I’ve been interviewed for a new website, The Small Business Authority. It’s been developed by Newtek Business Services, Inc., a provider of services and financial products to small and medium-sized businesses.

My interview was about how to properly define your customer base and the importance of working toward customer devotion instead of just customer satisfaction. Take a look at the blog article here: The Small Business Authority. I think you’ll find the information useful.

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© 2011 by Dennis L. Rosen. All rights reserved. www.winfluencesolutions.com

Here’s another message with more information about the half-day Business-Building Workshop I’m holding the morning of March 11 for the Leawood Kansas Chamber of Commerce. It’s called, “Creating Devoted Customers to Improve your Bottom Line.” It offers a new view on customer service to improve your business. Click on the video below for a special message from me, and then register by calling 913-498-1514 or by going to: http://bit.ly/hTbns1

Or click here to see the video: http://bit.ly/idYfAD

If you are a professional, in any kind of service business or manage people who interact with customers, this workshop is for you!

Here are some of the important points we will be covering:

- How to go from simple satisfaction to WOWING your customers
- The two categories of customer needs that MUST be addressed
- Four factors that cause customer perception problems and how to overcome them
- Four customer personality types and how to adapt
- Prioritizing service activities
- Two kinds of customer complaints that must be handled differently
- How to motivate employees

AND MORE!

Each participant will receive a workshop workbook and a copy of my book, Create Devoted Customers (a $25 value).

A continental breakfast at 8:00 a.m. is included, and then we’ll get right into things from 8:15-11:45.

The price for this intensive workshop is $89. (If you happen to be a Leawood Chamber member, they will give you a $10 discount.)

Call 913-498-1514. Or for more information or to register on-line, visit: http://bit.ly/hTbns1

See you there!
Dennis

Dr. Dennis Rosen
“The WinFluence® Expert”

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© 2011 by Dennis L. Rosen. All rights reserved. www.winfluencesolutions.com

Did You Watch the Super Bowl Commercials?

So Super Bowl XLV is over and the Packers won. Okay, it was a good game. But I live near Kansas City, so I didn’t really care who won. I was much more interested in the Super Bowl commercials. This year, the going price was $3mm for 30 seconds.

I’m also interested in discussions before and after the game as to which are the best. Days before the game, experts were on talk shows showing clips and talking about which ones were great and why. Now that the game is over, USA Today has brought out its annual rating of the commercials as provided by a set of viewers so you can look down the list of winners and losers.

What Does This Mean for Your Business?
What does this have to do with your business? A lot. But it’s not the game or the commercials that are important to your business. It’s what listeners and viewers assume the experts are measuring when they rate the commercials that provides a lesson for you.

If you were spending $3mm for a 30-second commercial on the Super Bowl for your business, what would you consider a really good or “winning” commercial? Probably one that sold your product! So when you listen to the experts or read the USA Today article, you likely assume that’s what is meant by a good or high-ranking commercial. But is that what they are measuring?

Actually, all they are measuring is entertainment value of the commercial. In the USA Today ratings, 282 volunteers watch the commercials and twist a dial indicating how much they like what they see. (To its credit, USA Today now labels the ranking as “most popular” to “least popular.”)

The big question is, if you like a commercial, does that indicate you will buy the product? NO! Some the most annoying commercials out there do a great job of selling their product. And there are a lot of commercials I find really entertaining, but I don’t buy the product.

So Think About This
The lesson for your business is to know what you really want to measure before you start measuring something or let others design a measure for you. This is particularly true when measuring customer satisfaction. You probably ask your customers if they are satisfied. But does that mean you are measuring whether they will return, buy more, tell other customers? That would be a bad assumption.

Customers who are satisfied in many cases simply put you on a list of satisfactory businesses in their head. You’re just one of many who can satisfy them. If you want to know if they actually will return, you need to ask that specific question. You should also ask questions beyond the physical aspects that define your business to include the emotional aspects that build a relationship between your business and your customers. It’s the relationship in many cases that will cause your customers to return or spread the word about how great you are.

