We are all beginning to realize the value of developing long term, loyal relationships with our customer. They buy more and refer more, help us develop the next generation of products and services, and they even help us keep our advertising costs down. But are our customers the only people we should be building long term relationships with? No.

Customer Care – Inside and Out

We are all beginning to realize the value of developing long term, loyal relationships with our customers. They buy more and refer more, help us develop the next generation of products and services, and they even help us keep our advertising costs in reason. But are our customers (people external to our company that buy things from us) the only people we should be building long term relationships with? No. The relationship strategy applies externally and internally as well.

Articles, Creating Customer Happiness, Customer Experience, Customer Service, Happiness at work, Tips

Isn’t it ludicrous to believe that we could ask workers to care about customers if they don’t feel cared about? Isn’t it crazy to think that we can ask people to take “ownership” of the customer and the customer’s problems; if we don’t take ownership and create a workplace where people can feel their sense of self-worth grow? And where they can learn and develop as people as well as performers?

Customer Care and Employee Care Go Hand in Hand

I just returned from speaking at another Inc. Magazine Conference on Customer Service Strategies. I enjoyed three days of learning and networking with some of the best and the brightest minds in the field, and in the entrepreneurial community. There was one thing in particular that was so rewarding for me this year. The absolute recognition and affirmation in almost every session that I attended that without creating an environment where the workers feel valued and good about coming to work, you cannot even hope to deliver a level of service that will build true customer loyalty.

Articles, Customer Service, Happiness, Happiness at work, Leadership, Tips

This week I had dinner with my Mom at Seasons52. As the hostess took us to our seats, she picked up two black napkins and when we were seated asked us, since we were both wearing dark clothing, if we'd prefer a black napkin.

The Black Napkin

Last week I was having dinner with a colleague in Miami. A wonderful Italian restaurant on the inter-coastal waterway. Good food, good company. In the rustic tradition the white napkins resembled kitchen towels – thirsty but – uh fuzzy. Absorbed as I was in the food and the conversation I didn’t pay much attention to…

Authentic Experience, Creating Customer Happiness, Customer Experience, Customer focus, Customer Happiness, Customer Loyalty, Customer Service

So the afternoon at the NACCM Conference – after a lovely lunch in the sunny courtyard – was spent in the Uber Loyalists track talking about my favorite topic – creating the emotional attachment we call loyalty. Marti Beller of the Affinion Group shared her experience on Customer engagement and its many benefits. She confessed to being a passionate Mac enthusiast and talked about Apple’s ability to create a kind of loyalty most of us can only aspire to. She shared a statistic about banks that says that only 35% of consumers feel engaged with their banks – 56% could be swayed and 9% just downright dislike them. Glad to see there is so much room for improvement. Marti also took us beyond the traditional 4 P’s of marketing (remember them? Product, Place, Promotion, and Price?) and added her own take on it.

Watching Your P’s and Q’s

So the afternoon at the NACCM Conference – after a lovely lunch in the sunny courtyard – was spent in the Uber Loyalists track talking about my favorite topic – creating the emotional attachment we call loyalty. Marti Beller of the Affinion Group shared her experience on Customer engagement and its many benefits. She confessed…

Creating Customer Happiness, Culture, Customer Experience, Customer focus, Customer Loyalty, Customer Retention, Customer Service, Employee retention, Empowerment, Leadership