customer satisfaction Archives

24
Sep 21
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Sweet Spot Is An Attempt To Please Everyone

Tags : customer satisfaction marketing strategy sweet spot

Do you find yourself striving for the sweet spot? That magical position somewhere near the middle of any continuum that often seems elusive?

The middle of summer is often interesting in the climate-controlled office. Some people feel hot, others feel cold, and the temperature control panel is fiddled with until the compressor on the roof freezes up. Then everyone is hot.

The dinner buffet has similar challenges. What are the food choices, what is hot, what is cold, and what will be consumed the fastest? Trying to find the sweet spot for any one particular item may feel like a big challenge.

One common theme with both of these scenarios is that more choices make it harder to find the sweet spot.

Have you ever looked at a Chinese restaurant menu? Usually lots and lots of choices.

At the drive through restaurant, more choices mean more options, and more options might make it harder to satisfy any one customer.

If you can buy a red car or a blue car only, you’ll make a choice. If there are 13 different color combinations, you’ll find it much more difficult to decide.

Is the sweet spot a good thing and how broad should options be?

Sweet Spot

It’s often counterintuitive to customer satisfaction. Pleasing every customer is perceived to mean that you must have a lot of options.

Is that why McDonalds once test marketed selling personal sized pizza? Did it stick? The pizza may have, but the concept seems to have been let go.

One thing that has stuck in most fast-food restaurants are the limited-time menu items. Something fresh, something new, or something different gets some traction.

At the same time, the limited-time, increases the likelihood of dissatisfaction. Unlike Mikey with Life cereal, some people won’t like it. Less chance of hitting the sweet spot.

Finding the sweet spot is about choice. Fewer choices keeps the continuum closer together, not so broad.

As the producer, not the consumer, the goal might be customer satisfaction.

Perhaps, the sweet spot in satisfaction gets broader when the options are fewer.

-DEG

Dennis E. Gilbert is a business consultant, speaker (CSP^TM), and culture expert. He is a five-time author and the founder of Appreciative Strategies, LLC. His business focuses on positive human performance improvement solutions through Appreciative Strategies®. Reach him through his website at Dennis-Gilbert.com or by calling +1 646.546.5553.

26
Aug 21
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Recognizing Options On The Way To High Performance

Tags : customer customer satisfaction performance service workplace

What are your habits when it comes to workplace performance? Are you good at recognizing options, or do you follow the way it has always been done?

When you are trying to delight the customer, impress the boss, or simply check the box on your to-do list, do you consider the options?

A customer in a business suit and tie might have a different napkin requirement for eating an ice cream cone when compared with the house painter fresh off the job in a t-shirt and jeans. It’s an option to offer a few more.

If your supervisor has an urgent need for the report you’ve just finished, you’ll probably forward it by using email. It’s an option to also give a quick call, send a text message, or swing by the office to provide an urgent alert that it is completing and now arriving in the email inbox.

All of the items on your to-do list probably come with options. You have the option to do it exactly like before or exactly as described, or you have an option to enhance the product or service.

There may not always be options. The circuit board needs to be completed exactly as designed. It is true for the engineering of the house, the assembly of the gasoline engine, and the building the Model X vacuum cleaner.

Yet for many jobs, there are options.

Recognizing Options

The best performance may come from options.

Options that delight people will yield stronger future partnerships. In some cases, a customer is a customer. In other cases the customer becomes a business partner. And certainly, there is also a customer relationship with a supervisor and direct report. If you can’t spot it, you might be coming up short.

The difference between providing the least required value and the best possible value exists in the options you spot and deliver.

Your service performance will leave an impression. Whether it is in an official capacity that is recognized as an action of service, or whether it is the opportunity option you decided to explore.

Without any options, service (or job performance) is simply accepted. It’s never really great.

