What if I told you that you could reach into the wallets of thousands of your customers each day and take what you like? $30. $100. $350. Go ahead.
What if I told you it were perfectly legal?
And what if I added that most of your competitors are doing it?
Sound tempting? Welcome to banking, a la the Debit Card Trap.
Just because a method of theft may still be legal, that doesn't make it right. ...At least, that's what my four-year-old would tell you.
For the entire story, start here: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/20/opinion/20thu1.html?_r=2
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Ethical Companies Last Longer
Article from Newsline, the weekly newsletter from the Institute For Global Ethics:
Ethical Companies Last Longer, Contends BusinessWeek Analyst
Says it was companies without a moral compass that “drove off the cliff”
NEW YORK BusinessWeek columnist Vivek Wadhwa contends that there is a compelling reason for a company to be ethical: It’s more likely to stay in business.
Wadhwa, a researcher at Harvard and an executive in residence at Duke, writes that while many Wall Street firms that were consumed with the goal of making money for themselves crumbled, “Charles Schwab & Co. has largely avoided the huge fallout. So has US Bancorp.”
“A quality both of these companies share,” Wadhwa writes, “is a laser-like focus on customer service and on honesty and transparency. This comes from their cultures.”
“Neither company touched the subprime mortgage securitization market,” Wadhwa continues, “because they saw it as risky and simply not the kind of business that served the company’s long-term interests. I’d wager, as well, that these companies didn’t feel comfortable asking their employees to sell unethical mortgages to customers, a practice undertaken by many subsidiaries of the big Wall Street investment banks and large bank-holding companies.”
Another factor in ethical and healthy companies, according to Wadhwa, is tolerance for internal dissent. Companies in which workers were afraid to challenge management had a “muted internal voice” and lacked a “moral compass.”
“As a result,” Wadhwa concludes, “they drove off a cliff with astonishing speed.”
I have been receiving their e-newsletter for several years, and find it fascinating. For more, visit http://www.globalethics.org/newsline/2009/08/24/
Ethical Companies Last Longer, Contends BusinessWeek Analyst
Says it was companies without a moral compass that “drove off the cliff”
NEW YORK BusinessWeek columnist Vivek Wadhwa contends that there is a compelling reason for a company to be ethical: It’s more likely to stay in business.
Wadhwa, a researcher at Harvard and an executive in residence at Duke, writes that while many Wall Street firms that were consumed with the goal of making money for themselves crumbled, “Charles Schwab & Co. has largely avoided the huge fallout. So has US Bancorp.”
“A quality both of these companies share,” Wadhwa writes, “is a laser-like focus on customer service and on honesty and transparency. This comes from their cultures.”
“Neither company touched the subprime mortgage securitization market,” Wadhwa continues, “because they saw it as risky and simply not the kind of business that served the company’s long-term interests. I’d wager, as well, that these companies didn’t feel comfortable asking their employees to sell unethical mortgages to customers, a practice undertaken by many subsidiaries of the big Wall Street investment banks and large bank-holding companies.”
Another factor in ethical and healthy companies, according to Wadhwa, is tolerance for internal dissent. Companies in which workers were afraid to challenge management had a “muted internal voice” and lacked a “moral compass.”
“As a result,” Wadhwa concludes, “they drove off a cliff with astonishing speed.”
I have been receiving their e-newsletter for several years, and find it fascinating. For more, visit http://www.globalethics.org/newsline/2009/08/24/
Saturday, August 22, 2009
Debit Card Trap
If you make your money by deceiving or abusing your customers, even if it's legal, it's wrong.
This seems more like ethical advice for the Robber Barons of the 19th Century, not retail bankers of 2009. Is this still the kind of world we live in, that we have to heed the advice "buyer beware" of our own banks, for God's sake?
What's the matter with our society, that we put up with our banks intentionally duping us and robbing us blind?
