Pay Attention!

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.

• Acknowledgments xiIntroduction xiiiChapter 1 Pay Attention to Today’s Customers 1The Power of Online Megaphones 3A More Skeptical and Distrustful Customer 5What Does This All Mean for Your Own Customer Service Strategy? 6Rising Global Service Expectations 7The Customer Experience Grid 11Speed as a Competitive Advantage 14E-Mail Versus Phone: Which Is Speedier? 15More Educated Global Customers 16Five Building Blocks of ServiceQuality 18Reliability 18Assurance 19Tangibles 20Empathy 21Responsiveness 22Chapter 2 Pay Attention to Your Marketing Message 25Participating versus Observing 26Fundamentals Are Still Key 27Pay Attention to Who You Are 27Pay Attention to Who Your Audience Is 30The Power of Customer Stories 33Pay Attention to Engaging Your Customers 37Pay Attention to Walking Your Marketing Talk 44Chapter 3 Pay Attention to Preparation 49The Power of Vision and Purpose 50Theory to Action: Creating Standards and Norms 53Hiring Tactics: Select for Attitude, Train for Skill 55Modeling Star Performers 56Training and Coaching 58Internal Social Networks: Cost-Effective Learning Tools 61Pay Attention to What’s Rewarded and Measured 62Chapter 4 Pay Attention to the Customer Experience 65Make It Personal 66Social Media Plays a Role at Comcast 70Taking Problems Seriously 72Be ETDBW: Easy to Do Business With 73Being ETDBW Means Considering All Audiences 77Payoffs of Being ETDBW 78Responsiveness and Reliability: Keys to the Customer Experience 79Chapter 5 Pay Attention to New Feedback Channels 85Eleven Ways to Listen to Customers 86Pay Attention to the Ways Customers Speak 93Evaluating Feedback 103Taking a Closer Look: Glossary of Terms 107Business Analytics Are Vital 109Managing the Moments of Truth 112Ten Action Steps 114Make Your Web Site ETDBW 116Weighing the Pros and Cons 119Chapter 6 Pay Attention to Your Reaction 121Ignore at Your Peril 122Tracking What They’re Saying 124To Engage or Not to Engage? 125Creating Integrated Response Systems 130Traditional Listening Posts 131Three Types of Listening 133Reacting to Product vs. Service Feedback 135Chapter 7 Pay Attention to Your Response 137All Eyes on You 138Creating Digital Embassies 139Dell Computer: Engaging via Social Media Is “Everyone’s Job” 141Rules of Engagement 143Responding to Customer Reviews 146Responding to Negative Reviews 148Responding to Positive Reviews 152Responding in Public versus Private 153Responding to Customer Suggestions and Ideas 154Customers Helping Other Customers 155Chapter 8 Pay Attention to Recovery 157The Dollar Impact of Service Breakdown 158An Implied Covenant 159What Is Service Recovery? 160Five Axioms of Effective Service Recovery 161Axiom 1: Customers Have Recovery Expectations 162Axiom 2: Successful Recovery Is Psychological as Well as Physical: Fix the Person, Then the Problem 162Axiom 3: Work in a Spirit of Partnership 166Axiom 4: Customers React More Strongly to “Fairness” Failures Than to “Honest Mistakes” 169Axiom 5: Effective Recovery Is a Planned Process 170Seeing Complaints as a Gift 173Fix the Process to Reduce Recovery Needs 174Service Recovery Process 176Acknowledge That the Customer Has Been Inconvenienced and Apologize for It 178Listen, Empathize, and Ask Open-Ended Questions 178Offer a Fair Fix to the Problem 178Offer Some Value-Added Atonement for the Inconvenience or Injury 179Keep Your Promises 180Follow-Up 180Key Service Recovery Skills 181Notes 189About the Authors 191Index 193