I've read Ben McConnell and Jackie Huba's Church of the Customer Blog for a long time. Last night I had the chance to talk to and hear Ben speak. As expected his comments were very thought provoking. He was also a genuinely a nice guy!
He talked about a number of things regarding creating Customer evangelists, and while I took copious notes, one thing hit me the hardest - create Customer Advisory Boards.
My mind clicked - "Of course!" People don't think twice about have boards of advisors who are peers or colleagues, but to turn to Customers is much less common. While it may not be common, it sure does make sense!
- Who better to give you feedback about future direction?
- Who better to help you find your blind spots?
And to Ben's point,
- What better way to turn Customer's into true fans (evangelists) than to value them enough to truly ask them for more than feedback, but for advice?
I'm already thinking about how I am going to do that and what it will look like for me, with Customers spread all over.
Thanks Ben. If you haven't visited their blog, signed up for their newsletter, or bought their book, I urge you to do one.. or all three.
Wednesday, November 30, 2005
Thursday, November 10, 2005
The Next Logical Step
I've been flying regularly for a long time - long enough to remember the hub-bub caused by the introduction of e-tickets. Remember? You felt naked without your ticket and itinerary to hand to the person at the ticket counter. Slowly, starting in the 90's, e-tickets started to appear, and slowly people got used to them (when was the last time you had a paper ticket?)
Next we had terminals to check us in - we swipe a card and the machine checks us in and prints our boarding pass. This is becoming so prevalent that the new mid-field terminal being designed in Indianapolis is being redesigned before construction to take these ticketing machines into account in the terminal layout. My guess is that the by the time my son flies regularly on his own (he's 13) he'll rarely interact with a ticket agent, unless he's checking bags. By then though, the next trend of checking in over the internet will even reduce the value of these machines.
Why am I writing about this today? Because I flew Alaska Airlines yesterday for the first time in several years. And when I checked in at San Francisco airport, I got one boarding pass, for two flights. Just one.
This struck me as a nice improvement, seemingly small, but actually quite important.
Our paradigm has always been one event one ticket - whether for a movie, sporting event or a flight. And in all of these cases, you handed your ticket to someone and they ripped part of it off, returning to you the rest so you could still find your seat. But this isn't the way it is on a plane anymore.
Increasingly, you keep the ticket, as your boarding is confirmed when your ticket is scanned at the gate - and the airline doesn't need the paper (and I'm sure gate agents are thrilled that they don't have to deal with that paper anymore).
This change allows the paradigm to change. 1 boarding pass, 2 flights. Alaska saves paper and costs and I only have to carry one piece of paper. Everyone wins.
More important than these advantages though is the lesson it illustrates. We can look for new improvement opportunities and new ideas anytime, but when the system or circumstances have changed is an exceptionally good time to look.
Ask yourself what has changed, and what other advances can happen because of those changes.
Next we had terminals to check us in - we swipe a card and the machine checks us in and prints our boarding pass. This is becoming so prevalent that the new mid-field terminal being designed in Indianapolis is being redesigned before construction to take these ticketing machines into account in the terminal layout. My guess is that the by the time my son flies regularly on his own (he's 13) he'll rarely interact with a ticket agent, unless he's checking bags. By then though, the next trend of checking in over the internet will even reduce the value of these machines.
Why am I writing about this today? Because I flew Alaska Airlines yesterday for the first time in several years. And when I checked in at San Francisco airport, I got one boarding pass, for two flights. Just one.
This struck me as a nice improvement, seemingly small, but actually quite important.
Our paradigm has always been one event one ticket - whether for a movie, sporting event or a flight. And in all of these cases, you handed your ticket to someone and they ripped part of it off, returning to you the rest so you could still find your seat. But this isn't the way it is on a plane anymore.
Increasingly, you keep the ticket, as your boarding is confirmed when your ticket is scanned at the gate - and the airline doesn't need the paper (and I'm sure gate agents are thrilled that they don't have to deal with that paper anymore).
This change allows the paradigm to change. 1 boarding pass, 2 flights. Alaska saves paper and costs and I only have to carry one piece of paper. Everyone wins.
More important than these advantages though is the lesson it illustrates. We can look for new improvement opportunities and new ideas anytime, but when the system or circumstances have changed is an exceptionally good time to look.
Ask yourself what has changed, and what other advances can happen because of those changes.
Monday, November 7, 2005
Making Customers Feel Important
Here is the article from this week's Unleash Your Potential newsletter...
Two important pre-reading notes: Before you chose to read or not read this article, let make two things clear. Everyone has Customers. Even if you work in an internal staff department in a large firm, you have Customers. They are the people you provide work to. And second, don't be put off by the term Customer. Maybe you call them Clients, Students, Patients, or (heaven forbid!) Users. If one of those words works better for you, read that word every time you read Customer. Now that I have eliminated your reasons for not reading, please continue . . .
We can read lots of books and articles about Customer Service strategies and how to build processes that will serve Customers more successfully. All of these things are valuable, but if we put all of our focus on processes, systems, strategies and procedures we may lose track of something very important.
Customers are people first.
This means that each of your Customers, like everyone else, wants to feel important. It a universal truth - we all want that feeling, and will gravitate towards those that make us feel that way.
Hint: Having Customers gravitate towards you is a very good thing.
Here are seven ways that you as an individual, regardless of any corporate policies or systems, can make Customers feel more important, written from the Customer's perspective:
Read seven ways you can make your Customers feel important.
Two important pre-reading notes: Before you chose to read or not read this article, let make two things clear. Everyone has Customers. Even if you work in an internal staff department in a large firm, you have Customers. They are the people you provide work to. And second, don't be put off by the term Customer. Maybe you call them Clients, Students, Patients, or (heaven forbid!) Users. If one of those words works better for you, read that word every time you read Customer. Now that I have eliminated your reasons for not reading, please continue . . .
We can read lots of books and articles about Customer Service strategies and how to build processes that will serve Customers more successfully. All of these things are valuable, but if we put all of our focus on processes, systems, strategies and procedures we may lose track of something very important.
Customers are people first.
This means that each of your Customers, like everyone else, wants to feel important. It a universal truth - we all want that feeling, and will gravitate towards those that make us feel that way.
Hint: Having Customers gravitate towards you is a very good thing.
Here are seven ways that you as an individual, regardless of any corporate policies or systems, can make Customers feel more important, written from the Customer's perspective:
Read seven ways you can make your Customers feel important.
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