How To Be A Genius (or fake it)

Ever see a business come up with a great new product or service and ask yourself how they came up with it?

It must take some kind of genius to do that, right?  You have to have exceptional intellectual or creative power, obviously.

The trouble with true "genius" is that it appears that you have to be born with it.  If you're not, you're simply out of luck.  To be frank - most of us are not geniuses (hence the "exceptional" nature of genius).

I do think that it takes a flexible and imaginative mindset in order to develop revolutionary products and services.  However,  I don't think that it takes true "genius" to do it.  If it did require that, we'd have a whole lot less innovation in the world.

What I think is critical is customer centricity, and this something we can learn and adopt as a point of view.

This is how we fake being geniuses.

Dogs need waffles.  DogWaffleHouse.  GENIUS!

You see, when you are customer centric, you can examine the problems and needs of your customers, and devise new ways to meet them.

It might be a new product or service is needed, or it could just be a new way to deliver an existing product or service.  For example:

• Is your business a brick-and-mortar where customers come to you?  Maybe you need to figure out how to bring your product or service to your customer.
• Do you sell a product, but perhaps other products or services are needed in order to make it easier for your customer to use it?
• Is there some inconvenience your customers put up with that you can solve?

If you can fix the problem (and sometimes customers don't know they have it, or they think that's just the way it has to be) - wouldn't you look like a genius?

Adopt the customer centric mindset, and fake being a genius.

Your customers (and your wallet) will thank you!

Got any great examples of customer centricity faking genius?  Let me know in the comments below!

Adventures in Customer Service - UPDATE!

If you didn't read about my awesome adventure in customer service with AT&T, you can catch up with Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3.  Epic fail was, indeed, epic.

By the way, Twitter account for customer service from AT&T (@attcustomercare), when you ask me to DM you, why didn't you ever respond to the DM I sent to you as requested?  Tweet from AT&T Customer Care

I wrote those posts before the situation was finally resolved - here's the conclusion to the story.

After doing some research, I decided that I was going to switch providers.  A competing provider in my area (who will, admittedly, treat me no better than AT&T - I switched to AT&T from them, so I know them well) has a similar internet service for about $30 less a month than I pay currently.

If I'm going to have bad customer service, I might as well get it cheaper.

So I call AT&T.

I confirm I'm going to get a credit for my internet outage, as I was repeatedly told several different CSR's in the midst of the outage fiasco.  The nice guy on the line (and I do think they hire very nice people overall) tells me he will manually make sure I get issued the credit and confirms the amount.

Wait... "manually issue the credit"?

That's not funny, AT&T.

If I didn't call in and specifically request it, would I have automatically received the credit?

I asked the CSR this question, and he responded that they couldn't know how long my internet was down and thus what to credit me for unless I called in.

I would not have received the credit if I hadn't called in and specifically asked for it!

I received a robocall on the day service was restored telling me the ticket was closed.  So yeah, they knew I was back online.  The promise of a credit was basically a promise they weren't going to argue with me about it, I guess?

Here's the deal: I'm a big corporation veteran, so here's my (admittedly cynical) bet:  I bet they are hoping I forget or miss it on my bill so they can keep the money.

It's like how a percentage of people let gift cards expire and the company gets to keep the money.  It's one of those little things they do that flows directly to their bottom line. It's smart on a spreadsheet.

It's horrible customer service.

So, next, I tell CSR guy that I'm going to fire them for a better deal, and he wants to transfer me over to the Retention Department.  I agree to listen (hey, never hurts).

Retention Department Dude is a very nice guy, and he offers to give me the next tier of faster speed for about $15 less a month than I am paying them for the slower service (and the faster service starts immediately).  Plus, they are going to upgrade my modem at no charge (which is what the service tech recommended).

The equivalent service (the faster speed than what I had) from the competitor costs almost double that, so, after three (and now four) blog posts complaining about them...

I'm still a customer of AT&T (just barely) for another year.

Even if they just had to end that call with that stupid, mindless reminder about texting and driving (seriously, AT&T, stop it!)

Here's the thing:

I think AT&T is trying very hard to deliver good customer service (given they are in a captive market, which I talk a little about here) and are completely missing the mark.  I think, on some level, they know this, and that's why they have a Retention Department authorized to reel me back in with a (relatively) good deal.

They overcame my anger by finding the tipping point whereby I would let it go in order to get a better price.

