Presentation for "Creating and Maintaining Good Customer Relationships", Eastern New Mexico University Ruidoso Campus, October 28, 2010

1. Eastern New Mexico University Ruidoso
Thursday, October 28, 2010

2.  Business is a “give and take”
 Great relationships are based on great
service
 “Great” customers are loyal
 “Great” customers are your best sales people
 “Great” customers help you to improve
 “Great” customers help grow your business
 So, how do you create these “great”
relationships?

3.  You want to make money
 You want to grow your business
 You want loyal, repeat business as well as
continuing new business
 YOU WANT CUSTOMERS, NOT JUST
CUSTOMERS….what’s the
difference?

4.  What’s the difference between satisfied
customers and loyal customers?
Satisfied: content, completely paid, as a bill, convinced,
as in an argument.
Loyal: faithful to one’s oath, commitments, or
obligation, faithful to any leader, party, or cause, or
to any person or thing conceived as deserving
fidelity. Characterized by or showing faithfulness to
commitments, vows, allegiance, obligations, etc.

5.  Satisfied customers are easy to get-just do
most things right most of the time, and
generally give them what they want.
 Satisfaction is based on basic and predictable
expectations
 For example, when you go to a McDonald’s
drive through window, you expect that they
will be offering french fries on the menu.
Ordering french fries and receiving them
results in satisfaction.

6.  In his book Build Your Customer Strategy,
James Barnes says “Loyalty comes through
the creation of an emotional connection.
Satisfaction is a step along the way.”
 Loyalty comes from the emotional
connection with a customer’s subconscious
expectations, one that they cannot
verbalize.
 You must EXCEED their expectations, and
impress them.
 “I didn’t expect you to do THAT for me!”

7.  Satisfaction is fleeting
 Once a competitor comes along who is
better, faster, or cheaper, satisfaction
becomes irrelevant and customers will leave,
unless they have an emotional connection
 Loyal customers
 Rely on certain brands, products, or services
 Trust them
 Feel comfortable doing business with them
 “My hairdresser….My butcher…My shoe store…My
favorite restaurant…”

8.  Service beyond satisfaction
 “Better than your mother..” EXCEPTIONAL
service
 Class Acts: Service and Inequality in Luxury
Hotels in describing excellent customer
service at a particular luxury hotel, one
guest said:
“Well, their linens and their services, and they bring things, they’re
so accommodating. They go out of their way to make you feel,
y’know, like you matter…they zero in on you and make you feel
like you’re not lost in this huge crowd…when we’re travelling,
we’re not home, and to be taken care of and have somebody
who’s gonna do things for you in a way that’s like, better than
your mother!....It makes you feel good”.

9.  From material items (linens and things, or
conscious expectations) to the workers’
treatment of guests (emotional attachment)
 Personalized, genuine attention
 Exertion of extra effort
 Cared for and made to feel special in a way
that exceeds expectations of even your
mother!

10. Top Excuses:
 “It’s so hard to find employees around here,
much less ones who care”
 “We can’t afford to pay enough to get
quality people”
 “The younger generation doesn’t care”
 “Our customers are too difficult”
 “Employees just don’t get it”
 “We are understaffed”
Slides 10-20: John R. DiJulius: What’s the Secret to Providing World Class Customer
Experience

12.  Lack of service aptitude
 Decline in “people skills”
 Inability (of management) in connecting
employees jobs and their importance to the
success of the company
 Poor hiring standards
 Lack of experiential training
 Not letting employees have input
 Failure to implement and execute consistently
 Lack of a strong employee culture
 Lack of measurements and accountability
 Focus on artificial growth

13.  Lack of Service Aptitude:
 Establish your company’s definition of “world
class” service
 Remove gray area for your employees and
provide protocol for service scenarios
 Make sure your employees have the tools they
need to not only get the job done, but exceed
customers’ expectations

14.  Decline in “People Skills”
 Technology/Automation
 Customers have become “transactions”
 Companies need to “humanize” their systems
 Inability to Connect Employee Jobs and
Company Success
 Every employee, regardless of their position, has
an impact on the company’s bottom line
 A solid service vision is the foundation of every
business’ success-all employees play a part in
that vision

15.  Poor Hiring Standards
 Hire Pro-Actively, rather than Re-actively
 Lack of Ongoing Experiential Training
 Train employees in customer service
 Ongoing customer service training for existing
employees
 Not letting employees have input on systems
 Many companies have senior management meetings
without including employees who work in the front
lines
 Including employees allows you to get commitment
and buy in from people working with your customers
 New perspectives, great ideas

16.  Failure to implement and execute
consistently
 Document your protocols
 Be consistent
 Don’t try to do too much at once
 Create a “roll-out” plan for customer service
ideas, implement ideas one at a time

17.  Lack of a Strong Employee Culture
 Employees who do not receive exceptional
service will never deliver it
 Any “world class” organization has these
elements:
 It is a “world-class” place to work
 It has a “world-class” reputation in its community
 It helps employees lead “world-class” lives
 Management sometimes are the worst role
models. They often forget to treat employees as
customers.

