Customers | Justin Levy

The Importance of Feedback

July 2, 2010 By Justin Levy 5 Comments

I recently posted an article over on the New Marketing Labs blog regarding asking for feedback and the importance of having a feedback loop. I thought it might interest you and I also wanted to get your opinion on it.

Do you ask for feedback on a regular basis? No, not whether or not you look good in stripes but feedback from your customers, clients, vendors, partners, employees and managers.

Some of us are scared of asking for feedback because we’re worried what the response will be. It’s ok, it’s a natural feeling. However, asking for feedback from those folks that we spend all day interacting with is important in ensuring that you’re always delivering consistent value. If you’ve never asked if what you’re doing is valuable, how can you ensure it is? Simple: you can’t.

At New Marketing Labs we just launched a quarterly feedback form that we’re asking all of our clients and partners to fill out. It’s quick, it’s simple but it gives us a pulse on how we’re doing. This is in addition to the many other forms of communication, feedback and reporting that we have in place with all of our clients. When we were developing this report we knew it needed to be fast or else no one would ever fill it out thoroughly. We decided that we would ask to be given a letter grade in 5 areas with an overall grade and then a simple question at the end. Here’s what we asked for feedback on:

Communications professionalism, effectiveness, & enjoyment
Reporting effectiveness, usefulness, format & aesthetic
On time, as promised deliverables
Overall value added
Meeting your expectations
How can we improve to be a better partner and add more value (not a grade, but telling us how to be better partners!)?

Nice and simple but hits on all of the key areas that we care about to ensure we’re being helpful in a timely, appropriate and needed way.

In addition to asking for feedback from our clients, I ask my team members to provide weekly feedback on their wins (successes), opportunities (where they can do better) and to tell me how I can be more helpful to them in the coming week(s). Just like with our clients, this is not the only communications that we have over the course of a week to ensure there is an open loop of feedback happening.

While feedback isn’t always fun especially if it is critical of the work you’re doing, it is necessary. Burying your head in the sand and telling yourself that everything is going great even though it isn’t will lead down very dark, lonely and broke paths. Also, remember, that not all feedback is negative. Positive feedback can be energizing and help to boost morale. But, if you receive positive feedback, don’t take that as a sign that since everything is good you can sit back and put it on auto-pilot. Use it as an opportunity to go deeper, provide more value and try to be even more helpful.

Do you have feedback processes in place?

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Photo Credit: Padday

Filed Under: Business, Communications, Customer Service Tagged With: Business, clients, Communications, Customers, feedback

Providing a Velvet Rope Experience

June 17, 2009 By Justin Levy 5 Comments

Yesterday I had a meeting at Gillette Stadium as part of planning the Inbound Marketing Summit. As we took a tour of Patriot Place, a collection of shops and restaurants attached to the stadium, I was shown the Showcase Cinema de Lux. It was explained to me that this movie theater offered a “lux level” ticket which allowed you private access to a balcony level of the theater with private servers, full food and liquor menu, oversized plush chairs, and a handful of other amenities. Yeah, ok, right.

Being someone who loves going to movies, I ventured back out later last night to see “The Hangover” (hilarious movie!). Once I walked into the theater I was floored by the technology and how nice everything was but I had no clue what I was in store for. We went over the stairs leading upstairs to the “lux level” and were greeted by 2 friendly staff members. First, we were carded because no one under 21 is allowed in the lux level (a huge plus!). Then we were escorted upstairs. Since we were a little early, we were invited to have a drink at the trendy restaurant and bar. Seriously, this was nothing like a movie theater restaurant. After watching the Red Sox game for a few minutes a staff member told us our seats were ready and escorted us into the theater.

Upon reaching our seats, he wiped them off for us, told us the features of the lux level and then presented us with our menus. Again, these were trendy menus with everything from chicken satay to pizza, burgers, entrees, martinis and just about anything else you could want including standard movie theater snacks. A few minutes after being seated we were greeted by our server who chatted with us for a few minutes and then immediately got our order taken care of. Ok, private server, full food and liquor menu…check.

The seats were incredible! Imagine the huge all encompassing leather recliner that you could fall asleep in. Now picture it with an elegant tray attached, server call button and enough leg room for this tall lanky guy to fully stretch out his legs. It was like a slice of heaven in a movie theater. Throughout the movie the server made sure we were taken care of and then thanked us at the end of the movie Oversized plush leather chairs and a fantastic experience…double check.

This entire experience cost $10 additional but you received $5 credit towards food/drinks so it really only cost $4.50 more than a standard ticket. That’s a little extra to pay for an experience that should cost much more than that. Plus, we will ensure that we go back there from now on so they have gained a pair of regular customers.

