customer service: gain and retain customers- bowman, 2016

Glenn MuskeRural and Agribusiness Enterprise Development Specialist

Glenn.Muske@ndsu.eduOctober, 2016

Service:A Tool for Gaining and Retaining Customers

Bowman, ND

5 Things Customers Most Often Discuss with Friends, Relatives and

Just About Anyone5. Low quality of goods and services4. Price3. Hidden information and costs2. Inaccessibility1. Service including:

• Not listening• Unresolved issues• Rude staff or no staff• Not keeping promises• Poor signage• Messy store

Traditional Marketing Online Marketing

PRPaid

Promotion

Distribution Channels

Customer ServiceVisualMix

One-on-one & Networking

Word-of-mouth & ReviewsReputation

YOUMarketing

Customer Service = Customer Satisfaction•Gaining the Customer

• Good service gets talked about – Your customer is your ambassador• Good service will bring the first-timer back to see if this was a one-time event or if it

continues. • The “WOW” experience good but fades if only a one-time event• Mark Twain – “Always do right! This will gratify some people and astonish the rest.”

•Retaining the Customer – Why?• 80/20 rule• Expense

• $20-$50 to gain a new customer• $1-$3 to retain an existing customer

• Ability to learn more about them • Make new ambassadors

Write down an example of a missed customer service experience you have experienced.

Write down an example of one great customer service experience.

Steps in the Consumer Buying Behavior

Need recognition/Problem identification

Information Search

Alternative Evaluation

Purchase Decision

Post-Purchase Behavior

Consumer Buying Behavior Steps

Need recognition/Problem identification

Information Search

Alternative Evaluation

Purchase Decision

Post-Purchase Behavior

Customer Service includes:• After purchase support• Warranty/Guarantee• Refunds• Tips and ideas how to use• Product updates• Staying in touch• Delivery/pick-up/disposal/wrapping• ?????????

Details Do Matter!

As a consumer, do you pay attention to details?What are some examples?

What We Know

Service Statistics

• Only 4% of customers ever complain.

• For every complaint there are 26 other customers with unresolved complaints• Six have serious problems.

• A dissatisfied customer will tell up to 10 people. Approximately 13% will tell up to 20 people. (And these numbers were pre-Internet)

Service Statistics• Happy customers will tell between 3 and 5 people about their positive

experiences.

• Costs 5-6 times more to attract customers than to keep old ones.

• 89% of consumers will go to a competitor following a poor customer experience

• 75% of customers who leave cite “rude staff.” And 50 % indicate a lack of a timely response

Act fast! 82 to 95 percent

of dissatisfied customers will come back if a problem is resolved quickly

and sincerely.95 percent

will come back if a problem is solved on the spot.

Service and Social Media• Nearly 50% of people expect a response in 60 minutes

• 32% expect a response in 30 minutes

• Response expected 24/7

• The possible audience is immense for failure• United Airlines and broken guitar – 12 million views

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5YGc4zOqozo&feature=youtu.be

• 22% will post a positive comment when they get a positive response

• It can happen immediately

Why Customers Stop Doing Business

• 1% Die• 3% Move away• 5% Other reasons• 9% Competition• 14% Don’t like the product or service• 68% Indifferent attitude of sales people

About 95% of the customers that quit will not tell you when or why they quit, they just leave.

Developing the “Service” Mindset

"Attitude precedes service. Your positive mental attitude is the basis for the way you act and react to people. – Jeffrey Gitomer

Examples of “Service” Found in Mission Statements:

“We are committed to helping people identify and meet their needs by offering quality services in a caring, professional manner, providing a profitable outcome for everyone.” - Bank

“Satisfy the customer, satisfy the customer, satisfy the customer.”---Henry Ford

“Have it your way.” ---Burger King

Is 99.9% good enough?

• 5,516,200 cases of flat soft drinks

• The IRS losing 2 million documents

• 811,000 faulty rolls of film

• 12 babies given to wrong parents – each day

• 1,312 calls per second misplaced

Face to Face

55 percent38 percent7 percent

100 percent

Body languageToneWords

Telephone

ToneWords

84 percent16 percent

100 percent

Building a Customer-service Focus

• Build the type of service response that you like to get

• You can’t always be there. Give people:• Training• Flexibility• Responsibility and authority• Your support

(Miracle on 34th St - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lKfBUUhFueI )

Building a Customer-service Focus

• The phone – Do you get a real person? How quickly? Does that person listen? • Your website – Is your contact information easy to find? Do you

clearly outline how a person should file a complaint?

How do I learn more? LISTEN!!!!Barriers• Listening with “half an ear”• Acting as the judge and jury• Tuning in and tuning out• Little empathy• Pre-judge• Turning off ideas you don’t agree with• Jumping to conclusions

Reinforce the:5 Keys to Quality Service

• Reliability• Live up to promises, dependable

• Assurance• Offer sense of confidence in you & your skills by answering

questions & offering product knowledge

• Look at the tangibles• Seen & felt, equipment, staff, physical facility

• Empathy• Responsiveness – listen, provide a fair solution, & do it

quickly

Understand Service Gaps – Expectation vs Reality

• knowledge:• retailers’ perception of customer’s expectations

• standards: • retailers’ standards that do not match customer

expectations

• delivery:• difference between standards and reality

• communication:• promises in promotional campaign vs. reality

Caution!

Service must increase sales

enough to offset costs

The Moment of Truth

The point at which your actions cause your

customer to form an impression about you and

your business.

There are NO second

first impressions!

How do you know how you are doing?

•Ask•Listen•Survey•Pet Peeve – Don’t tell me what to say

•Check with others (Secret Shopper)

Service and Community

Welcome to Our Town“How may I help you?”

What you will gain?• An understanding of why tourism is important • Knowledge about the “secrets of service”• Skills in giving directions• Skills in answering visitor questions• Knowledge about local attractions, events

and resources• An appreciation of the front-line professional’s

role

REMEMBER: How service impactS your business?

A happy customer is:• Satisfied• Stays longer• Spends more money• Tells family and

friends

Glenn MuskeRural and Agribusiness Enterprise Development Specialist

NDSU Extension Center for Community VitalityGlenn.Muske@ndsu.edu

Questions??Resources:

http://www.ag.ndsu.edu/smallbusiness http://powerofbusiness.nethttp://www.extension.org/entrepreneurship