CHAPTER 6 TIMM UNDERSTANDING OURSELVES BEFORE WE CAN UNDERSTAND CUSTOMER TURNOFFS

Everyone has pet peeves about the way they are served, or not served. Often these little annoyances have a cumulative effect, making a dissatisfied customer or, minimally, an indifferent one. What are Customer Turnoffs?

Typical pet peeves include: Being ignoredWaiting Poor quality workDirty restaurants High-pressure salesUnknoweldgeable employees Condescending employees Out-of-stock sale items Unmarked merchandise Deep telephone menus

Customers whose problems are addressed by a company are actually more likely to do repeat business than customers who have never had a problem. Reducing turnoffs can be the best form of advertisement.

Value problems Systems problems People problems Customer turnoffs fit into three areas:

WE HAVE TO KNOW FIRST! Before we can address what turns the customers off…we have to ensure WE know what it is we are hoping to provide! We have to establish what we are all about – and determine our vision for our business. Our mission and our vision will dictate what we value. Then we can develop broad strategies through effective values, systems and people.

VISION STATEMENT  Stems from the corporate mission  Is “what we strive to be”  Is a set of general “goals to reach for” in the future  Concrete, specific achievable goals/metrics are not in a vision statement  Used by the corporation as the starting point to  frame specific metrics (measuring devices) for each objective  formulate strategies and tactics

CUSTOMER SERVICE PHILOSOPHY A written statement of what the company expects of itself and commits itself to in terms of customer service.  Reinforces expectations to internal customers (employees, managers, owners)  Demonstrates commitment to customerS when posted where external (and internal) customers can see  Is the key to accountability  Fosters excellent relations with customers by setting forth expectations Source: Goetsch,2004,

STAGES OF STRATEGIC PLANNING Adapted from: Shinkle, G., Gooding, R., & Smith, M. (2004). Transforming Strategy Into Success: How to implement a lean management system. New York: Productivity Press.

Value problems Systems problems People problems Customer turnoffs fit into three areas:

Value Value is the apparent quality of a product or service relative to its cost. Company leaders are the only ones with the power and authority to make changes to the value of a product or service. Value

Systems “Systems” refers to anything involved with getting the product or service to the customer. (processes) Company managers are best suited to solve problems with process systems within a company. Systems

Typical systems turnoffs include: ProceduresPolicies TechnologyTraining StaffingLocations Facilities Systematic actions

People People problems are communication problems. Employees communicate poorly by their words or nonverbal actions. Everyone can help eliminate people problems through improving interpersonal skills. People

Seeks to win back the customer who had a bad experience Attempts may build stronger loyalty-Regularly identifying and working to reduce possible customer turnoffs can provide a basis for building customer loyalty. Service recovery