Customer Service Experience

How Do You Define "Customer-Focused Strategy?"
May 13, 2008, 4:15 PM
As the person responsible for Customer Relationship Management (CRM) in my six-state division of the American Cancer Society, I’m leading an interdepartmental team through a process to create a 3-year CRM strategic plan. Or I should say, they’re leading me because we had a truly awesome two-day planning session at the end of April where we came up with a draft plan. However, since then, I’ve learned that people define “customer-focused strategy” and “customer-focused culture” to mean different things. I realized I needed to come up with a definition of each since failure to provide clarity at this foundational level ...

A Pleasant Customer Service Experience
May 12, 2008, 7:15 AM
It's 7:20 AM Monday Morning. Back in August 2006, I wrote a post proposing that my car dealer at Wi-fi access to the customer waiting area. Stopping in for service a month or so ago, I noticed a router on the wall. This morning I'm sitting in the waiting area while they're changing my oil. Here's what I like. I'm getting a competitive price with service just as fast as the fast-lube places, plus I trust these folks. But I'm doing business here because I'm able to get work done while I wait. I've already got my "to do" list ...

Did You Build Your Web Site For Your Customers Or For You?
May 11, 2008, 2:55 PM
Recently I won a radio contest for a free gift card at a local restaurant. Someone from the station called and left me a voicemail saying that I had won and that someone would call me back. Several days went by and I decided to call them. I went to the station's Web site but could not find their main telephone number. I called the promotions director several times but the number was incorrect and I kept receiving an "out of service" message. I e-mailed the promotions director and the site's Web master pointing out the lack of a main ...

Are Your Employees Gaming Your System?
May 08, 2008, 12:00 PM
Several years ago I bought a large piece of merchandise at a national chain. I pulled around to their loading area and went in. I found myself in a room with a large flat-screen monitor, a bar-code reader, and several chairs occupied by several people. I scanned my receipt at the bar-code reader and saw my name appear on the flat-screen with the merchandise description and code. As I waited, I noticed that a customer's status would move from "waiting" to "delivered." But it took a further ten minutes for the merchandise to be actually delivered to the customer. Here's ...

Check Out These Customer Service Blogs
May 06, 2008, 12:30 PM
Last month I celebrated my third year as a customer service blogger. I've been blogging here since September of 2005. Since this blog doesn't have a blog roll, here are the customer service blogs I follow.

Yet Another Way To Beat The National Chains
May 04, 2008, 1:45 PM
In an April 20 post titled, Sears—Where’s The Love?, I suggested that they create a loyalty program to reward customers who regularly shopped there. I then went to their Web site, clicked on “Contact Me,” and sent them an e-mail containing the link. To date I have heard nothing, not even from an auto-reply message. You know how you feel when you attempt to start a conversation with someone and they ignore you? That’s exactly how I feel about Sears.

Friday Night Links--Businesses That Blog
May 02, 2008, 7:15 AM
Christopher Carfi over at The Social Customer Manifesto lists four retailers that blog. If you're interested in creating a blog for your business, you would do well to study them. Of course, there's my favorite business (big) business blog, Nuts About Southwest and my favorite small business blog, Two Maids Blog.

Here's How You Can Help Fight Cancer (No, I'm not asking for money)
April 28, 2008, 9:10 AM
Whle you know me through this blog, my career is fighting cancer with the American Cancer Society. We're kicking off our third cancer prevention study, called CPS-3, that needs 500,000 volunteers between the ages of 30 and 65 who have never had cancer.Please view this 5:13 video to learn more...

Sears--Wheres The Love?
April 20, 2008, 7:50 PM
Retailers like Sears are struggling to make sales. What if Sears created a loyalty program similar to those offered by the airlines? The more you purchase, the more perks you receive. Over the years I’ve bought washers, dryers, TV’s, lawn mowers, and so much more from Sears. But my recent flat screen TV and other appliances came from Best Buy. We never consider Sears when shopping for clothes. Our bedding and kitchenware come from Target or Bed, Bath, & Beyond. Other than sending me countless opportunities to buy extended warranties and the occasional Craftsman catalog, we usually don’t receive any ...

What CRM Is Not
April 13, 2008, 5:35 PM
If you’re thinking about implementing a customer relationship management (CRM) strategy there are two things you need to know right now. First, CRM is not software. The software allows you to compile data on customers and prospects that enables you to build better relationships with them. It can help you identify their needs and wants better, faster, more efficiently. But the software is only one of the tools you will use. Yet many people still think that CRM is synonymous with whichever software you purchase. It’s not. You know that farming is the process of growing plants in a planned ...