Almost every company talks about the importance of customer service, but aligning that talk with action is often a different story.
The gap is even larger if you consider the way companies act toward people who aren’t customers. Many companies surprisingly aren’t especially inviting toward people who may be considering doing business with them.
Take banks. The other day, I brought a couple fistfuls of change to a community banks with plans to use their coin-counting machine. My primary bank doesn’t offer this service (which I’ve mentioned there before to no avail), but I’ve used the local bank’s coin machines several times without any questions or problems.
On this visit, a teller told me that since I was not a customer, there’d be a 5 percent fee for tossing my nickels and dimes into their machine. That’s less than the machines at the grocery store, but it’s 5 percent more than they’ve charged me on previous visits.
I explained this discrepancy to the teller, who said I’d escaped the charge in the past only through a mistake, and that a fee should’ve been assessed.
Granted, the bank paid for its coin-counting machine, but it struck me as an odd approach to say friendly service for a non-customer was provided only in error.
I took my coins across the street to a branch of a large Canadian bank, where I was allowed to use their coin-counting machine (and could’ve filled my pockets with pens and lollipops while I waited). A junior banker and I had a very soft-sell conversation about the advantages of banking with them, and I took my cash.
I wasn’t in the market for another checking account, but I left the friendly bank with a much more favorable impression of their services than those of the snotty local bank. The small amount of revenue the friendly bank bypassed by allowing me to use their machine is likely to be repaid in favorable word-of-mouth as I recount this story among friends, and could provide direct revenue should I open an account there.
In your company, it makes sense that you’d treat loyal customers differently than random people off the street. But being nice to those random people could be a valuable first step toward converting them into customers.
Pity the poor apostrophe. It works mightily to help us shorten two words into contractions, and to indicate possession. Unfortunately, it often gets pressed into extra duty and is asked incorrectly to identify a plural, or is tacked on for no apparent reason.
We’re kicking off an occasional feature we’re calling “apostrophe abuse” in which we highlight instances where an apostrophe is used in a way Nature never intended.
Unless the Lions Club has only one member, the apostrophe is not needed.
Sears. Apostrophe-free (except at this mall) since 1886.
Spent part of a hot summer afternoon at a southern Connecticut beach, and noticed two approaches to airborne advertising above our heads – a plane towing a large banner, and another plane skywriting a message.
The banner-toting plane was promoting a steak sandwich at Subway. Had I been hungry and in the mood for Subway, the ad might’ve made a stronger impression. Since neither was true, the plane’s novelty value (and our attention) was short-lived.
The skywriting plane went by a short time alter spitting out, letter by letter, a message reading, “Hot summer fun at Mohegan Sun.” (Mohegan Sun is one of two Native American casino resorts in Connecticut, and ads promoting both casinos are nearly ubiquitous in New England and New York.)
Judging from the crowds around us, the skywriting plane did a much better job not only of capturing people’s attention, but also holding it long enough for us to read the message. You could hear people around us reading out the words as they appeared in the sky, almost like they were solving a Wheel of Fortune puzzle.
The planes provided a good illustration of the importance not just of capturing your audience’s attention, but also of holding it. Whether it’s providing valuable informative content, entertainment value or just curiosity, you need to craft your message in a way that’s going to retain people’s attention long enough for your point to be driven home.
After we left the beach, we didn’t run out for steak subs or to a casino, so (at least in our case) neither message really converted well. But when it came to grabbing beachgoers’ attention, the skywriting clearly beat the towed banner.
Apple’s press conference explaining problems with the iPhone 4 antenna was, from a customer service standpoint, a decidedly mixed bag.
If you think about the classic formula for issuing a customer apology – acknowledge the problem, accept responsibility and offer a solution – Apple’s Steve Jobs got it partly right. Confirming the phone’s signal strength can be degraded if you hold it in a certain way was a positive step, and offering free cases to help prevent the problem was also a smart move.
They said there’s a problem and offered a solution. Which would have been great if they’d left it there.
But it’s the part in the middle of Apple’s event that isn’t resonating quite so well. Jobs spent a good four minutes showing other smartphones having apparent antenna problems, and another good chunk of the event using statistics to claim the problem’s being exaggerated by the press.
That may be true, but saying so vehemently and trying to minimize the problem’s severity dilutes the value of your apology and sends a decidedly mixed message.
For most service or medical providers, a waiting area seems like a careless afterthought – lay out some chairs and magazines, and you’re done. But for customers or patients, the waiting area is part of the overall service experience, and sends an important signal about your company or practice.
For example, the chairs should be comfortable [...]
Interesting article in today’s NY Times about how the National Rifle Association has expanded its lobbying efforts to record legislative victories in a variety of areas.
At a casual glance, the District of Columbia’s efforts to obtain statehood may not appear to be related to health care reform, but the NRA identified common threads related to gun [...]
Had an interesting reminder this week that the tool you’re using to create online copy can influence on how well your audience can understand that text.
Armed with a shiny new netbook, I was happily sitting in the local library drafting copy with the Google Docs online word processor. As I checked the text, I was [...]
Google Buzz, the company’s latest entry into social media, offers yet another way to share status information with friends andfollowers. For a small business, perhaps the most powerful benefit of Google Buzz is the ability to easily update their Google Profile page, and to streamline the connection with their Twitter account.
At first glance, Google Buzz [...]
The continuing expansion of free Wi-Fi access is gaining momentum with the announcement that McDonald’s is planning to remove access charges in its restaurants that offer Wi-Fi. Their hope is that you’ll grab a coffee, a shake or some fries while you’re there, but within a month or so, you won’t have to.
Wi-Fi access is [...]
Almost every company talks about the importance of customer service, but aligning that talk with action is often a different story.
