Contents

Cover

Endorsement

Title Page

Copyright

Dedication

Acknowledgments

Foreword

Introduction: A BIRD IN THE HAND IS WORTH MORE THAN YOU THINK

RETURN TO THE CUSTOMER

WHAT IS THE HIDDEN POWER?

ANATOMY OF A “CUSTOMERS ROCK!” COMPANY

BUILD ON THE “ROCK”: THE FOUR KEYS TO GROWTH

HOW TO READ THIS BOOK

KEY ONE: R–RELEVANT MARKETING

Chapter 1: LISTEN TO YOUR CUSTOMER BEFORE DOING ANYTHING

CUSTOMER LISTENING POSTS

LISTEN FOR CUSTOMER FEEDBACK

LISTEN FOR CUSTOMER INSIGHT

FOUNDATION FOR THE FOUR KEYS

Chapter 2: KEEP CUSTOMER NEEDS IN MIND

EXPERIENCE THE LIFE CYCLE

UNDERSTAND THE CUSTOMER'S STATE OF MIND

MEET THE NEEDS OF YOUR CUSTOMERS

JUST WHAT I NEEDED

Chapter 3: COMMUNICATE WITH AND BECOME A FAN OF YOUR CUSTOMERS

MARKETING THE WAY YOUR CUSTOMERS PREFER IT

SOCIAL MEDIA FOR ENGAGEMENT AND CONVERSATION

START AN ONGOING DIALOGUE

Chapter 4: CAPTURE, THEN REWARD, THEIR BUSINESS

SEND MORE THAN JUST BILLS

WHY DO ONLY NEW CUSTOMERS GET THE BEST DEALS?

THANK YOU FOR BEING A CUSTOMER—I MEAN IT!

MAKE CUSTOMERS FEEL VALUED

KEY TWO: O–ORCHESTRATE THE CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE

Chapter 5: PLAN THE EXPERIENCE

THE CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE

THE CUSTOMER PERSPECTIVE

CUSTOMER EXPECTATIONS DRIVE THE OUTCOME

YOUR CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE COMPETITION

UNCOVER THE BEST EXPERIENCE

FOCUS ON YOUR CUSTOMERS

Chapter 6: GET THE LAY OF THE LAND

MANAGING THE CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE—OR NOT

DESIGN THE CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE END-TO-END

MAP THE CUSTOMER JOURNEY

Chapter 7: FINE-TUNE THE EXPERIENCE

TAKE CARE OF THE BEGINNING

MAKE IT PERSONAL

YOU ARE ALWAYS ONSTAGE

PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER FOR THE CUSTOMER

A COMPETITIVE DIFFERENTIATOR

Chapter 8: ALIGN AROUND THE CUSTOMER

NO SILOS

DESIGN PROCESSES THAT FIT

DO YOU WANT MY BUSINESS?

KEY THREE: C–CUSTOMER-FOCUSED CULTURE

Chapter 9: CULTURE OF CUSTOMER SERVICE

PUT PEOPLE FIRST

WHAT WE VALUE

KEEP IT GOING

Chapter 10: MEASURE WHAT MATTERS

CUSTOMER-FOCUSED METRICS

MOVE FROM DATA TO INSIGHT TO ACTION

SATISFACTION: DOES IT MATTER?

MEASURING CUSTOMER PERCEPTION

NEW METRICS FOR MEASURING THE CUSTOMER SERVICE EXPERIENCE

MEASURING THE SUCCESS OF CUSTOMER STRATEGY

Chapter 11: THE POWER BEHIND THE SCENES

HIRE FOR ATTITUDE

ENGAGED EMPLOYEES EQUAL ENGAGED CUSTOMERS

EMPLOYEE EMPOWERMENT

EMPLOYEES MAKE THE DIFFERENCE

KEY FOUR: K–KILLER CUSTOMER SERVICE

Chapter 12: IGNORE CUSTOMERS AT YOUR PERIL

CUSTOMER SERVICE IS THE NEW MARKETING

HOW DO YOU VIEW YOUR CUSTOMERS?

WHERE DOES SOCIAL MEDIA FIT?

VIRAL CAMPAIGNING VERSUS VIRAL COMPLAINING

USING SOCIAL MEDIA FOR CUSTOMER SERVICE—YES OR NO?