Know what you want to know (your specific objective) when doing a satisfaction survey and ask questions that truly address your objective. Otherwise you will think customers view you as standing out from the crowd in a meaningful way, when you are really just like everyone else – producing satisfied customers instead of devoted customers.

By the way, that kid in the Darth Vader suit in that commercial was really cute. But what brand of car was he selling?
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© 2011 by Dennis L. Rosen. All rights reserved. www.winfluencesolutions.com

Do you like salty snacks? What kind of question is that? Do you like to breath? Of course you like salty snacks—and so do I. Until recently, we’ve had three kinds of chips in our kitchen cupboard—Ruffles Reduced Fat, Lay’s Kettle Cooked Reduced Fat (the words, “reduced fat” make us feel good), and Sun Chips (and, of course, taco chips and pretzels, which I personally put in a separate category).

One of those Frito-Lay brands, Sun Chips, has been in the news lately. I’ve seen a couple of TV shows do a story on them, and they were recently discussed in The Wall Street Journal on the front page. Unfortunately, it’s not good press. It’s about their new packaging and how it is driving customers crazy. If you buy Sun Chips, you know what I’m talking about.

They decided to environmentally improve their package by making it biodegradable. After all, going “green” is big these days. Why not take the lead and develop a package that’s better for the environment? Aside from doing good, it should become a selling point that could attract customers. So that’s what they set out to do. And they did it.

Only one problem. After years of development and investment, the package they came up with is TOO LOUD. It crinkles when touched and makes eating the chips from the bag something that you only want to do with ear plugs in place. You certainly can’t slip out a chip on the sly. And forget about sneaking them into the movie theater.

So while the bag will degrade in about four months in the landfill (the good news), the sound of the bag is so annoying that sales have dropped (definitely bad news). We stopped buying them at our house, and apparently, so have many other customers. And that’s too bad because it’s a good tasting chip.

So here’s my question. Why didn’t Frito-Lay know this was a problem that many customers would not tolerate? It was obvious that the package was loud. Didn’t they test response with their customers? Maybe they thought the environmental benefit would offset the noisy package for customers. But they were wrong. And in this age of social media, Facebook pages and YouTube videos are furthering negative publicity for the product.

Bottom line—you need to know your customer’s priorities. Your customers are motivated by a variety of needs. When push comes to shove, they prioritize these needs and respond accordingly. You need to know what is most important to them, what is next most important, etc. Keep in mind that your customers’ priorities may not be the same as yours and may not be obvious without asking them.

Don’t make assumptions. If you are going to make a change that is obvious and may have some negative implications, talk to some customers. Get their reactions. See if they bring up the negatives and/or positives spontaneously. If not, raise them yourself, and see what customers say.

In other words, don’t fly blind when making changes in your operation or service if it will be visible to your customers. Remember, every interaction is a chance to WinFluence® customers with your service and make them devoted. Don’t accidentally chase them away.

Now, where did I put those kettle chips?

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© 2010 by Dennis L. Rosen. All rights reserved. www.winfluencesolutions.com

I just came across an article in the Inc.com archives that talks about the restaurant of the Little Inn of Washington in Washington, Virginia. This is a very up-scale and highly-rated restaurant known for its fine food and decor. What intrigued me was the discussion in the article of how they rate the mood of each guest party that comes into the restaurant. The captain secretly assigns a rating from 1 to 10 with a rating of 7 or below indicating displeasure or unhappiness and communicates this to the staff. Parties with lower ratings get extra special treatment, maybe a kitchen tour or visit from one of the owners or perhaps free drinks or dessert, in a effort to improve their mood. Maybe they have been stuck in traffic, had an argument, had a bad day at work, etc. Whatever it is, the staff wants them to walk out feeling good. The objective is no one should leave with rating below 9.

