The TecBlast Blog

About 20 years ago while I worked for American Stores Company (now part of Albertson’s) I headed up a customer service program named “Smile and Speak Up.” Employees attended a two-hour customer service training class and then tried to be seen being courteous to customers by mystery shoppers who visited stores twice each week for ten weeks. An employee could win small cash rewards plus the recognition of being a winner. My job was to organize the program and take to various groups of stores.

Most people associated with the Smith and Speak Up program praised our efforts to improve customer service in the stores. The wife of the chairman of the board, for example, once told me that she could see a difference where the program had been implemented. But even with the general acceptance of the program, I was never convinced of its effectiveness. This is why.

True customer service in a retail store is a combination of five basic elements: (1) organizational culture, (2) employee temperament, (3) leadership example, (4) communicated expectations, and (5) management leadership training. My good friend Chuck Coonradt once defined organizational culture as the way things really work when the boss isn’t looking. At a Nordstrom department store, for example, I generally experience superior customer service, even when the boss of the clerk serving me isn’t looking. That’s because over an extended period of time Nordstrom has created an organizational culture of superior customer service. How was this accomplished? The leaders of the organization had to not only communicate the importance of exemplary customer service, but they also had to personally demonstrate high levels of service with their own actions. Then, over time they created a culture helped define employee behavior.

The second element is employee temperament, which is a technical term for what we commonly call personality. It is true that some temperaments are better suited to deliver superior customer service than others. Sorry, but it’s true. But that does not mean that those of us whose personality isn’t naturally well suited toward customer service can’t improve our skills above our natural inclinations. As evidence, stores that have consistent customer service are not staffed with employees of the same personality. Rather, the store has set a high standard and communicates its expectations to every employee, regardless of his or her personality.

The third element is the example of customer service demonstrated by the leaders. It is foolish for a leader to expect his or her employees to deliver customer service at any level higher than what the employee sees on a daily basis from the leader. In other words, the leader determines the upper control limit of service in a department, store, or company. Watch the company president, vice president, or district manager while visiting a store and you’ll see a demonstration of the upper control limit of service. As an example, for over 20 years I have shopped a supermarket only a few blocks from my home. Without exaggeration I have shopped that store over 1,000 times. And in all of those visits there have been five instances where an employee has spoken to me on the sales floor. Lately I find myself playing a game of walking near employees, just to see if I can hear a “Hello,” or heaven forbid something like, “What could I help you find?” What’s the problem? At the least it’s the example set in store and company leadership by example.

The fourth element is the extent to which the leaders have effectively communicated their expectations to the employees. It’s not enough to merely set an example, employees must hear, and hear again, specifically what is expected of them with respect to customer treatment. I once encountered the president of a retail chain who told his employees, “Whenever one of our faithful guests has a question, I want you to remember my motto. My motto is ‘The answer is yes, what’s your question?’” He communicated his expectation that loyal customers were the life-blood of the store and everything within reason should be done to keep them coming back.

Customer Service and Management Leadership Training is the fifth element. Because everyone isn’t naturally effective at delivering customer service, and there are some techniques that work better than others, it is vital that every employee receive adequate customer service training. In fact, to create a culture of high service, employees must receive regular training. Management leadership training creates a front-of-mind-awareness that determines not only what is important, but also how things are to be done. Unfortunately, most customer service training consists of nothing more than “retail charm school.” Smiling and speaking up to customers you encounter in the aisle isn’t enough. Real opportunities for customer service all too often happen when something goes wrong. For example, out of stocks, price checks, voids, refunds, returns, and exchanges are prime situations where a customer can be won or lost, depending on what the employee says and does while handling the transaction. Employees must be trained in specific methods and techniques of how to handle these special situations, or customers can be lost for life.

The five elements of customer service are a framework to develop a climate or culture for consistent superior service. It’s important to remember that the issue really isn’t “customer service.” More accurately, it’s creating a memorable experience for customers. Don’t forget that customers return to stores that are memorable, and they don’t return to stores that are forgettable. What are you creating in your store, a memorable or forgettable climate?