They can afford to this, because they are very big.  You know how I bet they are hoping I miss my credit (and thus give it up) above?  This is the flip side of that bet.   

You (and I) are very small.  We can't afford to do it this way!

To sum up:

1. Don't require your customer to solve their own problems - that's your job
2. Don't say things you don't mean
3. Don't put your priorities ahead of your customer's

Are you disappointed I stayed with AT&T?  Let me know in the comments below!

Adventures in Customer Service, Part 3 of 3

We started discussing the epic fail of AT&T customer service over here in part 1, and continued in part 2.

Let’s finish up our list.

INAPPROPRIATE UPSELLING

It’s day 5 of my outage and I’m on my last call with AT&T to verify that a tech would, in fact, show up at my house, after having to cancel my participation in my martial arts class and any other activity I’d planned, because who knew when – and if – a tech would actually show up?

Plus, I'm getting very, very irritated at 1) the really bad hold music and 2) being repeatedly nagged about texting and driving.

So, on Saturday, I am one seriously pissed off and unhappy customer.  I have mentioned in this call and the one the night before that I am now comparison shopping alternatives to AT&T Uverse because of this incident.  I am a customer with one foot out the door.

Why yes, I've completely failed to serve you!
Would you be interested in giving me more money?

So, what does the CSR try to do as the call is ending?

She tries to upsell me into buying cable and land line service.

I'm not kidding.

So, hey, here's an idea -  instead of trying to sell me more services why not offer me something to prevent me from comparison shopping and dropping your service completely? 

I’m not blaming the CSR as an individual – she’s obviously measured and rewarded on upselling products and services.

She apparently has zero incentive to placate me or see things from my point of view or attempt to prevent me from looking elsewhere for service – she has an upsell quota to meet. Her needs and AT&T's needs are what's most important, not mine.  AT&T is her boss, not me.

Yesterday (Wednesday) a communication arrived at my house from AT&T.  Was it an apology for the outage, and a confirmation of the credit I would receive as a result?

Ha! Ha! As if!  Nope, it was yet another attempt to upsell me into more services - a special offer of discounts on additional services.

Well, that's an other piece of mail for the recycling bin. Thanks, AT&T.

LESSON LEARNED: AFTERMATH OF AN EPIC FAIL

After this Adventure in Customer Service, I say that AT&T, with all of their money, process, and training, is failing in providing excellent customer service in an epic way.

In every interaction with me, AT&T put their needs ahead of mine.  They put words ahead of deeds.  They demonstrated that their so-called “caring” about me is a joke, as they did not understand or seem to want to understand what I really needed from them.

I know, should anybody at AT&T read this, that my words are falling on deaf ears. After all, I’m one tiny customer and won't miss me when I'm gone.

No, I'm using this experience to try to make myself a better servant to my clients - and you can, too.

As small business people, customer service – really good customer service – can be our edge when competing against the big guys, who have superior resources, budgets, and sometimes cheaper prices than we do.  I do not believe it requires steeply discounting your services nor does it take an investment in a huge customer service apparatus to deliver excellent customer service.

Just ask yourself – am I putting my company’s needs ahead of my customer’s?  How can I discover what my customer really needs from me and deliver it?  Am I treating their time and money with the respect it deserves?   Do my actions match my words?

Am I asking my customers to solve problems I should be solving for them?  To me, this is the key point, the essence of customer service – don’t ask customers to solve problems you should be solving!  That is why they pay you!

None of us are perfect, and we will fail, at some point, to deliver what we promise, sometimes in situations beyond our control.  How do we handle that fail – how do we make the customer feel more confidence in us after mistakes, rather than less?  How can we turn a fail into a win?

Look at yourself, and your business, every day, and answer these questions honestly.

Go out there and provide excellent customer service.

Thoughts on this rant (or others)?  Let me know in the comments or email me.

Adventures in Customer Service, Part 2 of 3

We started discussing the epic fail of AT&T customer service over here in part 1 .

Let’s continue with our list.

YOUR WORDS SPEAK LOUDER THAN YOUR ACTIONS

I spoke to a CSR four times in five days.  At the end of each call, I was treated to this message:

“AT&T cares about you, so don’t text and drive.”

Seems harmless, huh? Good PR, anyway – AT&T can claim that they are addressing this important public safety issue and check it off as good corporate citizenship.

Text and drive all over the place,whatevs.

