On my last posting, I discussed how Positive Defining Moments (PDM’s) builds customer loyalty. But how exactly can your company constantly be creating PDM’s? Well we need to look into your service interactions to determine exactly where PDM’s can be created.
All service interactions occur within Three Dimensions of Service. They are the following:
The Human Dimension - This dimension tends to the emotional needs of both the customer and the service provider. Every customer needs respect, understanding and individual attention. Your company’s skills in the Human Dimension help you meet those needs. Sometimes it can be a cheerful hello, other times by defusing an angry outburst. Your company has human needs as well during a service interaction, such as courtesy and recognition of your expertise.
The Business Dimension - This dimension tends to the practical needs of a transaction. A business need prompts a customer to seek your company’s product or service. When your company meets these needs quickly and fully, you are helping to create PDM’s. Your company also has business needs, such accurate information to fulfill a client’s request that your company must meet during every transaction. Balancing both these needs, your customer’s and your company’s, is a key challenge of achieving Stellar Service.
The Hidden Dimension -Much of your service transaction is hidden from your customers. Your standard procedures, the interactions between you and your employees, even your company’s capacity are all invisible to your customers. Your company’s skills “behind the scenes” support your performance with your customers. But you also need to be aware that your customer’s hidden dimension, such as events or attitudes unknown to you, can affect a service interaction.
It takes skills in all three dimensions of service to create PDM’s. Your company can’t control all aspects of the Business or Hidden Dimensions. But you do have much more control over what happens in the Human Dimension. This is where your company has the greatest opportunity to create PDM’s. It is highly recommended to ALWAYS start and end every service interaction in the Human Dimension. A simple “hello, how are you doing” to start the transaction and a “have a great day” to end the transaction will go a long way. Too many companies put most of their effort in the Business Dimension or discuss way too much of the Hidden Dimension with their customers. It is in the Human Dimension where your company can definitely differentiate themselves from your competitors.
In order for your company to continue creating PDM’s, you need to know what your customers are looking for in a service you provide. In my next post, I will discuss the Four Qualities Customers Seek in every service transaction.
So we have discussed the Importance of Customer Service (CS) and the Benefits of Customer Loyalty, let’s now look into how we can Create Loyal Customers. Before we can discuss that, we need to think as a customer for a bit first. We as individuals are customers everyday, even at work. We are customers to our vendors and to our internal departments. How many times have we come across bad customer service? Many right, but every so often, we come across a service interaction that is memorable because something happened that left a strong impression of that service on us.
That event is called a Defining Moment, which by definition; is any point in time when a customer judges the service your company provides, thus judges your company as a whole. When a member of your company greets a customer, answers a question, offers options/suggestions, offers to solve a problem/issue, or even tries to recover from a service breakdown, can all be defining moments.
Depending on how your company handles each defining moment, your customer can have a positive or negative experience. Your company’s action, in short, in each defining moment can either strengthen or weaken customer loyalty. When your company strives to create Positive Defining Moments(PDM’s) you help build loyalty. This is the heart of Stellar Service, your company’s effort to create PDM’s.
Your company is defined in the eyes of your customers. Your company’s actions, moment by moment, either build or erode customer loyalty. When your company creates PDM’s, you help ensure that your customers will want to remain loyal to your company, thus helping in its success.
However, it takes more then simply being aware of defining moments and making them positive ones as much as possible. On my next discussion, I will go over The Three Dimensions of Service, in which PDM’s are created.
As discussed on my previous post, Customer Loyalty is key to any successful business. I will discuss how to build loyal customers, by providing Stellar Service, on later posts. But I want to focus on the benefits of customer loyalty.
Loyal customers show feelings of trust and confidence in your company. These feelings inspire customer actions with clear benefits. They resist offers from competitive companies, recommend your business or service to others, and are willing to work with you when they experience a service issue or breakdown. From a business perspective, when you hear a loyal customer complain, they are often simply trying to make your business or service better. Wise companies listen to these complaints to try and improve their business or service.
