Good Call

Well, it's time again for Client Service Excellence Video Fun Friday. Where did the week go? Let's just hope the customer washed his hands! Have a great weekend!

Client Service and the Cab Driver

This week, we looked at client service successes at Dell, Bose, and United Airlines. Shep Hyken tells us the story of his cab driver in Texas.

Client Service Success at United Airlines

The airlines have been taking it on the chin for as long as we can all remember. While some of the criticism may be justified, a great deal of it is just piling on. I wonder how you or I would hold up under the daily stresses of working on the front lines in the airline business. It can't be easy.

A few weeks ago, my wife and I were running well behind schedule trying to catch our United Airlines flight from Boston to Denver. Totally our fault. We arrived at the ticket counter hopelessly late when, despite being extremely busy, the ticket agent overheard us talking to another UA representative, and called out, "Are you two on the Denver flight?" We of course replied, "Yes."

At that moment she came from behind the ticket counter and said, "Follow me." She physically walked us all the way to the front of the line at security - not a short walk at Logan's C Terminal. As we breezed through security, she offered instructions as to what to tell the agent at the gate so we could board (nothing unethical mind you). She waved goodbye and wished us luck. We made the flight by a whisker.

Unfortunately, it all happened so quickly that I didn't catch the agent's name who helped us. I wish I had, but in the absence of that, I believe she represents the majority of the people who assist us with our air travel each and every day. She, and others like her, work under tough circumstances to say the least. It should give us pause not to be tough customers. As hard as it is when we want to get where we want to go, we should remember that the airline employees are there to help us if we will only let them.

Client Service Success at Dell

We can learn a great deal from industries outside the public relations profession about the mindset, dedication, and execution involved in the relentless pursuit of improving the customer experience. I thought I'd begin the next 100 posts with some personal experiences I've had over the last month that serve as shining examples of client service excellence.

Let me start with Dell. My daughter Taylor starts college in the fall. Her older sister Kristin wanted a Mac when she started school last year, but Taylor wanted a Dell. Interestingly enough, she asked specifically for the Dell brand, in the way that people have come to ask for Kleenex rather than tissue.

Thank goodness she did. Prior to her request, I had researched a number of manufacturers and despite my being pretty experienced in the world of online commerce, I was often frustrated navigating most of the sites. They were visually and logically bereft of any understanding that a consumer may not be an expert on their particular product line. The sites were built to suit the internal needs of the respective company, not for the customers they need to serve. The shopping experiences were cumbersome and tedious.

Conversely, I found the Dell experience to be visually appealing and extremely intuitive. I could customize every aspect of Taylor's computer from the exterior color to the processing speed. Easy. (Don't worry I asked what color she wanted and gained a solid understanding of her needs before I ordered.)

What makes this story interesting for me is that after placing my order, I called a woman from Corporate Communications at Dell whom I met at a Ragan Communications conference earlier this year to advise her of my outstanding experience. Interestingly enough, she said the company had just completed a redesign of the site. Lucky for me, I reaped the benefits. She was thrilled that I was so pleased with my experience. You could hear the pride and ownership in her voice. I have a feeling it permeates the entire organization.

That said, you can have the right mindset, but achieving client service excellence is hard work. Dell did the work and everyone wins as a result. DIRECT2DELL's post describing the web site redesign will give you a glimpse of the process and the work it took to provide a customer experience I'll tell my friends about - starting right here.

Dell didn't simply satisfy a customer; it built a relationship and won a client. Nicely done.

What WILL Happen If Client Service Isn't Your Top Priority

Chris Brogan offered a more lengthy post today than the one I referenced yesterday that noted some predictions for the future. It inspired me to write a post I've been thinking about for a long time based on the premise that the communication firms that attain the preeminent position for client service excellence between now and 2020 will carry the day. They will be the ones that thrive in this changing world, leaving the others in their wake.

First, let me share some of Chris's predictions, "I believe we’re going to shift back to thinking customer service and community management are the core and not the fringe. I believe we’re going to move our communications practices back in-house for lots of what is currently pushed out to agencies and organizations. I believe that integrity, reputation, skills, and personality are going to trump some of our previous measures of professional ability. I believe the web and our devices will continue to move into tighter friendships, and that we will continue to train our devices to interpret more of the world around us on our behalf."

Chris offers other predictions as well including a growing trend toward working remotely, which I completely agree with, but I'll save for another time. That said, let's consider his predictions. In short, it's about client service, outsourcing, integrity, and relationships. They are all interrelated.

Jonathan Tisch and others talk about the importance of customization and personalization. Frances X. Frei asks, "Are you trying to be all things to all people or specific things to specific people?" Without personalized, customized client service that's delivered with integrity and fosters trusted relationships, most clients WILL bring their work in-house as Chris suggests. The agencies with whom clients will work in our hyper-competitive, flat world are the ones who are truly committed to client service excellence. Clients (of all sizes) won't settle for less, and they shouldn't have to.

Offer just satisfactory client service and you WILL lose clients. You WILL lose top people, and you WILL lose money. Not even the new business pipeline will save you because there won't be much of one. The best of the best employees won't want to work for you because they'll want to work for the best client service oriented firms that attract only the best clients. And why would clients trust outsourcing anything to firms other than the ones with the best people? If you're not committed to client service excellence now, your revenues are dropping as we speak; you just don't realize it yet.