Well, after hearing it four times in five days, no matter what my interaction was with AT&T on each call, I was ready to start texting and driving in rebellion!

AT&T must be measuring their CSRs on delivery of this message and it’s got to be a high priority for them.  Of course, being repeatedly annoyed about texting and driving wasn't on my priority list...

This point - that AT&T's priorities were in fact more important than mine - really became clear to me on the third call.  This was the one on Friday night and I was livid that a promised appointment with a technician within a twelve hour window did not actually happen.

Remember,  I had to chase down AT&T to figure out what was going on - especially irritating as they robocalled me earlier in the day saying I would, in fact, see a technician that day, so I should stick around the house.

I spent the majority of this phone call complaining and expressing my frustration, and talking about finding a new internet provider (tersely, but as politely as I could manage, as I don’t believe in abusing customer service people).  The CSR handled the call very well up to this point, sounding sympathetic and patient.

So, after about twenty minutes of my venting my extreme displeasure, as we end the call, he just has to make sure he ends with “AT&T cares about you, don’t text and drive.”

"No Way"
WAY!

Hey, AT&T, if you actually cared about me, you would have let me know that the technician was not going to show up without my having to call you.  You would not have required me to call you on Saturday to make sure when and if a tech was going to show up to my house.

If you actually cared about me, you’d understand that harassing me about texting and driving is completely inappropriate when you are in the middle of apologizing profusely for failing to follow through on a promise and wasting an entire day of my time.

The CSR should have been able to use human judgment and say, “Let’s skip the texting and driving message on this call, because it probably sounds pretty stupid”, without fear of being harassed by his managers about not having the cover on his TPS reports (or however they measure such things over there).

But because AT&T needs to appear to care about my safety, it looks to me like they have to deliver this texting and driving message on every call, and if they don’t deliver the message, I bet there are negative consequences in store for that CSR.

AT&T, your actions show that you don’t care about me, so stop forcing your CSRs to say that you do. It’s insulting.

Ok, again, I'm out of space here, so I'll finish up in Part 3.

Adventures in Customer Service, Part 1 of 3

I've written before about customer service as a marketing tactic.  See here and here. I'm pretty passionate about the idea of excellent customer service being a key marketing tactic in your business.

I recently experienced customer service from a major corporation that could only be described as epic fail.  I think the reasons why this corporation failed might not be so obvious to the casual observer.  I have so much to say about this experience, I had to break it up into three blog posts!

Here’s the situation:

I was without internet service from about 6:30 pm on Tuesday 7/30 through around 11:00 am Saturday 8/3.  My service provider is AT&T Uverse.

Hi There!  How can I be of no help
to you whatsoever today?

Over the course of about three and a half days, my critical work and personal financials piled up (I couldn't do secured transactions via public WiFi after all) and our family life was disrupted.

Now, this was very frustrating, as I depend on the internet for just about everything (including TV).  It was like being punted back to 1986 and the digital Stone Age.  Yes, yes, I know, first world problems and all, but still, it was a major disruption to my business and my life.

The outage itself, however, was not what outraged me the most.  What was particularly galling is that my interactions with AT&T customer service representatives proved to me that for all of the money, training, and process that AT&T is obviously putting into its customer service apparatus, it’s missing a few key important points that are critical to providing excellent customer service..

I believe that the four different CSRs I talked to sincerely empathized with my problem and genuinely wished they could do more (being CSRs, of course they have zero power, but still – nice people overall).

So where’s the epic fail?  Here’s a list:

REQUIRING THE CUSTOMER TO FOLLOW UP

Once I reported a problem to my service on Tuesday night, why did I have to call AT&T back repeatedly over the next few days to make sure that AT&T was doing what they should be doing to fix my problem?

After the first call, I was told service would be restored by 8:00 pm on Wednesday.  I get home at 9 pm on Wednesday and nope, no internet!  I call the help line – and they don’t answer it after “business hours”, so I’m down for the night.  As you can imagine, that was awesome.

So I had to call them on Thursday morning, find out I need to get a tech scheduled (none available until Friday), wait another day for a tech to show up on Friday (and nobody showed), follow up on Friday with another call, to be told that the techs were backed up and I would not get my problem resolved on that day, and I had to cancel another day’s worth of activities on Saturday when the tech finally showed up and fixed the problem.