Having looked at the prices of this restaurant, it’s clear they have more room to play with freebies than many other businesses do. However, the concept is still a very important one that I discuss in my book, Create Devoted Customers. You need to be aware of customer mood and adapt accordingly. And you should have a plan worked out with your employees to improve the mood of those who need it. It doesn’t have to involve freebies. It can just involve being extra pleasant, showing some empathy or demonstrating willingness to go out of your way in service. Think of the impact on future sales when someone who is feeling down ends up feeling better after interacting with your business.

While this may be particularly important if you are in the hospitality field (food, lodging, entertainment), it can be of potential importance for any business. And if your staff isn’t sensitive to customer mood, they can actually drive your customers away. For example, years ago my father moved all of his business to a different bank after he had happily approached a teller in his current bank to make his last 30-year mortgage payment and she was unemotional and didn’t congratulate him or thank him for his patronage.

I hope this information hasn’t soured your mood, but if it has, keep this in mind—what I’m suggesting will cost you very little to implement and can WinFluence® your customers in a way that will improve your bottom line. Feeling better? Good. Now do the same for your customers.

You can see the Inc.com article here.
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© 2010 by Dennis L. Rosen. All rights reserved. www.winfluencesolutions.com

I had to pick up some grocery items yesterday for a meal my wife was making. I’m a lucky guy. My wife was a home economics major, so I eat very well. The trade-off of having to go to the store occasionally to get ingredients is well worth it. Of course, I don’t know the store layouts like she does, so I usually wander around until I find things—very inefficient.

Anyway, I needed to get some condensed mushroom soup. I found myself in the main back aisle of this large supermarket. Rather then go up and down the aisles as I usually do, I stood in the back aisle looking up at the signs hanging from the ceiling that are supposed to tell you what is in each aisle. I was looking for the word, “soups.” I didn’t see it. I walked down a little ways looking up as I walked. Still didn’t see it. As I stood scanning the signs, obviously in need of help, three store employees passed me over a three-minute period. Two of them passed me twice. One stopped to work in the aisle in front of me. He was less than ten feet away as I continued to stand and look up at the signs. Not one employee offered to help me. In fact, none of them even looked at me as I stood there. They just walked by. Perhaps they assumed I would ask if I needed help, but why should I have to? Besides, they were walking pretty fast—not at a pace that suggested they were interested in doing anything other than the jobs on their minds at the time.

Strange, isn’t it? With all the emphasis on friendly service and helpful employees that you see in store advertising, none of these employees took the hint. Of course, when you finally check out of the store, the cashier always asks, “Did you find everything okay?” A little late for help if you ask me. One of the things I emphasize in training is reading customer cues and being proactive rather than reactive in customer service to help WinFluence® customers. This experience makes me wonder, how many grocery (or other) stores train their employees to read customer cues and to really be helpful? (Oh, I did eventually find the soups myself. They’re in aisle 10A—in case you’re ever looking for them.)
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© 2010 by Dennis L. Rosen. All rights reserved. www.winfluencesolutions.com

“The customer is always right!” Everyone’s heard the phrase. Many businesses live by it and insist that their employees follow it. Is it true? Is the customer always right? No, and everyone knows it. What the phrase is really saying is that it is best to assume complaining customers are always right and give them what they want rather than lose good customers.

But is this really a good strategy to follow? I don’t think so. A minority of customers will take advantage of the situation in ways that cost you money and raises prices for your good customers. Let’s face it. Not all customers are worth keeping.

Good. So now, what do you tell your employees? Do you say, “Some customers are good; some are bad – use your judgment”? The bottom line is this, asking whether the customer is always right is a waste of time. The real question every owner, manager and employee should ask is: Does the customer honestly believe he/she is right? If you keep this phrase in your head and preach it to your employees, actions become clear.

When customers honestly believe they are right, you should treat them as if they are right. You honor their requests and handle their problems. Customers may be making honest mistakes due to misunderstandings or confusion. Correcting them and rejecting their requests will simply create hard feelings and may lose them as customers. Employees must be trained to understand that saving a few dollars is not worth the loss of a good customer and that customer’s potential contribution to the bottom line of the business for years to come. (If significant money is involved, a manager can be called in to aid in the response.)

