Exceptional Service, Exceptional Profit: The Secrets of Building a Five-Star Customer Service Organization (24 page)

real-time information,
51–52

tomer service,
125–127

security issues,
50–51,
54–58,
126

requests for information,
23,
122

simple approach,
46–
48

restrooms,
61,
62

technology in,
51–52,
54–56,
56–

rewards

58,
73–78

by leaders,
105

volume as excuse,
82

for survey participation,
77

Riedel,
110–111

what to track,
48–51

Ritz-Carlton, The,
2

price

Day One orientation,
91–
94

thinking like customers,
113–114

language handbook,
15–16,
18

in value proposition,
112

Mr. BIV quality program,
62–
64

privacy

preference-tracking system of,
46–
48

of preference-tracking systems,
50–

total customer service empower-

51,
54–58,
74–75

ment,
41

protective customer bubble and,
54,

96,
97–
98

Safire, William,
16

of surveys,
78

Schultz, Howard,
59–
60

Index

169

Schulze, Horst,
15–16,
41,
64,
91

industry-wide,
111

screening telephone calls,
21–22

performance,
104–105

Scrimshaw Workshop, The (Bar Har-

Starbucks,
59–
60

bor, Maine),
132

subcontracting, of customer service,

secret shoppers,
78

142–143

security

subtle service recovery,
41–
43

of preference-tracking systems,
50–

suggestions from customers,
31,
35

51,
54–58,
126

support, by leaders,
105,
107

website,
126

surveys

Seligman, Martin E. P.,
86–
87

comment cards,
50

serial position curve,
131

in-depth,
75–78

service recovery,
26–
44

in-house mini-surveys,
75

apologizing in,
28–29

language engineering on,
76

compensation for,
34–36

mistakes on,
77–78

Courtroom Method,
27

personal responses to,
77

disastrous handling of,
36–39

documenting problem,
33–34

Taco Bell,
61

fixing the problem,
31

Talent Plus,
89

follow-up,
31,
32–33

Target,
111

handling customer complaints,

team orientation,
87

39–
41

telephone calls

Italian Mama method,
26–27

good-byes,
135

as key customer moment,
18–19

greetings,
135

key steps,
27–31

hearing impairments and,
137

language of,
30,
50–51

picking up phone,
22–23

personal research on,
36–39

preference-tracking systems and,

sample interaction guidelines,

49–51

149–150

problem resolution for,
12–13

screening,
21–22

reassigned problems,
32

after service recovery,
33

reviewing customer complaint,
30

telephone numbers in preference-

subtle approach to,
41–
43

tracking systems,
57

thinking like customers,
28–29

toll-free service numbers,
70,
122

website service failures,
23,
62

for website customers,
129–130

writing off customers,
43–
44

testimonials,
118–119

Sewell, Carl,
113

theoretical capacity, in manufacturing,

showing, versus telling,
21

101

simplicity, of preference-tracking sys-

thinking like customers

tems,
46–
48

in anticipatory customer service,

Solis,
2,
41

59–
62

solutions, for service breakdowns,
35

pricing and,
113–114

Sopranos, The
,
20

in service recovery process,
28–29

standards

Thoreau, Henry David,
123

hiring,
88–
89

Tiffany,
112

170

Index

timeliness

vision, of leaders,
103,
106–107

of greetings,
134–135

visual cues,
20–21

on-time delivery,
11–12,
104–105

visual impairments, customer access

toll-free service numbers,
70,
122

and,
122,
136–138

total customer service empowerment,

40–
41

WalMart,
22

Toyota,
64

Walt Disney Company,
2

Toyota Production System,
66

Walton, Sam,
22

training

warmth

for anticipatory customer services,

of employees,
85–
86

94–
95

in service process,
96–
97

cost-benefit analysis of,
109–110

waste reduction,
66–
68

for language consistency,
15

websites

language handbook in,
15–17

accessibility for customers with dis-

by leaders,
106

abilities,
122,
136–138

orientation process in,
90–
98

automated links,
25

passion for,
95

developing,
127–130

principles of,
96–
98

greetings,
139–140

after service breakdowns,
32–33,
35

live chat,
24,
58,
122,
140

specific curriculum for,
95–
96

password access,
128,
129

trolling,
117–118

requests for information,
23,
122

Trotter, Charlie,
61

security issues,
126

trust,
34–35

self-service elements,
122

TTD/TTY machines,
137

service failures,
23,
62

turnaround situations,
103–104

urgent email button,
122,
140

Web forms,
129

value,
70–73

wheelchair access,
135–136,
137–138

emotional attachments,
71–72

White, Marco Pierre,
118

price in value proposition,
112

wrap-up,
33

as relative concept,
111

value proposition,
112

Xerox,
66,
69

values, in orientation process,
90–
91

Virgin Atlantic,
117

Zappos,
116

• Contents
  
• Special Features
  
• Acknowledgments
  
• Foreword
  
• Introduction: The Only Shop in the Marketplace
  
• Chapter One: The Engineer on the Ladder: Reaching for the Highest Level of Service
  
  • Function Versus Purpose
    
  • First Steps First
    
• Chapter Two: The Four Elements of Customer Satisfaction: Perfect Product, Caring Delivery, Timeliness, and an Effective Problem Resolution Process
  
  • A Perfect Product
    
  • Delivered by Caring People
    
  • In a Timely Fashion
    
  • With the Support of an Effective Problem Resolution Process
    
• Chapter Three: Language Engineering: Every. Word. Counts.
  
