Phil's Customer Service blog

Nice slideshare here (below). I particularly think the point quite late in the Slideshare – that even customers who look like enemies on the net can be quickly turned into friends with a conversation – is extremely powerful.

It confirms some advice I read recently, but have now lost the source for; that hotel customer service or sales people should trawl through Trip Advisor and other travel sites looking for reviews of their own hotels, contact customers who post a bad review, and ask their advice on what to fix, then let them know what changes you’ve made and politely ask them if they’d consider updating their review.

Decades old research told us that a complaining customer who has their opinion turned around by a responsive organization is more loyal than a customer who has never complained. Add that to the fact that bad reviews can be seen by thousands of potential customers and therefore do untold damage to your reputation, and the cost-benefit analysis of investing time in turning around these customers is enormous.

A bad review is just free consultancy on where you need to improve. There’s an urgency in that, as long as it is unchanged, your reputation is being damaged with every potential customer who reads it. So, the clock is ticking. So, you could set up metrics based on how fast you can turn around a critical, negative review into a positive one.

This is the new marketing, kids. The old anonymous dissatisfied customers that never complain direct to you but were out there spreading negative stories about you by word of mouth were invisible to you. Invisible guerillas they used to be called. Now, they are not only visible to you, you can engage with them, contact them directly, and find out what action would turn their opinion around. Then, if it’s reasonable, do it.

If you haven’t incorporated this kind of activity in your customer engagement, service, marketing, communication or experience design , then you are behind the curve. If your mindset is “But, approaching one customer at a time can’t be cost-effective” you’re looking at it the wrong way. Think of it this way, instead: There is a negative advertisement on the web about you, reaching thousands of people. By engaging with the advertiser, you can turn it around into a positive advertisement. Does that make more financial sense to you? Because that’s the new reality.

[slideshare id=1199150&doc=howtolaunchaproductintheopen-090325201015-phpapp01]

I like this description of how Hotel Indigo’s branding differs from other hotels.

“The program keeps time with the brand’s retail-inspired concept of seasonal renewal where menu items, music, aromas, artwork and murals change four times a year to transform the public spaces in each hotel, which offers even the most frequent guest a distinctive and engaging experience with each and every stay.”

It’s harder and harder to come up with a balance between recognizable brand design and the need to be seen as vibrant and not boring. The old argument about brand standards – that you see the Golden Arches and know exactly what to expect when you pull into the drive thru – ignores the downside: where’s the surprise? Brands get boring when the experience is repeatable and predictable (exactly the qualities ‘branding’ is supposed to represent).

McDonald’s deals with that problem with an ever-changing menu – a core offer surrounded by products that change every few months.

But fast food is one thing. Capital intensive brands that don’t fit into a Fast Moving Consumer Goods retail format are another. Apart from a brand refresh every few years, when the physical designed aspects of the brand are already looking tired, what do you do to balance distinctive uniqueness on the one hand and not looking ‘unchanging’ in a changing world on the other?

The Hotel Indigo solution I like. It’s not quite an ‘ever-changing brand’. It’s a brand that changes its clothes four times a year. Neat.

Declaration of interest: I got the above from an IHG press release. I get IHG press releases because I do quite a lot of work for IHG. However, I wouldn’t blog about it here if I didn’t genuinely find something like the above new, clever, and an example of how to take branding forward and evolve it.

This is from the Harvard Daily Management Tip, which is well worth signing up for. The link at the bottom of this post takes you to a Harvard screen where you can sign up for the tip.

What you say to customers now can help your company emerge stronger when the economic climate improves. Keep five things in mind:

1. Be empathetic — without being pathetic. Forgo messages implying customers should help you reduce inventory. Instead, tell them about well-deserved bargains.

2. Offer real assistance — not happy talk. Companies that can make their promises tangible can gain an advantage.

3. Adjust to your customers’ changed behaviors. They are probably at work longer, shopping for discounts, and eating out less. Bring the conversation to them.

4. Address people’s attention deficit. Time-starved, on-edge consumers value advertising that’s quick and to the point.

5. Say something. Research shows that most companies that “go dark” during a downturn damage customer relationships.

Today’s Management Tip was adapted from “What to Say to Customers Now” by Paul Nunes.

Click here to read more and for the sign up form for the Harvard Daily Management Tip

At Xerox, when new CEO Anne Mulcahey wanted to change the sales culture, she did this:

If you bring in a new customer, you get a bonus, as usual. No change there, then. If the customer chooses not to renew the contract after a year, you, the salesperson, lose three times the bonus you earnt for bringing them in. It’s taken away from you.

How effective do you think that was in switching the sales team’s focus from ‘hit and run’ to customer retention?