THE TRUE MEANING OF CUSTOMER SERVICE

Chapter 13: SHIFT YOUR THINKING FROM NEW TO OLD

LITTLE THINGS MAKE A DIFFERENCE

PUT YOURSELF IN THEIR SHOES

MAKE THEM WANT TO SHOUT ABOUT IT

HELP CUSTOMERS PLAY A ROLE

Chapter 14: CARE AND FEEDING OF CUSTOMERS

THINGS WILL GO WRONG

THE GOLDEN RULE FOR CUSTOMERS

TAKING CARE OF BUSINESS

FOCUS ON THE CUSTOMER

SUMMARY: SURVIVAL TACTICS FOR THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY

Chapter 15: UNLOCKING THE HIDDEN POWER OF YOUR CUSTOMERS

YOUR CALL TO ACTION

USE THE FOUR KEYS

HOW IT COULD LOOK

NOW IT'S YOUR TURN

Notes

Introduction

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

KEY THREE

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Additional Resources

Index

Praise for The Hidden Power of Your Customers

“This is the book that shows you how to R.O.C.K. your customers' world. Read it, watch your mind-set change, unlock the hidden power of your customers, and grow your business!”

–Ekaterina Walter, Social Media Strategist, Intel

“The twenty-first century customer has changed, they are communicating using more channels than ever, thus customer service has to change to meet this new, more involved, more demanding customer's requirements about how they want to interact with you. So take heed, don't waste time, stop reading this blurb and buy the book. You won't regret it. Seriously.”

–Paul Greenberg, Author of CRM at the Speed of Light, 4th Edition

“Readers of Becky Carroll's blog Customersrock.net have long enjoyed the posts on creating a customer strategy through conversations with the objective to retain existing customers and grow their customer base. Now they have the chance to buy the book, read, and implement it without booting up their computer. eBooks exempted.”

–Shashi Bellamkonda, Director of Marketing, Network Solutions (aka Social Media Swami)

“You can't sell something to someone who is mad, right? Yet companies expect to do this every day. They upset customers with poor customer service, and turn around and then market them with some brand promise customers know they can't keep. Becky's book is a gold mine for businesses that are interested in learning how to truly become customer-centric, reduce costs, and increase revenue profits!”

–Dr. Natalie L. Petouhoff, Chief Strategist, Social Media, Digital Communications and Measurement, Weber Shandwick

“Becky Carroll has redefined what customer-centrism can be, and better yet she gives you a clear and concise playbook for making it work in your company. If you wisely want to make more money from the customers you've already worked hard to get, read this book immediately and often.”

–Jay Baer, Coauthor of The NOW Revolution: 7 Shifts to Make Your Business Faster, Smart, and More Social

“Customers are the lifeblood of our businesses, and we spend lots of time and money chasing more of them. But with The Hidden Power of Your Customers, Becky Carroll rightfully reminds us that the most compelling way to grow our business is to put our existing customers at the center of it. Becky's accessible examples and insightful perspective deliver far beyond a customer service how-to, and serve as the playbook for a customer-focused culture, approach, and mind-set that today's businesses absolutely need.”

–Amber Naslund, VP Social Strategy, Radian6, and Coauthor of The NOW Revolution

“The first axiom I learned as a young marketer was that it costs more to acquire a new customer than to retain an existing one. Why, then, do so many companies exhibit an indifference to their customers, especially in light of the current social media melee? Customers are talking back, whether anyone at headquarters is listening or not. Becky Carroll is an authority on customer-centric marketing, and she writes with clarity and passion. If you want to grow your company, buy this book and read it twice.”

–Connie Reece, Marketing and Communications Consultant and Founder, Every Dot Connects

“The need to listen to your customers, both to what they are saying and what they are not saying, is critical to organizations across the world, across the public and private sectors. The Hidden Power of Your Customers provides an excellent guide for novice and experts seeking to grow their business by properly engaging with their customers. The insights complete with clear explanations and solid case studies ensure this is a book you will want to read.”

–John F. Moore, Founder and CEO, Government in The Lab

Copyright © 2011 by Rebecca Carroll. All rights reserved.

Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey.
Published simultaneously in Canada.

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise, except as permitted under Section 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without either the prior written permission of the Publisher, or authorization through payment of the appropriate per-copy fee to the Copyright Clearance Center, Inc., 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, (978) 750-8400, fax (978) 646-8600, or on the web at www.copyright.com. Requests to the Publisher for permission should be addressed to the Permissions Department, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030, (201) 748-6011, fax (201) 748-6008, or online at www.wiley.com/go/permissions.

Limit of Liability/Disclaimer of Warranty: While the publisher and author have used their best efforts in preparing this book, they make no representations or warranties with respect to the accuracy or completeness of the contents of this book and specifically disclaim any implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. No warranty may be created or extended by sales representatives or written sales materials. The advice and strategies contained herein may not be suitable for your situation. You should consult with a professional where appropriate. Neither the publisher nor author shall be liable for any loss of profit or any other commercial damages, including but not limited to special, incidental, consequential, or other damages.

