When Loyalty Programs Fail to Deliver

Customer loyalty programs can backfire on you if you’re not careful. Case in point:

I received an email from National Car Rental offering me a free upgrade for being a member of their Emerald Club. I frequently travel to Colorado to visit our call center in Loveland and have faithfully used National for my car rentals. With an upcoming trip looming, I followed the link to reserve a car and get my free upgrade (a convertible would be nice!).

As it turned out, National had no cars available for my arrival date. None! Nada! So I called their reservation line thinking that maybe they had a few cars in reserve.

I spoke with a National rep who informed me that they were indeed sold out of cars but she could arrange a rental through their partner, Enterprise. We took care of the rental and I asked if the upgrade National offered could be used at Enterprise. The rep was unsure but suggested I bring a printout of the National offer and ask when I checked in at Enterprise.

Well when I arrived at the Enterprise counter at the Denver airport I was wowed by the service received. The agent behind the counter introduced herself (Jerusha was her name), shook my hand, and welcomed me to Enterprise. She handled the rental arrangement efficiently and when asked about the upgrade, she winked at me and said “no problem” without even asking to see proof.

She then directed me to the door and met me there to personally walk me out to the lot to pick my car. It was brutally hot that day so she jumped into the car I selected to start it and turn the air conditioning up full blast. She then popped the trunk and loaded my bag for me. We then inspected the car together, she had me sign the paperwork, gave me directions on how to exit the lot and present my paperwork, and I was on my way.

And the real kicker? I got a midsize car, same as what I usually get at National for half the cost.

Emerald Club status from National basically gives me the privilege of skipping the rental car counter. I would just exit the bus, and pick a car from the lot. But for the personalized service I got from Jerusha and Enterprise along with the same car for half price, do you think I’ll be back to National? I don’t think so.

When you offer a loyalty program for your customers, make sure you have the basics cover to ensure success of the program. The fastest route to losing that loyalty program customer for good is failure to live up to the rewards promised. Exceptions are sometimes unavoidable so make sure you’ve empowered your employees to do whatever it takes to honor your commitment to the most important group of customers you have.

Otherwise, the last view of those customers will be from the rear view mirror!

Share A Little Of That Human Touch

“I just want someone to talk to,
And a little of that human touch”

Today’s lesson on great support that drives loyalty comes from “the Boss”, Bruce Springsteen himself!

My company received the following feedback from one of our customers today. It was directed toward our Customer Support organization and said:

“I have been using Constant Contact for over a year and I owe my satisfaction completely to the customer service support. Without the access to the great support I have received, I would have stopped using your service a long time ago. Kudos to your support team!”.

High praise indeed, but I was concerned with her statement “without the access to the great support I have received, I would have stopped using your service a long time ago”. So, I called the customer to ask the meaning behind that statement and she provided me with some great insight I wanted to pass along.

Her issue is time and her personal learning style. Being a busy person (as we all are), she doesn’t have the time nor the inclination to use the self-service resources (tutorials, webinars, FAQ’s) to find the answers to her questions. In her words, “I need to get an email campaign created and out the door FAST!”. As such, she is very appreciative of our Support team’s ability to quickly answer questions and keep her work flowing. She also pointed out to me that her comment was not based solely on her last interaction with us but that every time she calls Support she is greeted with friendly, knowledgeable staff that are genuinely interested in helping her be successful with our product.

She did not speak highly of other companies she has dealt with in the past that only offered self-service methods of support!

There’s a great lesson here relating to striking that balance with availability of customer support resources to your customers. Some prefer the self-service, “Let me discover on my own” way of learning, others need the immediate and 1 to 1 interaction with a human being. It’s the sum total of all resources that really makes our Support model successful. And while it’s important for us to continue to promote the use of all available resources with our customers, we never forget that sometimes it’s the human interaction piece that really drives the loyalty we generate from our customers. As a result of both a great product and service, this customer has recommended several people to our company through our referral program.

Self-service tools should compliment your support offering, not be the means to call avoidance!

“Share a little of that human touch
Feel a little of that human touch
Give me a little of that human touch”

Lessons Learned from Lebron

I, like many people, am glad that the whole Lebron James “where will he go” episode is over. He’s moved on, time for all of us to do the same.

But I came across the letter to the Cleveland Cavalier fans written by Dan Gilbert, majority owner of the club , and saw the classic mistake often made in customer (in this case, “fans”) experience:

Don’t over-promise and under-deliver!