-DEG

Creating great customer service may be more of an art than it is a task. It is why I wrote this book:

Get it on AMAZON

Dennis E. Gilbert is a business consultant, speaker (CSP^TM), and culture expert. He is a five-time author and the founder of Appreciative Strategies, LLC. His business focuses on positive human performance improvement solutions through Appreciative Strategies®. Reach him through his website at Dennis-Gilbert.com or by calling +1 646.546.5553.

11
Feb 21
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Leveling Up Is What You Really Want

Tags : customer satisfaction decline growth quality

Do you see lazy effort among your colleagues? Have businesses you once favored declined in quality or offerings? Leveling up may be what most people are looking for, yet it is often different from what is received.

I love the pizza shop around the corner but every pizza they make seems really different. Some are great, others not so much.

Do you like our logo? We paid the best graphic design firm in the city big bucks yet it feels like something a four-year-old might whip up.

We went to the most prominent kitchen remodeler in the area. Look at our countertops, they aren’t even level.

Does the customer service you experience ever shift to the lowest possible delivery? Does it feel like you’re receiving the quality of work that is just barely enough to get by without a complaint?

It happens to the restaurant, the car repair shop, and even the local hardware store. Some remain in business for decades or more, and others seem more like a flash in the pan.

There is a fine balance between constructive feedback and critical criticism. The recipient always gets to decide what to ignore and what to change. When you are convinced that the feedback you receive doesn’t matter, it may be time to reassess the direction you are heading.

Leveling Up

The moment an employee or the entire business decides things are absolutely perfect and that they shouldn’t change a thing is likely the same moment that things start to decline.

When corrective actions, different tastes, quality, quantity, and colorful options stop. The business hasn’t only stalled, it’s now in decline.

It is relevant for your job or career.

It is relevant for your favorite restaurant across town.

Even at the barbershop, the fitness center, and the book store. The business of leveling up is the difference-maker.

Coasting means you’re moving, but for how long?

-DEG

Dennis E. Gilbert is a business consultant, speaker (CSP^TM), and culture expert. He is a five-time author and the founder of Appreciative Strategies, LLC. His business focuses on positive human performance improvement solutions through Appreciative Strategies®. Reach him through his website at Dennis-Gilbert.com or by calling +1 646.546.5553.

04
Feb 19
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Customer Satisfaction May Start With a Promise

Tags : brand promise customer satisfaction expectations loyalty

An easy question to ask but a harder one to answer is what promotes customer satisfaction. Customer satisfaction is based on an expectation, a perception, and a feeling during or after an interaction. What is your promise?

The Promise

Brands have promises. Cadillac, BMW, or Jaguar may have a brand promise. So does Hyundai and Kia.

A dinner out at an Outback Steakhouse carries a different expectation from McDonald’s, Burger King, or Wendy’s.

An employee earning $90k annually has additional expectations when compared with the employee who earns $35k.

Similar expectations exist for a cup of coffee, a bottle of wine, or pair of shoes. Price sets precedence for the expectations and it elevates the factor of risk for customer satisfaction.

The lower the price, the lower the brand promise, theoretically making it easier to satisfy.

Are more people satisfied with a low-price experience as compared with a high price experience?

It would be hard to guess with so many factors conditioning any potential outcome. However, most would agree that a big price with poor outcomes is remembered long after the experience is over.

A low price with a bad experience is easier to forget. We may think, “I didn’t get much, but I didn’t expect it either.”

What is your commitment? Are you making big promises? Are you commanding a higher price?

Customer Satisfaction

It seems that is easier to give less, do less, and provide less because the expectations are lower. On the flip side of that, if we are always providing less is our customer satisfaction truly high or are we short changing the customer experience?

Does a $75 per hour employee work harder than a $14 per hour employee? Theoretically no, both should be 100% effort for one hour of work, but the expected value of the $75 per hour employee is much more.

What are you doing about customer satisfaction? Taking big risks with big promises, or just delivering the easy stuff.

It’s a choice and a mindset. It’s your brand promise and it starts with culture.

