WHERE IS CUSTOMER SATISFACTION WHEN YOU NEED IT?

This past week I had the opportunity? to fly 4 times on an airline that I had not patronized for a few years. Here was my experience.

When told at the car rental center that I could check my bags there for return flights so I wouldn't have to load them on the bus and struggle with them at the ticket counter I was excited. The car rental company told me the process so I took off excited about the service the airlines were providing.

When I got to the level where the bags were to be checked I was told by a customer service? agent that the counter was at the far end of the building so I proceeded to go there. I could not find the check in area so I went to the information? counter to ask what the procedure was. The person told me he didn't know that the service was available and if it was they probably wouldn't start that service until later in the day and he thought it was at the opposite end of the building. My question to him then was, "So you don't really provide information at the information counter". His reply was "not really" so I put my bags on the bus and went to the terminal ticket counter. 

It got me to thinking about how many times we as BSC's leave our customers without answers. Do we tell them, it's not in the specs or we don't do that?  Do we tell them when we have a new service to offer or do we go out with a great marketing campaign only to leave our existing customers not knowing we have a new service? 

Have we asked our customers if there is a service that we could bundle with the cleaning so they don't have so many checks to write? Even if the invoice amount is the same, we save them soft costs that reduces the number of checks they have to write or the multiple phone numbers they have to keep handy. By the way, you don't have to self perform the additional services, just have people lined up that can.

I should also mention that in the four flights I took with this airline last week, not one was on time, 2 of the flights were cancelled without notifying the passengers and the other two changed gates at least twice. I should mention in fairness that one of the flights was a weather delay that they could not control so they only really had 3 chances to make a positive impression and they didn't do it. The only way I knew the flights were cancelled or that a gate change had occurred was I checked the airport monitor. 

What about you? If you have promised your customer a special service and then have a glitch, do you let them know immediately or do they find out when they come to work the next day? Most customers are very tolerant and understanding if they are kept abreast of what is going on. 

I remember sitting in a client's office a couple of years ago and during our time together he told about 5 phone calls from customers asking him if he could handle something that was out of his normal scope of work. His answer? We can do it or we'll handle it for you. 

After he had answered these calls I asked if he did all these things and he said he did not but his customers knew he knew somebody who did. His philosophy was that he was in the customer satisfaction business and he wanted to satisfy his customers if at all possible. Plus, he said, if I can handle it my competitor doesn't have an open window to come in. 

So we started talking about customer retention and his was nearly 100% and had been for years. Think his philosophy was paying off? You bet it was. 

Back to my airline experience. One thing that was apparent. You can change the name of your company and merge with other companies but if you don't change your employees attitudes and your end service delivery you are still the same old company. 

How about doing a study of your company? How do your treat all of your customers? Are there services you could provide that would solidify your relationship?

Don't forget to sign up to receive our FREE weekly pod casts starting June 1. Go to www.kleancast.com and click on the sign me up icon and you'll get an email each time one is posted. We promise not to call you or harass you with sales material. It's just a pod cast that we hope will help you in your company. Most will be in the 5 minute range so you can watch and get on with your business. 

Starting in September we will be producing daily audio podcasts featuring the speakers at the upcoming BSCAI convention and ISSA trade show in Las Vegas in October. More details to follow as the time gets closer. 

Till next time and have a wonderful and safe Memorial Day holiday. 
 

RELAUNCHNG THE LAUNCH

Sometimes no matter how many electronic keys you hit nothing goes right. Our earlier blog on our launch just didn't want to cooperate so we are going to try it again. 

We have been telling you for a few weeks about a couple of new and exciting things we were ready to launch which we hope will help our industry. Well, the first one is about ready.

As of now our new companion web site www.kleancast.com is open and ready. This site will be in addition AND a companion to our existing site, www.consultantsincleaning.com.