Consider the PE formula where P equals the customer perception of what actually happens while shopping in a store. And E equals the customer’s expectation of what will probably happen when he or she does shop a store. If P equals E then the store did exactly what the customer expected. If P is less than E the store fell short of the customer’s expectation. And, if P exceeds E the store did something more than what the customer expected. The only truly positive memorable experience is where P exceeds E. That must be our goal.

Superior customer service, that is memorable, can be defined as a situation where the shopping experience exceeds the customer’s expectation of what was going to happen. This means a clean and safe store, where desired products are in stock and easily located, where employees are friendly and helpful, and where the checkout is accurate and fast. Effective customer service is far more than merely being caught by a mystery shopper saying something nice to a customer. That’s why I had a problem with the smile game I played 20 years ago. It was nothing more than a band- aid or a temporary fix to a very complex problem. The good news is that I think I’ve learned a lot since the Smile and Speak Up days.

Dr. Richard L. Williams is a business consultant specializing in performance coaching, quality improvement, team development, and leadership development.

To learn more about management leadership training, visit our website or contact us at 888-262-2499.

There are many affiliate programs you can go to to find real solid product to market online. Most marketers who produce their own product provide these programs that are easily accessible, and can be worked simply by signing up to them. However, there are places you can go, sign up, and have virtually any product in the world at your disposal.

I’m talking about places like Commission Junction, a huge listing of companies who sell online and offer Affiliate programs. All the big name brands are there, so there’s no limit to what you can market.

Most of you Internet Marketers are used to thinking in terms of digital products and the first name you probably think of is ClickBank. Well, we know that ClickBank deals only with downloadable products. Commission Junction, on the other hand has affiliate programs mostly for physical products.

If you are into setting up niche markets, you have learned that the online world is not just made up of downloadable ebooks. Most niche markets require affiliate products of physical goods that are shipped by the seller for you. It is in this area that Commission Junction excels.

The advantages of becoming a member of Commission Junction is that you just have to sign up once and that gets you access to every affiliate program they sponsor. This is great for people who niche market through mini-sites because with a few clicks of your mouse, you can quickly plug in product or update product information for all of your niche markets in one session.

If there was a downside to mention it would be that, unlike places like ClickBank, the commissions are somewhat lower. While ClickBank usually carries a 35% to 60% commission on product sold, Commission Junction tends to be in the 7% to 20% bracket.

So if you’re hoping to strike it rich marketing one product, then products offered by Commission Junction may not be for you. However, if you’re a serious Niche marketer, then you know that you many products to earn a respectable income. One or two products just won’t cut it..

In fact, having a membership with Commission Junction, in spite of the relatively lower earning potential per product, is a better deal when you’re working niches, because the key to good niche marketing is in finding product that is high in demand yet low in supply. With the number of companies marketing through Commission Junction along with the thousands of product to choose from, one could create mini-site niche markets all day long and still find new and rare product to market.

Thus having ten mini-sites of strong high demand every day products getting 10% commission has a higher long range residual profitability margin than having one site with a 50% commission for each product sold.

Another advantage to having all of your affiliate programs in one place is that your earnings are combined. What this means is that, no matter how many companies you’re affiliated with on Commission Junction, each company submits your daily earnings to Commission Junction who, in turn, cuts your check and sends it off to you.

This means less work keeping track of your income, less waiting for accumulated commission checks totaling the usual $100 minimum, and less paperwork come tax time.

Now this may not seem like a big deal to someone who’s happy selling one or two products, but if you consider that some niche marketers have well over 100 niche sites, keeping track of everything on a per product basis could get quite overwhelming.

So using a company like Commission Junction has its definite advantages for the niche marketer. Through them you can sell anything from soup to nuts, monitor all of your niche products in one place, and never worry about keeping track of the earnings each niche brings you.

Commission Junction takes care of all that for you. You can find out how much you’ve earned over all, what earnings you’ve received from individual affiliate programs, and be assured that your check will reach you in a timely manner.

They also supervise and take care of problems with their sponsored companies, so you never have to worry about a program you belong to going “belly up” while you’re aggressively promoting their product.

