If you’re in any doubt take the time to read this article from web based www.business2 community.com. It definitely gets you thinking about customer life……

With 2015 lurking just around the corner, it’s concerning to think just how much customer service and the customer experience are impacting the reputation and bottom lines of brands and organisations.

While satisfying customer experiences can have great results (increasing customer acquisition, retention, brand loyalty and advocacy), just a single poor customer experience can lead to the unexpected demise of even the longest customer relationship.

According to a recent Customers 2020 Report, by 2020 customer experience will overtake price and product as the key brand differentiator. Customers “will expect companies to know their individual needs and personalise the experience. Immediate resolution will not be fast enough as customers will expect companies to proactively address their current and future needs.”

With this prediction, brands and organisations should be a little concerned if they haven’t already planned for improvements in customer service and engagement heading into 2015.

Luckily there’s still a little bit of time….

Here are 13 startling statistics to encourage a bigger and better buy-in for customer service and customer–centric marketing initiatives:

1. Brands in the U.K. are currently losing nearly £15 billion annually due to poor customer service. ~Harris/ClickSoftware Survey
2. U.S. brands are losing approximately $41 billion each year due to poor customer service. ~NewVoiceMedia Study Related Resources from B2C
3. 65% of 1,000 consumers surveyed said they’ve cut ties with a brand over a single poor customer service experience. ~ 2014 Parature State of Multichannel Customer Service Survey
4. Only 14% of respondents in a 2014 survey of CMOs rated the customer-centricity of their organisation as high; and only 11% believe their customers would say the same. ~ 2014 CMO Council Mastering Adaptive Customer Engagements Report
5. 
More than two-thirds of 2,000 consumers who encountered a customer service/customer experience issue on a brand’s website left the site or visited a competitor. ~ 2014 IBM Digital Customer Experience Report
6. 71% of those who experience positive social care experience are likely to recommend that brand to others, compared to just 19 percent of customers that do not receive a response ~ NM Incite Social Care Survey
7. Companies delivering customer support through social media achieve superior gains – 7.5% vs. 2.9%.~ Aberdeen Group Social Customer Care Report
8. The revenue impact from a 10-percentage point improvement in a company’s customer experience score can translate into more than $1 billion. ~ Forrester Business Impact of Customer Experience
9. 58% of companies say they are just now developing a strategy for delivering an integrated customer experience; and only 8% of companies surveyed said they currently provide a ‘very integrated’ customer experience. ~Econsultancy/CACI Integrated Customer Experience Report.
10. 63% of online consumers said they were more likely to return to a website that offers live chat. ~ Forrester Making Proactive Chat Work
11. 75% of consumers think companies should make answers to all their common questions available via smartphones. ~ Synthetix; 62% of companies think mobile customer service is a competitive differentiator. ~ ICMI Mobile Customer Service Strategy Report
12. 40% of approximately 3,000 consumers in a global survey said they prefer self-service to human contact for their future contact with companies, and 70% expect a company website to include a self-service application. ~ The Real Self-Service Economy Report
13. By 2020, the customer will manage 85% of the relationship with an enterprise without interacting with a human. ~ Gartner Research

Source: www.business2community.com

Get in touch for advice on how to create and maximise your customer service and engagement programme.

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However, this week I read with interest some of the new technologies on the horizon and wonder…. Is it really customer demand that is shaping these innovations or are we all victims of thinking we have asked for these technologies when in fact it is just another technological ploy subtly disguised as a ‘need to have’?

Is the consumer really in the driving seat when it comes to technology?

I read in Retail Week last week that the Mobile World Congress showcased the most exciting developments in mobile technology. One of the most bizarre product launches from Fujitsu was its ‘haptic tablet’. The touch screen lets the user feel how slippery or rough an image is with their fingers and is powered by the electronics company’s sensory, or tactile, technology. Ultimately it could allow customers to feel fabrics and materials on line. Do we really want this?

Likewise, take Facebook as an example. It’s clear that reproducing online stores on a brand’s Facebook page and overly marketing offers is not the way to win customers and encourage them to shop. Many in fact believe Facebook is all about creating a community rather than pushing a sale. Admittedly with Facebook having more than 900 million members, that’s a lot of potential shoppers, but do we actually want to shop there? Do we really want continuous offers thrown at us whilst we’re trying to catch up with friends and family?

