Pay Attention!: How to Listen, Respond, and Profit from Customer Feedback

by Ann Thomas, Jill Applegate

Overview

Your customers are talking about you. Are you listening?

Whether they use social networks, online tools, or a myriad of other media, your customers are reviewing you, rating you, and ranting about you to friends, peers, and perfect strangers. Disappoint your customers with poor service, and they won't take it quietly. Give them a great experience, and they will become powerful and loyal advocates, pointing others your way. Customer interaction today is a whole new ballgame; are you prepared to play and win?

Pay Attention! enables you to successfully navigate today's customer feedback landscape and turn that feedback into your competitive edge. By outlining the complete Pay Attention system, this up-to-the-minute guide gives you a practical, step-by-step

toolbox you can use immediately to achieve top-notch customer interactions.

Get the keys to create winning customer experiences as you:

• Learn the demands of today's customer

• Connect with your audience by various online and social media

• Shape your marketing messages and clearly identify your customer

• Apply the RATER factors to your business (Reliability, Assurance, Tangibles, Empathy, and Responsiveness)

• Hire and train excellent customer-contact people

• Respond effectively to customer reviews and feedback

• Explore ways to "make it right" when something goes wrong

The fundamental customer-business relationship is changing. The companies that understand and adapt to the new rules will beat the competition and gain market share. Pay Attention! offers a proven system you can use to revitalize the way you approach your customers and customer service while gaining major business insights in the process. The next level of customer interaction, acquisition, and retention awaits you; all you need is to Pay Attention!

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780470627426
Publisher:	Wiley
Publication date:	04/15/2010
Sold by:	JOHN WILEY & SONS
Format:	eBook
Pages:	224
File size:	689 KB

About the Author

ANN THOMAS is coauthor of 101 Activities for Delivering Knock Your Socks Off Service and the senior consultant and lead facilitator with Performance Research Associates (PRA) since 1999. Her work focuses on improving service quality, diversity awareness, generational differences, sales, performance management, and professional development. Ann brings nearly thirty years' experience in consulting and training to each of her clients, including Marriott ExecuStay, Accenture, the Securities and Exchange Commission, and many others. Ann is also a member of the faculty for the American Management Association and is a regular presenter for Progressive Business Conferences.

JILL APPLEGATE is project manager and client coordinator with Performance Research Associates. She served as right hand to the late Ron Zemke for nearly fifteen years and takes seriously the responsibility of wowing customers. Jill works closely with PRA clients to ensure that their efforts hit the mark. She is also a coauthor of 101 Activities for Delivering Knock Your Socks Off Service.

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Table of Contents

Acknowledgments xi

Introduction xiii

Chapter 1 Pay Attention to Today’s Customers 1

The Power of Online Megaphones 3

A More Skeptical and Distrustful Customer 5

What Does This All Mean for Your Own Customer Service Strategy? 6

Rising Global Service Expectations 7

The Customer Experience Grid 11

Speed as a Competitive Advantage 14

E-Mail Versus Phone: Which Is Speedier? 15

More Educated Global Customers 16

Five Building Blocks of Service

Quality 18

Reliability 18

Assurance 19

Tangibles 20

Empathy 21

Responsiveness 22

Chapter 2 Pay Attention to Your Marketing Message 25

Participating versus Observing 26

Fundamentals Are Still Key 27

Pay Attention to Who You Are 27

Pay Attention to Who Your Audience Is 30

The Power of Customer Stories 33

Pay Attention to Engaging Your Customers 37

Pay Attention to Walking Your Marketing Talk 44

Chapter 3 Pay Attention to Preparation 49

The Power of Vision and Purpose 50

Theory to Action: Creating Standards and Norms 53

Hiring Tactics: Select for Attitude, Train for Skill 55

Modeling Star Performers 56

Training and Coaching 58

Internal Social Networks: Cost-Effective Learning Tools 61

Pay Attention to What’s Rewarded and Measured 62

Chapter 4 Pay Attention to the Customer Experience 65

Make It Personal 66

Social Media Plays a Role at Comcast 70

Taking Problems Seriously 72

Be ETDBW: Easy to Do Business With 73

Being ETDBW Means Considering All Audiences 77

Payoffs of Being ETDBW 78

Responsiveness and Reliability: Keys to the Customer Experience 79

Chapter 5 Pay Attention to New Feedback Channels 85

Eleven Ways to Listen to Customers 86

Pay Attention to the Ways Customers Speak 93

Evaluating Feedback 103

Taking a Closer Look: Glossary of Terms 107

Business Analytics Are Vital 109

Managing the Moments of Truth 112

Ten Action Steps 114

Make Your Web Site ETDBW 116

Weighing the Pros and Cons 119

Chapter 6 Pay Attention to Your Reaction 121

Ignore at Your Peril 122

Tracking What They’re Saying 124

To Engage or Not to Engage? 125

Creating Integrated Response Systems 130

Traditional Listening Posts 131

Three Types of Listening 133

Reacting to Product vs. Service Feedback 135

Chapter 7 Pay Attention to Your Response 137

All Eyes on You 138

Creating Digital Embassies 139

Dell Computer: Engaging via Social Media Is “Everyone’s Job” 141

Rules of Engagement 143

Responding to Customer Reviews 146

Responding to Negative Reviews 148

Responding to Positive Reviews 152

Responding in Public versus Private 153

Responding to Customer Suggestions and Ideas 154

Customers Helping Other Customers 155

Chapter 8 Pay Attention to Recovery 157

The Dollar Impact of Service Breakdown 158

An Implied Covenant 159

What Is Service Recovery? 160

Five Axioms of Effective Service Recovery 161

Axiom 1: Customers Have Recovery Expectations 162

Axiom 2: Successful Recovery Is Psychological as Well as Physical: Fix the Person, Then the Problem 162

Axiom 3: Work in a Spirit of Partnership 166

Axiom 4: Customers React More Strongly to “Fairness” Failures Than to “Honest Mistakes” 169

Axiom 5: Effective Recovery Is a Planned Process 170

Seeing Complaints as a Gift 173

Fix the Process to Reduce Recovery Needs 174

Service Recovery Process 176

Acknowledge That the Customer Has Been Inconvenienced and Apologize for It 178

Listen, Empathize, and Ask Open-Ended Questions 178

Offer a Fair Fix to the Problem 178

Offer Some Value-Added Atonement for the Inconvenience or Injury 179

Keep Your Promises 180

Follow-Up 180

Key Service Recovery Skills 181

Notes 189

About the Authors 191

Index 193