It took them a while, but this week The New York Times finally composed a well-argued editorial against the debit card abuses that have been in the news - and on this blog - in recent weeks.
Excerpted are a few paragraphs; below that, the link to the entire piece.
Before that, most banks would simply have rejected debit transactions, without a fee, when the card holder’s account was empty. Now, they approve the purchase and tack on a hefty penalty for each transaction
A study by the Center for Responsible Lending, a nonpartisan research and policy group, describes what it calls the “overdraft domino effect.” One college student whose bank records were analyzed by the center made seven small purchases including coffee and school supplies that totaled $16.55 and was hit with overdraft fees that totaled $245.
For the entire editorial: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/20/opinion/20thu1.html?_r=2
This seems more like ethical advice for the Robber Barons of the 19th Century, not retail bankers of 2009. Is this still the kind of world we live in, that we have to heed the advice "buyer beware" of our own banks, for God's sake?
What's the matter with our society, that we put up with our banks intentionally duping us and robbing us blind?
It took them a while, but this week The New York Times finally composed a well-argued editorial against the debit card abuses that have been in the news - and on this blog - in recent weeks.
Excerpted are a few paragraphs; below that, the link to the entire piece.
Debit Card Trap
Aug. 19, 2009
Not many people would knowingly pay more than $35 for a cup of coffee. But far too many people are getting saddled — with no warning — with outsized bills for minor purchases, under a euphemistically labeled “overdraft protection program” that most major banks have adopted over the last 10 years.Before that, most banks would simply have rejected debit transactions, without a fee, when the card holder’s account was empty. Now, they approve the purchase and tack on a hefty penalty for each transaction
A study by the Center for Responsible Lending, a nonpartisan research and policy group, describes what it calls the “overdraft domino effect.” One college student whose bank records were analyzed by the center made seven small purchases including coffee and school supplies that totaled $16.55 and was hit with overdraft fees that totaled $245.
For the entire editorial: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/20/opinion/20thu1.html?_r=2
Thursday, August 13, 2009
Service Recovery: Earning that Elusive Fifth Star
I wrote the following as an article for this month's edition of "The Retailer's Edge," the newsletter of the Minnesota Retailers Association (http://www.mnretail.org/). There's a lot of other great articles in there as well - I recommend you check it out.
Here’s a little-known secret that, used wisely, will catapult your business into a customer service icon. Please, don’t abuse what I’m about to tell you. It’s that powerful.
No company has ever reached that top one percent, the five-star level of customer service, without first dropping the ball for at least a few of its customers. Only by fixing an error, by soothing deeply ruffled feathers, can you really prove your stuff and build a legendary reputation.
I know it sounds odd, perhaps counter-intuitive. It’s probably irresponsible of an evangelist of customer delight such as me to share this with you. But this one fact can transform your company from a ho-hum, “me-too” brand into something phenomenal: a Wegmans, a Nordstrom; dare I say it? A Zappos.
Here’s the mechanism at work. Let’s assume your company is just terrific with customers, that things rarely go wrong because your leadership gets it, your culture is right, your systems and procedures, your products and policies are already geared toward spoiling the customer rotten.
This is rare – you’re a customer as well as a service provider, so I don’t have to tell you: this is almost unheard of already!
But it still isn’t enough. This virtual Nirvana of customer-centricity puts you at the four-star level: awesome, terrific, beyond rare. Your customers are routinely satisfied, they’re happy to come back, and a few may even bring you their friends. Four-star status is nothing to be ashamed of.
But who wants customers who are just “satisfied?” The customers who will truly build your empire for you have experienced that moment of truth with your company, and have come out simply blown away. Because somewhere something went wrong, and your company fixed it better than new, your customer is now lifelong loyal. And they will forever-more brag about how well you treated them. Over the course of her lifetime, one such customer will be worth a hundred merely “satisfied” customers.
