My name is Max Alexander and I am a new intern at The Daniel Group. I would like to introduce myself and provide an idea of my approach to the blog.

I am an undergraduate student at North Carolina State University. I am majoring in communications, specifically Public Relations with a minor in English. I was born and raised in Charlotte, NC and I am really excited to start working for a business in my home town.

I would like this blog to be an active discussion of business, specifically around the areas of customer service, customer loyalty, and the intersection of service and social media. I want to hear your experiences and I want to share examples of good and bad customer service. I will also show interesting things that I find on the internet that are happening in the business world. Of course, I want this blog to help spread the word about the great work The Daniel Group does.

So much for the introduction. The world today seems to be taking the human interaction out of everything. Even this blog is proof of that. We interact more through email, text messaging, and social media than ever before. Even simple phone calls are happening less and less with the rise of these new technologies. You see customer service surveys printed on the back of receipts telling you to go to their website but do you? Do you really respond to the survey from Amazon following your purchase? The answer is not likely. This loss of human interaction is affecting how businesses get feedback from the publics they interact with and this feedback is key in either fixing problems or continuing on the right path. It is all cyclical, with this lack of information comes a lack of service improvement and, therefore less-than-positive service experiences for customers.

I found this online and thought it was a great idea and a simple way to demonstrate great customer service and generate a lot of positive word-of-mouth in the process. Wimpy Burger, a large South African burger chain, wanted to let visually impaired people know that they offered braille menus. They came up with a very clever idea that spread to 800,000 people in the visually impaired community. Plus many more non-visually impaired people either saw the video or read something about it. This is great customer service to me and the feedback is the proof. Please watch this video and tell me what you think.

Click here to view.

Max

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A second lesson is companies need to be looking for ways besides just technological innovation to distinguish themselves.  The rate of technological change is not slowing up.  In fact, it is likely increasing.  For example, having an effective customer service strategy is a valuable way to differentiate your company from competition.  It also has the inherent advantage in that it is hard to replicate.

Something to consider as you move into 2012.

Lynn

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In North Carolina we have eliminated the traditional windshield stickers to tell you when your vehicle inspection is due and now use a computer database. When you get your automobile license tag renewal information you must have had an inspection within 90 days of license tag renewal date. When I opened the letter there were big red letters to tell me I needed an inspection. Had the service rep. taken the time to engage me he might have found out that I needed an inspection. Now, I have to take more time to get the inspection. The one good thing out of this is it gives me the opportunity to check out a new service provider!

Lynn

I have a Chevrolet product that I take to a local dealer, City Chevrolet.  Unfortunately, the service contact that I have used for several years took a job at another dealership.  When it came time to get the latest service, I called, made an appointment with a new service contact, and brought the car in at the appointed time.  The service satisfied me rationally.  No problems!  The car was serviced and the price was fine.  However, the service contact failed to do several things that would have made me a more emotionally satisfied customer.  Some examples:

• When I arrived he did not introduce himself but instead went straight to the check-in process.  A simple look at their system would tell the service contact that I am a regular customer.
• The car service was completed when promised but I was accustomed to receiving an email letting me know when to come for pickup.  I had to call!
• When I arrived for pickup the service contact directed me to the cashier to pay the bill.  The service contact did not offer an introduction nor did he say “Thank You” for my business.

While I may not change to a new service provider because of this experience, I am open to considering.  My experiences with the previous service contact meant I would not even think about going elsewhere.

Does emotional satisfaction matter?  I think it does.  Think about it.

Lynn

Image via Wikipedia

I read an article about the new Boeing Dreamliner today on CNBC.  The author said that the new airplane, though three years late in delivery, has the potential to revolutionize air travel by creating a more comfortable flying experience.  The design of the plane with a more open cabin, technology the senses and adjusts for bumps, more oxygen and a less dry environment all could  flying a bit more enjoyable (TSA’s impact aside).  The author went on to say that the flying experience may not live up to expectations.  He said that the reason had to do with the airlines flying the plane and not the airplane itself.  “If you get on a Dreamliner (designed to carry 210-250 passengers) packed with seats at a steep pitch, you won’t be happy. If the flight is late, and the crew gives you bad service, the Dreamliner won’t deliver a great flight experience.”

While an innovative airplane can create the conditions for a better flight it may not happen if the service is not there.  In fact, because of the high expectations established for the Dreamliner’s flying experience, customers are likely to have even greater expectations for the service that goes with it.  I hope someone at the airlines purchasing Dreamliners have thought about this.

Read the article by clicking here.  Interesting.

Lynn

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Image via Wikipedia

On Monday, September 26, Lynn Daniel, President of The Daniel Group, was a panelist on Charlotte Talks.  Charlotte Talks with Mike Collins is a one-hour talk show produced by WFAE 90.7fm. The program airs live from 9-10 am Monday through Friday and is rebroadcast weekday evenings at 9.

Launched in April of 1998, Charlotte Talks has become this region’s exclusive forum for the discussion of politics, growth, the arts, culture, social issues, literature, human interest, the environment and more. If something is of interest to people in the Charlotte region, listeners and leaders know the topic is bound to be discussed on Charlotte Talks.

Joining Lynn on the show was Kevin Toomb, Clinical professor of Business in the Belk College of Business at UNC Charlotte. He has experience in measuring customer satisfaction and enhancing customer service.  Also on the program was Maura Sullivan, Senior Manager of the Customer Loyalty Team at Zappos.

Podcasts of the show are available here.

Lynn

Social Media: The Three Big Myths.

Our focus as a firm is the business-to-business market and ServiceConnect is designed for the needs of the b-to-b company.  We use telephone interviews to conduct short, focused interviews with randomly chosen customers of our clients.  We have coupled this traditional interview process with an innovative site that allows our clients to measure their performance with customers in real-time.  If you want to see the video, click here.

Lynn

Caterpillar is a registered trademark of Caterpillar, Inc.

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• Sixty-four percent of respondents said they left a store in the last 12 months because of poor customer service.
• Getting someone on the phone really matters.  Seventy-one percent were “tremendously annoyed” when they could not reach a human on the phone.
• There are some demographic differences worth noting.  Women were more annoyed than men when they could not reach a human on the phone; men were particularly annoyed when the person on the phone tried to pitch another product or service.
• Only 16% of respondents prefer to deal with a customer service problem face-to-face.  Email is not the way to deal with customer service problems.  In fact, respondents indicated that the method depends on the nature of the problem.

This is from the July 2011 issue of Consumer Reports.  Pick up a copy.  It is worth reading.

Lynn

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