-DEG

Our actions, behaviors, and outcomes are driven by culture. So is customer satisfaction. It is why I wrote this book:

customer satisfaction

Buy now on Amazon

Dennis E. Gilbert is a business consultant, speaker (CSP^TM), and culture expert. He is a five-time author and the founder of Appreciative Strategies, LLC. His business focuses on positive human performance improvement solutions through Appreciative Strategies®. Reach him through his website at Dennis-Gilbert.com or by calling +1 646.546.5553.

Dennis Gilbert on Google+

11
Dec 18
-

Brand Consistency Should Mean Authenticity

Tags : authentic brand consistency customer satisfaction

Choose a consumer of any product or service and you may find what they value the most is brand consistency. Have you been turned off, made a different choice, or selected a new vendor because of a lack of consistency?

Ask yourself this question, “What do buying choices, customer satisfaction, and job promotions have in common?”

In Good Taste

In high school, I had some friends’ who loved the boxed macaroni and cheese. The kind that comes in a small box, complete with macaroni, some powdery or sauce type cheese, and on the side of the box are the cooking directions.

I’m working from memory here. As I recall, you boil some water, add in the macaroni, simmer for a while, and then ultimately mix the concoction together with the cheese and maybe some butter or margarine.

My friends’ mother was the shopper and often bought the bargain boxes of the generic macaroni and cheese. Until one day, she had a coupon for the real stuff, the Kraft brand, Mac & Cheese.

The mother happily prepared the Kraft brand and proudly served it. My friends’, her children, were appalled. They thought it was the worst macaroni and cheese they ever tasted.

It was different.

Brand Consistency

Consistency is not about being like someone else, consistency is about being unique. The important part is that you are unique in the same way each and every time.

There is a pizza shop just a few miles from my home. They always appear to be busy. When you go in the shop there is a sense of urgency and hustle. It is a nice success.

I don’t go there as much as I would if their pizza was consistent. Depending on who makes the pizza, it is different. It’s disappointing.

Authentically Consistent

Is the business or organization you work for consistent? Are the products and services consistent with the brand reputation?

What about your own personal work? The time, emotional labor, and outputs, are they consistent?

Buying choices, customer satisfaction, and job promotions do have something in common. They are often based on the expectation of being authentically consistent.

-DEG

Dennis E. Gilbert is a business consultant, speaker (CSP^TM), and culture expert. He is a five-time author and the founder of Appreciative Strategies, LLC. His business focuses on positive human performance improvement solutions through Appreciative Strategies®. Reach him through his website at Dennis-Gilbert.com or by calling +1 646.546.5553.

Dennis Gilbert on Google+

05
Oct 18
-

C-Suite Learning Will Mean Customer Satisfaction

Tags : C-Suite customer satisfaction customer service learning loyalty

The smallest companies sometimes thrive. Not because they are the cheapest but because they are still learning. What about those in the C-Suite, are they still learning?

C-Suite learning may make the difference for customer satisfaction, growth, or stagnation.

Why pick on the leaders?

Leaders are responsible. Responsible for leading the culture of the organization. The smallest companies make it because the CEO is close enough to the customer to make the difference.

As organizations grow the leadership style starts to shift. The culture drives attention to the numbers and numbers are measured against numbers.

The castle is built and there is either a moat or a wall surrounding it. Sometimes both.

Metrics and measurement separate the connection between the product and the customer. The responsibility shifts to the front line.

The front line is stranded and stalled. They wait for the next meeting, the next decision, or the pivot that scraps it all.

Meanwhile the customer chooses a different path.

The company screams, “There is no customer loyalty!”

C-Suite Learning

C-Suite learning can make the difference. Yes, it is about the conference, the professional development, and the concept that leaders are readers. Don’t forget that it is also about connection.

When the C-Suite continues the connection with the customer the culture built will be inviting the customer to join. Remember, this is exactly why the small business succeeds. Front-line (and CEO) learning, passion, and connection.

Too often as the organization grows, it slows. It grows just big enough so that the chaos and disconnect fight back. The business finds itself positioned somewhere between stuck and stalled.

