A Lesson in Memorable Experiences – courtesy of Metrovino restaurant

Want to build customer loyalty? Adding a personal touch will provide your customers with “memorable experiences” and make them feel special.

I had one of my most memorable dining experiences ever last week. Sure, the food was superb and the service was excellent – after all, I live in Portland OR, one of the best foodie cities in the nation! Nope, our experience was memorable because the restaurant made us feel special.

Walgreens’ mobile app – convenience in the palm of your hand

Convenience sells. Convenience brings in new customers. Convenience keeps customers coming back for more.

Walgreens’ mobile app is a great example of how technology can improve the customer experience. Available for iPhone, Android, and Blackberry, this handy app epitomizes convenience.

Need to refill your prescription? Simply use your phone’s camera to scan the bar code and send in your order. Want to know when your prescription is ready for pick-up? No problem-o, just sign up for text alerts. Have to order photo prints? Piece of cake!

Simple, easy-to-use, convenient – a winning combination!

Social Customer Service – What are the Metrics?

There are plenty of articles on how to measure the effectiveness of Social Media Marketing efforts. But Social Customer Service is a different animal and needs other metrics to gauge its effectiveness and impact.

The metrics you gather will provide important insight for your organization. Although there are differences between Social Marketing and Social Customer Service, there is overlap.  I have worked closely with our Marketing team to determine what to measure and what our “success metrics” should look like. 

What’s the ROI? Customer Service & Social Media

So you’ve decided to use Social Media to extend your customer service efforts out to where your customers are talking. Cool! Now comes the hard part – answering the inevitable question, “What is the ROI?”

It’s a tough question to answer because Social Media ROI is not always easily broken out in dollars & cents. What’s the cost of a complaint that goes unanswered? What’s the revenue impact of a positive mention?

I spent a good chunk of time investigating this question from a customer service perspective. In the end, I think the best answer comes from Frank Eliason, the man who started Comcast’s Social Media customer service program, Comcastcares.

See if you agree with how Frank answers the ROI question – I do!

Low Cost Customer Service Toolkit for Social Media “listening”

Your customers ARE talking!

You have two choices: either join the conversation or ignore it. I am convinced that it’s better to participate than hang out on the sidelines. This point is driven home by a customer service presentation given by Christine Timmins Barry, Senior Vice President, Global Operations, Convergys.

Over the last couple of months, I have led a project to incorporate Social Media into our Customer Service efforts. Like many start-up efforts, we have a minimal budget available at the onset. Therefore, we have focused on building a low-cost Social Media toolkit that allows us to “get into the game”. After listening for a couple of months, we found that the vast majority of our “hits” happen on Twitter, blogs and our company’s Facebook page which seems to be typical for many companies.  

Invasion of the Plate Snatchers

I’m usually not too paranoid, but I must warn unsuspecting diners of a very real danger. Oh yes, be afraid, be very afraid. For THEY are around, lurking just out of sight, ready to pounce without warning. And you may become their next victim. (gasp!)

THEY are………… the Plate Snatchers!   Bwahaha!

THEY will swoop in and snatch your plate away.

THEY don’t care if they invade your personal space.

THEY don’t care if others are still eating, your plate is theirs.

THEY only care that any empty (or almost empty) plates have vanished.

THEY must not ruin our dining adventures. Hold tight to your plate with both hands.

Defend your Plate!

(So now you know what my pet peeve is when dining out. What’s yours?)

Customer Loyalty

Thanks to the euro’s declining value, mortgage rates are at their lowest in years. Like many others, we are taking advantage of these low rates to refinance our home. We chose to re-finance using our original mortgage broker (Usher Financial Group) because they cultivated a strong relationship with us that continued post-sale.

As we picked up the closing check at our bank (also happens to hold our current mortgage), the teller asked “Why didn’t you use us?” This guy asked the wrong question! What he should have asked is “What could we have done to win your business?”

Doing business with your customers is NOT the same as having a relationship with them. If you want to win my business, then cultivate a relationship with me. No relationship = zero loyalty.

How do you cultivate customer loyalty? What makes you a loyal customer? Leave a comment and share your tips on cultivating customer loyalty.

Customer Service needs Social Media

I believe in the power of Social Media. It has kept me connected to family, re-connected me with old friends, and helped me build stronger personal and professional relationships.

I believe in the power of Social Media to improve customer service. I’ve used it to resolve my own customer service problems so I know it works! Gone are the days when Customer Service dictates how and when a customer contacts them for help.  Now, we must go to where our customers are and make things right when our products or services fall short of their expectations.

In my mind, it is a no-brainer. But there are skeptics that need convincing so I am building a business case to persuade them that the investment is necessary. During my research, I came across this video from Socialnomics that states my case perfectly (and the music is cool too).

What really sticks with me is the notion “Word of Mouth -> World of Mouth”. Take the time to watch it and let me know what you think.

Twitter role model – Best Buy’s Twelpforce

As part of my efforts to get Customer Service a larger role within my company’s Social Media initiatives, I’ve been researching how other companies have built and run their Social Media programs. My goal is to identify some best practices that can be incorporated into our fledgling Twitter outreach program.

Earlier this week, I spent some time researching Best Buy’s Twelpforce.

OPB – Where’s the Love?

When it comes to OPB, the following is true:

• I am a huge fan of OPB (Oregon Public Broadcasting).
• I am one of the 120,000 contributors who believe that the service and programming OPB provides is necessary and valuable.
• I am a proud OPB member.
• I am a little bit miffed at OPB’s Membership Team.