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 OUR TAKE -
Open Sesame (Says Me)
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"What can I do for you?" It's definitely the golden question for those customer interactions where emotional and rational clash. In most cases, the question has a profoundly positive effect by channeling the emotion towards a positive outcome.
One CRMAdvocate reader wrote in, "What a score! It boils down to simplicity at the end. Allow the customer think about what he/she is really looking for. It is like 'open sesame.' All the gates to a positive outcome open from here."
Others responded that it sounds right but wonder if it could really be that simple. Try it yourself in your personal life. Here's your homework assignment:
Next time you are engaged with a colleague, friend, or family member who takes to a rant, use the golden question. But wait until they get really, really worked up. Then say, "What can I do for you?" See how the conversation takes a turn towards the positive.
Did the golden question work for you?
. . . . . Gary Lemke, Chief Customer Advocate
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Lasting Impressions:
Forgiveness is the economy of the heart... forgiveness saves the expense of anger, the cost of hatred, the waste of spirits.
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Hannah More
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 Required Reading - CRM News and Articles
B2B Executives Missing Out on Social Media Potential
Only eight percent of business-to-business (B2B) companies in the United States are extensively leveraging social media, even though 65 percent of marketing executives surveyed by Accenture identified social media as important to their companies’ business. This is one of the key findings in a report, Making Social Media Pay: Rethinking Social Media’s Potential to Bolster B2B Interactions, Customer Loyalty, Revenues and Brand Reputation, released today by Accenture. The report is based on a survey of more than 200 marketing executives at business-to-business (B2B) companies about their use of social media. The survey found that only five percent of marketing executives said they formally integrate social media with their other customer and marketing initiatives, and a full quarter of the respondents (26 percent) said they were only slightly engaged or not engaged at all with the medium. . . . more >>
Most Companies Lack a Customer Experience Measurement Program
A new research report published by Temkin Group, State of CX Metrics, 2011, examines how companies keep track of their interactions with customers. The research is based on a survey of 228 companies with $500 million or more in annual revenues. While 41% of respondents feel like they are doing a good job with their customer experience (CX) metrics programs, only 10% earned a "good" or "very good" rating in Temkin Group's CX metrics assessment. The assessment grades CX metrics programs across four dimensions: Consistent, Impactful, Integrated, and Continuous. Companies scored the lowest when it comes to making decisions based on integrating their CX metrics with financial metrics. "Many companies have started to collect customer experience metrics, but very few have figured out how to use them to make good business decisions," states Bruce Temkin, author of the report and Managing Partner of Temkin Group. . . . more >>
Wouldn't It Be Great To Be In The Customer Experience Business?
While it is chic to talk about “The Experience Economy,” it is critical to appreciate the differences between being in the Experience business (capital “E”) and designing the customer experience (small “e”) as a means for pleasing customers and facilitating the sales of goods and services. Are you actually selling Experiences – or is the customer experience a more mundane (or not so mundane) enabler for the sale of traditional goods and services? The companies to which many consultants always point as role models to emulate – Disney, Ritz-Carlton or Starbucks, for example – are in the business of selling customer Experiences. Their product, their service, their value proposition, their raison d’ętre is the Experience. . . . more >>
10 Ways to Rearchitect Your Contact Center
For most Americans, customer service conjures thoughts of an irritating maze of phone menus, call flows, and transfers, followed by scripted voices with strange accents belonging to people halfway around the world who can do little to resolve problems. That description is supported by research. Two-thirds of consumers (67 percent) have hung up during service calls before their particular issues could be addressed, a recent survey by Consumer Reports found. Seventy-one percent were "tremendously annoyed" at not being able to get a real person on the phone, and 56 percent were just as annoyed after having to jump through multiple phone hoops to get the right information. There is nothing unusual or surprising about a study that reveals American consumers are unhappy with the customer service they receive. What is surprising is that so little has been done to remedy the problem, and that needs to change—fast. . . . more >>
Forrester's Paul Hagen: Evaluating Customer Experience Maturity
"Customer experience (CX) maturity" was the topic of Forrester's recent Chief Customer Officer (CCO) roundtable meeting. The customer experience leaders present took a self-test of key CX practices (based on a recent report by Megan Burns called "Customer Experience Maturity Defined"), discussed their own company's strengths and weaknesses, and shared successes and challenges they faced at their companies in interactive discussions throughout the day. A significant portion of the discussion revolved around customer experience governance and getting funds for projects. There was clear agreement in the room on needing CX leaders at the top levels of management. . . . more >>
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