For general information on our other products and services or for technical support, please contact our Customer Care Department within the United States at (800) 762-2974, outside the United States at (317) 572-3993 or fax (317) 572-4002.

Wiley also publishes its books in a variety of electronic formats. Some content that appears in print may not be available in electronic books. For more information about Wiley products, visit our web site at www.wiley.com.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data:

Carroll, Becky, 1966–
The hidden power of your customers : Four keys to growing your business through existing customers / Becky Carroll.
p. cm.
ISBN 978-1-118-01821-7 (cloth)
ISBN 978-1-118-09544-7 (ebk)
ISBN 978-1-118-09545-4 (ebk)
ISBN 978-1-118-09546-1 (ebk)
1. Customer services. 2. Customer relations. 3. Customer services—Management. 4. Customer relations—Management. I. Title.
HF5415.5.C373 2011
658.8′12–dc22 2011007554

This book is dedicated to my loving husband, Dan, without whom I would have never taken the first step, and to my sons, Tim and Matt, who encouraged me all along the way. I love you.

Acknowledgments

This book is the culmination of more than four years of thoughts, hopes, and dreams. As you can imagine, a lot of people have contributed to those dreams along the way and have helped shape this book into a reality. Unfortunately, there are many more people who have contributed than I am able to thank here, but please know that all of you have made an impact on me and on this book. You all rock!

First and foremost, I want to thank my husband Dan. You have helped me keep my eye on the end goal. Thank you for the time you spent making dinners, creating a quiet house (so I could focus), and rubbing my back at three in the morning when I was tossing and turning over the next chapter. I couldn't have done it without you and your endless support.

I also want to tell you, Tim and Matt, how much I have appreciated all of your encouragement. From making me a snack to keeping me company to understanding when I couldn't always be with you during this project—every little thing you have done meant so much to me. Thank you for being such wonderful sons.

To my parents, Jim and Linda, thank you for your countless hours helping me with my writing, with processing the edits for this book, and with your endless support. Your contributions were tremendous, and you helped me more than you know.

Cindy, Mary, Jack, and Sue: Thank you for always believing in me and for your positive words. They have kept me moving. And Pam, I am grateful for our friendship and for all the ways you have reached out and been there for me these past months.

Over the past four years there have been many bloggers who have inspired me and advanced my writing and thinking about customers. Mack Collier, thank you for giving my blog a kick-start as part of the “Z-List” and for your kind words, then and now. Steve Woodruff and Jay Ehret, thank you for giving me the opportunity to participate in some of your blog projects, and for your prayers when I needed them. Michael Brito, CB Whittemore, Toby Bloomberg: You are all good friends and supporters. I appreciate that you are always there when I needed to talk something over or needed a panelist or radio guest! I admire you all.

A special thank you goes out to my coworkers Judy, Helen, Mark, Jaime Lee, Becky, and Doug at Verizon, as well as Lisa at Aquent. You have given me the support I needed to complete this project. Thank you for having my back!

Kudos also to the great people at John Wiley & Sons, Inc. who have been working with me on the project: Dan Ambrosio, Ashley Allison, Lauren Freestone, and the many others behind the scenes who have made this book real. Your professionalism and expertise have been invaluable.

A big acknowledgment to all of the people I interviewed for the case studies in the book, as well as the companies and people that helped connect me with them. You are all Customers Rock!-stars from my perspective, and I appreciate your willingness to share and be a part of this effort.

Finally, many, many thanks to my UC San Diego students, my San Diego social media colleagues, and my “Customers Rock!” blog readers. All of you have encouraged me in one way or another, and I am so excited to be able to share this final work with you. You all rock!

Foreword

THE RISE OF THE CONNECTED CUSTOMER AND THE NEW ERA OF RELEVANCE

Good customer service used to be one of the secrets to business success. Over time, however, what was considered “good” turned out to be not good enough. Somewhere along the way, customers became a burden, viewed by big organizations as a cost center and by smaller businesses as an inconvenience. Processes, systems, automated attendants, and technology eventually separated us from them and … well, here we are today, wondering how it is that the very people who contribute to the overall health of our business are farther away from us than ever before.

Let me ask you a question: When you picture customer service, do you see it from the standpoint of you as a business owner or stakeholder in a company, or do you think of it from the customer perspective, where your experiences as a customer remind you of what good service is and isn’t? I have to be honest, writing this brought to mind some painful experiences, when I just didn't feel the appreciation I would expect as a customer. I have a feeling it's an experience you and I share. That's the point. As customers, we can share countless stories of unpleasant encounters—and have most likely already done so with our friends and family. How many great customer service experiences can you recall, and how often did you, or do you, talk about them today?

