5. The 3 key reasons why customers leave:
55% Not being recognized as a valuable
customer
47% Unhelpful staff
42% Ineffective call centers
http://www.customerthink.com/news/hike_customer_churn_rate_15
12. At AT&T Park, the San
Francisco Giants are using
dynamic pricing and other
customer-friendly
techniques to build a loyal
fan base.
http://www.inc.com/article/2010/10/Russ-Stanley-San-Francisco-Giants-customer-service.html
the old model did not work that well and it sucks even more now
sales = pressure, its begging for business
"if I want something from you I'll ask for it"
yelling does not sell anymore
enduring relationships comes from supporting your customers
stop fighting with your customers and start working with them
as soon as someone starts selling to you a normal reaction is to pull away from that experience
helping people do business with you is adding value to your profit margins - every time
80% of your business comes from 20% of your customer base
imagine if you could grow that 20% to 25% or 30%
20% of your business comes from the remaining 80% of customers
so 8/10 customers are at risk if defecting to another company, they are an opportunity for you
why spend money on trying to replace those customers when you could work on nurturing a positive relationship with them thus growing your 20% loyal customer base to 25% or 30% of your business.
if companies spent as much effort on fostering positive relationships, turning customers into friends as they do in trying to convert new people to customers imagine how efficient and more rewarding it would be as a customer and for the business.
Participation also means more companies are also listening and acting much faster to resolve any issues
what you say online now can influence 1000's and 1000's of people
It began with the team recognizing that not all games are equal. A weekend battle with a pennant contender or long-time archrival like the Dodgers is worth more to a fan than a midweek night game involving a cellar-dwelling opponent. With this in mind, ticket prices were scaled according to demand.
you want people to contact you
you want customers to ask you questions
you want to engage
because getting the opportunity to engage means a chance to build a better more rewarding relationship
it gives you a chance to make that persons life a little easier
building their knowledge about your business will make them smarter, make them look good and build their personal confidence
The sales process is now driven largely by peer to peer word of mouth recommendations
people trust peers and people in their networks more that advertising
By 2014, 53% of total retail sales will be affected by the Web (online and Web-influenced), as consumers increasingly use the Internet to research products before purchasing. (Forrester, March 2010)
Just three years ago, my parents bought a GE Hotpoint gas stove. So, you can imagine their surprise when they came home from work on August 18th to discover that the black decorative glass panel on the stove door had fallen out of its frame and was shattered in hundreds of pieces on the floor.
The stove was two years out of warranty, but clearly this is a type of failure that GE might consider performing an out-of-warranty repair. My father took photos as he found it, swept the bits of glass into a cardboard box and hit the Internet for a way to contact GE. GE does have a feedback form on their appliances site, and my father filled it out that evening. He received an automated response, but nothing more.
My mother mentioned it to me on the phone that Saturday, the 21st, and I mentioned that GE Appliances might have a Twitter account. My folks aren't that familiar with Twitter, so I decided to tweet on their behalf. I sent out the following into the Twitter void:
Mike626: The glass door of my parents' 2 year old GE Hotpoint stove shattered into hundreds of pieces while they were at work. GE has a Twitter Acct? (1:37pm, Aug 21)
GE Responded on Sunday, less than 24 hours later:
GE_Appliances: @Mike626 This is Megan from GE. How can I help? (Aug 22, 10:28am)
They asked me to email them directly with my parent's information and I provided them with a brief decription and my father's photos.
Less than one day after GE responded to me on Twitter, I was copied on the following email to my father:
Date: Mon, Aug 23, 2010 at 7:52 AMSubject: RE: Stove Glass Door Failure
Thank you for reaching out to us concerning your parent's range and providing the tracking number for your father's e-mail.
I was able to research the e-mail and have sent your dad the following response:
Dear Mr. xxxxxxxxxx,
Thank you for contacting us. I share your concern over the inconvenience and expense involved when a product fails to operate properly and I am sorry to learn of the difficulty you have experienced with your gas range.
I have scheduled no charge service with GE Consumer Service for this Friday, August 27, between 8AM-12 Noon. Your service call number is xxxxxxxxxx. If this is not a convenient time to have the range serviced, please contact GE Consumer Service directly at 1-800-432-2737, Monday through Friday, 7:00am to 10:00pm, or Saturday and Sunday, 8:00am to 6:00pm, Eastern Time to reschedule.
I hope this is helpful. Should you need any further assistance or have any other questions, please don't hesitate to let me know.
Sincerely,
Kim
Consumer AdvocateConsumer e-Response TeamGE Consumer & Industrial
The service technician showed up on time, and after the usual complications of ordering a part and the Labor Day holiday weekend, my father sent me the following email yesterday:
Date: Fri, Sep 10, 2010 at 3:01 PMSubject: Range Door
The glass in the gas range door has been installed.
GE IS OK BY ME.
I'm thoroughly impressed by GE's Social Media response team on Twitter. To get a response in less than a day, and a free service call scheduled within 48 hours is a huge customer service win on GE's part. That a company so large can provide such personal service is a testament to the power of a tool like Twitter.