No B.S. Guide to Maximum Referrals and Customer Retention. Dan S. Kennedy

Чтение книги онлайн.

СКАЧАТЬ team needs to get trained with your exceptional customer service expectations. And beware the “rah, rah” training I talked about above. It shouldn’t be a pep rally. Nido Qubein, a business leader associated with a number of fine companies like The Great Harvest Bread Company and La-Z-Boy Furniture, and President of High Point University says: “Motivation without foundation leads only to frustration.” (Nido’s amazing transformation of High Point University is featured in Dan Kennedy’s book No B.S. Marketing to the Affluent, Second Edition.) It shouldn’t be an aggravated critique, a harangue. It needs to be real why-to-do-it and how-to-do-it training. But it can’t stop there!

      You also need to consistently and persistently reinforce those expectations. Zig Ziglar said, “Repetition is the mother of all learning.” But learning something doesn’t necessarily lead to behavior change, so when it comes to customer service in your business, I say, “Repetition is the mother of all learning and constant reinforcement is the father of permanent behavior change.”

      Once you have your entire team trained and you’re consistently reminding them about your customer service expectations, what happens when you get a new employee (team member)? You need to make sure every new team member gets exactly the same initial customer service training that your entire team received. No one can be allowed in without getting this training. And, by the way, no one resistant to it, noncompliant with it, or sabotaging it can be permitted to stay.

      The best thing you can do to show your commitment to exceptional customer service for every new employee is to train them with your customer service expectations immediately. After your new team member fills out the required government employment forms, what do they do? In most businesses, it’s not customer service training, but it should be. If you want maximum referrals and customer retention, whether you create your own training, or use the training we have available at www.KeithLee.com, the very first training every new employee receives must be customer service training. It can’t wait for another day.

When the Cat’s Away . . .

      The very best customer service that any customer will ever get in your business is when you’re there, right next to your team member. At that point, if you accept “good,” the service when you’re not around will, without question, be less than good. That’s not good for the health of your business, measured by retention and referrals. This is why you need to raise the bar. Even when you’re committed to exceptional service, your team will fall short sometimes. But when you do, you’ll often still be providing good customer service. In addition, when your customers are used to getting exceptional customer service they’ll be much more likely to forgive you in the rare instance when your customer service falls below good. Or to let you know, and better to be asked to improve than left behind.

       RESOURCE

       Secret Number 3 in my book The Happy Customer Handbook, 59 Secrets to Creating Happy Customers Who Come Back Time and Time Again and Enthusiastically Tell Others About You is, “Your customer service expectations need to be extraordinary.” As a reader of this book, you can get The Happy Customer Handbook AS A FREE GIFT at www.TheHappyCustomerHandbook.com.

      Under the best conditions, with the best training, with the best people, things often slip when the cat’s away. This requires enforcement married to training. The most candid, toughest-minded book of practical advice on this is Dan Kennedy’s No B.S. Ruthless Management of People and Profits, Second Edition.

Expectations and Possibilities

      You’ll never achieve a high level of customer service unless your expectations for customer service are extraordinary. Great customer service that supports the maximum possible retention and referrals will never occur above or beyond the expectations you put in place for it and communicate about it, through training and ongoing, consistent reminders.

Your Customers Need to Know Your Customer Service Expectations

      This may strike you as dangerous. If it does, you’ve just told yourself that you urgently need work on exceptional customer service!

      In my businesses, we share the same customer service expectations conveyed to the employees with the customers. Our customers know how we define and aim for Make-You-Happy Customer Service®. We put ourselves on the spot! My American Retail Supply business sells to about 10,000 customers each year, and all of those customers have my direct, personal phone number to call if we’re not taking care of them. Each year I get about a half dozen phone calls from customers who think they did not receive Make-You-Happy Customer Service^® from us. Almost all of these calls start with, “I read in your newsletter that customer service is important to you, and I just wanted you to know . . .” or “A few months ago when I was on hold I heard that you wanted me to call if I had a problem that wasn’t being taken care of . . .” or “I really didn’t want to bother you, but in your Retail Tip of the Week, you said you want to be notified if I’m not happy.”

Again . . . I LOVE COMPLAINTS!

      What’s the alternative? For most businesses, the customer doesn’t want the hassle of complaining. She just doesn’t care enough about you or your staff to say anything. She’s the customer who goes to the competition, and not only doesn’t recommend you to others but may also badmouth you. Sure, I don’t like getting these calls, but I love customers who give us the opportunity to MAKE THEM HAPPY, teach us how to be better, and sound an alarm about a problem before it costs us a fortune.

      Find as many ways as you can to tell your customers that you want to know if they are not happy. Tell them with signs when they are at your place of business. Tell them in your advertising. Tell them when you communicate via email. Tell them on your website. Tell them every way you can.

      Your team members aren’t likely to forget your customer service expectations when they know that your customers know your expectations and that you want your customers to tell you directly when they don’t get Make-You-Happy Customer Service^®.

What Business Are You In?

      I used to think we were in the business of selling price guns to retailers. Then I thought we were in the business of selling price guns and packaging to retailers. Then I decided we were in the business of selling retailers everything they needed to operate their business.

      Now I know what business we are really in.

      In their first hour of employment each new team member at American Retail Supply receives Make-You-Happy Customer Service® Training. The system includes our training DVD that discusses first-day training at Disney World. Where the trainer at Disney asks, “What business are we in? We know that GMC makes cars, and Whirlpool makes refrigerators. What do we make here at Disney? We Make People Happy.” That’s when it occurred to me, “That’s what we do at American Retail Supply! We make people happy.” Frankly, I think that’s the business every company should be in.

      If you are in the business of Making People Happy, it becomes clear to every team member in your business that their job is to Make Customers Happy.

      We understand that after customers call us, they’re not going to be singing “Zippity Doo Dah,” but the reality is, our job is to make them happy, and if we don’t make СКАЧАТЬ