According to David Rich, President & CEO of ICC/Decision Services: “These metrics bear
out the adage that the best independent retailers can be ‘small enough to know you and
big enough to serve you.’” But, Rich continues, there are readily available tools for larger
grocers who want to see their pharmacies deliver improved service. Implementing a
documented training program that is reviewed with new and current associates, as well
as ongoing measurement of said practices can positively impact service, and as a result,
deepen customer loyalty. “

About ICC/Decision Services

ICC/Decision Services is a privately held company headquartered in New York City
serving customers around the world. Since 1979 we have offered hands-on experience
designing and executing highly successful Customer Experience Management programs.
Together our management team has more than a century of expertise developing
creative solutions for some of the world’s leading retail brands such as Foot Locker,
Coach, Forever 21, CVS, and Walmart. For more information: www.iccds.com

Before even starting a mobile campaign, businesses need to figure out exactly what type of mobile interaction their client want and will use. For example, a plumber might need a simple mobile website containing service hours, fees and a primary call to action (phone and email). An apparel retailer will need a much different approach. Lucky Magazine has an incredible app, designed to help users find clothing and even the nearest retailer. Ralph Lauren has an impressive app that will allow users design and purchase their own polo shirts. The bottom line is that different types of retailers need different types of mobile presence.

Google has released a new mobile calculator that allows businesses to track sales leads from calls, mobile contact, apps and even in-store sales. The tool may make it easier for marketing managers to get a better view of mobile ROI and to make improvements in customer experience.

To date, the best way to track mobile ROI is with isolated marketing campaigns and sophisticated call tracking. This does work, but often times companies don’t have the in-house expertise to handle it. Give Google credit for attempting to bring excellent data without overly complicated analytics.

We’ll be interested to see how this technology can be used to help evaluate customer experience and make improvements in overall customer satisfaction. Have a look at the case study Google put out explaining things more…

At $4 Million per 30 seconds, what do you think – were they worth it?

Having launched so many customer experience programs, we have the benefit of seeing this in action. Those companies that project a message that provides a real benefit to the shopper seem to do much better in terms of sales, repeat business and a host of other important metrics.

The first step is figuring out what drives your shoppers to become customers. This is where a well-designed customer intercept program can work wonders. Find out why they bought, or why they didn’t, and you’ll be able to craft marketing programs that speak directly to those drivers.

When your marketing team moves to craft new marketing messages they should be well briefed on the motivations that led to previous sales. In store messaging, layout, design and even online marketing messages can all be used to lead the shopper to become a customer.

This reminds me of an old sales parable:

A salesman is down in the dumps after missing his number for the month. His sales manager asked him why he had lost so many sales. The salesman said, “We had a great discount this month. It just goes to show you, that you can lead a horse to water but you can’t make him drink.” To which the manager says, “Son, here is some advice: Your job is not to lead them to water. It’s to make them thirsty.”

Since we play in the customer experience world, we pay a lot of attention to various marketing efforts. I often talk about how marketing is a natural extension of customer experience intelligence.

Take all the advertisements that appeared throughout the Super Bowl. We heard all about cold filtered, triple filters, freshness dating and even about exotic hops.

Guess what?

I don’t know what cold filtering is.

I don’t know what triple filtering is.

I had hoped that the beverages I purchase are fresh anyway.

I’m not quite sure what a hop is.

So we get to the crux of the matter: All this messaging was wasted on me. None of it will compel me to buy the products advertised.

This leads us back to the sales parable. The best market in the world is a hungry market, or thirsty, as it were. Marketing seems to work best when it encompasses messaging that gets into the mind of the customer. What makes them tick? What is the emotion propelling the shopping process?

When a retail business can tap into those emotions, the sale becomes a foregone conclusion.

Sales and marketing should focus on turning shoppers into purchasers by creating the right situation to satisfy their desire.

Next time you’re considering a new marketing piece, think about what you’re doing. Are you pulling the shopper by the reigns? Or are you offering a desert oasis?

Don’t make them drink. Make them thirsty.

Just what is the economic outlook for retailers this year?

There are a few areas that we should examine to get a sense of where things are. First, retail sales and the labor market are inextricably tied. Simply put, when people are out of work they spend less on consumer items. Second, the stock market has had a great showing in recent months and is indeed near all time highs. Finally, the policies and regulations coming out of Washington is having an obvious impact on retailers and businesses of all types.

How do these areas come together to create a realistic outlook?

February employment numbers seem positive. The rate is now at 7.7% down from 7.9%. Some analysts view this positively, but there is good reason for caution. The labor participation rate is suffering and is indeed responsible for most of the rate decrease. When people stop looking for work, they are no longer counted in the overall employment picture. With a decrease in total workforce, the employment rate comes down. While this mathematical slight of hand may work for politicians, it does not bode well for retailers, who face a shrinking market. The upside is that public sentiment does not necessarily follow this technicality and while the markets may be shrinking, public perception may be enough to keep spending moving in the right direction.