In his open letter to the fans and public at large, Gilbert states "I PERSONALLY GUARANTEE THAT THE CLEVELAND CAVALIERS WILL WIN AN NBA CHAMPIONSHIP BEFORE THE SELF-TITLED FORMER ‘KING’ WINS ONE" (the all-caps are his, not mine).

I’m sure he had the best intentions given how the Cleveland fan base must have felt after the announcement. But in the end, he’s done a disservice to those fans by falsely setting an expectation that’s not even remotely achievable. I mean seriously, you just lost one of the best basketball players on the planet, all of the other premier free agents have been snatched up by other teams, and you’re going to win a championship next year how?

There’s a simple lesson to be learned here:

Be honest in the assessment of the situation. Whether it’s the state of your NBA franchise or the technical support issue you’re trying to resolve for the customer, given an honest assessment of what the problem is, how it will eventually be resolved, when it realistically will be resolved, and what you personally will do to make that happen.

Hey Dan, try this on for size!

“To our loyal Cleveland Cavalier fan base,

We are all disappointed in the choice Lebron James has made to leave our team and join the Miami Heat. Lebron has brought much excitement to our franchise and we had hoped he would remain here and bring a championship to our great city.

While we are all heartbroken by his decision, we should begin focusing on the new road ahead of us. Yes, Lebron’s departure leaves a significant hole in our team. But let’s remember that the core group supporting him is still in place as the foundation of an already great team.

We may never replace the talent Lebron brought to our team, but the money freed up with his departure will go a long way toward bringing in fresh new talent. Young, raw recruits primed to become the future stars of the league mixed with seasoned veterans capable of making an immediate impact are how we will continue to build this franchise.

Will we bring home a championship? Eventually, yes we will. Will it happen next year? I wish it were so but we need to be realistic in our timelines. Great teams often take to time to gel. Our goal now is to continue the level of greatness our proud franchise has achieved. With the right talent in place, we will continue to position ourselves every season to enter the playoffs as a strong contender for an NBA title and one day deliver to you, the best fans in the entire NBA, a league championship!”


Good luck dealing with the Cleveland fans next year Dan!

Surprise & Delight

I love my VW mechanic! He has a small shop in the town where I live which is wicked convenient, he flexes his hours to accommodate his customers, he remembers my name and thanks me for my business every time I see him, plus has the friendliest dog there at the shop with him all the time!

But today he turned it up yet another notch.

I dropped the car off this morning needing a headlamp and brake light replaced. I know, this is something you'd think I could do myself but ask any VW owner, they're engineered to run like a dream but not engineered for easy access for do-it-yourselfers!

Being the procrastinator I am, my state inspection expires at the end of the month which, oh by the way, is today. Not a big deal, I get the car today and take it for inspection over the weekend. 2 days risk of driving on an expired inspection sticker I can handle.

I called the shop this afternoon to see if the car is done and my guy tells me "yes, the work is done but it's not back from inspection yet". Really? You took it to the inspection place for me? When I asked him about this he said he does this for his customers if time allows. Needless to say, I was blown away.

That simple act, going beyond the expected to deliver something more, something the customer would never have seen coming can create loyalty that's almost impossible to break. Cost, features, and convenience aren't enough to separate you from the competition. You've got to WOW your customer with the unexpected to differentiate yourself from the others and create that customer for life.

Greg, you are my hero !!

Ready... Aim... Fire!

Sorry it’s been so long since my last update (I know, I’m breaking the cardinal rule of blogging) but it hasn’t been for lack of material. Here are some less-than-stellar customer experience moments from the past few weeks!

To the airline industry: A recent poll showed the public’s satisfaction with the airlines on the rise. Really? Are these the same airlines I just flew recently? One of them delayed our departure because of 1) weather on the eastern seaboard delayed the flight into Boston, 2) a mechanical issue with one of the engines (that’s comforting!), or 3) a medical emergency on the inbound flight into Boston that caused the flight to be turned around. Seriously, these were the 3 reasons given by 3 different people.

Transparency into your failures is the sign of a company focused on the customer experience. Be honest when things go wrong, acknowledge the pain and suffering caused, and be accurate in your assessment of how the situation will be remedied and when. Don’t leave us inside the terminal, then onboard the plane at the gate, then on the tarmac trying to figure it out for ourselves.

And what’s with the attitude of flight attendants these days? In both legs of my trips, FA’s acted like charging $7 for a blanket now gives them carte blanche to show no customer service skills whatsoever. Don’t smile, don’t look us in the eye, and in fact, roll your eyes whenever we ask for something outrageous like an extra cup of ice!