This is the perspective you need as you look to your customers today to grow your business tomorrow. This may sound silly, but the future of business takes a personal touch.

Let me share a secret with you, a secret that will unlock the four keys to growing your business: Empathy is the connection between you and your customers. Empathy is the bridge between your customers and their peers.

I've known Becky Carroll for several years, and the message of empathy is one she has shared with us time and time again. As so many relationships begin these days, I initially “met” Becky online, through Facebook, Twitter, and blogs. In February 2008, I had a chance to see her in action at “The Customer Service Is the New Marketing Summit,” hosted by GetSatisfaction in San Francisco. Becky's session was titled “Customer Experience: The Intersection of Marketing and Customer Service,” and her words still echo true today.

Great—not just good—customer service is necessary for business survival. Personalized and empowering customer service, fanned by empathy, is the recipe for viral customer service, where word of mouth becomes an extension of your marketing and sales efforts.

The future of business is rooted in shared experiences. Customer experiences will be shared, and they will either be positive or negative. Not unlike the reviews we've either posted or read on Amazon, people either love or hate an interaction they've had with a company. They feel so strongly about it, they'll take to Amazon or any other review site to ensure that everyone else feels what they're feeling prior to making a purchase decision. Again, customer experiences will either be positive or negative, and you can bet that they will be shared.

The wonderful aspect about all this is that you get to choose which type of experience your customers will have. More important, if you can engender a positive experience for them, you can literally plug into an entirely new world of connected consumerism that extends those exchanges beyond the typical few friends they might tell either way. Nowadays, customers are connected to one another through social networks and online groups. This isn't new; what is new is the nature of these relationships and the efficiency with which information travels within and beyond inner networks of friends.

The average person is connected to 140 people on Twitter and 130 on Facebook, and even they can trigger a social effect that extends experiences beyond small cliques of friends and family. There's a new genre of customers rapidly emerging, and they're connected to not hundreds but thousands of others. The social or connected customers is your influencer. They are the gatekeepers to a more efficient and expansive network of referrals linked by shared experiences and optimized through an endless social effect that extends your value proposition beyond your reach today. Yes, that was a long sentence, but I couldn't shorten it, as doing so would have minimized the importance of what's before you.

We are embarking upon a new era of business, one that I believe represents the end of business as usual—and this is a good thing.

Customers want a few things:

Products or services that meet or exceed their needs.

The ability to find what they need when they need it.

A channel by which to be heard.

What customers now bring to the table is the ability to get each of the above with or without you. This is your opportunity to plug in to these networks, where you can build relationships, cultivate loyalty, and learn how to adapt, all while earning greater relevance and reach. Brilliant!

Everything begins with defining the experiences you wish others to share.

There's a mnemonic spelling lesson in English most of us learned that, to this day, is impossible to forget: “i” before “e” except after “c.” It can, however, be applied to much more than everyday spelling. To remember the importance of the customer, I've adapted its definition as follows:

Insight before engagement unless customer or community needs take immediate precedence.

With the emergence of social media, we are given not just a right to engage but a rite of passage to earn relevance.

Social networks are much more than Twitter, Facebook, Foursquare, YouTube, et al. These networks represent a potential much more transformative: that is, the democratization of information and the equalization of influence within new digital societies. Here, everyone begins at ground zero, including you, but it is how behavior evolves that introduces us to a new future of sales, service, and business. As everyday sales and service become commodities, experiences and relationships become paramount. Peers, friends, family, and experts become trusted sources to steer and filter relationships within these new landscapes. Sharing becomes social. Decisions become social. Commerce, and ultimately service, becomes social. At the heart and soul of all of this is the very essence of your business—shared experiences connected through empathy and fortified by the desire and intention to shape them in ways that help people help you.

Take this book and use it to grow your business. More important, use it to build relationships that turn customers into advocates and advisors.

In business, as in life, you earn the relationships and, with nurture, the yield that you've earned and deserve.

Care. Guide. Connect. Learn.

—Brian Solis (@briansolis), author of Engage!,
digital analyst, and champion for everyday customers

Introduction

A BIRD IN THE HAND IS WORTH MORE THAN YOU THINK

The Hidden Power of Your Customers will change the way you think about your customers.

Oh, you've probably heard the terms countless times before: customer service, moments of truth, customer satisfaction, retention, and loyalty. All of these have been talked about—even extolled—for a long time now.

Yet the reality is this:

Most marketing budgets focus on acquisition, while existing customers are ignored or offered worse prices than new customers—and companies hope that existing customers won't notice.

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!

Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!