Here’s the thing: if AT&T actually gave a flip about me or my time or my value as a customer, they would have in place a process that, once I reported a problem, THEY would follow up WITH ME – again, via phone or email or text message, even – to make sure everything was okay. 

On each of four phone calls I made to AT&T, I had to go through the same rigmarole with my account number, phone number, PIN and explanation of my problem.  If they were calling me, I wouldn't have to go through the same song and dance repeatedly, theoretically.

So, here’s the point: if a customer is having an issue with your product or service, it’s on YOU to follow up with them to make sure that the issue gets resolved.  That action shows that you actually do care about their satisfaction with your product or service, and that their needs are more important than yours.

I've got two more main points, but I’m out of space today – see you in part 2.

Customer Service is your Best Marketing Tactic (Part 2)

Continuing the discussion from Part 1.

Ok, so, you’re a small business.  Your resources are very limited and you have to make the most of every marketing dollar spent.  You've decided to integrate excellent customer service as a key part of your marketing tactics.

So, how do you get started?

Man with a plan - do you have one?

I think the place you have to begin is by identifying your ideal customer and build your customer service process around them.  You've done this, in your marketing plan, right?  If not, contact me and let's get to work on that.

Next, you must understand that ideal customer.  What are their expectations and needs? Build a process and a culture (even if it’s just you, it’s still a culture) that meets or exceed those expectations and needs every time that customer comes in contact with you in any way.

Don't make the mistake of assuming they need and want what you need and want.  Do your research and find out what they say - either directly (by asking) or indirectly (by tracking purchasing behavior) or ideally, both.

The details of how to deliver this - and thus, what excellent customer service looks like - vary from company to company and industry to industry.  Consider not only the standard in your own industry, but also the standards of those industries that are recognized as tops in customer service.  This would usually be personal services (like spas as mentioned in part 1) but also think about high end hotels, casinos, and any business you frequent yourself that you think does an excellent job in delivering customer service.

Here's a few tips I think are generally universal:

• Smile when you are talking on the phone
• If you make a commitment, follow through on that promise
• Use honesty and own the situation when things go wrong

There's one tip you can integrate immediately into your daily process, and it’s been around for a long time (and you don’t have to be religious at all to agree with the sentiment):

Philippians 2:3-4

New American Standard Bible (NASB)

3 Do nothing [a]from [b]selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; 4 do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others.

http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Philippians+2%3A3-4&version=NASB

 It sounds simple, but takes practice, process, and work.  I can help you with that.

Customer Service is your Best Marketing Tactic (Part 1)

The goals of marketing, greatly simplified, fall into three basic categories:

•  Generating new customer leads
• Retaining and growing existing customers
•  Reactivating inactive/lapsed customers

People don’t usually think of customer service as a marketing tactic, but I argue that it’s a tactic that is well put to use in category 1 and 2 (category 3 is trickier and I’ll talk about that another time, or, you can contact me and I’ll talk your ear off about it).

Most of our time/energy is spent on the first category - new leads.  I don't think you should ignore this, but you must make sure you are spending a lot of time addressing the second category (retention and growth of existing customers).

How many companies have you interacted with that had huge marketing budgets and slick facilities, but when you dealt with them, it was obvious they didn't care much about you as a person, but only how much money you could give them at the moment?

  

Do you think she just got
back from the spa or the airport?

Companies with that point of view need to have "captive" customers with few options other than to deal with them (examples would be the United States Postal Service, airlines, and cable/dish tv companies) or they depend on tactics that drive a LOT of new customers so they can “afford” to lose more of them later.

In my opinion, the airline industry is the perfect example of this.  Check out the American Customer Satisfaction Index satisfaction scores by industry, and sure enough, airlines are usually in the bottom five every year.  ASCI by Industry.

Look at the personal services industries, such as spas - wouldn't it be great if your airline treated you as if you were a spa customer at a spa?  Yeah, I won't hold my breath on that one, either!

For you, however, here's why you need to always like a spa (no matter what your business offers) and not like an airline: your customers generally will NOT be captive and will have plenty of options to acquire your product/service via other means.  Most small businesses can't afford to "fill that funnel" with new customers to overcome the loss of existing customers due to poor customer relationships.

Here's one key thing to keep in mind: acquiring new customers is almost always more expensive and more difficult than retaining and growing existing customers.

As a small business person, you need to acquire new customers always, but once you have acquired them, you need to keep them.  And one of the most cost-effective is to deliver excellent customer service.

More on that in part 2.