If you have customers who are clearly not being honest in their requests or complaints, in my view, you should politely refuse their requests with justification. Sure, they may get upset and not come back, but why do you care if they were trying to rip you off?

So, what if you don’t know whether or not customers are being honest in their complaints or demands? Then you treat them as if they are correct, handle these situations to their satisfaction but get necessary information so they can be tracked over time to determine whether such problems continue with them in the future. If problems continue, you may change your evaluation and actions toward particular customers.

Yes, you can, and should at times, “fire” customers. But pick your battles carefully. When customers honestly believe they are right, make those customers happy. You’ll hopefully WinFluence® them and turn them into devoted customers. If they clearly are not being honest in their complaints, refuse them and let them go. They aren’t the ones who would build your business anyway.

[See the full article here: Is the Customer Always Right?]
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© 2010 by Dennis L. Rosen. All rights reserved. www.winfluencesolutions.com

I was attending a function one night a couple weeks ago and needed my blue suit. Unfortunately, I had left it in my suitcase for three days after coming back from vacation. Oops! So this was good time to get it cleaned and pressed. I had a coupon for $3.00 off at a local chain, so I brought the suit in about 8:00 a.m. for pick up late in the afternoon. I forgot the coupon at home that morning, but that should be no problem, I thought, as I later put it in my billfold to present when I picked up the suit.

At 5:00 p.m., I appeared and gave my last name. Clothes on hangers whizzed by as the young lady at the counter searched for and then presented my nicely cleaned and pressed materials. “That will be $12.75,” she said. “And I have a coupon for $3.00 off,” I said placing the coupon on the counter. She looked at the coupon and then smiled one of those “I got ya!” smiles. “Nope. It has to be presented when you bring in the clothes,” she said pointing to the small lettering at the bottom of the coupon. “$12.75.” “But now is when I’m paying for it. Can’t you take the coupon now?” I asked not understanding what difference it would make. “Nope. $12.75,” was her curt response. Normally, I would have pushed for more of an explanation, but I had to get dressed and to the function. So I paid, took the suit and left muttering to myself.

Ah, yes. Just another one of life’s little frustrations. But let’s analyze this from a Customer WinFluence® point of view and consider what effect this interchange between customer and clerk has on customer perception of the business. After all, what is the point of offering a coupon? It’s to bring customers in, pull them away from competition and hopefully impress them with service so they will return with or without a coupon in the future. And the coupon had accomplished some of these goals. It had brought me in. I had chosen this chain over equally convenient competitors. But do I feel good about my interaction to the point that I am more likely to come back? No! In other words, the business has failed at the main purpose of its promotion. If anything, my experience trying to use the coupon has hurt my perception of the business.

First, why does the coupon have to be presented at the time of the order given that no payment is being exchanged? The danger here is that customers are always looking for an explanation for things they experience with a business, and if they don’t know the real reason, they’ll make one up. For example, when I told a friend about the incident, she said, “Are they not going to remove stains from the ones having coupons?” Or, I was thinking maybe they just hope a lot of customers will screw up like I did and not be able to get the discount thus saving the business money. Presumably there is a good reason for the requirement, but it does create the risk of customers having such negative thoughts. Therefore, it would be better for this company to change their coupon requirement unless there is some really good logistical reason for operating as it currently does.

More importantly, the clerk handled the situation poorly. Let’s assume she is not empowered to make an exception if the coupon is not presented at the proper time. Obviously, I was frustrated. But it was her lack of empathy that greatly added to my frustration and left me with a very negative perception of the business. What could she have said? How about, “I’m sorry, but as it notes on the coupon, it has to be presented with the order. I’m not allowed to make any exceptions on this. Again, I apologize for this inconvenience. But the coupon is still good for two weeks. I hope you’ll stop in again and use it on another order.” There were no other customers in the store. She certainly had time to respond more appropriately. Most likely, the reason she didn’t respond properly is due to lack of training, which I find to be strange. Certainly management could anticipate that this problem would develop. Why wasn’t she trained in the proper way to respond?