18.  Lack of Measurements and Accountability
 You must track and measure your customer
service systems
 Customer surveys
 Secret Shoppers
 Third Party Companies
 Benchmarks & Goals

19.  Focus on Artificial Growth
 Mergers
 Acquisitions
 Price Cutting
 “Fire Sales” or Novelty Marketing Promotions
 None of these Result in higher customer
satisfaction, exceeding customer expectations,
repeat business, or sustainable growth.

20.  USAA Insurance
 Southwest Airlines
 The Ritz Carlton Hotels

21. USAA has consistently received the highest customer service ratings available to all
financial services companies, including those not in its niche.
2002: JD Power Chairman’s award
2007 & 2008: Business Week ranked USAA #1 in Customer Service Champs, a list of 25
national businesses
A 2007 Forrester Research report referenced in the San Antonio Express-News on June
27, 2007, identified USAA as the leader in customer advocacy based on a customer
survey. Eighty-eight percent of the USAA customers surveyed said "My financial
provider does what's best for me, not just its own bottom line." No other company
evaluated scored higher than 78%. USAA retained the top spot on Forrester
Research's study in 2008 and 2009.
In their May 2009 issue, Consumer Reports named USAA's brokerage division as the top
rated discount brokerage service in the United States.
In a survey of 145 companies conducted by Zogby International, USAA ranked #1 in
customer service out of 145 American companies, and was subsequently awarded
first place in the 2009 MSN Money Customer Service Hall of Fame.
USAA employs more than 21,500 personnel at its offices throughout the country. In
2010, USAA was ranked 45th on Fortune Magazine's list of the "100 Best Companies
to Work For.” USAA has also been recognized for many years as one of the 50 best
corporations for career advancement for Latinas in the US. It has been recognized as
a "Military Spouse-Friendly Employer“ and has also been recognized by GI Jobs as
one of America's best employers for veterans and reservists.

22. USAA

23. Our Mission Statement
“The mission of Southwest Airlines is
dedication to the highest quality of
Customer Service delivered with a sense of
warmth, friendliness, individual pride, and
Company Spirit.”
from www.southwest.com

24.  Commitment to Customer Service
 Keeping customers at the forefront of employees
minds
 VICE PRESIDENT OF CUSTOMERS
 Immerse employees in company culture
 Empower employees to make decisions
 For the tenth year in a row, Fortune magazine recognized Southwest Airlines in its annual survey of
corporate reputations. Among all industries in 2005, FORTUNE has listed Southwest Airlines as number
three among America’s Top Ten most admired corporations.
 FORTUNE has ranked Southwest Airlines in the top five of the “Best Companies to Work For” in America.
Southwest ranked first in 1997 and 1998, second in 1999, and fourth in 2000.
 For 2007, the eighth year in a row, Business Ethics magazine lists Southwest Airlines in its "100 Best
Corporate Citizens", a list that ranks public companies based on their corporate service to various
stakeholder groups. Southwest is one of only 11 repeat winners that have made the list all eight years.
 In 2005 and again in 2008 The American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) recognized Southwest Airlines
as leading the industry in customer satisfaction. The ACSI, conducted by the University of Michigan,
independently tracks customer satisfaction levels by measuring the household consumption experience.

25. Southwest Airlines

26.  AAA Four and Five Diamond Hotel and
Restaurant Awards
 Mobile Five and Four Star Awards
 Conde Naste Traveler Gold List
 Travel & Leisure 500 Greatest Hotels in the
World

27.  Gold Standards
 The Credo
 The Motto
 The Three Steps of Service
 Service Values
 The 6th Diamond
 The Employee Promise

28. Ritz Carlton

29.  TREAT YOUR EMPLOYEES AS CUSTOMERS
 CREATE A CULTURE OF CUSTOMER SERVICE
WITHIN YOUR BUSINESS
 DON’T SETTLE FOR CUSTOMER SATISFACTION-
STRIVE TO ANTICIPATE AND EXCEED
CUSTOMERS’ EXPECTATIONS (SERVICE BEYOND
SATISFACTION)
 FOLLOW THE EXAMPLE OF COMPANIES WITH
PROVEN WORLD CLASS SERVICE