There’s a whole art to the handling of complaints, the mending of broken expectations that is covered in detail in my first book, Five-Star Customer Service. Here is the Readers’ Digest Version:
Handling Complaints
1. Listen – then listen some more.
2. Say, “I’m sorry” – and mean it.
3. Say, “What can I do to make it right?” Do it.
4. Follow up.
Those first two steps – really listening, convincingly apologizing – are rare enough, and hard enough to pull off. The second two, though, are where the payoff is.
“What can I do to make it right?” will actually save you money – you’ll see. Remember, customer service is a profit generator for a business, not a drain. After all, great customer service is all about making you money.
That last one, follow up? It is the cherry on the sundae – and if you fail to perform this simple step properly, you’ve blown the whole thing. A personal phone call the next day from the big boss, the store manager or the owner, will absolutely shock and delight your customer. Anything less, and you’re lucky just to hit four stars after all.
So if you want to provide the kind of legendary service that inspires your customers to bring you their friends by the busload, take a look at how you’re handling complaints. Only by getting this right will you become a customer service icon.
Here’s a little-known secret that, used wisely, will catapult your business into a customer service icon. Please, don’t abuse what I’m about to tell you. It’s that powerful.
No company has ever reached that top one percent, the five-star level of customer service, without first dropping the ball for at least a few of its customers. Only by fixing an error, by soothing deeply ruffled feathers, can you really prove your stuff and build a legendary reputation.
I know it sounds odd, perhaps counter-intuitive. It’s probably irresponsible of an evangelist of customer delight such as me to share this with you. But this one fact can transform your company from a ho-hum, “me-too” brand into something phenomenal: a Wegmans, a Nordstrom; dare I say it? A Zappos.
Here’s the mechanism at work. Let’s assume your company is just terrific with customers, that things rarely go wrong because your leadership gets it, your culture is right, your systems and procedures, your products and policies are already geared toward spoiling the customer rotten.
This is rare – you’re a customer as well as a service provider, so I don’t have to tell you: this is almost unheard of already!
But it still isn’t enough. This virtual Nirvana of customer-centricity puts you at the four-star level: awesome, terrific, beyond rare. Your customers are routinely satisfied, they’re happy to come back, and a few may even bring you their friends. Four-star status is nothing to be ashamed of.
But who wants customers who are just “satisfied?” The customers who will truly build your empire for you have experienced that moment of truth with your company, and have come out simply blown away. Because somewhere something went wrong, and your company fixed it better than new, your customer is now lifelong loyal. And they will forever-more brag about how well you treated them. Over the course of her lifetime, one such customer will be worth a hundred merely “satisfied” customers.
There’s a whole art to the handling of complaints, the mending of broken expectations that is covered in detail in my first book, Five-Star Customer Service. Here is the Readers’ Digest Version:
Handling Complaints
1. Listen – then listen some more.
2. Say, “I’m sorry” – and mean it.
3. Say, “What can I do to make it right?” Do it.
4. Follow up.
Those first two steps – really listening, convincingly apologizing – are rare enough, and hard enough to pull off. The second two, though, are where the payoff is.
“What can I do to make it right?” will actually save you money – you’ll see. Remember, customer service is a profit generator for a business, not a drain. After all, great customer service is all about making you money.
That last one, follow up? It is the cherry on the sundae – and if you fail to perform this simple step properly, you’ve blown the whole thing. A personal phone call the next day from the big boss, the store manager or the owner, will absolutely shock and delight your customer. Anything less, and you’re lucky just to hit four stars after all.
So if you want to provide the kind of legendary service that inspires your customers to bring you their friends by the busload, take a look at how you’re handling complaints. Only by getting this right will you become a customer service icon.
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
Good Karma, Good Business Intro - take 1
Getting started on a new book project is by far the hardest part for me; I've noticed I'll do just about anything to keep myself off-task. As a result, our home and cars are all spotlessly clean, my bookcase is alphabetized and cross-referenced, and I've developed some really good friendships on Twitter, which Jane has nicknamed "The Time-eater."