There is similar dissonance in the stock market. With so many economic indicators in the tank, how do we explain the soaring stock market? When companies are faced with decreased sales and ever-tightening margins due to taxation and regulation, they react the same way a family would react – by tightening their collective belt. Over the past few years we have seen companies make great efforts to reduce workforce size, trim excess spending, carefully manage inventories and resist capital expansion in many cases, all in an effort to manage the impact of high unemployment and low consumer confidence. The dirty little secret is that this has helped many businesses become more profitable and allowed them to increase cash stores. Showing a better overall business position, stock prices responded favorably. With stronger positions all around, it’ll make for a fantastic economic expansion when companies feel the regulatory and tax environment is safe to do so.

Most of what we are talking about is directly related to Washington. Many sectors of the economy are being hit by new regulations, particularly energy and health care. This flows throughout the economy; when people are hit with greater expenses for gas, insurance and other necessities, retail spending will take the hit.

It seems that there are some signs of optimism in spite of the regulatory and tax environment, which speaks volumes about the strength of the American economic machine. All this taken together makes 2013 look like it will be a stable year, but without the explosive growth we all yearn for.

Four of the top ten are airlines! This probably doesn’t surprise anyone. Delta (3), US Airways (4), American (6) and United (10) round out this group. The airlines have tried, they really have. Think about all the mileage programs and other points and loyalty programs you have come across. The airlines do what they can, but they have two very large obstacles working against them.

First, this type of service does not lend itself to a great customer experience. The sheer volume of flights and number of people make air travel logistically complex, to say the least. The smallest aberration in scheduling can set off chain reactions that make for a bad experience. One missing attendant from a flight crew can delay pushing back from the gate, which can lead to delays for the plane waiting for the gate, which can lead to runway delays and on and on. We’ve all seen it before.

Second, organizational challenges have long plagued airlines. Unions demand higher wages and more generous benefits, while fuel costs soar. With razor thin (or non-existent) margins, airlines don’t have the financial means to create a fine user experience.

Airlines would do well to first, examine what people really care about, and then set about finding ways to focus attention there. Sounds rudimentary, but it’s not. My impression is that airlines spend an inordinate amount of time trying to solve the problems their customers face. But as we just described, many of these problems are inherent in the service and thus, not necessarily solvable. Customers are very forgiving when it comes to circumstances out of anybody’s control. But how the situation is handled is an entirely different story. Instead of focusing on solving the unsolvable, how about focusing on customer interactions and comfort? Anybody who has been to a “customer service” counter for an airline – any airline – knows this doesn’t get much attention.

Another interesting choice is Twitter (5). People the world over have adopted Twitter at shocking rates. Aside from very short moments of an over burdened server, Twitter generally works fine. Most customer service complaints tend toward the “I don’t like this new feature” variety. Still, when security issues compromise an account, don’t plan on hearing back from Twitter support, at least that was my experience. Providing fast support for users is always key – especially in the 140 character hyper-active universe Twitter lives in. Facebook (11) and LinkedIn (8) also made the list. Interestingly, these three companies offer their core product for free. Imagine what the customer experience perception would be if each charged a monthly usage fee.

The rest of the 15 companies are made up by the usual suspects – cable companies and utilities. It seems that the one thing in common across the board is that all these companies serve a LOT of people. The solution, it seems to me, would be to find a way to streamline support resolutions to the most common issues.

When customers have a choice, the experience is always better. This is why you don’t see any retail stores on the list. The trick with retail stores is that in addition to learning why a customer did not like a purchase, or have a good experience, retailers must find out why a potential shopper chose to buy elsewhere.

We’ll have to investigate the best and worst of retail store customer service. It will be an interesting juxtaposition against these service-based organizations.

At a recent trip to an Apple store, it occurred to me that there is a way to tap into the human behavior side of customer satisfaction without having to rely on consistent personalities.

It all comes down to responsibility.

The other day, working away on my MacBook Pro, something strange happened. My cursor became unresponsive. I restarted the machine. Same result. I could use keyboard shortcuts and keys to manipulate the computer, but something was wrong with the track pad.

Off to the Apple Store I went.

I have written about Apple many times on these pages, usually because they have such great examples for various customer experience topics. This visit did not disappoint.

I won’t bore you with the details of my (two) visits. But there is an important take away:

The employee who greeted me at the door handed me off to someone immediately since I had an appointment. After getting set up with my “representative” I never had to talk to anyone else. The rep took complete responsibility for my issue.

He examined my computer. He got input from another employee. He explained how they would fix it. He set up a follow up appointment. He met me at the follow up and walked me through the fix. He walked me to the door on the way out and said goodbye.

This type of customer experience made the entire process go smoothly. Many customer engagements are made in positive environments. That is, the interactions are between sales and prospective clients. In this case, we start with the negative situation of a broken product. But the way Apple handles its customer relationships, placing a high value on problem ownership, makes the entire situation easier to deal with.

In this way, a retail chain can make great strides in customer satisfaction, bypassing personalities and turning negatives into positives.