Yes there are plenty of reasons to join Commission Junction if you’re serious about niche marketing. Just take a look at all the companies they sponsor and ponder over all the worry free possible niches you could create through them.

The sky’s the limit!

Fred Farah

copyright 2005

The Best Affiliate Products
and Niche Market Strategies for Maximum Profits
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How often have you left a meeting with a customer or your boss telling yourself he likes my ideas. Only to find later that you didn’t get the sale or your boss has told everyone that you are crazy.

As we get older it seems to us that everyone talks in code. No one tells us what they really mean. Everything is hidden behind a veil of double talk.

But all is not lost. We found a copy of the code breaking manual on the web site of that well known code breaking magazine, Harpers Magazine.

It’s no ordinary code. This is special. We had many discussions before we decided to reveal the secrets of the code to you.

This is the code you need to understand what us Brits are talking about.

It was found on a wall in the European Courts of Justice and released to the world, by a journalist for The Economist (who else we hear you ask) in 2004. We thought it so important to your survival in the world that we have reproduced it here.

We hope it will change the course of the war against failed communication and create the foundation for ongoing successful conversations.

What they say: I’m sure it’s my fault.

What is understood: It is his fault.

What they mean: It is your fault.

What they say: I’ll bear it in mind.

What is understood: He will probably do it.

What they mean: I will do nothing about it.

What they say: I was a bit disappointed that . . .

What is understood: It doesn’t really matter.

What they mean: I am most upset and cross.

What they say: By the way/Incidentally . . .

What is understood: This is not very important.

What they mean: The primary purpose of our discussion is …

What they say: I hear what you say.

What is understood: He accepts my point of view.

What they mean: I disagree and do not want to discuss it any further.

What they say: Correct me if I’m wrong.

What is understood: Tell me what you think.

What they mean: I know I’m rightplease don’t contradict me.

What they say: With the greatest respect . . .

What is understood: He is listening to me.

What they mean: I think you are wrong, or a fool.

What they say: That is an original point of view.

What is understood: He likes my ideas.

What they mean: You must be crazy!

What they say: Very interesting.

What is understood: He is impressed.

What they mean: I don’t agree, or I don’t believe you.

What they say: You must come for dinner sometime.

What is understood: I will get an invitation soon.

What they mean: Not an invitation, just being polite.

What they say: Quite good.

What is understood: Quite good.

What they mean: A bit disappointing.

This may not be a complete list terms used in the code. The sources may be limited. But, it does give an insight into the way we communicate. It gives you a starting point to assess how often, when and where do you talk in code.

Good Luck

Graham and Julie
www.desktop-meditation.com

To improve your intuition, initiative and energy levels. Please go to:
http://www.desktop-meditation.com It’s free.

CRM was supposed to bring companies closer to their clients. The basic idea was to; find out what a client wants and needs, give it to them, and get them to be your client for life.

But as with all good technology, it hasn’t actually brought the sales teams, marketing departments, R&D, or customer service departments any closer to the customer at all! Technology is a poor subsitute for the human voice and social interaction.

I really feel sorry for the companies that struggled with the software, spent hundreds of man hours on design and implementation plans, dumped thousands and thousands of dollars into consulting sessions, developed training manuals and trained the trainers, held the meetings and issued management memos only to find that the problem of customer loyalty was the same if not worse.

They had the right idea but they were listening to those lame marketing gurus again! The same guys who have been promoting direct mail postcards as the best choice for farming prospects at a whopping 1-3% response rate!! (Whopee! Where do I sign up?) Seeing technology as a cure all for customer service is a grave mistake.

First, there is a serious problem with the oxymoron Client Relationship Management. Intimate loving families and friends can’t manage their relationships, hence a 50% divorce! How in the heck is a company that sees its clients only a few hours each year going to manage the relationship?

At best, you can sustain, grow, and cultivate the relationship. At worst, you will lose it due to changes in the client’s circumstances or aging, competition, economic and political factors, changing markets or (heaven forbid) your own terrible customer service and shoddy workmanship. But you will never be able to manage your clients. As a matter of fact… it is the client who manages you. They tell you what products they want, and what your product is worth, how they want it delivered, and like green french fries and the Edsel, whether they want it at all!