Well, this morning about 5:00 I leapt out of bed, sat down, and wrote the following introduction before I was awake enough to distract myself.
I'm sure this version won't make the book - most authors I know write the intro last, as I did with my first two books. Still, I'd appreciate your input. What do you think so far? Does this introduction leave you wanting more?
Good Karma, Good Business
How Doing the Right Thing Pays
Introduction
I’d like to start this book with a simple assertion: doing the right thing in business is more profitable. So if a company doesn’t do the right thing, its leaders are foolish. They’re leaving money on the table.
There. I have drawn my line in the sand. From here on out, you’re either with me or you’re a dope. Strong words, I know, but I understand too much about how business is done, how profits are generated, to back down.
I have spent years researching this theory. I have been studying successful companies pretty much non-stop since founding my own first firm in 2001, although my search for truth started long before.
When writing Five-Star Customer Service in 2004, I knew I had to prove that doing right by one’s customers gave a competitive advantage – otherwise, why would anyone read my book, or hire me to consult, or to speak at their events?
And beginning with the financial meltdown which kicked off in September of 2008, I have been furiously obsessed with the issue of good karma and bad, of short-sighted business and long-term success; of what happens when our business leaders act according to solid morals… and when they don’t.
I have always believed in doing the right thing, so I’ve always wanted to believe that it will bring more business success than the alternative. But until I started thoroughly researching this topic, I had no idea how compelling that basic truth actually is. Now, I realize it’s undeniable.
Leaders who get the concept of principle-motivated action are better at business, plain and simple. Their companies are more successful than their competitors. And work is more of a pleasure, for all concerned: for the leaders themselves, for their employees, their customers, and their vendors. They are often beloved in their communities, and respected (and feared) by their peers.
There. I’ve drawn the line in the sand. Now let’s cross it, and I’ll show you what I mean.
My previous post on Good Karma, Good Business is here: http://savvycapitalist.blogspot.com/2009/07/good-karma-good-business.html
Well, this morning about 5:00 I leapt out of bed, sat down, and wrote the following introduction before I was awake enough to distract myself.
I'm sure this version won't make the book - most authors I know write the intro last, as I did with my first two books. Still, I'd appreciate your input. What do you think so far? Does this introduction leave you wanting more?
Good Karma, Good Business
How Doing the Right Thing Pays
Introduction
I’d like to start this book with a simple assertion: doing the right thing in business is more profitable. So if a company doesn’t do the right thing, its leaders are foolish. They’re leaving money on the table.
There. I have drawn my line in the sand. From here on out, you’re either with me or you’re a dope. Strong words, I know, but I understand too much about how business is done, how profits are generated, to back down.
I have spent years researching this theory. I have been studying successful companies pretty much non-stop since founding my own first firm in 2001, although my search for truth started long before.
When writing Five-Star Customer Service in 2004, I knew I had to prove that doing right by one’s customers gave a competitive advantage – otherwise, why would anyone read my book, or hire me to consult, or to speak at their events?
And beginning with the financial meltdown which kicked off in September of 2008, I have been furiously obsessed with the issue of good karma and bad, of short-sighted business and long-term success; of what happens when our business leaders act according to solid morals… and when they don’t.
I have always believed in doing the right thing, so I’ve always wanted to believe that it will bring more business success than the alternative. But until I started thoroughly researching this topic, I had no idea how compelling that basic truth actually is. Now, I realize it’s undeniable.
Leaders who get the concept of principle-motivated action are better at business, plain and simple. Their companies are more successful than their competitors. And work is more of a pleasure, for all concerned: for the leaders themselves, for their employees, their customers, and their vendors. They are often beloved in their communities, and respected (and feared) by their peers.
There. I’ve drawn the line in the sand. Now let’s cross it, and I’ll show you what I mean.
