Customer Service Chronicle

The Jenny Craig Experience - Intro

Well, it is February and here in the Northeast we were blanketed with over 5 feet of snow as we begin to shovel out of the blizzard of 2010.  But it has been weeks since the storm and now we are in the middle of the “big melt down”.  With the first glimmer of sunshine the dreaded thoughts of warmth and oh yes, bathing suits begin to come to mind at that same moment, Valerie Bertonelli appears on the television with her fantastic body in a Jenny Craig commercial, so I think Why Not?

Having been thru Nutra System, I was skeptical because I did not enjoy the taste of their food, I also know that I did not have the self discipline to conquer this goal on my own via their “do it yourself program” so I researched my closest center and worked up the courage to pop in.  I thought a center closest to my office would be better for me so I downloaded their $ 20 coupon, put their address in my GPS and began my journey to talk to a consultant.  I was feeling positive, strong and great because I made a decision and I committed to the process.

I wasn’t familiar with the area so I called the location to ask specifically where they are located (now I am on my way and only minutes from the area).  The gentlemen who picked up the phone seemed nice enough but when I asked him what center he was located in, his response was “I am with a customer and can call you back in 20 mins”.. I explained I was on my way only to be asked, “what number can I reach you at”.  I simply said, I will have to call you back.  I felt like a jackass.  

Lesson Learned– From a branding experience, you would have to think that Jenny Craig knows how difficult it is for a woman to commit to weight loss.  If losing weight was that simple, we all would be thin.  The problem here is was that the front line employee was challenged with delivering on the brand promise.  Although not confirmed, he was most likely alone in the location and limited to the tasks he can perform therefore trying to remain focused on his current customer in his store, was not successful at making me feel as though I mattered and brushed me off as insignificant or that my time didn’t matter. – Remember Branding is in the perception of the customer.   

There are a few recommendations I would provide to the folks at Jenny Craig onbuilding customer loyalty:

1.     Re-evaluate your customer touch point strategy – ensure that every piece of your organization that potentially touches a customer supports your brand promise.  In this case, there was no instructions on the website that lead me to believe I couldn’t just “pop” in and when I called, the associate simply should have just given me the shopping center.

2.    Reinforce your brand expectations to your employees. – often we forget that we need to train, train and retrain our staff.  Don’t assume that the front lines are always on top of the customer experience.  Sometimes they do need to be reminded of what is expected of them and as my motto goes “inspect what you expect”.

I haven’t given up on Jenny Craig so stay tuned for upcoming posts on my Jenny Craig Experience and I encourage all of you to publish your comments both good and bad.  Together we will build the brand.

Until next time!

Forrester's 2010 Customer Experience Index Results

For the past three years, Forrester has published a report that details the responses of over 4,500 US consumers and their experiences with certain companies.  Based upon the responses they created an index for 133 firms in 14 different industries.  The top of the list Barnes & Noble!
 

Here are the full 2010 CxPi rankings…

Take a look at the list and let me know if you agree with the results.  Looking at this list, it looks like retail is in the lead for really focusing on the customer and using strong customer service and creating a strong experience for their customers.

Barnes and Noble is a day trip for my family.  We look forward to going and spend hours in the store.  First in the cafe where we enjoy a cup of coffee and a treat and then quickly we disperse to our area of interest only to meet up at the cash register where we are always greeted with a smile.  So from my own personal experience, I agree that Barnes & Nobel's customer experience is #1 in my book.

What do you think?

Macy's Hits a Homerun with Customer Service!

Labor Day weekend, a retailer's last ditch effort to entice customers into stores before the holiday shopping season begins and hectic fall schedules start.  This time of year there is a flood of coupons, incentives and flyer's hitting the marketing via direct mail, email and customer loyalty programs.

As a long time Macy's customer, I was excited to go shopping and I was armed with my 20% off coupon, my list of items and of course, my Macy's charge card.  Dan and I separated - he went to housewares in search of a slicer and I went to Women's clothes in search of a new wardrobe but it was Dan who hit the jackpot with a customer service experience.

As he was in search of his item, a gentle older women approached him to offer assistance.  Not only was she informative and friendly, she also encouraged him to open up a Macy's charge card where he would be rewarded with an additional 15% coupon plus the 20% coupon being offered to current Macy's members.

I completed my transaction with the lovely assistance of Rachael who ironically was with me when Dan called me with his new deal.  At first, I was too busy to pick up the phone as I commented to Rachael how men just don't like shopping and I was sure he was calling to leave.  When Dan found me, he told me about his deal and took my bags back to Rachael where she transferred my purchases from my credit card over to his for the additional savings - almost $ 60!

This little old lady who went out of her way to help Dan select his slicer and convince him to open his charge is a great example of a customer service champion and of Master Strategy # 6:  Make it Easy for Your Customers to Do Business With You!  She was an absolute pleasure and made our shopping experience fun and fabulous.

Now, Rachael, who also was wonderful, summed it up best as she re-rung the purchases on Dan's credit card "she should have picked up her phone"....lol.

So the morale of the story is..... Treat your customers well and always pick up your phone!

Is Customer Service a Dying Theme?

Customer and Service.  Two simple words thrown together to describe a customer’s experience.  Two simple words that have a direct impact on the success or failure of your business and your livelihood.   A critical business strategy sometimes ignored by small business yet could yield the biggest return on investment. …. One may say an important piece to your marketing strategy. Providing great customer service is the single most effective and low cost opportunity to market and advertise your business.  When customers are pleased, they’re likely to spend more time in your store or on your product and/or service, tell friends and family how great their experience was plus come again.  But if they think they haven’t been treated right? Chances are they will never buy from you again and worse, they will tell everyone who’ll listen about their bad experience.  These folks usually turn around and tell their friends and families and so on and so on and so the cycle begins….word of mouth.  A positive review is usually shared within close circles and is most likely going to reach potential loyal customers but a negative review reaches three times the amount of people and will most likely never frequent your establishment based upon a “story” they heard. So, what makes the difference?  How do some business thrive and customers continue to return, employees manage to stay upbeat, have great customer satisfaction and get the job done every day. Well, it’s not any one thing.  Rather, it’s a unique combination of skills, techniques and methods that the most dramatically successful customer service operations all share. 

The foundation for this blog is to explore various experiences and to evaluate the customer experience.   With the onset of automated phone calls, innovated technology and responsibilities being shifted to entry level employees, not to mention the wavering economy, one has to wonder "Is customer service a dying theme?"  Are companies moving away from personalized service?  Have our employees lost the zest and the basics of being nice?  It’s is unfortunate that some companies don’t recognize that they are losing customers on a regular basis by not focusing on providing an exceptional customer experience.  How many times have you dialed your credit card company, only to be greeted by a long list of prompts before a live person gets on the phone?  When was the last time you were shopping and the retail clerk didn’t even acknowledge you at the counter?  As a customer service evangelist, I am here to proclaim that being nice matters!