Articles tagged: "Customer Engagement"

Customer Service Freestyle

by Chip Bell


(By Chip R. Bell and John R. Patterson)

It made business headlines. The most popular brand in the world focused on the experience, not just their long-famous product.

Coca-Cola introduced their “Freestyle” vending machine. Their ad copy described it as “all packaged in an innovative and interactive fountain experience.” It was designed with help from Ferrari! Step one, pick your favorite Coke beverage: Fanta, Sprite, Minute Maid lemonade, CokeZero, etc. Step two, pick your favorite flavoring. Want a raspberry Coke, a peach Fanta or a coconut flavored lemonade? There are over 100 combinations. A plastic cup is filled with ice and your special concoction.

Posted in All, ExperienceComments (0)

Google’s strength is offering value, engaging customers

by Kevin Stirtz


In the last 24 hours, the ‘net has been abuzz with Google’s admission that their SEO is not as good as it could be.  Some see this as a sign that Google “ain’t all that”. Others see it as a reason to question the value of SEO. Regardless of what you make of Google’s SEO revelation, I see some lessons here for all of us.

1. Openness and honesty are cool. (And they make a difference.)

Posted in All, News, TechnologyComments (1)

McDonald’s Connects with Employees and Customers

by Becky Carroll


At AMA’s MPlanet conference I had the opportunity to be part of a special Blogger Q&A session with Mary Dillon, Executive VP and Global Chief Marketing Officer for McDonald’s. She talked about a strong focus on employees, reaching out to moms, and social media.

Posted in All, EmployeesComments (0)

Amazing Service visitors have a voice

by Kevin Stirtz


A big priority for me is making sure customers have a voice.  Many of an organization’s problems can be overcome by having better conversations with their customers.

Intuitively, we know this. But we don’t always do it. And in some ways it’s harder than in “the good old days” because of how our world has changed.

The good news is we have more tools than ever before to help us connect with our customers.

Posted in All, FeedbackComments (0)

Send your customers away

by Kevin Stirtz


There’s a coffee shop in London where the owner sends his customers away, into the arms of his competitors. He does this knowing they’ll come back. And when they come back, they’ll probably be more loyal to his coffee shop.

His strategy is surprising but simple. He wants his customers to understand his product. He wants them to know what is available in their market, the good, the bad and the ugly. The more they sample other coffee shops, the more they will develop their own taste in coffee, the beverage and in coffee, the  experience.

Posted in All, EngagementComments (2)

Is your product made by your customers?

by Kevin Stirtz


I’m usually not a fan of ad campaigns. But I do like Microsoft’s new ad campaign for Windows 7, “Made by me”. It features people (average, ordinary Windows users, we are supposed to believe) who talk about how Windows 7 has the features they want, because they TOLD Microsoft they wanted them.

Of course, this is fiction advertising, so we need to take it with a massive dose of skepticism.

Posted in All, FeaturedComments (0)

Better customer service means staying in the game

by Kevin Stirtz


Too often when a company (or person) fails at customer service, they run from the failure. They never return to the “scene of the crime”. I understand why. Most of us would rather move on to future successes than be reminded of past failures. But the best customer service companies take their failures head on. They fix them and they learn from them.

Posted in All, ComplaintsComments (0)

Don’t let automatic customers become invisible customers

by Kevin Stirtz


Here is your Daily Dose of Amazing Service:

Don’t let automatic customers become invisible customers

And here are some additional thoughts on this topic…

At some point we are all automatic customers. Whether it’s a fitness club membership, an insurance policy, a banking relationship or a cell phone account, we all have companies that expect us to show up every month.  Whether by contract or inertia, we continue to do business with them every month until we take action to stop.

Posted in All, ExperienceComments (0)

Don’t abuse your captive audience

by Kevin Stirtz


Here is your Daily Dose of Amazing Service:

Don’t abuse your captive audience

And here are some additional thoughts on this topic…

Most movie theatres have a few “commercials” before the actual show. You see some previews and a few pitches for popcorn and soft drinks. Theatres know they have a captive audience so they take advantage of the opportunity. And it’s not so bad if they keep it reasonably short.

Posted in All, ExperienceComments (0)

Customer feedback can improve products and services

by Kevin Stirtz


Here is your Daily Dose of Amazing Service:

Customer feedback can improve products and services

And here are some additional thoughts on this topic…

Not long ago I was reviewing the website of a software developer. His product is used on thousands of websites (including AmazingServiceGuy.com) and is considered by many to be the best in its class. (You can count me as one of that “many”.)

As good as this product is, the developer, Chris Pearson, is always improving it. One of the ways he does that is by getting feedback from his customers. Here’s an example that tells the story well:

Posted in All, FeedbackComments (2)

What if these parents didn’t have to protest?

by Kevin Stirtz


An elementary school teacher gets removed from her classroom and placed on administrative leave. When parents find out why they are outraged. They respect this teacher. They know she does good work with their kids. They want her in the classroom, not sitting at home wondering if she’ll ever teach at that school again.

Posted in All, EngagementComments (0)

Customer retention tip: Be easy to talk to

by Kevin Stirtz


customer-retention-tip-be-easy-to-talk-with

Here is your Daily Dose of Amazing Service:

Be easy to talk to

And here are some additional thoughts on this topic…

As a customer it’s frustrating enough when we get bad service. Too often we get less than we expect or want. So when we have a customer experience that thrills us, we usually want to share it.  We have a psychological need to do so. The same is true when we have a lousy customer experience.

In either case, our customers

Posted in All, FeedbackComments (2)

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Service Recovery

Are Your Customer Service Recoveries Really Recoveries?

Recently my wife picked up dinner for 4 on the way home from work. We had ordered online from Swiss Chalet (Canadian Rotisserie chicken franchise). Swiss Chalet is known for their dipping sauce, which is included with every signature meal.

When she arrived home, we discovered that the “special sauce” was not included in the order.

I called the order desk to report this lapse and the conversation went something like this.

Technology

Customer service and Twitter

The popular notion stating that if a customer receives poor service, he/she will tell nine other people, has been grossly out of date since the advent of the Internet. In reality, customers can electronically tell millions of people about their experiences. And now, with Twitter, people can tell others about their experiences as they happen.

Feedback

How to get amazing online reviews from your customers

More and more customers are going online before AND after they do business with a company. They’re getting smart about using online tools to make the best decision about who they do business with.

To thrive in this new world of connected customers you need to do more than ever to make sure your customers get the experience they want. If you do this well you can leverage the power of online feedback and reviews to grow your business. If you fail at this, the online chatter about your business can tarnish your reputation both online and off.

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