My previous post on Good Karma, Good Business is here: http://savvycapitalist.blogspot.com/2009/07/good-karma-good-business.html
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
The Long John Silver of Ryanair
The girls and I watched Disney's 1950 version of Treasure Island last night, and the final piece of this post about Ryanair fell into place for me.
Silver is a criminal of the lowest order, a cold-blooded killer, slippery trickster, and thief. There's really nothing redeeming about the man. But you can't help but love him. What a character!
He reminds me of Ryanair's driving force, Michael O'Leary, whom I hope you'll agree is an amusingly despicable monster.
O'Leary is the CEO who wants to charge passengers for using the restroom on flights; besides generating income, he says this will dissuade frivolous restroom visits, which will allow him to do away with all but one restroom per flight, making way for more seats.
If you've read Five-Star Customer Service, you know that I have an issue with companies that don't gladly share their restrooms with the public, stemming back to when Jane was pregnant with Ayla. You can read all about it under the heading, "We hate our customers." Thus, this one ambition of Ryanair's pretty much sums up their entire business model to me: treat customers like dirt, proudly!
...So why do I feel there's a place in the world for Ryanair and its ilk, including companies like Wal-Mart and IKEA,* which unabashedly put low cost before every single other consideration, including of course my beloved customer service?
I'll tell you why: Ryanair is honest. They have embraced what every other airline I know does: they skimp on service to compete on price. (Sorry Southwest. I still love ya!)
If you want to take a two-hour flight within Europe for as little as 5 pounds (about $7.50), it's Ryanair or nothing. And no, you won't get service with that - probably not even a smile, which last time I checked was free. But it's a valid choice that many people will make. Having lived on $25 a week for several years in college, I understand the appeal, I really do. So thank God the Ryanair option is there!
Enjoy this link from The New York Times on Ryanair's own modern-day Long John Silver. Then read my friend Birgit's email, which I've pasted below, and post a comment of your own. I'd love to hear what you think.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/01/world/europe/01oleary.html?_r=1
*****
From Birgit Pauli-Haack, a leader in web design (http://www.paulisystems.net/):
Every vendor-customer relationship has trade offs. It's only half a joke among developers when we say, "Cheap, Good, Fast: select two."
*If it's cheap & good it will not be finished fast.
*If it's good & fast, it will not be cheap.
*If it's fast & cheap, it will not be good.
You can make some general rules out of it, but the essence is just that. What you can do in customer service is push those boundaries as much as possible. How fast can you go with cheap and good? Can you out-do expectations? How low can you go with your price while staying good and fast? And can't you just be a little bit better while remaining fast and cheap?
In case of Ryan Air, O'Leary doesn't regard flying as a luxury anymore, he thinks of it more like riding a bus. You would never ask a bus ticket machine to refund your ticket because you only used one leg of it.
It's not a luxury anymore when a flight from Munich to Berlin of $39.90 is as cheap as a cab ride within the city of Munich and only half the price of a 90-minute train ride between Munich and Nuernberg.
Yes there is a big place in the heart of customers for people like O'Leary, as he has done plenty for the passenger of other airlines buy shifting the paradigms of the industry and bringing the prices down while still running a profitable business.
We need more entrepreneurs like O'Leary, as they are really beneficial to the customer's wants and needs.
*****
*There, I said it! I know what a beloved brand IKEA is, and I can see the appeal... kind of. But the company posts signs on its walls saying, to effect, "we don't employ enough staff to help you because we're keeping prices low." They are many things to many people, but they are not a customer service icon. Far from it.
Silver is a criminal of the lowest order, a cold-blooded killer, slippery trickster, and thief. There's really nothing redeeming about the man. But you can't help but love him. What a character!
He reminds me of Ryanair's driving force, Michael O'Leary, whom I hope you'll agree is an amusingly despicable monster.
O'Leary is the CEO who wants to charge passengers for using the restroom on flights; besides generating income, he says this will dissuade frivolous restroom visits, which will allow him to do away with all but one restroom per flight, making way for more seats.