The success of social shopping for the future is going to be in the subtlety of engagement. This makes social media retailing no different than bricks and mortar retailing. As customers we still want relevance, advice, interesting and engaging content, and brand interaction before deciding if we are receptive to ‘the offer’.

Provide the community with fun, education, and experience and then, and only then, will the customer decide to buy.

If you’re looking to improve the customer journey for your Brand. Get in touch

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Wooed through multi-media by the whimsical suggestion of magic and sparkle, how exactly does that translate to the customer shopping experience? As the mantra of every employee at Disney resorts can testify “It’s not the magic that makes it work; it’s the way we work that makes it magic”.

One trait of a great leader is to always focus on others not on themselves. So it makes sense that finding the right ‘others’ to lead is where it all starts. To create true magic and not just an excellent experience for your customers, particularly at this time of year, it starts and ends with brilliant people.

Whether you’re looking for Christmas staff or recruiting full time and senior roles in your business the strategy is exactly the same. Hiring the best and right people, training them, trusting them, respecting them and listening to them. They are the closest people to your customers and are your brand voice, energy, and pulse.

However, service excellence doesn’t just exist within stores, hotels, and other customer orientated businesses.  Customer service, magical customer service, is a personal responsibility of everyone in every organisation. It needs to be woven intrinsically into the company’s culture to become truly magical, and that means from the CEO down. The careful selection and recruitment of all employees who can understand, live, and act in accordance with the service principles that each business lays down is key.  Get it right and you can secure the most revenue- boosting asset you could wish for – a reputation for brilliant service.

What do you need to create this service utopia? Well, we all know that good service is about listening to the customer, understanding their needs and wants and providing them the best solutions… but it’s more than that.

It involves the existence of a number of human attributes in each of your staff, and in abundance!

TO CREATE A MAGICAL SERVICE EXPERIENCE ADD A GENEROUS HELPING OF EACH OF THE FOLLOWING PLUS A DASH OF MAGIC & SPARKLE……

1. CONSISTENCY – delivering the same standard of excellence for every customer, every day
2. INTEGRITY – living, believing and personifying the brand and service philosophy, not forcing it.
3. CREATIVITY –  inspiring yourself and others to think differently and to continuously improve. Setting new highs.
4. HUMILITY – accepting that every customer has a unique set of values and expectations and adapting to these.
5. EXPECTANCY – anticipating success, expecting challenges, and wanting to enjoy each and every interaction.
6. RESPONSIBILITY – from the moment the customer makes eye contact with you they are your responsibility. Take it and be accountable.
7. URGENCY – if it needs to be dealt with – do it. Now.
8. GENEROSITY – of spirit is the most rewarding of emotions and it doesn’t cost you anything.
9. HOSPITALITY –  customers have entered your world. Invite them in to stay for a while.
10. FESTIVITY –  reward yourself by having some fun with your customers and colleagues along the way.

One thing is for sure – that brilliant, magical service doesn’t cost any more up front than delivering mediocre or poor service.  Get it right first time and the returns are immensely increased.  Get it wrong and you can stand to lose a lot of money and customers… not to mention a whole heap of magic and sparkle!

Get in touch to ensure your business creates ‘magic and sparkle’ for your customers this Christmas.  

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Customer service can make or break your relationship with a brand. Which? has just revealed the best and worst brand for service according to UK consumers.  Their regular Which? company satisfaction surveys rate providers within certain sectors – such as supermarkets, energy companies or banks – against their rivals overall, but this survey was different.

This time they have uncovered how the UK’s 100 biggest brands measure up on customer service alone, regardless of what they sell.

Their latest report not only names and shames, acknowledges the true stars – in terms of winning brands, super staff and proactive problem solving it highlights how strongly we all feel about where we shop and the brands we engage with and provides a few top tips to consider when looking at your own customer service standards.

Top of the table with a fantastic overall customer service score of 88% was the cosmetics business LUSH – the only brand to achieve an ‘excellent’ five-star rating for having knowledgeable and helpful staff, and for making customers feel valued. Well done LUSH!

Lakeland, First Direct, and John Lewis all featured highly whilst Ryanair, Talk Talk and Npower need to take stock and pull their socks up.

