CUSTOMER SATISFACTION IS GOOD FOR BUSINESS

by: BMA Editorial Team 3

Great customer service is the goal Ior every business large or small. Or at least it
should be! Businesses depend on clients to generate sales Ior their products and
services. When customer satisIaction is high, people are reIerred to a business by word-
oI-mouth marketing. The key to develop a growing business is to make people so
satisIied with a product that they "tell and sell" others about it.

One oI the keys to developing a high-level oI customer satisIaction is access to
customer support. In some industries (like computers and communications), customer
support is available 24 hours a day - 7 days a week. This level oI service is becoming
the norm Ior many sales driven organizations. To maintain and grow a client base,
constant communication between the business and the customer is maintained as much
as possible.

Word oI mouth marketing is the best Iorm oI advertising in existence. Customer
satisIaction Ior every sale and real testimonials are the basic building blocks oI a
successIul business. When someone has a good experience they tell other people about.
On the other hand, when people have bad experiences they go out oI their way to let
everyone know. Why is that? Well the truth is people want to Iind Iaults when their
expectations are not met. So in business when we meet and exceed a client's
expectations they don't Iind Iaults and have good experiences. A customer Ieedback
card is a common way to show customers that a business cares about their experience
and wants to improve services.

Common Ieedback questions are posed to get responses that will help deliver services
more eIIectively. One way to do this is to have customers grade service and satisIaction
levels based on speciIic aspects oI the service. Another way is to provide Yes or No
questions to indicate iI customers want a speciIic service. Feedback Iorms can also
provide a comments section to get personal evaluations Irom customers. These
evaluations are very useIul to include in marketing campaigns as testimonials Irom
clients.

For anyone who has ever gone on a luxury holiday, the thing they remember most
about a trip is the way they were treated, in other words: the customer service. OI
course, a vacation is the main reason Ior going away, but when asked by Iriends or
Iamily iI they had a good time somewhere, and iI they would do it again, the response
is usually, Yes!, iI the service is good.

Nothing gets people talking better than a smile and a great deal. Product testimonials
based on great experiences are the best marketing tool in the world. Doing business is
not always about money. It's about relationships, building trust and oIIering an
exceptional product at a great price...

STEPS FROM CUSTOMER SERVICE
BY: SUSAN AND DEREK NASH

One oI the ongoing challenges successIul businesses Iace is in optimizing customer satisIaction
and developing Customer Relationship Management. So many companies "jump on the
bandwagon" oI improving customer service in order to impact customer retention levels. Yet,
since 1994, customer satisIaction has dropped in nearly every sector oI the economy according to
the American Customer SatisIaction Index compiled by the University oI Michigan. So why is
this? Raising customer satisIaction levels requires a comprehensive systems approach.


This article will cover:

The importance oI a clear customer experience strategy
Selecting the correct people
Developing, motivating and managing your people
Establishing eIIective service delivery processes
Building in continuous improvement
Ensuring managers are the key change-agents


SETTING A CLEAR CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE STRATEGY

OIten organisations conIuse deIining a customer experience strategy with creating a "slogan".
How many companies create a slogan without any supporting initiatives, thereby disillusioning
employees and creating a "Ilavour oI the month?"

To establish a good strategy certain key practices are required:
Understand the overall organisational vision and mission
DeIine the organisation's customer service direction, slogan and values
Ensure customer service is deIined as a key responsibility Ior the business/department
Share the customer experience strategy via a comprehensive communications program
Ensure that this strategy does not conIlict with other business strategies. As consultants, it is
amazing how oIten we hear organisations say, "Improving Customer Service is a priority, and we
are also introducing stringent cost-cutting measures." This can present a tough dichotomy.


SELECTING THE CORRECT PEOPLE

It's really hard to teach an elephant to dance!
When recruiting employees to provide customer service, the process oIten tends to concentrate
more on Iunctional expertise, technical competence and knowledge rather than interpersonal
skills. However, lack oI the right attitude can drastically impact client satisIaction levels.
Research has in Iact shown that attitude is the most important requirement: skills and Iunctional
expertise can be taught.