If you've read Five-Star Customer Service, you know that I have an issue with companies that don't gladly share their restrooms with the public, stemming back to when Jane was pregnant with Ayla. You can read all about it under the heading, "We hate our customers." Thus, this one ambition of Ryanair's pretty much sums up their entire business model to me: treat customers like dirt, proudly!
...So why do I feel there's a place in the world for Ryanair and its ilk, including companies like Wal-Mart and IKEA,* which unabashedly put low cost before every single other consideration, including of course my beloved customer service?
I'll tell you why: Ryanair is honest. They have embraced what every other airline I know does: they skimp on service to compete on price. (Sorry Southwest. I still love ya!)
If you want to take a two-hour flight within Europe for as little as 5 pounds (about $7.50), it's Ryanair or nothing. And no, you won't get service with that - probably not even a smile, which last time I checked was free. But it's a valid choice that many people will make. Having lived on $25 a week for several years in college, I understand the appeal, I really do. So thank God the Ryanair option is there!
Enjoy this link from The New York Times on Ryanair's own modern-day Long John Silver. Then read my friend Birgit's email, which I've pasted below, and post a comment of your own. I'd love to hear what you think.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/01/world/europe/01oleary.html?_r=1
*****
From Birgit Pauli-Haack, a leader in web design (http://www.paulisystems.net/):
Every vendor-customer relationship has trade offs. It's only half a joke among developers when we say, "Cheap, Good, Fast: select two."
*If it's cheap & good it will not be finished fast.
*If it's good & fast, it will not be cheap.
*If it's fast & cheap, it will not be good.
You can make some general rules out of it, but the essence is just that. What you can do in customer service is push those boundaries as much as possible. How fast can you go with cheap and good? Can you out-do expectations? How low can you go with your price while staying good and fast? And can't you just be a little bit better while remaining fast and cheap?
In case of Ryan Air, O'Leary doesn't regard flying as a luxury anymore, he thinks of it more like riding a bus. You would never ask a bus ticket machine to refund your ticket because you only used one leg of it.
It's not a luxury anymore when a flight from Munich to Berlin of $39.90 is as cheap as a cab ride within the city of Munich and only half the price of a 90-minute train ride between Munich and Nuernberg.
Yes there is a big place in the heart of customers for people like O'Leary, as he has done plenty for the passenger of other airlines buy shifting the paradigms of the industry and bringing the prices down while still running a profitable business.
We need more entrepreneurs like O'Leary, as they are really beneficial to the customer's wants and needs.
*****
*There, I said it! I know what a beloved brand IKEA is, and I can see the appeal... kind of. But the company posts signs on its walls saying, to effect, "we don't employ enough staff to help you because we're keeping prices low." They are many things to many people, but they are not a customer service icon. Far from it.
Sunday, August 2, 2009
Will your company get a second chance?
You never know what will make the story when you're interviewed by a reporter.
Here's what Associate Editor Sara Comito of Southwest Florida Business Today took from a recent chat on my favorite topic, customer service (excerpted from the page-long story).
I think you'll agree that Sara has a way with words. "Target practice." I like it!
The customer is still right
On July 11, the Los Angeles Times reported that as General Motors emerges from bankruptcy, it will adopt a "steely focus on customers." This post-resurrection corporate mission retooling should serve as a parable to businesses of all sizes: put your customers first – before it’s too late.
In inclement economic times there lies an unprecedented opportunity for companies who will heed this lesson.
Customer service gets thrown around as a cliché buzzword and as a result, gets treated as an afterthought. Ted Coiné has a problem with that. The Naples consultant and author of "Five Star Customer Service" and "Spoil 'Em Rotten!" also doesn’t mince words.
Mightier than the sword
"The thing that drives me crazy is when business leaders say they are committed to customer service when, indeed, it is plain they are not," he said.