Companies that have to fight for their customers usually have internal problems. I heard that the CEO of a major insurance company said, ” We stopped advertising once, we lost 50% of our business that year.” This is a company that has trouble with client retention!

Retaining customers should never be a major struggle, and if it is, you are doing something wrong. It usually stems from not understanding the customer. Going to a computer program to improve customer relations, or find out what the customer is thinking is, quite frankly, nuts.

Let me give you an example from my own shopping habits. There are 4 major supermarkets within a 5 mile radius of my house. One has great produce prices, the others don’t. I usually shop at that market for produce only, because their other prices are too high. I have a membership card with that store. Do they know why I only shop for produce at their store? NO! Will my shopping habits change if their prices change? Yes. Do they know that? No. Can they get that information from my membership card? No. Can they get it if the guy at checkout asks me? You bet! As a matter of fact I have volunteered the information. I have told checkers in passing on several occassions I think their produce prices are the best in town…do you think that information got to the store manager? Probably not!
Am I going to seek out the manager to tell him? Probably not!
But if I do, is he going to go in the office and make note of my comment somewhere so he can serve me better? No way!

Now,do you think the other stores know why I don’t buy their produce? They have no clue, even though I have a membership card with them as well, they have no idea why I never buy their produce.

In-house customer surveys and focus groups and even “Hi, how ya doin?” conversations put the client and the company on the same side of the table, working together as partners to develop better products, services, and processes, and to cement relationships.

Here’s another example of CRM failings, current gas prices are driving down SUV sales. Can CRM software tell you that gas prices are going to hit an all time high in summer? Can CRM software tell you that your competition is coming out with a hybrid that will save produce 50% higher MPG. Can CRM software tell you that your customer was in an accident that will make getting into an SUV painful and difficult, and that for the next few years he is going to buy sedans? No…but a single follow-up phone call by the salesman will tell you everything you need to know if you ask the right questions.

Building layers of insulation between the company and the client; software programs, autoresponders, marketers, voice mail systems, web sites, and self serve check outs are the death of communication between a business and its clients. Most people won’t try to navigate the maze to tell you they are dissatified, they will just leave…and you’ll never know why because they won’t leave a message on your voice mail or tape a note to the self serve register.

But if you see frustration on a clients face, you can act immediately to turn a problem into a success. Some of the most loyal customers come from a bad situation turned surprisingly good. Case in point, At a fast food restaurant near my office I was carrying the tray to my table loaded with food for 4, all adults from my workplace. Another customer turned suddenly in front of me and all the food was on the floor. Frys and drinks everywhere. The manager immediately came over, dropping what he was doing during the busy rush hour, asked for my receipt, told me not to worry about it, to go sit down, he remade the order and had it delivered to my table within 5 minutes. For months afterward we ate there everyday, partly out of a sense of obligation, partly because we now trusted this restaurant and liked the manager, and we often brought other co-workers with us or brought back food for those to busy to leave for lunch. The restaurant certainly got its money worth on that $20.00 investment. And if we had had to replace that meal ourselves it would have had a totally different outcome. CRM cannot be credited with the success of the managers handling of this problem.

Hire a customer service team made up of people who love people, are excellent listeners, and who genuinely enjoy their job! Hire a customer service team of problem solvers, people who enjoy the challenge of creatively solving problems for people, pay them what they are worth! Train them to pass on all information from the customer to management immediately. Then train management to act on that information immediately. A free service call or product is a small price for retaining customers and gaining referrals, and costs much less than CRM systems. There is no better client relationship than the one that is face to face, person to person. Your customer service employees are the front line. They are your company image, they represent your company much more than your logos or ads. It’s a lot cheaper to pay your customer service people a living wage and use them to get the information you need, than to squander thousands of dollars and man hours on CRM software that cannot.

Meredith Gossland is owner of Lasting Impressions 2, a small business marketing service, specializing in greeting card marketing, custom gift baskets for clients, multicultural marketing and marketing seminars. http://www.lastingimpressions2.com
Contact her at info@lastingimpressions2.com