Customer service and satisfaction initiatives cost money right? Going above and beyond to satisfy your customer is an investment that has to be budgeted like any other key line item like R&D or employee benefits, right?
Well, what if someone told you that you could not only improve customer service and satisfaction but also simultaneously cut costs and actually improve your bottom line?
You can do it if you truly understand your customer, your customer's behaviors and your own operating metrics. Here are 2 relevant examples:
Area Codes:
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Area codes were introduced in 1951 when the mayor of Englewood, NJ made the
How can you separate yourself from the pack and create a "Great Product!" vs. the "Me Too" products which usually only provide a few new unique features? You "Wow!" them with an amazing experience. In today's world, customers either bond with your product quickly or they don't. The "bondable" products have several similar characteristics and almost always center around the emotions the product evokes based on the customers experience.
Of course, the easy answers on how to create such products are "Ease of Use" or a "Simple Interface" or "3 Clicks to a Solution". Yes, those are certainly key requirements and
Everything you do, every email, every phone call, every spreadsheet, every presentation is your own personal product.
I tell this to everyone that has ever worked with me and for me in every capacity. The entry level accounts payable clerk has a product and that product has a customer and that customer has an expectation
Jim
I heard this a long time ago and as cliche' as it is I still love it and have to repeat it for those of you who haven't heard it yet.
Success is the result of Good Judgement
Good Judgement is the result of Experience
Experience is the result of Bad Judgement
Recognizing, Admitting, and most importanly learning from one's mistakes is probably the most important thing you can do in your life and in your business.
My dad's generational phrase was the classic "Fool me once, shame on you!" "Fool me twice, shame on me!"
As much as you can get...but you need enough to cover all your costs, right.
Know the monthly number, repeat it over an over to everyone in the company.
Ensure everyone understands how many orders this translates into and what the avg order size is
Ensure eveyone understands the key variable cost components of each order (cost to produce that order and to ship it out the door)
Continuous Process Improvement. A famous business set of buzz words. But what does it really mean and how can you live it?
Test and Learn
Talk to your Customers
Intuit Required Everyone Company to spend 1 hr per week on Customer Service phone
Follow me home program
National Sales Tour
Amazon's website
NetFlix Envelopes
Intuit Software Packages
All about feedback and incorporating feedback into the next version of the product. Listen to your customer..they are almost always right.