Here are the Four main benefits of customer loyalty:
Retention - Customers that continue doing business with your company, provide a solid base for success. If they purchase additional products or services, the payoff is even better.
Referrals - Customers that encourage others (friends, family or even strangers) to choose your business or service over the competitor’s, save you the cost of attracting new customers. Per my previous post, it costs 5 times more to attract a new customer then to keep an existing one.
Reputation - Customers that speak well of your company, increase your public support, as well as positive interest from investors, future employees, and the media.
Revenue - Customers that give your company a larger share of their business, increase both your overall revenue, plus the recognition that comes with success.
These benefits are referred to as the Four R’s: Retention, Referrals, Reputation & Revenue. As you can see, Loyal Customers do provide valuable benefits in helping a business become and remain successful. It is to any company’s benefit to create customer loyalty.
Having worked in Customer Service (CS) for over 12 years, I will be sharing the values and know hows of providing Premier Customer Service. In fact, I am a Certified Facilitator for my company, via Achieve Global, so I will be sharing over the next few weeks the concepts used while Facilitating several sessions regarding CS. Ever since working in CS, I have little to no tolerance for bad CS as a customer. I get frustrated with companies that do not value CS. Although I have read several articles about companies, such as Zappos.com, that are recognizing CS as a means to building loyal customers and moving away from the idea that CS is simply a “call center”. Loyal Customers is key, always have and always will. So how do companies build customer loyalty? By delivering or providing “STELLAR SERVICE”! I will describe exactly what stellar service looks like in later posting, but want to first go over some very fascinating facts about customers:
It costs a company an average of 5 times as much to attract a new customer as to keep an existing one.
On average, dissatisfied customers tell 10-16 people about their negative service experiences.
It takes about 12 good service experiences, for a company to overcome a single bad one.
91% of unhappy customers won’t buy again from the company that displeased them.
Of customers who switch to a competitor, up to 80% say that they were satisfied before make the switch to the other company.
The last fact most people find confusing. But it simply states that 80% of customers switch even if they were satisfied, or their expectations were met, with a company’s product or service. In order for a company to be successful, they need to exceed client’s expectations. These are amazing facts that most companies either ignore or simply are not aware of. All these facts lead to the importance of building customer loyalty.
I came across this web site with live TV on-line. There are literally hundreds of TV channels from all over the word, which are live 24-hrs a day, 7-days a week. You are able to register, for free, and watch these channels. Plus as a member, similar to other social websites like youtube, you are able to upload videos yourself, which are available to all members from around the world. I saw one that was pretty funny, check it out here.
The coolest part of the website is that any business, charity or organization can now own a Wi-Fi TV Station. You will be able to provide the content, and Wi-Fi will provide the TV delivery platform which will allow anyone in the world with an internet connection to see your TV station and even chat live. You will also get your own URL (www.YourNameTV.com) that points to your Featured Station page. You will be listed as a Feature Station with a link on virtually every Wi-Fi TV page. How cool is that? You will also be listed under the topics of your choice, plus you get a spot on the Wi-Fi TV Ticker to place links to your station. But the 24/7 TV station with streaming content is what separates Wi-Fi from any other social website. Owning your own Wi-Fi TV Station is the best way to take your business, charity or organization to a new level. No wonder real estate agents, car dealers, churches, and companies involved in golf, wine, art and others are lining up to buy Wi-Fi TV stations. If you want to take your business to the next level, maybe you should check out Wi-Fi TV.
A friend’s daughter went to Spain as a student exchange for a year, and he told me they joined Skype to communicate with her on-line for free. What a great idea! Skype was founded in 2003 by Niklas Zennstrom and Janus Friis. They have created software that allows on-line users to communicate to anyone around the world, and if they are both with Skype, it is free! For a minimal fee, you can call landlines, cell phones and even send text messages from your computer. Skype is available in 28 languages and is used in almost every country around the world.
Skype generates revenue through its premium offerings such as making and receiving calls to and from landlines and mobile phones, as well as voicemail and call forwarding. During these times of economic hardship, this is a great opportunity to eliminate or cut on some expense. For detailed product overview and key features, click here.