ThereIore in selecting the right people:
DeIine the critical job requirements
Develop scenario-based interviews/assessment centres to screen and select candidates
Involve multiple team members in the hiring process
Ensure evaluation is based on objective, not the subjective "Be Like Me" criteria

DEVELOPING, MOTIVATING AND MANAGING YOUR PEOPLE

Even though you have hired the right people, there is still a need to orient them into the
organisation's customer relationship culture and deIine key communication skills. In Call Centers
and Technical Support departments, there is a tendency to rely on technical/Iunctional skills and
neglect interpersonal skills development. This can result in providing acceptable material
service, the more tangible aspect, yet unacceptable personal service, the competitive
diIIerentiator.

ThereIore to build a customer relationship culture, it is important to:
Provide training in key areas required to deliver exceptional personal service
ReinIorce these skills using ongoing coaching and Ieedback
Measure current perIormance levels
Reward perIormance using a combination oI monetary awards and non-monetary recognition

ESTABLISHING EFFECTIVE SERVICE DELIVERY PROCESSES

EIIective processes and procedures provide the Ioundation Ior smoothing or inhibiting the
material service element oI the customer interaction. EIIicient service delivery systems appear
transparent to the customer. Poor systems create those 'speed bumps' that necessitate personal
intervention in order to satisIy the customer requirements.

The critical elements in ensuring a positive material customer experience are:
Mapping the service delivery processes
Evaluating critical success points in the process
DeIining service standards and objectives Ior these essential points
Establishing service delivery procedures to optimise material service
Creating service level agreements to smooth internal service delivery

BUILDING IN CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT

No matter how eIIective the service delivery processes, or well-trained the service deliverers,
things go wrong. Products have Iaults. Customers get Irustrated. Things slip through the cracks.
The organisations that are built around managing the customer experience are able to resolve
these issues eIIectively. This process known as "recovery" is an important diIIerentiator in
building customer loyalty.

In order to recover eIIectively, it is necessary to:
Actively seek customer Ieedback and complaints: you cannot improve iI you don't know what
went wrong in the Iirst place.
Train staII how to handle customer complaints eIIectively using the correct mix oI empathising,
apologising and resolution.
Make sure that the real problem is solved, not just the symptoms.
Focus on proactive (prevention) as well as reactive (cure) problem solving.

ENSURING MANAGERS ARE THE KEY CHANGE-AGENTS

As consultants, we observe that senior management oIten has the vision, intention and
commitment to introduce a comprehensive customer relationship management system. The
"make or break" element is in involving middle management in the change process, and
empowering them to be the key change-agents.

To do this, it is important to:
Engage the management team early and oIten in the process
Involve management members in articulating the customer experience strategy
Teach managers coaching skills so that they are able to articulate and reinIorce the key personal
service skills
Use managers as Iacilitators when rolling out interpersonal skills training
Reward managers on establishing, monitoring and updating service delivery processes
Ensure managers are able to act as an example to their teams.

CONCLUSION

As you can see, in order to deliver outstanding service, it is essential to build a customer
relationship Iocused culture. This can take up to two years and can involve changing the way the
company operates in all aspects oI service delivery. The time investment can be high, but the
pay-oII can be enormous building long-term customer loyalty and helping to ensure business
proIitability.




ADOPT A PEOPLE-CENTRIC APPROACH TO IMPROVE CUSTOMER
SATISFACTION AND PROFITABILITY
By Tony Kubica.


Does a leader need to be the smartest person in the company to achieve growth and customer
satisIaction? No.
In Iact, being the smartest person in the company can actually impede growth. Some leaders just
can't get over "themselves." Yet unIortunately when you suggest that they could be the problem,
it's oIten met with one oI the Iollowing responses:

* ConIusion (i.e. you talking to me?)
* Dismissive (i.e. you have no idea what you're talking about)
* Shock (i.e. how dare you talk to me that way)
* Anger (i.e. you're out oI here)

AIter all, they are the smartest person in the company. They know the problems, they know what
needs to be done, and they will do it.

We have a (perhaps unwelcome) secret to share...