To the hotel industry in Las Vegas: It’s bad enough that we have to pay $21 for a “lite” (they’re spelling) breakfast consisting of two pieces of toast, a small bowl of fruit, and two poached eggs. All in on price! But when the eggs are stone cold and your waiter never checks back with the table until you’re ready to leave, don’t be surprised that I’m not happy. And don’t insult me by saying “Oh, well I’ll take the eggs off your bill.” Really? How are you going to do that when the whole meal is one price? If you’re not competent enough to wait on tables properly, my confidence in your ability to determine the value of the eggs in the $21 price is suspect.

How you respond to service or product failures makes all the difference in turning a bad situation around. Go overboard to make things right and your customers will overlook the occasional transgression!

And finally, my favorite target: AT&T. My wife’s 2 year+ Razor phone died and she needed a replacement fast! When she goes into one of your retail stores and asks about getting a new Razor, the last thing she (or any customer for that matter) should hear from the sales rep is “A Razor? You need to get into the 21st century”! And berating her for wanting a touch-screen phone but not picking the iPhone is no way to endear any customer to your product and service.

I love this quote from the AT&T Corporate Profile web page:

“As we continue to break new ground and deliver new solutions, we're focused on delivering the high-quality customer service that is our heritage.”

My experience of their “heritage” has always been exactly what my wife experienced: long lines in the stores, inflexible product/upgrade plans, lack of recognition and appreciation of long-term customers, and snooty sales associates. Gee, that’s what I’d like to be known for!

Know your customer! It shouldn’t take long to figure out that this woman 1) is in a hurry, 2) is a 6 year customer with 3 phones in service (soon to be 4 if my 11 year old gets her way), and 3) knows what features she wants but has been away from the buying cycle for two years and isn’t up to speed on the latest advances in technology. Great companies take the time to figure this out so that they can effectively coach a customer through the buying process.

Instead, AT&T continues to cling to their motto from long ago: “You want service? Hey, we’re the phone company!”

Let's Build Something (a great customer experience) Together

Okay, my apologies to Lowes for bastardizing their slogan...

Hopefully you’ve taken the time to read the previous post, a great piece by Eric Jacques on a recent trip to his local Home Depot. It embodies just about everything that can create a negative customer experience and insure a trip to the competition. Worst possible scenario? The blog Eric wrote!

Home Depot places “Excellent Customer Service” right up there in their list of Values, yet failed to live up to that commitment. Why?

When I do my onboarding presentation to new hires at our company, I talk about what it takes to create a world-class customer support organization. Here are the steps to success we use:

1. It starts with a corporate culture focused on the customer experience and driven from the top down. The CEO of our company recognizes the strategic value a positive customer experience plays in growing our business and regularly promotes the value added by the Customer Support organization. And it’s not lip service; she and her Executive team live that value by regularly spending time on the floor listening to customer calls and talking about the Support associate’s experience supporting the product.

2. Engage the teams to develop, implement, and take ownership of “voice of the customer” programs. Being an advocate for the customer to the rest of the organization is the single most important function we perform. We get over 5,000 pieces of customer feedback a day through Support calls, chats, and emails and what they tell us about our product, service, and company is gold. It’s our responsibility to pass that feedback, both the good and the bad, up the chain.

3. Focus performance expectations, daily activities, and coaching / developmental efforts to support delivery of an “awe-inspiring” customer experience. Be crystal clear in job descriptions about how employees are expected to contribute toward creating that superior customer experience and check in with them on a regular basis to evaluate their performance. Our mantra is that at the end of the year after we’ve delivered the annual performance appraisal, we ask the Support associate “Did that evaluation make sense?” And consistently the answer we get is “Yes, because that’s what you told me the last 11 months in a row!”

4. Reward them consistently, appropriately, and in a timely manner. It’s not just about the money. You need to find what really motivates a person and reward them with opportunities to fulfill that need. Maybe it’s a shot at a key position elsewhere in the company. Maybe it’s the chance to work on a cross-functional project team. Or maybe it’s just a few extra hours off the phone. Incentive packages need to encompass the entire spectrum of human needs, not just the desire for the almighty buck.

It’s a simple success formula steeped in common sense. Yet for whatever reason, we stumble across companies every day that just don’t get it.

Home Depot doesn’t seem to be able to do it, maybe we can help!

Home Depot Woes

It's been awhile since I've posted, although not for lack of material! Much has happened over the past few weeks and I intend to get caught up here soon. In the meantime, check out a great post by Eric Jacques on his recent visit to Home Depot!

http://ow.ly/17yAbR