So, how about your business? Are you anticipating issues and training your employees for proper response? Are they aware of how easily their statements can hurt perception of your business and ruin your promotional efforts? And are you enforcing requirements that actually make such conflicts more likely? Remember, it’s the small things that matter if you want to properly WinFluence® your customers and keep them coming back.
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© 2010 by Dennis L. Rosen. All rights reserved. www.winfluencesolutions.com

I’m just back from a vacation. My wife and I attended a wedding in one city and then rented a car for a drive to visit friends several hundred miles away. I had the car for a half hour when I noticed a warning flashing “low windshield washer fluid,” and it soon ran out. On the first day of the trip, it also started flashing about a problem with the air bag. Since I wasn’t planning to hit anybody or anything, I decided to wait until getting to my destination to get the car exchanged for one without an air-bag problem. It took a few calls after we arrived, but I found a local office of the agency that had a replacement car.

When I brought it in, the person at the counter (the only person there) was aware of the air-bag problem from my call. While he was doing the paperwork, I commented to him that when I got the car, it was nearly out of washer fluid. In response, he made a sarcastic remark indicated that my comment was trivial because all I had to do was open the hood and fill the container with water. He then went on to explain that, “Cars come in and out all day. We (meaning, I guess, the rental agency) can’t check the fluid on all of them. Sometimes it just evaporates.”

What a shame. Up until that comment, he had been doing so well. Companies and employees just don’t realize how easy it is for a thoughtless comment to ruin all the good their advertising and other actions have otherwise done. Yes, I could have added water, but why should I have to? When I rent a car, I expect it to be clean, checked out and ready to use. I should not have open the hood for anything – and certainly not within the first day. More importantly, what impression does this leave with the customer? If the rental agency doesn’t check the washer fluid, what else don’t they check? The oil? The air pressure? Note, the malfunctioning air bag was not the issue. Mechanical problems can happen, and they were replacing the car. It was response to the minor issue that damaged my perception.

Finally, there is no excuse for making such remarks to the customer. Since I had a two-day drive back, I noted that I would be driving for several days and asked if the oil, etc. had been checked (after all, they had missed the washer fluid). His reply was, again, insulting. “It might surprise you to know, but it does us no good to rent cars that are dangerous.” he said. He then went on with his comments finishing with, “That’s why we are rated so highly in customer satisfaction.” Well, not in my book! Big companies, listen up. It’s all about perception. Train your people properly, or they will undermine your image and customer confidence. I’ll have second thoughts before renting from this company again (at least without packing my own washer fluid).

I’ll have another example of how easy it is to damage service perception next time.
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© 2010 by Dennis L. Rosen. All rights reserved. www.winfluencesolutions.com

I haven’t been blogging for a while. In addition to being a professional speaker and trainer, I’m a university professor. The last three weeks have been busy with grading and graduation ceremonies, so I’ve taken a little “blog break.” Hopefully, now I’ll be able to get back on track.

To get things rolling, I’ve added several new WinFluence® articles to my web site. Just click on the “Educational Materials” tab above and then on “Articles.” Most of these articles deal with my philosophy for customer service. However, I’m going to start adding more articles covering other areas. I do a lot of focus group moderating, so I have added an article on focus groups. I’ve done extensive training for the Yellow Pages industry, so I’ll be adding articles in the future about proper Yellow Pages advertising (if you are retailer or service provider, you’ll want to watch for those). And I’ll also be adding more articles related to sales and influencing the customer’s thought process.

I’ve received a few comments on the blog recently, and I thank those who have commented. Feel free to provide comments or questions that I can address in future posts. And thanks for your continued interest.

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© 2010 by Dennis L. Rosen. All rights reserved. www.winfluencesolutions.com