No one is that smart. No one can do it all exceptionally alone (at least Ior long.) And talented
employees want to contribute and show their talent.
The greatest risk in this selI-delusional thinking is that your brightest employees will actually be
the ones that bring you out oI the recession stronger. Limit their chance to do so-- dim their
opportunity-- and your great employees will leave, with the remaining employees just doing just
what they are told, and the replacement employees will be less talented.
Whom does this adversely aIIect outside oI the leader and your employees? Your customer. Who
beneIits? Your competition!
It is essential Ior leaders to understand that customer service is the liIeblood oI their business.
(Yes we are aware that cash is king and without positive cash Ilow the business ceases to exist.
Without satisIied customers, however there is no cash. And without satisIied and engaged
employees there are no customers - satisIied or not!) So let's see take a critical look at what the
most successIul corporations, organizations and companies are doing diIIerent.

Why Nordstrom, Zappos, Apple and Netflix Ranks High in Customer Satisfaction.

Are the companies listed above perIect? OI course not. Are they serious competitors?
Absolutely. How are they diIIerentiating their customer service Irom others in their industry?
They are using an employee-centric approach to heighten their customer service. The premise oI
"The Service-ProIit Chain" (Iirst developed at Harvard University by James L Heskett) speaks to
this approach. It's premise is simple: highly satisIied customers drive growth and proIitability,
and highly equipped and satisIied employees will better satisIy customers to drive that growth.
Otherwise said, employees with the skills and power to really serve their customer have an
increased employee satisIaction, productivity and loyalty which in turn leads directly to
increased service to the customer, meaning greater customer satisIaction and loyalty, which oI
course, leads to greater revenue. Most simply stated, satisIied employees are a critical contributor
to customer satisIaction!
We see this as an employee driven profit model - and it's "people centric", which to us is the
heart oI your business.

Results Our Clients Are Achieving Using A People-Centric Model
One healthcare soItware consulting company survived the recession relatively unscathed.
Another grew over 38 percent during the heart oI the recession. How? By providing
personalized and highly Iocused customer service.
As small businesses re-surIace post-recession and look to diIIerentiate themselves and grow,
improving customer service through a people-centric approach will be an important strategy to
adopt.
So, when leaders start to think about growth- they should start Iirst with their customers and how
to provide value, and realize that it's their employees that are the golden egg. Then the
conclusion is inescapable: prepare and support your employees to provide outstanding service
and your customers will reward your eIIorts.

Curiosity Kills the Cat But Wins the
Customer
by: Kathleen Quinn-Votaw

II you're searching online Ior a blind date, you can narrow the Iield demographically to, let's say,
people between age 35 and 45 who live in Denver. And you can take a peek at the all-important
photograph. But is that enough inIormation to make even one valid assumption about someone?
BeIore you commit to that blind date, you'll want to know what kind oI personality they have
and what their interests and values are, among other things. That same kind oI curiosity about
your customers gives you a deep understanding oI what they need or wantand serves as the
basis Ior a passionate long-term relationship.
It may be time to add intellectual curiosity to the competencies you require in your sales,
marketing and customer service staII, and embed curiosity in your company culture.

Woeful disconnection with customers
Consider this. In a recent Forbes article, Andrea Ayers tells us that most company executives
believe they have a solid understanding oI their customers' expectations and experiences, when
the truth is that they have no idea what their customers want and are 'woeIully disconnected
Irom them. Almost halI oI customers say that executives not only don't understand their needs,
but don't care about them. The consequence? On average, more than halI oI these customers will
deIect, and they won't ever tell the company why.
Sadly, as their customers are leaving, company executives mistakenly believe everything is Iine
because they aren't hearing anything about the problems. 'This is the silent but deadly company
killer, says Ayers. Have you thought about what your level oI customer understanding is, really
is? What messages are you sending to your staII? Are you encouraging your customer-Iacing
employees to develop an intense intellectual curiosity about what your customers want, why they
leave and what their experience is with every aspect oI your company?

Refocusing our focus
We're born with a natural curiosity that oIten gets lost in our data-driven business world. Focus
and specialization replace exploration in so many cases. It may seem counterintuitive, but
excellence may be less about a concentration on one thing, and more about pursuing multiple
interests and talents that allow you to unconsciously transIer skills Irom one task to another.
Think Leonardo DaVinci.
Researchers are Iinding that your brain not only shapes your behavior, but your behavior shapes
your brain, reports Fortune. 'Cross-training your brain can make you better at any one oI your
pursuits. So, how does this relate to business and customers? Maybe all oI us would beneIit by
backing away somewhat Irom a Iocus on Iocusing and let our natural intellectual curiosity drive
customer knowledge and experience, which in turn would Ioster innovation in product
development and, ultimately, bring in more revenue.