Perhaps you’ve heard the wisdom that an unhappy customer will tell 10 people about an experience with a business, where a satisfied customer will tell only three. Best not to aggravate a man with a pen.
He uses Bank of America for target practice. He said he tried to contact upper management after a particularly good experience at his local branch years ago. All he wanted to do was make sure the CEO got a copy of his book, in which he’d praised his personal banker.
"Well, all I got when I called was somebody in the CEO’s office who said, ‘No interest,’ and hung up on me."
Imagine if he was actually trying to do business with the corporation, he said.
"That’s just one example where the head doesn’t get it, and that’s why the rest of the company doesn’t get it."
Want an example of good customer service in Southwest Florida?
"Chick Fil-A on Airport and Pine Ridge has customer service as good as the Ritz," he asserted.
Five-star service on a one-star budget? It’s not only possible, but necessary. The main ingredient, according to Coiné, is pride.
"If you are proud of yourself, you just can’t allow people to think you give bad customer service."
"Even if you don’t care about the service you provide to your customers – even if you have no pride in your business from that perspective," Coiné cautioned, "if you want to be profitable, you need to give good customer service."
He suggests doing away with the concept of a customer service "department" altogether. Everyone in the company, after all, is in the business of maintaining relationships with customers.
It took a full-on crisis to convince a leviathan like GM it might need to reconsider how it does some things, including serve its customers. Smaller companies must appreciate the benefit of its example. Like Frankenstein’s monster, it lives. Would your business get such a second chance?
Here's what Associate Editor Sara Comito of Southwest Florida Business Today took from a recent chat on my favorite topic, customer service (excerpted from the page-long story).
I think you'll agree that Sara has a way with words. "Target practice." I like it!
The customer is still right
On July 11, the Los Angeles Times reported that as General Motors emerges from bankruptcy, it will adopt a "steely focus on customers." This post-resurrection corporate mission retooling should serve as a parable to businesses of all sizes: put your customers first – before it’s too late.
In inclement economic times there lies an unprecedented opportunity for companies who will heed this lesson.
Customer service gets thrown around as a cliché buzzword and as a result, gets treated as an afterthought. Ted Coiné has a problem with that. The Naples consultant and author of "Five Star Customer Service" and "Spoil 'Em Rotten!" also doesn’t mince words.
Mightier than the sword
"The thing that drives me crazy is when business leaders say they are committed to customer service when, indeed, it is plain they are not," he said.
Perhaps you’ve heard the wisdom that an unhappy customer will tell 10 people about an experience with a business, where a satisfied customer will tell only three. Best not to aggravate a man with a pen.
He uses Bank of America for target practice. He said he tried to contact upper management after a particularly good experience at his local branch years ago. All he wanted to do was make sure the CEO got a copy of his book, in which he’d praised his personal banker.
"Well, all I got when I called was somebody in the CEO’s office who said, ‘No interest,’ and hung up on me."
Imagine if he was actually trying to do business with the corporation, he said.
"That’s just one example where the head doesn’t get it, and that’s why the rest of the company doesn’t get it."
Want an example of good customer service in Southwest Florida?
"Chick Fil-A on Airport and Pine Ridge has customer service as good as the Ritz," he asserted.
Five-star service on a one-star budget? It’s not only possible, but necessary. The main ingredient, according to Coiné, is pride.
"If you are proud of yourself, you just can’t allow people to think you give bad customer service."
"Even if you don’t care about the service you provide to your customers – even if you have no pride in your business from that perspective," Coiné cautioned, "if you want to be profitable, you need to give good customer service."
He suggests doing away with the concept of a customer service "department" altogether. Everyone in the company, after all, is in the business of maintaining relationships with customers.
It took a full-on crisis to convince a leviathan like GM it might need to reconsider how it does some things, including serve its customers. Smaller companies must appreciate the benefit of its example. Like Frankenstein’s monster, it lives. Would your business get such a second chance?
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