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Creating Customer Evangelists written by Ben McConnell and Jackie Huba is a brilliant work about turning your customers into a powerful sales force. Customer Evangelists are the ideal Return Customers that will come back to your business and bring their friends.

This book outlines several key ways you can utilize your customers to improve your business. Involving your customers can result in improved products, more new customers, and increased profits.

The authors present these six tenets of customer evangelism in detail:

• Customer plus-delta - continually gather and utilize customer feedback
• Napsterize your Knowledge - share your knowledge freely and make it easy for others to pass along
• Build the Buzz - build powerful word of mouth networks that extol just how wonderful your company and product really are
• Create Community - encourage customers to meet
• Bite-size Chunks - offer smaller versions that are easier to attract customers
• Create a Cause - focus on making the world a better place

After outlining the major principles behind creating customer evangelists, the authors share 8 case studies of companies that have exhibited those same qualities and have benefited greatly. You’ll get a boatload of ideas of how you can start reaping the rewards of customer evangelists from these examples.

The end of this book offers a few bonus appendices that help you get started. The authors ask several thought provoking questions that you can ponder in your business. The answers will improve your customer experience and your bottom line.

Creating Customer Evangelists is a wonderful read and I highly recommend it.

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I recently told you about my email communication fiasco with Overstock.com. Of course the story didn’t end there. I thought there was some hope so I responded one more time but was treated to the same word-for-word response I got in the beginning.

My last response to Overstock stated:

Seems we aren’t communicating very well. The second
customer support rep I heard from stated this:

“if the book you received is defective, we will
not make you pay any shipping fees back to us or a
restocking fee.”

Nevertheless, the last message from you has the
standard RMA procedures that include me paying return
shipping and the restocking fees.

With such conflicting messages, how can I be sure of
how my RMA will be processed? If Overstock is indeed
going to pay for return shipping, how will it be done?

Then when my book is returned, how do I know the
person handling it won’t just follow standard
procedure and hit me with the restocking fee?

This is seriously undermining my confidence in
purchasing from Overstock in the future.

You’d think I’d get some kind of actual response to my questions this time. However, my final email from Overstock was from a customer service representative that had responded earlier simply stating, in the same words, the standard RMA process he used before.

In my emails back and forth with Overstock I had communicated with a handful of different people. None of them could answer my questions or address the issue to my satisfaction. Each response seemed to come from a place where people don’t read emails before they respond.

Frustrated and rather upset, I gave up and kept the book.

Coordinate Communications

You can spare your customers these pains when communicating with them if you follow these rules of thumb:

• Assign each customer issue to a specific customer service representative who handles it from the start to finish.
• Keep a record of all communication with customers so that others in your organization can come in midstream and respond appropriately.
• Provide your employees with guidelines for handling each customer email. For example, read the entire email thread before responding!
• Rate your customer service representatives on customer satisfaction and not the number of emails they can process in an hour.

Email is a conversation that you have with customers. You can’t ignore what they say or jump to conclusions by only listening to a few seconds of their dialog.

Structure your customer service email processing so that customer issues don’t slip through the cracks and issues are resolved.

My last book purchase from Overstock.com resulted in a communication adventure. The book’s binding was damaged on delivery. Disappointed with the quality of my purchase, I emailed customer service to exchange my book. I requested that they pay for return shipping since the product was defective. I asked them several specific questions.

Their first response was the standard cut and paste answer about deep discounts and instructions on how to get an RMA number. My specific questions were not addressed.

I responded with this:

The book is defective. I’m NOT returning it because I changed my mind, etc. I want to exchange it for a properly manufactured book. The product page for the book said nothing about bad binding or defective workmanship as part of the deal.

So I reiterate my questions:

• How do I return this for an exchange?
• As this is a manufacturing defect, how will Overstock pay for return shipping?
• How will Overstock ensure that I’m not charged the restocking fee?

Overstock’s response here included the standard cut and paste response but also hint of a personal touch stating:

Also, if the book you received is defective, we will not make you pay any shipping fees back to us or a restocking fee.

Although this second customer service representative addressed some of my main concerns, he didn’t go into specifics. (You can read the rest of the story in this posting)

Effective Email Responses

Email is a powerful business tool if used properly. When you answer customer emails remember these key points:

Read

• Read, don’t just check your email
• Before replying to customers, make sure you’ve read and understand their email

Response Time

• Set the expectation on your website or printed materials next to your email address how long it will take to get a response.
• Respond in a timely fashion in keeping with the expectation you set earlier. This should be at most 1 business day.