What’s the point of this story? Well, besides the fact that if you live in the Boston area, you should visit the Showcase Cinema de Lux, the point is that National Amusements (owner of the theater) is providing a velvet rope experience to their guests. Even if you choose not to get the lux level seating, the movie theater is incredible. But, if you are willing to pay a few extra dollars, you’ll never want to watch another movie any place else. National Amusements took something as simple as going to the movies and thought outside of that standard box to come up with this velvet rope treatment.

We typically see this with the airline industry who is constantly trying to add increased value to their first-class services. Look at some of the recent changes that Cathay Pacific, Virgin America and others have made that will push the envelope on flying experience…yet another experience that usually is pretty dull especially for those who travel a lot.

Are you looking for ways to provide your customers with a velvet rope experience? If you are, then let’s chat about how you provide that experience in the comments. If you aren’t providing a velvet rope experience, or at least the option of one, why not?

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Photos by: lolololori

Filed Under: Customer Service, Social Media Tagged With: customer interaction, Customers, Social Media

Providing Customer Service Without Ever Speaking

May 6, 2009 By Justin Levy 5 Comments

Is it possible to provide great customer service without ever speaking to your customer? I think so. Actually, I know so. Since its inception, I have been a regular customer of Netflix. There have been a couple times where I’ve canceled the membership because of traveling, moving, etc but I’ve always come back. Why? Well, beyond the fact that it’s a genius system for a great price, I have always loved their care for the customer experience. I’ve never talked to one representative at Netflix. Do they even have customer service reps? I’m sure they must have to but I’ve never had a need to go looking for a number. Yet, I always feel like they are continually trying to improve customer service thus improving the overall customer experience. How so?

One of the big ways is through the below email I get randomly from Netflix.

netflix

It usually comes about once every couple weeks. It simply asks what day I dropped the movie I was returning in the mail. But, it is so much more than just remembering that you dropped it 2 days ago. Netflix is using that data to track the delivery time from mailbox to shipping facility. Sure, that allows them to know it takes 1-2 days from the greater Boston area because they have a shipping facility in Worcester, MA (about 1.25hr drive from Boston). It also allows them to strategically determine where to open new shipping facilities. If they see that the average delivery time moves from 1.3 days from Boston to Worcester up to 2.2 days, that will show them that maybe the Worcester shipping facility is overburdened because of the number of customers in the area. Netflix could then build a new shipping facility closer to Boston using their customer address data and the average return time of a movie based on what customers tell them on these email surveys.

Those are just a few examples of the many possibilities for using the data that Netflix receives just by you telling them what day you sent back a movie. Also, that’s only one way of many that Netflix is working to improve their customer experience and they’re doing it, at least in the above example, without ever speaking via phone to their customers. Furthermore, they’re making the customer feel as though they’re valued by the company. Remember, every customer matters!

So, how are you working to improve your customer’s experience? Do you analyze every touch point that your customers have with your brand? Do you strive to continually improve those touch points?

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Filed Under: Business, Business strategy Tagged With: Business, Business strategy, customer interaction, Customers

Are You Developing Raving Fans

February 17, 2009 By Justin Levy 15 Comments

It’s no surprise that word-of-mouth can be the best marketing a company could ask for. It can also be the most detrimental to a company’s brand if that word-of-mouth is negative or even indifferent. As we are going through difficult economic times, it becomes even more important that you cherish every single customer. Furthermore, word-of-mouth is now on steroids with the speed at which information travels across and through social networks. So, how do you ensure that your customers become a positive word-of-mouth vehicle for your company? One way is through developing raving fans of your brand.

A few years ago I first read Raving Fans: A Revolutionary Approach To Customer Service. Back then I was in college studying sociology. While the book made sense, it didn’t really sink in what a “raving fan” was or why they were so important. I recently decided to re-read the book again since I’m fascinated in developing positive employee cultures and the concept of developing raving or super fans. If you haven’t ever read this book, this is a must-read and you should order it immediately. Even if you have read it before, it’s one of those classic business books that should be read once a year or so just to remind yourself how important it is.

What are some ways that you can develop raving (or super) fans? These are just some of the ways I try to develop raving fans at my steakhouse.

Developing Raving Fans

Take the time to learn their name and something interesting about them. Write it down and next time you meet them, ask them about whatever it was.
Set up a listening post. If you find someone talking negatively about your brand, address it directly with that person. Chances are, they will appreciate it and may actually become a super fan of your brand.
Learn what your customers actually want and then find a way to deliver it.
Be humble
If you find someone talking positively about your brand, reach out to them and thank them.
Don’t always make it about your top or bottom line. Zappos.com runs their warehouses 24/7 to provide fast service to their customers. Inefficient from a labor prospective? Probably. Develops raving fans who continue to buy? Absolutely.
Be human

Do you agree with this list? What are other ways that you develop raving fans of your brand?

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