excellence in customer service: the forgotten marketing strategy - mars best practices
DESCRIPTION
With company and brand reputations more transparent than ever, the importance of managing your company's customer service has never been more crucial. Learn ways to identify the channels that can have the most dramatic effect on your company’s reputation. Find out how to build a solid strategy for customer service that will fuel growth.TRANSCRIPT
Excellence in Customer Service
The Forgotten Marketing Strategy
Excellence in Customer Service
Mike Rossi Mohsen Hadianfard
Why Us?
• eCommerce Customer Loyalty Software – Oversees over $300m/yr in transactions
• Partnerships: • 3000+ Paying Customers (Merchants)
No Outbound Sales
Keep Your Phone On
@sweettooth
Agenda
• Benefits of Reputation
• Controlling Customer Experience
• Strategies Implemented at Sweet Tooth
• Measuring Effective Customer Service
• Building a Customer Service Culture
Our Reputation
Our Reputation
Benefits of Reputation
Our Reputation
How do we control our reputation?
How do we control our reputation?
Control the customer experience.
Our Reputation
Controlling Customer Experience
• Determine Interaction Channels – Where customers interact with the brand – Ensure consistency
• Determine Reputation Channels – Where customers can discuss their
experience with your brand – e.g. word of mouth, Twitter, review boards,
etc.
Controlling Customer Experience
• Determine Interaction Channels – Where customers interact with the brand – Ensure consistency
• Determine Reputation Channels – Where customers can discuss their
experience with your brand – e.g. word of mouth, Twitter, review boards,
etc.
Interaction Channels
• Face-to-Face or Phone Conversation
• Website • Support Portal
Sweet Tooth Interaction Channels
Sweet Tooth Interaction Channels
Quick responses are essential!
Sweet Tooth Interaction Channels
Interaction Channel: Rogers
Interaction Channel Essentials
• Have a process for EVERY possibility • Ensure consistent monitoring & responses – Determine customer flow patterns
• Leave no channel unattended – ALWAYS respond quickly
– Ask questions!
Tools for Interaction Management
Example: 37 Signals
Example: 37 Signals
Reputation Channels
• Review Boards • Blogs
• Forums
• Word of Mouth
Sweet Tooth"Reputation Channels
Sweet Tooth"Reputation Channels
Reputation Channel: WestJet
Tools for Reputation Management
Quality of Interaction
• Always Respond Quickly – Customer feels important – Gives the impression of superior competence
• Always Ensure Needs Are Met – Answer all questions/concerns – Try Boomerang (for Gmail or Outlook)
• Provide the Unexpected – Go above and beyond your promises – Make it personal!
Quality of Interaction
• Always Respond Quickly – Customer feels important – Gives the impression of superior competence
• Always Ensure Needs Are Met – Answer all questions/concerns – Try Boomerang (for Gmail or Outlook)
• Provide the Unexpected – Go above and beyond your promises – Make it personal!
Quality of Interaction
• Always Respond Quickly – Customer feels important – Gives the impression of superior competence
• Always Ensure Needs Are Met – Answer all questions/concerns – Try Boomerang (for Gmail or Outlook)
• Provide the Unexpected – Go above and beyond your promises – Make it personal!
Our Strategies
What We’ve Implemented at Sweet Tooth
A Customer Service Culture
• Create a Culture of Quality Service – Make it a core value – Lead by example
Story of Zappos
• Largest online shoe retailer (started 1999) • Not profitable at first • Sales: – 2000: $1.6 million – 2001: $8.6 million
– 2003: $70 million – 2008: $1 billion
• Minimal advertising
New Focus
Customer Service
$1.2 Billion"Amazon
• Delivering WOW through service – “Prank Call” at 3am for pizza delivery in Santa Monica – To Zappos customer service in Las Vegas
Story of Zappos
Video
Delivering the Unexpected
Our Strategy
Follow the Zappos Example! (with our own twist)
Delivering WOW Through Service
A fast response from Sweet Tooth after hours:
Sweet Tooth’s Strategies
• How did we go about implementing this?
– Our Culture – Resources – Building a Support Team – Exceeding Expectations – Making it Personal
Our Culture
• Leading by Example – Customer Service is a priority for the whole
company – Customer Service attitude needs to come
from the top!
• Good Reviews Emailed Company-Wide • Peer-Reviewed Communications • Constant Encouragement
Resources
• Phone / Chat • Sandbox & Demo • Knowledgebase – Over 200 articles
• Community Forums • Support Portal
Support Team
• Multi-Tiered Team of Agents • Internal Wiki & Common Procedures • Take Response Times Seriously – 90% of initial responses within an hour
• Until Customer Issue is Resolved: – Constant updates
– Follow-ups
Exceeding Expectations
• Advertise Support During 9-5 Core Hours – Available around the clock!
• Managing Expectations – Sales Policies
– Support Policies – Going above and beyond
Unhappy Customer….
Now Happy J
Make it Personal
• Not your typical service desk • Learning about our customers • Making friends with our customers • Understanding their needs • Being proactive – Offering tips on effective reward campaigns
– Remembering who’s been struggling – Keeping tabs on who asks for features/fixes
Sweet Tooth’s Strategies
• How did we go about implementing this?
– Our Culture – Resources – Building a Support Team – Exceeding Expectations – Making it Personal
Then What?
• Customer Service Strategy in Place
• Must Gauge Success
• Adjust and Improve
Gauging Customer Service
Net Promoter Score (NPS)
Gauging our Success
Using Net Promoter Score (NPS):
How likely are you to recommend our brand
to a colleague or friend?
Gauging our Success
NPS Benchmarks
NPS Benchmarks
Using Your NPS Score
• Your score is highly dependent on: – Region – Industry, customer base, etc.
• Useful to measure improvement
• Generally not productive to compare your NPS to competition
High NPS Companies
Alternate Metrics
• Customer Satisfaction
• Customer Happiness
• Tracking Referrals per Customer
Example: Dropbox
Example: 37 Signals
Example: 37 Signals
Example: 37 Signals
Strategies for Customer Service
Strategies for Customer Service
• Know your Channels – Interaction channels – Reputation channels
• Ensure NPS is measured – Ask as many of your clients as possible – Get feedback
• Provide Quality Interaction – Quick responses – Always! – Deliver the unexpected
Strategies for Customer Service
• Know your Channels – Interaction channels – Reputation channels
• Ensure NPS is Measured – Ask as many of your clients as possible – Get feedback
• Provide Quality Interaction – Quick responses – Always! – Deliver the unexpected
Strategies for Customer Service
• Know your Channels – Interaction channels – Reputation channels
• Ensure NPS is Measured – Ask as many of your clients as possible – Get feedback
• Provide Quality Interaction – Quick responses – Always! – Deliver the unexpected
Get Started Early
• Focus on Customers First!
• Amazing Product OR Amazing Support
• “The best time to plant a tree is 20 years ago – the second best time is today.”
A Customer Service Culture
A culture of excellent customer
service is one of the most effective marketing strategies.
A Customer Service Culture
Improve Your Company’s Customer Service
5 Things to Implement Today
1. Build Your Team Culture
Identify Your Core Values
2. Establish Processes
3. Implement Systems
Boomerang, Zendesk, Nutshell, etc.
4. Track Everything
5. Talk to Your Customers/Users
Q & A
@sweettooth