Respond

• Answer all the questions your have been asked.
• Personalize your standard cut-and-paste response with some acknowledgment that you are talking with a real person.

I purchased a new toy from Dell this week and was told that it would be shipped today. Instead of receiving an email today notifying me that my new PDA had shipped, I got a message that made me cry, laugh, and want to scream at the same time.

Order Delayed

My email from Dell stated in big red letters “Order Delayed” with the following message:

Dear Valued Customer,
We have reviewed your order. Although we had anticipated being able to ship your order sooner, we are experiencing an unexpected delay with your order ### and will not be able to ship this order and any associated orders until on or before 09-01-2005.

My Name is Joe

I know I’m a valued customer but I also have a name. If Dell is smart enough to put my order number in the email, they should be able to insert my name that I gave them during the order process. “Dear Valued Customer” treats me like a number in the big Dell Inc. system and not a person.

Lesson: When you communicate with customers, use their name. It will add that personal touch and recognition that we all crave.

A Picture is Worth a 1000 Words

The email from Dell had the big stock photo shown on the right. It has a guy with a dumb look on his face and a girl in the background with her laptop.

I guess the guy is suppose to be me without my new PDA and the girl with her new laptop. Is this suppose to make me feel better? The guy in the picture looks like he didn’t get his Dell purchase nor the girl. Sounds like a pretty bad day.

Lesson: When you email customers, don’t use stock photography that has no purpose. Keep communication simple and uncluttered by using graphics only when they illustrate what you are saying.

Be Specific

I’m told my order isn’t being shipped today because of an “unexpected delay.” This creates numerous questions in my head:

• What caused the delay?
• Will my order by delayed again?
• How can I prevent it from happening with future orders?
• What is being done to correct the problem and minimize the delay?

Lesson: Without the specifics of why you can’t deliver your product, your customers will be left to wonder. In this state of doubt, they may just cancel their order. Give them the details so they can maintain some confidence in you and hopefully return for more business in the future.

What Really Happened

As Dell didn’t specify why my PDA was delayed, I thought I’d write what they should have told me:

Your order delay was the result of shipping problems across the Pacific. Pirates on the high seas raided and plundered the cargo ship that was carrying your PDA from China. They pulled your PDA out of the box and took it for their own personal use. The pirates then sunk the ship and sailed away.

Conclusion

When you don’t explain the situation to your customers, do you know what they are thinking? No. Don’t leave your company image and their order status up in the air and subject to creative imaginations.

Fill in the blanks. Be specific. Provide the details.

Part of the effort in sales and marketing your business includes convincing your prospects that they actually need the service or product you provide. I’m not just talking about buying from you. You need to convince them to buy it period.

Beckwith’s Selling the Invisible teaches that customers aren’t choosing between just you and your competition. They are choosing between you, your competition, and not buying at all. Customers may decide to do it themselves, delay their purchase, or forget it all together.

Doing It Themselves

When a customer is leaning toward simply doing the service solo, you need to step up and outline why you are the better choice in this situation. You may be able to:

• get it done more quickly than they could
• get it done for less money than they’d spend on their own
• produce a higher quality result
• provide a warranty on your work

So without belittling the customer, highlight all the benefits they’d gain by choosing you over doing the job themselves.

Delay Purchase

Sometimes customers just want to wait a little longer to make a purchase. You must persuade them to act today. Highlight:

• negative consequences of waiting
• all the benefits they’d get by having your product today
• the special limited time offer they must take advantage of today

You need to help them understand that they need to buy today so they can reap the benefits of your product/service and do it all for less money than if they came back later.

Forget It

When people decide to just throw in the towel and not buy from anyone you must focus your efforts on convincing them they really need your product. Identify the customer’s situation and problems and show them how you can solve their issues and make their life easier.

Customers may fall back to doing business with no one. Help them make a choice: you!

Buy Blink

Blink by Malcolm Gladwell dives into those split second decisions that we make everyday. Something deep in our subconscience allows us to make quick and accurate decisions without even a thought.

Gladwell shares numerous examples through stories, research, and case studies that show how people have been very successful or complete failures at utilizing this rapid thought process.

