Surveys don’t tell the whole picture

I was just completing a report for a new banking client and noticed two measurements heading in opposite directions. Their mystery shopping scores were low, but their customer satisfaction from exit surveys was high. So what’s going on? This highlights the problem with reliance on one measurement. The customers are woo’d by the nice branch, […]

1 Star reviews are no reason to panic

Osteria Francescana was voted the best restaurant in the world for 2018. If you look at the Trip Advisor reviews, you will see 86 people thought it was terrible. That’s 3.8% of the reviewers. Emirates is considered one of the best airlines in the world, but 2,619 people thought it was terrible (5.2% of reviewers).2 more terrible […]

The purpose of surveys is not to measure service

What’s the purpose of customer surveys? If you think it’s to measure customer service you may want to re-consider. Surveys measure what the customer thinks they thought. Those thoughts can be wrong, and more importantly, they don’t measure what makes you money. Customers are so easily swayed by a nice employee and nice environment. They may […]

6 steps to move from price selling to brand selling

Chinese shoppers are renowned for their price sensitivity and intense negotiations. I spend a lot of time there, yet I’m constantly surprised at the pace of change. Big changes are afoot. Consumer behaviour have caught up to the West in a matter of years and blown past us. There has been an explosion of brand […]

Unsure how I feel about this Chinese restaurant video

Back-of-house Staff can usually hide their habits. (This 7 second video is to be seen to be believed – for its ordinariness) To increase transparency, some restaurants put the kitchen staff out in the open. The kitchen is out with the diners. The motivation is obvious – to show they have nothing to hide. There’s something reassuring to watch […]

Why technology makes Service even more important

The future has arrived – in China. I’m fortunate enough to travel to my Shanghai Mystery Shopping office every 3-4 months. Since my last trip I noticed that cash just does not exist. Yes, cash does not exist. We are starting to feel this in the West thanks to Apple Pay and Google Pay, but […]

Marketing is service

Marketing is not often viewed as customer service centric. It’s seen as the funnel filler before Sales takes over.  But marketing is more than that and your relationships are not so easily compartmentalised.  “Prospects are potential customers and customers are potential sales.” Think of it this way. When someone walks into a shoe store we […]

Customer Service is like a party

It’s easy to know if you hit a sales goal, right? But you know it gets more nuanced and complicated than that. What if a large customer left because they went bankrupt but otherwise you were on track for a record. Is that a failure? If you prefer video, scroll down to the bottom My […]

Don’t make the same 10 mistakes Marriott made

Having a name like Di Pietro, with a space in the name can create problems. I made a hotel booking without a space and my membership account has the space.  I tried to remove the space from my profile so they’d match. So I head to the Marriott website, where the problems start. Below is […]

How customer service accidentally gets low priority

Everyone goes on about giving “great service”. But it still doesn’t have the profile of other job roles, especially at executive level. Look at these job roles on Linkedin. No mention of Customer Service. Scroll further. Nope — further? Nope — surely it’s in alphabetical order. Must be on the next screen right? Again No. Linkedin and so many […]

The Future of Customer Service 14 July 2017

1. The power of Mobile Google have released research showing that 89% if people are likely to recommend a brand after a positive brand experience. More here Implication: Mobile is everything. All the data is pointing the same direction. Overinvest. 2. Augmented Reality is 5 minutes away for retailers Facebook (through Instagram) recently introduced face filters […]

Augmented reality is a short step from retail

Facebook (through Instagram) recently introduced face filters to let people add all manner of things on their face, like glasses. The glasses are superimposed on your head and they move with your head, like in the video. Sure there are fun applications for kids, but imaging the application for retailers. You could superimpose different colour […]