When I was a child and had the coughs, my mother would give me a spoon full of honey with some fresh lemon juice. It worked like a charm, and I have used it on my own children. But never knew why or how it worked, until I came across an article that explained it’s alternative healthy uses. Honey simply sooths the throat and thins the mucus. But apparently, there are other uses for honey. It is good for hangovers, yes I said hangovers. Honey is loaded with fructose, which speeds up the metabolism of alcohol. So it is suggested to take 2 spoons full of honey and spread over toast. It should help fairly fast.
Another use is on minor cuts, scrapes and burns. With its antibacterial properties, honey will help speed the healing process. It is recommended to use twice daily for best results. But the most fascinating use is as a body polisher. According to the Mii Amo spa in Sedona, Ariz, mix:
1⁄4 cup honey,
3⁄4 cup raw sugar, and
1⁄4 cup olive oil;
Rub the mixture into wet skin, then rinse it off.
You can get soft, smooth skin with this gentle, natural ex-foliating body scrub. All this from honey! It’s great to have it handy at home, not only for cooking, tea, for these healthy reasons as well.
As we get older, life seems to go faster and faster. It seems there are not enough hours in a day to get everything done. So we tend to utilize sleeping hours to catch up. People tend to stay up a couple hours later or wake up a couple hours earlier, thinking that is the only way to be productive. In fact, less sleep actually reduces productivity and exposes us to risks. Aside from healthy people voluntarily restricting sleep, there are over 40 million people who struggle with some sort of sleeping disorder each year. On average, Americans sleep about 6.9 hours on weekdays and 7.5 hours on weekends, according to the National Sleep Foundation. Experts recommend seven to eight hours of sleep each night. In the short term, lack of sleep can affect our day-to-day performance of tasks. It can be as simple as a bad decision, miss something or even at a moment’s inattention, we don’t break in time and rear end another driver. But long term affects, can involve your health. Doctors have linked lack of sleep to weight gain, diabetes, high blood pressure, heart problems, depression and substance abuse.
Avoid exercising closer than five or six hours before bedtime.
Avoid caffeine, nicotine and alcohol before bed.
Avoid large meals and beverages late at night.
Don’t take naps after 3 p.m.
Relax before bed, taking time to unwind with a hot bath, a good book or soothing music.
If you’re still awake after more than 20 minutes in bed, get up and do something relaxing until you feel sleepy. Anxiety over not being able to sleep can make it harder to fall asleep.
I am one that enjoys my sleep and prides myself on sleeping 8-hours a night. Although it cannot be done every night, due to many reasons, I still try. But I do notice when I do not get the 8 hours of sleep a night for an extended period of time, I do have difficulty getting back into my sleeping routine. I know for a fact that my sleep is a necessity and not a luxury.
I was amazed when I heard about this young activist, Severn Cullis-Suzuki from Canada. At age 9, she started the Environmental Children’s Organization (ECO), made up of a small group of children committed to teaching other kids about the ongoing environmental crisis. In 1992, Severn (at 12-yrs old) and this organization raised enough money to fund her trip to the Premier Earth Summit in Brazil. After reading her speech at this Summit, I had to share it with everyone. Amazing that this is coming from a 12-year old. Here is her speech:
“Hello, I am Severn Suzuki speaking for ECO the environmental children’s organization. We are a group of 12- and 13-year-olds trying to make a difference. Venessa Suthie, Morgan Geisler, Michelle Quigg and I. We have raised all the money to come here ourselves, to come 5000 miles to tell you adults you must change your ways.
Coming up here today I have no hidden agenda. I am fighting for my future. Losing my future is not like losing an election or a few points on the stock market. I am here to speak for all generations to come. I am here to speak on behalf of the starving children around the world whose cries go unheard. I am here to speak for the countless animals dying across this planet because they have nowhere left to go. I am afraid to go out in the sun now because of the holes in our ozone; I am afraid to breathe the air because I don’t know what chemicals are in it. I used to go fishing in Vancouver, my home, with my dad until just a few years ago we found the fish full of cancers. And now we hear of animals and plants going extinct, every day, vanishing forever. In my life I have dreamt of seeing a great herd of wild animals, jungles and rainforests full of birds and butterflies, but now I wonder if they will even exist for my children to see.
