Marvin Ellison, the executive vice president of U.S. stores for The Home Depot, took his VP post at a time when Home Depot’s customer service dipped and people had stopped spending.
The challenge to improve Home Depot’s customer service and get people to visit Home Depot and buy was really daunting. But Ellison seems to have helped Home Depot made the turn around.
BusinessWeek checked on Mr. Ellison in May 2009 and learned a lot from him. A few insights follows:
- The best way to grow is to get more customers who are promoters and fewer who are detractors.
- Define the associate’s role in taking care of the customer first.
- The recession gave Home Depot an opportunity to revamp its supply chain, improve merchandising systems, and focus on serving customers better.
- If you combine a compelling merchandising offer with outstanding customer service, you will get improved transactions.
- Simplify things for the stores, giving them three primary things to focus on: remaining in stock, store appearance, and customer service.
When I read this part of the article, I said to myself, “now this is serving with the heart.”
In July, the mother of four spotted hundreds of teens milling about the Milton GO station well after service had halted for the day.
The teens didn’t know better. They’d been at a rock concert all day and now they were stranded.
Fleet immediately called her supervisors. “I told them we needed extra assistance,” she said. Soon, a rescue mission was in the works as drivers, volunteering to work on their day off, took the teens home.
“They’re the customers of our future,” said Danielle La Plante, a GO safety and training instructor who personally drove two teenage girls home in a company car.
“I have kids,” La Plante added. “You don’t leave a 14- or 18-year-old in the middle of nowhere.”
Proc said that’s the kind of pride and care for customers that GO has been attempting to instill in its staff during six months of training.
I am a mother, too, and I so I know how it feels to worry about kids not home yet when they should be. All sorts of scenarios would often cross our minds: they could be stranded, or worse, held up by bad people. It’s heartwarming to know that there are people and institutions out there who serve with their hearts.
- Finish strong. This somehow debunks the notion that “first impressions last,” because according to behavioral psychology (BP), a relatively weak start and a modest upswing at the end is better than a great start and a mediocre finish.
- Get the bad experiences out of the way early. Deal with anxious and inexperienced customers on a regular basis. BP believes that people prefer to deal with not-so-good news first and then the good news so that they can savor the latter.
- Segment the pleasure, combine the pain. Break pleasant experiences into multiple sateges to stretch out the enjoyment and combine unpleasant activities into a single stage or event.
- Build commitment through choice. It is better to allow customers some measure of control over their customer experience even at the risk of introducing extra cost and complexity.
- Let people have their rituals. Build and nurture tradition/rituals with your customers. That also means building relationships with them.
My family and I went to Jollibee Glorietta last Sunday. As usual the place is packed and there were long lines going to the counters.
Since it’s the kids’ favorite fast-food restaurant, we endured the long lines and ordered our food. When we were seated, I noticed a new feature in the store. Take a look:
Yes, we customers are asked to ring the bell if we are happy with their service. So, while we were eating, we would be roused by the ringing of the bell as happy customers leave the place.
It is actually a cool way to let people become aware of good service and teach them how to show appreciation for good service.
My initial reaction was, how does Jollibee management track of the ringing and not ringing of the bells?
I observed two ladies near the bell but all they did was to explain to customers what the bell was for or encourage customers to ring the bell if they are happy with the service. The ladies had a pen and paper, too. Perhaps, they did monitor the ringing of the bell. I just forgot to find out.
In any case, any activity that helps you know the voice of the customer (VOC) is good. What is crucial is how to analyze the data and use it to improve your customer service or your business.
Amanda Sachs, Senior Director, WW Customer and Partner Experience, Microsoft Corporation talked to Maeve McGovern and shared why the need for a constant focus on customers and partners in any strategy.
Key components to building and driving a customer-centric culture in a global economy
- having a broad customer listening systems in place
- measurement systems and planning processes on accountability
Other relevant questions:
How can a mature customer experience strategy deliver significant results and impact a company’s bottom line?
In your opinion are there strategic differences between building satisfaction and building loyalty?
How can companies design and develop a customer loyalty strategy that will hold during an economic downturn?
What have been the recession lessons learned by Microsoft?
According to Grace Murray Hopper, The most damaging phrase in the language is: ‘It’s always been done that way.’
We often hear people say that it’s the company policy. They cannot do anything about it. Ms. Hopper above says it well.
An article on livemint.com says that:
The rulebook should not become an excuse for poor customer service or an obstacle to great service. Almost everyone has at some point experienced a situation where a customer service representative has blamed the rules for his inability to help.
As I’ve kept telling my teammates, too, the policies are there to guide us. But they are not carved in stone. A few accommodations here and there won’t hurt for as long as it’s for the good of the majority and for the company. Having said this, I agree with the article when it says that:
One customer service mantra that I have always loved is: first to know, first to handle. In other words, when a problem arises, there is a fleeting opportunity to solve it on the spot.
This can only be done when we have empowered our people to make decisions and make them stand by the decisions they make.
I once asked my husband, how he empowered his team. His reply: “Train them!” And for the record his team members have gone on to become heads of offices themselves. To this, a leadership mantra rang in my mind: leadership is producing more leaders.
Now, going back to customer service representatives (all employees are, actually), these people can be trained to make good decisions on the spot. This way, you don’t lose customers but gain more customers.
Train your people because the keyword for customer service is customer service.
Mark your calendars on the dates, September 16-17, 2010 and head for San Francisco, California at the Argonaut Hotel
for the 5th Annual Customer Experience Management & Retention Conference.
Hosted by marcus evans, one of the world’s leading providers and promoters of global summits strategic conferences, the event listed the following key conference topics:
- Design a more value driven customer experience strategy to navigate during an economic recession.
- Plan satisfaction metrics including net promoter and satisfaction stats to show financial impact and gauge customer insight.
- Marry customer feedback and response data collected to drive business process change.
- Maximize internal strategic business partnership for customer satisfaction to achieve enterprise-wide gains.
- Develop customer loyalty that repels recession.
The speakers who will be attending the conference are from leading companies including Thomson Reuters, BMO Financial Group, Wildblue Communication, Cisco, Yahoo, DirecTV, Polycom, Wells Fargo, Hallmark, Microsoft, Michelin North America, Phillips Medical Systems and many more.
If you were to ask me, this event is timely and relevant to the times. Plus the fact that the attendees are a focused group of senior level executives, you can expect a valuable interaction and learning experience.
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