and checking in
• Susan Abbott—Customer Experience Crossroads
• Maria Palma—Customers Are Always
• Becky Carroll—Customers Rock!
• Toby Bloomberg—Diva Marketing
• Stephanie Weaver—Experienceology
• Linda Tischler—Fast Company Now
• C.B. Whittemore—Flooring the Consumer
• Ed Pell—K+B DeltaVee
• Helene Blowers—Library Bytes
• Claudia Schiepers—Life and its little pleasures
• Katie Clark—Practical Katie
• Sandra Renshaw—Purple Wren
• Reshma Anand—Qualitative Research
• Marianna Hayes—Results Revolution
• Carolyn Townes—Spirit Women
• Sara Cantor—The Curious Shopper
• Anna Farmery—The Engaging Brand
• Dee McCrorey—The Ultimate Corporate Entrepreneur
• Katia S. Adams—Transcultural

Engaging Your Customer

I went to a small restaurant at Fisherman's Village near Marina Del Rey. In that restaurant, I was 100% engaged as a customer..here is why

• The waitress - Maria - came up to me and said "Are you not eating this lunchtime?" I said that I could not decide what I wanted...she smiled. She then came back with an assortment of free appertiser's for me to be nibbling on while deciding...thus triggering my brain into wanting more food!
• She came back with a free refill of my drink...thus causing me to stay a little longer!
• She asked what part of England I was from and started treating me like I was a long lost friend...feeling guilty now that I haven't ordered any food!
• I say I am peckish but not hungry...she smiles comes back with a tray of wonderful desserts and says "Is this what you are looking for?" I melt....and plump for the pecan/apple pie...
• She brings me an English paper that the restaurant has, to see if I want to catch up on the news whilst I wait...
• She brings the food...oh and a little later the bill
• She walked away with the largest tip of the stay in LA...
• I don't care for an hour I was treated like a star...she engaged me, she gave me an experience that I wanted to pay for....

I asked her why she put so much effort into her role..she said "I just want people to taste our food..it is the best, it would be a shame if they didn't get to taste it...I suppose I see myself as the Sales Director...I have even learned 3 languages so that I can interact better with people"

Wow :) Now that is employee and customer engagement working for to create profit.

I still don't get Starbucks

Ok so I know that interviewees on the podcast often quote Starbucks as an "engaging brand". I know that during those conversations I often say "I don't get that feeling in the UK, but maybe that is the UK vs US customer service"

So now I have spent some time in California I can report back...I still don't get Starbucks as an engaging brand. I have been in 4 Starbucks around LA....and so far

1. Dirty and scruffy environments. Actually chose a local cafe over one Starbucks that looked too rough to go in!
2. The "baristas" talking about his social life whilst serving me...thus having to ask me to repeat my order several times..how close I came to walking out.
3. Food was not fresh - and I am not a foodie at all!
4. No smile....just giving me a product and no "customer experience"

So I am afraid that Starbucks is still Starsucks for me...although the Wifi will mean that I will suffer the environment in the future. Interestingly, I am now reading the book as I want to love Starbucks!!

Question: Am I the unluckiest Starbucks customer ever...or am I missing something?