Did you have to worry of these things when you were my age? All this is happening before our eyes and yet we act as if we have all the time we want — and all the solutions. I am only a child and I don’t have all the solutions. But I want you to realize, neither do you! You don’t know how to fix the holes in our ozone layer; you don’t know how to bring a salmon back up a dead stream; you don’t know how to bring back an animal now extinct; and you can’t bring back the forests that once grew — and where there is now a desert. If you don’t know how to fix it, please stop breaking it.
Here, you may be delegates of your government, business people, organizers, reporters, or politicians. But really you are mothers and fathers, sisters and brothers, aunts and uncles, and all of you are somebody’s child. I am only a child, yet I know that we are all part of a family, five billion-strong. In fact, thirty million species-strong, and voters and government will never change that. I am only a child yet I know that we are all in this together and should act as one single world toward one single goal.
In my anger I am not blind, and in my fear I am not afraid of telling the world how I feel. In my country we make so much waste, we buy and throw away… buy and throw away… buy and throw away… and yet northern countries will not share with the needy, even when we have more than enough, we are afraid to share. We are afraid to let go of some of our wealth. In Canada, we live the privileged life. We have plenty of food, water and shelter. We have watches, bicycles, computers and television sets… the list could go on for two days.
Two days ago here in Brazil, we were shocked when we spent time with some children living on the streets. This is what one child told us: “I wish I was rich. And if I were, I would give all the street children food, clothes, medicines, shelter and love and affection”. If a child on the street who has nothing is willing to share, why are we, who have everything, still so greedy?
I can’t stop thinking that these are children my own age and that it makes a tremendous difference where you are born. I can’t stop thinking that I could be one of those children living in the Favellas of Rio… I could be a child starving in Somalia… or a victim of war in the Middle East…or a beggar in India. I am only a child and yet I know that if all the money that was spent on war was spent on finding environmental answers and ending poverty… what a wonderful place this would be. At school, even in kindergarten you teach us how to behave in the world. You teach us to not to fight others, to work things out, to respect others, to clean up our mess, not to hurt other creatures, to share and not be greedy. Then why do you go out and do the things you tell us not to do?
Do not forget why you are attending these conferences, and who you are doing this for! We are your own children. You are deciding what kind of a world we are growing up in. Parents should be able to comfort their children by saying ‘everything is going to be alright, it is not the end of the world, and we are doing the best we can’. But I don’t think you can say that to us anymore. Are we even on your list of priorities? My dad always says, you are what you do, not what you say. Well, what you do makes me cry at night. You grownups say you love us, but I challenge you please make your actions reflect your words. Thank you…”
Now over 15-years later, it appears her strong words fell on deaf ears. So now that “Green” is the popular term now-a-days, I wanted to share her words some 15 years ago. Please help spread her words and revive her plea. I have also attached a video of her speech for those who would rather feel the impact of her speech.
JetBlue Airways has been known to be a low-cost carrier, but that doesn’t mean they do not offer sky-high leisure. Its flights have offered satellite radio and DirecTV programming. So it shouldn’t surprise many that they are beefing up their WiFi program on select flights (still in beta) to widen the list of email access providers. Originally they only allowed access to the email servers to Yahoo and Research in Motion’sBlackberry. This beta testing will now allow Google, Microsoft and AOL email platforms. This service will apparently be offered for free, although with the high cost of fuel, they will most likely offer greater connectivity for a service fee at some point. I am sure they will not offer the entire Internet on their flights, avoiding content that may be offensive to others, but am sure they will continue adding more approved sites. They may be able to add e-commerce sites on flights that can add commissionable sales and ad revenue. It is nice to see JetBlue continue to be the front-runner of providing new technology for the passengers to better enjoy their low-cost flights.
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