Inside-out versus outside-in
The typical company, which manages Irom an inside-out approach that's intended to maximize
internal eIIiciencies, is not Iostering curiosity. Instead oI soliciting Ieedback Irom the market and
using it to improve their customers' experience, inside-out companies have doomed themselves
to making the same customer mistakes again and again. With an outside-in approach, it's
customer opinions and preIerences that Ieed internal eIIiciencies. That Ieedback should come in
Irom various channels, including customer-Iacing employees who are encouraged and rewarded
Ior their curiosity about customers.
Because one-size-Iits-all service rarely applies in today's markets, companies need to determine
how they can serve both ends oI the spectrum, or whether it even makes economic sense to do
so. When you take the 'silent customer attrition Iactor into account, understanding individual
customer needs becomes even more important, because unhappy customers can poison your
brand and reputation among prospective customers beIore you get a chance to touch them. Better
to make a considered decision not to serve certain markets than to serve them poorly. An
outward Iocus gives you the deep customer understanding you need to make the competitive
decisions that can make or break your company.
Igniting curiosity
Creating a culture where people are curious about customers, the market, technology, and the
world around them starts with hiring people who demonstrate intellectual curiosity, and then
recognizing and rewarding them. Leaders who show their own intellectual curiosity, and resist
excessive rules, encourage the Ireedom to explore. The result is innovation, opportunity and a
passion Ior understanding customers.
Few businesses have a Iormal system Ior measuring the wants, needs and satisIaction oI their
customers. Rather than collecting customer inIormation piecemeal Irom sales, marketing and
customer service departments, igniting a culture oI curiosity draws inIormation Irom every area
oI the business that can be the seeds oI better products and customer service.

That natural curiosity that got you into so much trouble as a kid, and may have killed the cat, can
create the most satisIied customers your business has ever had...

FOOD SAFETY AUDITS - SECURING
CUSTOMERS' WELL BEING
by: BMA Editorial Team 3

Entrepreneurs in the Iood processing and service niche generally have their days Iull with the
regular hustle and bustle. With so much to do, it's worth asking iI they have time to consider
Iood saIety audits. It can take some time and eIIort to pass an audit but it may well be worth it.
Strictly speaking, the move is a must. This is not just because there are several mandatory legal
requirements that you need to make sure are in place so you'll stay in business. This is also
because it is every business owner's moral responsibility to ensure client wellbeing. This is
especially true when the processing and serving oI edibles are in question.

Also, it is worth noting that customers and venture partners these days require regular auditing.
In the case oI service companies Ior instance, customers will Iar more likely line up in Iront oI
order counters iI an establishment carries some Iorm oI certiIication gained through a Iood saIety
audit. With processing companies, other companies will be encouraged to buy products in bulk
with auditing procedures in place.
There are three major ways to tackle this option. You may want to Iirst have your company
audited internally. This is a logical decision considering that the people working Irom inside
know the business best. A regular internal check would be a great way to selI-regulate and to
prepare Ior higher auditing steps. You'd want to have a good long look at your own system
beIore letting others see it.
A second path to checking how well your system works is by asking clients to audit Iood saIety.
Again, you would want to put your best Ioot Iorward so it makes sense to make sure you check
everything internally Iirst. II you are Iairly certain that you already have very good processes,
client auditing will only serve as a venue to brag about your system. By inviting concerned
parties to have a look at your procedures, you are oIIering them the opportunity to gain
conIidence in your company.
The third way to have your system audited is through a third party auditor. You can't go wrong
with this option because the best companies have expert teams composed oI legal experts,
sanitation specialists, epidemiologists and environmental health experts. Because these people
know how to conduct Iood saIety audits best, they can perIorm auditing in one quick swoop
without missing anything and have the results in Iront oI you in no time.

A third party check is particularly advantageous iI you are considering applying Ior ISO
certiIication. Getting certiIied is beneIicial Ior any company because it serves as an
internationally recognized badge oI excellence that will never Iail to impress customers and
partners. With the help oI experts, it will be easier to succeed with certiIication the Iirst time.

Any business in the industry will Iind it hard to stay in business and to beat the competition
without the proper steps to audit Iood saIety. It is now more important than ever not to take this
step Ior granted...