Successful service businesses understand that it's not enough to just offer a great services. Often, the benefits that might be obvious to you aren't apparent to your prospective customers. Creating loyal followers rests on your ability to Encourage, Empower and Enable people to derive the maximum benefit from your offer. This presentation shows you how.

1. How to be your customer’s
first choice in a tough market
Amelia Young and Stuart Baltman
November 4, 2011

2. Services are…
• Intangible
• Consumed at the same
time they are delivered
• It varies based on who is
delivering – and
experiencing – it
• Quality is difficult to
define – much less
measure
The experience is your product. You can’t
afford to get it wrong.
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3. Not just what’s urgent, but what’s
necessary
Urgent Necessary
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4. A model for winning customers
Encourage
• Engage and excite your customers
Encourage
with a vision
• What should they expect to
experience?
• What does “DONE” look like?
• Why should they care?
• How will they feel?
Empower Enable
• Provide your customers with the tools • Ensure your customers have the
required to deliver on the vision knowledge & skills to use the tools
Empower
• Give your customers access to the
people, processes, equipment, Enable
you have provided
• Educate, teach and train your
infrastructure, and other resources that customers (if necessary)
they need • Leverage their capabilities and
• Make it easy for your customers to build the capabilities they need
choose you • Show them how
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5. The good news is that these are the
only three things you need to do to….
…. the challenge lies in the fact that you
must do all three
Encourage
Empower Enable
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6. Remember how you learned to skate?
• “It’s fun”
Encourage • Watch mom/dad
• Hot Chocolate anyone?
• “Let’s go get some
Empower skates”
• Rink at City Hall
• Teaching process
• Instill confidence
Enable (overcome fears)
• Teach (e.g. A. Stand, B.
Walk, C. Glide…..)
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7. Let’s talk about coffee
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8. From “coffee” to “for-here, grande, half-
decaf, non-fat, extra foam, hazelnut, latte”
• Teach the Starbucks “Language”
Enable • Guidance from well-trained “Baristas”
• Ordering guides, calling orders
• Where to pay, where to stand
• Product variety and customization
Empower
capabilities.
• Layout, Décor, Location, Neighbourhood, etc.
Value • Outgoing, friendly and knowledgeable staff.
• Beans, Cups, insulators, toppings, napkins,
etc.
• Your beverage, your way.
Encourage
• Your “3rd place”….refuge from home & office
• Premium service, product and…..premium
price.
Price
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9. From “coffee” to “for-here, grande, half-
decaf, non-fat, extra foam, hazelnut, latte”
• Teach the Starbucks “Language”
Enable • Guidance from well-trained “Baristas”
• Ordering guides, calling orders
• Where to pay, where to stand
• Product variety and customization
Empower
capabilities.
• Layout, Décor, Location, Neighbourhood, etc.
Value • Outgoing, friendly and knowledgeable staff.
• Beans, Cups, insulators, toppings, napkins,
etc.
• Your beverage, your way.
Encourage
• Your “3rd place”….refuge from home & office
• Premium service, product and…..premium
price.
Price
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10. What are the benefits of this approach?
1. Ensures you don’t miss components of your customer’s
experience that are critical in their process to choose you
2. Removes barriers, making it easy for your customers to do
business with you
3. Creates barriers that make it challenging for your customers
to switch
4. Supports premium pricing, which drives margin growth
5. Builds a strong and deep relationship with customers which
drives loyalty and increased share-of-wallet
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11. The broken furnace…..
“This part looks
expensive…I think I’ll
charge them enough
to buy an i-Pad”
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12. From “I’ll fix the furnace when it
breaks” to a multi-year service contract
Enable • Low monthly fee vs. high unexpected
repair bills
• Leverage print materials, web and call
centre staff to educate customers
• Create multi-year service contract
Encourage Empower
product/service.
• Call centre, billing capabilities, technicians,
equipment, etc.
• Create need – “an unexpected breakdown
could cost you $100’s or even $1,000’s
• Professional and highly skilled technicians
in uniform at your home 24/7/365
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13. From “I’ll fix the furnace when it
breaks” to a multi-year service contract
Invoice
Enable • Low monthly fee vs. high unexpected
repair bills $20
• Leverage print materials, web and call x36 mo.
centre staff to educate customers = $720
• Create multi-year service contract
Encourage Empower
product/service.
Value • Call centre, billing capabilities, technicians,
equipment, etc.
• Create need – “an unexpected breakdown
could cost you $100’s or even $1,000’s
Invoice
• Professional and highly skilled technicians
in uniform at your home 24/7/365
$350
Price
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14. Breakout Discussion: Which of the 3Es
does your business do best? Gaps?
Enable
Empower
Value
Encourage
Price
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15. Who do you need to Encourage, Empower
and Enable?
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16. Example: Product differentiated by
service
Consumer Retailer
• Signaled to the consumer that • They were able to demonstrate
Enable
this is a special product by a process that would ensure
merchandising it in the bakery freshness would be consistent
Empower
• Small portion sizes make it easy • Unique packaging made it
for people to have a small, guilt- possible for the product to
free indulgence belong in the bakery section
• Pizza Pizza deal • Demonstrated strong consumer
Encourage
• School pizza lunches demand from the promotional
opportunities
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17. Example: Multi-stakeholder service
Economic Buyer Direct Indirect
Influencers Influencers
Enable
• Head of • Portfolio • Clients
Empower
Operations Managers • Regulators
• Owner/CEO • Compliance
• Admin staff
Encourag
e
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18. Breakout Discussion: Stakeholder
Identification
• Decision-makers up the • Influences outside
• Functions hierarchy
• Lines of business • Users down the hierarchy the organization
Economic Buyer Direct Influencers Indirect
Influencers
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19. Unconventional tactics for identifying what will
encourage, empower and enable your customers
• LinkedIn profiles and discussion threads
What • Investor materials
they say • Surveys of stakeholders other than the economic
buyer
• Mystery shopping and talking to call centre reps
What • Who they’re hiring and for what
they do • Marketing campaigns
• Comprehensive win/loss analysis
• LinkedIn discussions
What • Talking to your customers’ customers
others say • Investor presentations of their customers and
about them competitors
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20. Taking Action
Commit to doing what’s necessary:
I will do the following in the next 30 days to enhance the value of the
experience my organization delivers to its customers:
1. __________________________________________________
2. __________________________________________________
3. __________________________________________________
_______________________ ____________________
Signed Date
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21. Focus on what’s necessary to identify what a
great experience looks like for your customers
Who?
Economic Direct Indirect
Buyer Influencers Influencers
Encourage Insight ??? Insight ??? Insight ???
What?
Empower Insight ??? Insight ??? Insight ???
Enable Insight ??? Insight ??? Insight ???
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22. Thank You