C-Suite learning often stops. The walls and moats shelter decision makers from the front line. Risk is measured differently. Insight becomes more about the numbers gap and less about customer satisfaction.

In the early days, customer satisfaction came first. It mattered more. Decisions were made by the influence of direct engagement. Learning made things grow.

Now a lack of learning makes things stop.

Learning how to make the numbers matters, but management by the numbers alone puts you inside the castle.

-DEG

Make a difference for your culture. Continue building an exceptional culture of service. It is why I wrote this important resource:

#CustServ Customer Service Culture

Get it Now on Amazon

Dennis E. Gilbert is a business consultant, speaker (CSP^TM), and corporate trainer. He is a five-time author and the founder of Appreciative Strategies, LLC. His business focuses on positive human performance improvement solutions through Appreciative Strategies®. Reach him through his website at Dennis-Gilbert.com or by calling +1 646.546.5553.

Dennis Gilbert on Google+

Originally posted on October 5, 2018, last updated on December 23, 2018.

27
Oct 17
-

Want and Need, What is the Difference?

Tags : customer satisfaction ethics needs sales wants

Is the difference between want and need just semantics? It could be, but if you are in consultative sales understanding the difference may be critical. If you are setting the bar for customer service excellence it has never been more important.

What is the difference?

I want it with four-wheel drive.

I want the biggest engine.

It is common for customers to present with what they want, but do they always know what they need? The basics of delivering exceptional customer service mean that the customer is highly satisfied and hopefully delighted with their transaction. The customer decides, not the vendor.

When the vendor gives the customer what they want, is it the same as what they need? The safe answer of course is, “sometimes.”

Transactional vs. Consultative

The sales exchange at the drive through window of a fast food restaurant most often is not consultative sales.

I want the #1 with a Diet Soda.

I’ll have the big box, hold the guacamole.

Give me the two for $5.

It is a transactional sale and while want and need may still be important, it isn’t nearly as critical. Sometimes it isn’t even our business to know. Suggesting the healthier choice (in your opinion) may seem valid, but it also may not be your business.

Consultative Sales

The other side of sometimes is that sometimes it isn’t. The highest level of customer satisfaction is long-term satisfaction. The customer should understand that what they want is appropriate for their needs.

A commercial grade tool may not be required for the average homeowner. Likewise, a seven-passenger vehicle with a DVD entertainment system may not be what an 80-year-old needs to pick up groceries, even though it is on the lot at a great price and they can pay with cash.

The sales process at a car dealership, with a realtor, or in many business-to-business transactions is often consultative sales. The size, the intended use, product life, and many other variables will condition long-term satisfaction.

Want and Need

Is this all a no-brainer? Perhaps, but the words we chose often have a psychological impact. Our mind-set is important to deliver exceptional levels of satisfaction. When we deliver what the customer wants, and it really isn’t what they need, we might have a problem.

Many people subconsciously search for effortless. They, by nature, like it easy. It might be easy to be an order taker. Closing the sale fast and without debate helps make the numbers, it could also result in a nice commission check, for now.

Businesses with high integrity and ethical standards who are watching lifetime value should know the difference between want and need.

You should too.

– DEG

Dennis E. Gilbert is a business consultant, speaker (CSP^TM), and corporate trainer that specializes in helping businesses and individuals accelerate their leadership, their team, and their success. He is a five-time author and some of his work includes, #CustServ The Customer Service Culture, and Forgotten Respect, Navigating A Multigenerational Workforce. Reach him through his website at Dennis-Gilbert.com or by calling +1 646.546.5553.

Dennis Gilbert on Google+

Tag Archives: customer satisfaction

Sep 21

-

Sweet Spot

Aug 21

-

Recognizing Options

Feb 21

-

Leveling Up

Feb 19

-

The Promise

Customer Satisfaction

Dec 18

-

In Good Taste

Brand Consistency

Authentically Consistent

Oct 18

-

Why pick on the leaders?

C-Suite Learning

Oct 17

-

Transactional vs. Consultative

Consultative Sales

Want and Need

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