Kleancast.com is where we will be posting our weekly pod casts that became so popular when they were known as tripodcasts. Each Monday morning, BEGINNING JUNE 1, 2015, we will post a short, concise, usually 5 or so minutes in length, unless I get carried away, video of a subject that is related to what we do every day. We try to cover all the areas of sales, human resources, operations and administration with an occasional one on just being a better leader and manager. 

We have posted several of the old tripodcasts for you to review now on the kleancast site so you can get a flavor of what we are talking about. Those of you that were subscribing to tripodcast will recognize some of them but they may be good for review. 

While investigating the new kleancast.com site, let me suggest you click on the sign me up icon and register to receive an email from us every time one is posted. We promise not to call you or harass you with emails to buy something, other than our regular constant contact emails that go out usually one time per month or so, and even then you can unsubscribe anytime you want.

We're excited to bring you this FREE weekly information. We enjoy doing it and hopefully it helps someone along the way. Again, it is free and we don't use your sign up as a way to push sales. We do hope, however, that when the time arises when you need educational and/or training information that we are one of the sources you consider. There, the sales pitch is out of the way. 

By the way, I will be at the BSCAI Executive Management Conference this week in Scottsdale, Arizona. If you have any subjects for the pod casts you would like covered in the future let me know and we'll try our best to post one on the subject. 

If you're not coming to the conference you can put your suggestions in the comments section of the sign me up icon. Remember, our new postings begin JUNE 1. 

So there you have announcement number 1. By the first of July we hope to be in a position to provide you with another major story coming out of our Consultants In Cleaning, LLC office. We are really growing and enjoying our work. 

Look forward to your input. Till next time.
  
  

THAT'S NOT MY JOB

Have you ever heard someone say "That's not my job" or have you ever said that when asked to perform a certain task? It's a phrase most of us can say we hear nearly every day---sometimes every hour.

So if it isn't our job, who's job is it? It is my belief that we have really only one mission in the business world and that is to SATISFY THE CUSTOMER and if you subscribe to that philosophy, every job is your job.

Providing great customer satisfaction is different than providing great customer service in that customer service is a concept that nearly every business embraces. We hear it every day---We give good customer service or we have a customer service department. Go to a grocery store or department store and what do you see---a customer service counter.

Customer satisfaction on the other hand, is a demonstration of customer service. Ever lost an account when you thought the building was clean or even cleaner than when you got the account in the first place? I know I did. 

What happened? Someone did not provide quality customer satisfaction. The building was clean but someone didn't do their job to make sure the customer was comfortable doing business with your company. It may have been a "simple" thing like not answering the phone in a pleasant way or not getting the monthly billing correct after several calls from the client to get it corrected. 

You see, it is everybody's job to provide customer satisfaction. When we answer the phone the customer is judging us. When we call on the customer in person we are being judged. When we invoice the customer incorrectly we are being judged. Everything we do provides an opportunity for us to provide quality customer satisfaction, not only the concept of customer service. 

Did you notice that nothing that I referred to above had anything to do with providing the on the job cleaning schedule? All of the issues discussed had to do with customer satisfaction at different levels within the company. 

I have an "Ollekism" that applies to what I have been talking about in this blog and that is, 

IF YOU SAY, "THAT'S NOT MY JOB" THE ONE YOU HAVE MAY NOT BE FOR LONG EITHER. 

Think about that. When you are asked to do something to provide customer satisfaction and you tell someone that isn't your job you are really putting a dent in the company's opportunity to retain a customer. 

It may not be your job directly but the important thing to learn is where you can get the help or who can you direct someone to or take them to that will assist them. You don't have to know everything about everything but the customer wants you to help them solve a problem and saying that it isn't your job only compounds the problem and brings them one step closer to finding another vendor.  

It might be a good idea to have a group session to review the important part everyone plays in satisfying and retaining customers. While you are doing that, you might suggest the phrase "that's not my job" is no longer an acceptable phrase in the company.

Let me know your thoughts. 

Look for 2 major announcements coming from us in the next 30 days. We're excited. 

Till next time.