I checked this book out from the library a few weeks ago and I’ve had a hard time getting pulled into its content. Most of the stories he tells left me asking how it could apply to me. Fortunately, the person who had the book before me had left little pencil marks in the margins where Gladwell makes his main points. Because of this I was able to skim most of the book and extract the tidbits of knowledge that were scattered throughout. For example:

• Gladwell outlines how people can make accurate decisions in a fraction of second but then have difficulty explaining why they made them. Once you become an expert at something, you can make those quick decisions and then explain the logic behind it.
• In marketing, product packaging leads people to form opinions about the product itself. Feelings, sensations, or thoughts about the product are all jumbled together in the consumer’s mind and therefore “the product is the package and the product combined.”

Gladwell makes some intriguing points and recounts several interesting stories throughout this book. However, I was never engaged enough to read it cover to cover.

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The first two parts of this series talked about making your website easy to use and more efficient. These are nice but how do you know if your website is effectively achieving your goals?

To see if your site is effective, you need two key components: goals and measurements.

Effective Goals

User Goals

Make a list of the goals your customers would have when coming to your website. Then review your site and see if you can get those same things done.

If the information is there or the process is in place, examine it further to make sure it is easy to use.

Company Goals

Now, turn the focus to your company. What are some of the business objectives for your website? Is it to sell products or educate customers? Increase leads or provide tech support? Write down the goals for your site.

Balance

It is important to maintain balance in your goals for both your customers and business. Company goals can’t overshadow the customer needs and the customer experience must incorporate elements that lead to your business objectives.

Effective Measurements

Can you tell if you are reaching your corporate goals for your website? You’ll need to incorporate some reporting tools so you know exactly what is going on with your website.

With accurate reporting in place, you can compare reality with what you’ve recorded as your company and user goals. Seek out the discrepancies and focus in on what could be improved. Continually tweak and enhance your website so it can become a truly effective extension of your business.

We visited a Costco gas station for the first time on our vacation last week. I noticed two things that were unique to this gas station:

• All cars queued up in line entering the station from the same direction
• The nozzle and hose of the pump stretched to reach the far side of the car

Increase Customer Throughput

The more customers you can serve in any given period of time, the more money you’ll make and the higher your margins will be. By forcing cars to enter the station a certain way, Costco could handle a higher volume of vehicles without disorder and chaos. Customers benefited by getting through the line faster.

Be Flexible

The pumps at this station allowed you to park with your gas cap on either side of your vehicle. Because the hose and nozzle would stretch, drivers weren’t shoehorned into always parking on a certain side of the pump. This allowed all pumps to be in use simultaneously and removed the need for creative vehicular maneuvering.

What are some ways you can increase your flexibility with customers? Can you change some of your standard procedures to increase your efficiency?

Streamline your business processes to increase your throughput, profits, and customer satisfaction.

At the end of our recent trip to Salt Lake City, we passed through the airport security process to board our flight home. After checking in at the Delta Airlines counter, we were told to take our baggage to the screeners. Like sheep, we followed those in front of us and joined a long line of passengers.

As we approached the screening machine, we heard the employee yell that there are other machines behind us we could visit. Having already invested time in this line, we waited it out.

On our way to the terminal, we walked by two other screening machines with no waiting line.

Two things would have made this process faster:

• Have big overhead signs indicating a baggage screening point.
• During the check-in process, have the Delta employee tell us where baggage screening stations were located.

Your Customers are in a Hurry

Respect your customer’s time by helping them find shortcuts. You know your process and your systems. Share some of that knowledge with your customers. They’ll be able to buy your product, use your service, or accomplish their goal faster than expected.

This speedy service will encourage them to return to do business with you down the road.

We recently stopped by a bookstore to buy some board books for our baby boy. While there, I noticed huge posters on the windows and hanging over DVD displays showcasing a World War II movie that interested me. However, the DVD was no where to be found.

Under the big posters hanging from the ceilings were shelves full of a completely different movie. Hundreds of copies of the same DVD that was in no way related to the WWII movie I saw advertised directly overhead.

Why promote a product that you don’t have? Leading customers on a wild goose chase may bring them into your store but will confuse and disorient them. Your employees will then have to waste time explaining the situation. Your potential customers may walk away empty handed.

Marketing Must Match Products

Help avoid customer confusion:

• Keep your advertising and marketing promotional material current and in sync with your product and service selections.
• If a product is unavailable, indicate clearly when it will be in stock and how a customer can purchase the item.
• Avoid stale displays, ads, or web pages. Constantly monitor these communications to ensure your customer is getting accurate information.