  • Establish a Consistent Style of Speech
    
  • Create a Lexicon of Preferred Language and Phrasing
    
  • Choose Language to Put Customers at Ease, Not to Dominate Them
    
  • Concentrate Your Language Efforts on the Key Customer Moments: Hellos, Good-Byes, and the Times When Things Fall Apart
    
  • Shut Up Sometimes: The Artie Bucco Principle
    
  • Words Have Their Limits
    
  • Show, Don�t Tell (And Don�t Ever Just Point)
    
  • Phone and Internet Language and Communication Pointers
    
• Chapter Four: Recovery! Turning Service Failures Around
  
  • The Italian Mama Method
    
  • The Four Steps to Great Service Recoveries
    
  • The Elements of Follow-Up
    
  • Use Your Own Experience to Prepare You
    
  • Who Should Handle Customer Complaints?
    
  • Subtle is Beautiful: Service Recovery Below the Radar
    
  • Write-Offs Lead to Write-Offs
    
• Chapter Five: Keeping Track to Bring Them Back: Tracking Customer Roles, Goals, and Preferences
  
  • Principles of Noting and Sharing
    
  • Principle 1: Keep Your Systems Simple
    
  • Principle 2: If It�s Important to Your Customer, It Belongs in Your System
    
  • Principle 3: The Information You Gather Needs to be Available in Real Time
    
  • Principle 4: Preferences Change; Assumptions are Tricky
    
  • Principle 5: Moods Change: Track Them
    
  • Principle 6: Don�t Blow It with a Wooden Delivery
    
  • Principle 7: Using Technology to Ask for Information? It�s a Fine Line between Clever and Creepy
    
  • Surprises Are Hazardous�Online and Off
    
  • Fear Not: Don�t Be Deterred from Collecting Information�Thoughtfully
    
• Chapter Six: Building Anticipation Into Your Products and Services: Putting Processes to Work for You
  
  • Get Your Company to Think Like a Customer
    
  • Mr. BIV and the Art of Eliminating Defects
    
  • Don�t Kill Mr. BIV�s Messengers
    
  • Systematically Reducing Waste to Add Value�For You and Your Customers
    
  • Why Efficient Processes Can Transform Service
    
  • Stamping Out Waste? Don�t Crush Value by Accident
    
  • Process-Based Anticipation on the Internet
    
  • Using Tools to Gather Information About Your Customers� Experience
    
  • Process-Based Solutions Become People Solutions
    
• Chapter Seven: Your People: Selection, Orientation, Training, and Reinforcement
  
  • We Are Already Our True Selves: Select for Traits
    
  • Keep the Hiring Bar High
    
  • Develop Selection Discipline
    
  • Create a Powerful Orientation Process
    
  • Use Orientation to Instill New Values, Attitudes, and Beliefs
    
  • Defining an Employee�s Underlying Purpose
    
  • The Orientation Process Begins Sooner Than You Think
    
  • On Day One, Nothing Is Tangential
    
  • Build a Brand Ambassador
    
  • Training Employees to Anticipate�Carefully
    
  • Reinforcement: The Daily Check-In
    
• Chapter Eight: Leadership: Guiding the Customer-Centered Organization
  
  • Service Leaders Matter Because People Power Service
    
  • Five Characteristics of Great Service Leaders
    
  • Moral Leadership
    
• Chapter Nine: What�s Worth it, and What�s Not? Pointers on Value, Costs, and Pricing
  
  • What Does Loyalty-Enhancing Service Really Cost?
    
  • Gilding the Lily
    
  • "Compared to What?": Value Is Relative
    
  • Pricing Is Part of Your Value Proposition
    
  • Don�t Charge a Customer for Performing the Heimlich
    
  • Money Isn�t Everything, But Money Issues Matter�Especially How You Present Them
    
• Chapter Ten: Building Customer Loyalty Online: Using the Internet�s Power to Serve Your Customers and Your Goals
  
  • The Internet�s Double Edge
    
  • Opinions: Everybody Has One. Evangelists: Every Company Needs Them
    
  • The Internet Can Promote Commoditization. Avoid This Through Individualization.
    
  • Long Copy/Short Copy
    
  • Online, the Window in Which to Show You�re Extraordinary Can Be Small
    
  • Amazon.com: A Brilliant Company, but Not the Most Realistic Model to Emulate
    
  • First Time Online: A Nuts-and-Bolts Case Study
    
• Chapter Eleven: Hello/Good-Bye: Two Crucial Moments with a Customer
  
  • Timelessly Time-Sensitive
    
  • Don�t Rush Your Hellos and Good-Byes on the Telephone
    
  • Serving Disabled Customers Is a Responsibility and an Opportunity, from the Moment You Welcome Them at Your Door
    
  • Turn Your Receptionist into a Predator (Who Kills with Kindness)
    
  • It�s Google�Not You�Who Decides Where Visitors Enter Your Site. Be Sure They�re Greeted Properly Anyway
    
  • Taking Control of Good-Byes
    
  • The Hazards of Subcontracting Hellos and Good-Byes
    
  • Good-Bye for Now from the Authors�With Resources and Assistance for Your Journey
    
• Appendixes
  
  • Appendix A: Oasis Disc Manufacturing: Customer and Phone Interaction Guidelines and Lexicon Excerpts
    
  • Appendix B: CARQUEST Standards of Service Excellence
    
  • Appendix C: Capella Hotels and Resorts "Canon Card": Service Standards and Operating Philosophy
    
• Notes
  
• Index
  
  • A
    
  • B
    
  • C
    
  • D
    
  • E
    
  • F
    
  • G
    
  • H
    
  • I
    
  • K
    
  • L
    
  • M
    
  • N
    
  • O
    
  • P
    
  • Q
    
  • R
    
  • S
    
  • T
    
  • V
    
  • W
    
  • X
    
  • Z