EXPERT VIEW ON SOLVING SERVICE SHORTFALLS

Richard Dilks, Which? policy advisor writes:

As part of our ‘Real Customers, Real Service’, series we’re been investigating what makes an exceptional customer experience. The poet Maya Angelou wrote: ‘while people may forget what you said and did, they always remember how you made them feel’. That’s very true when it comes to customer service. Outstanding service can leave you feeling positive, valued and likely to want to repeat the experience. Terrible customer service can leave you feeling stressed, frustrated, angry and, in many cases, never wanting that experience again.

Here’s our advice for companies who want to inspire loyalty in their customers and keep them coming back for more:

1)    Exceptional customer service more than pays for itself.

2)    Value your customers and they’ll value you.

3)    Invest in your staff.

4)    A complaint is a gift.

5)    Don’t rest on your laurels.

We couldn’t agree more!

Find out now how we can help you to make a significant difference to your business and your customers. Get in touch today.

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If anyone ever needs convincing that improving your customer experience truly does result in increased sales and reduced costs and helps to retain loyal and valued customers, you need look no further. Colin Shaw, CEO Beyond Philosophy has the stats to back it up!

Here are 15 reasons to believe…

1. Price is not the main reason for customer churn, it is actually due to the overall poor quality of customer service – Accenture global customer satisfaction report 2008.

2. A customer is 4 times more likely to defect to a competitor if the problem is service-related than price- or product-related – Bain & Company.

3. The probability of selling to an existing customer is 60 – 70%. The probability of selling to a new prospect is 5-20% – Marketing Metrics.

4. For every customer complaint there are 26 other unhappy customers who have remained silent –Lee Resource.

5. A 2% increase in customer retention has the same effect as decreasing costs by 10% – Leading on the Edge of Chaos, Emmet Murphy & Mark Murphy.

6. 96% of unhappy customers don’t complain, however 91% of those will simply leave and never come back – 1Financial Training services.

7. A dissatisfied customer will tell between 9-15 people about their experience. Around 13% of dissatisfied customers tell more than 20 people. – White House Office of Consumer Affairs.

8. Happy customers who get their issue resolved tell about 4-6 people about their experience. – White House Office of Consumer Affair.

9. 70% of buying experiences are based on how the customer feels they are being treated – McKinsey.

10. 55% of customers would pay extra to guarantee a better service – Defaqto research.

11. Customers who rate you 5 on a scale from 1 to 5 are six times more likely to buy from you again, compared to ‘only’ giving you a score of 4.8. – TeleFaction data research.

12. It takes 12 positive experiences to make up for one unresolved negative experience – “Understanding Customers” by Ruby Newell-Legner.

13. A 5% reduction in the customer defection rate can increase profits by 5 – 95% – Bain & Company.

14. It costs 6–7 times more to acquire a new customer than retain an existing one – Bain & Company.

15. eCommerce spending for new customers is on average $24.50, compared to $52.50 for repeat customers – McKinsey.

We don’t know about you but we’re convinced!

Get in touch today for advice on improving your customers’ experience.

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As a female who is willing to try her hand at most things if given the chance it is still with an element of trepidation that I enter willingly into stores like Halfords. Not because they haven’t tried over the years to make it more inviting for all shoppers. More because there is every chance that I will be asked a seemingly easy question to establish my requirements to which I will fail miserably in answering succinctly and at best end up buying the wrong thing and at worst it has me scurrying back outside without the required purchase.

It was therefore with delight that I read about Halfords new CEO Matt Davies plans to rev the retailer up a gear by implementing a five step plan that includes a ‘service revolution’.

Halfords has a strong service proposition that it has been improving over the past year such as it’s WeFit service, and Davies believes that such services must be accompanied by improved customer service. Through a £7m investment Halfords aims to transform customer service among it’s 12,000 staff by opening Halfords Academies to provide the ‘training that colleagues need’. This will be supported by a qualification programme called 3-Gears, which trains and rewards the Halfords team for serving customers at three different levels. Having run a similar programme myself I can advocate the benefits wholeheartedly.

Halfords are also reviewing the recruitment process since 20% of people who join the business, are no longer there three months later. This is essential if they are to achieve their aims both for the customer, and importantly for ensuring a return on their valuable people investment.

All in all it’s excellent news for ‘us’ shoppers…… good luck Halfords!

Looking to build a service strategy for your business? We can help today. Get in touch.

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