Return Customer » Weekend Reading

Weekend Reading – July 14th

Joe Rawlinson — Fri, 13 Jul 2007 22:33:07 +0000

What do I need to do to provide good online customer service? —
Great list of the basics you need to establish in providing quality online customer service. However, If you truly want to "wow" your customers, you’ll need to go beyond these basics.
5 business lessons from Costco —
Costco is incredibly efficient in serving customers and providing well for its employees. Costco’s success is directly linked to the principles and philosophy discussed in this article. What can your business learn from them?
The human side of marketing, or, Capitalizing on your mistakes —
Turn a mistake into an opportunity to show your company isn’t just a big machine. Add the personal touch and you can let customers know you really care about them.

Weekend Reading – June 30th

Joe Rawlinson — Sat, 30 Jun 2007 14:33:04 +0000

The Holy Crap Reaction to Competition —
When you spot another company in your market that seems to be doing exactly what you’re doing, don’t panic! Focus on your strengths and core goals and press ahead. (Thanks Demetrius for the link)
Seth’s Blog: Three humps and a stick (on pricing) —
Seth Godin shares his ideas of how companies can price their products. He makes the interesting point that most businesses are only comfortable with one type of pricing. To be successful, you’ll need to dip into different pricing areas.
But What Do I Write On My Business Blog? —
John’s post talks about how he comes up with ideas for his blog. The principles are applicable to how you can see the business lessons and relevance of everyday occurrences to your life.
How Online and Offline Have Fused into a Single Dialog (and Why Marketers Should Follow Suit) —
Excellent article expanding the Conquer the Chasm Between Online and Local Stores post I made earlier. You can’t keep your online and offline business separate. Customers need a unified and consistent experience across all touch points with your company.

Weekend Reading – May 12th

Joe Rawlinson — Sat, 12 May 2007 15:33:06 +0000

I found these great posts in Problogger’s Top 5 Group Writing Project:

Top 5 Internet Marketing Mistakes —
You should never make a change unless you can measure the result. How else will you know if it was successful? If you market on the web, this is a good list of things to remember.
Top Five Keys to Successful Persuasive Writing —
Your writing and communication to customers will have be persuasive to stand out in the crowd. Your copy writing must not only grab someone’s attention, but also compel them to action.
Entrepreneurs Developing Web Sites Must Address These Top 5 Potential Pitfalls —
Sound advice for starting up your web site. A mistake here will cost you customers.
The Top 5 Questions – to spark new marketing ideas —
Asking questions is a wonderful way to rethink your current status quo. Matt offers 5 gems.

Weekend Reading – April 28th

Joe Rawlinson — Fri, 27 Apr 2007 22:33:01 +0000

Jack Hightower of CarMax —
Service Untitled has a great two part interview with CarMax’s VP of Sales. I’ve had two wonderful experiences in buying cars at CarMax and will probably buy my future vehicles from them as well. This interview gives some great insights into CarMax’s secrets to success.
On Service: The Power of Empathy —
When you really understand a customer’s complaint you can more easily diffuse difficult situations. Seek first to understand, and then take the complaint or suggestion without an immediate rejection. Your empathetic ear will communicate your sincere desire to help the customer.

Weekend Reading – April 21st

Joe Rawlinson — Sat, 21 Apr 2007 17:00:10 +0000

Do you want customers? —
Why do businesses ignore prospective customers? You may be too busy today but what about next month when you really need the business? Responding positively to prospects builds both long term loyalty and a potential referral source.
CEO as Customer Evangelist —
Imagine the difference to your customers if your CEO and other decision makers are advocates for the customer.
How not to pitch a blogger —
The most effective pitches I’ve received as a blogger are not cut-and-paste emails but rather those that have personal messages attached where the sender obviously read and is commenting on something I’ve written.

Weekend Reading – March 31st

Joe Rawlinson — Sat, 31 Mar 2007 17:33:18 +0000

Sutori: The voice of today’s customer —
I got an email about this site which allows people to share their customer experiences and have others add their own thoughts. It seems Sutori’s goal is to aggregate the opinions of many and then push for change at the poor performing companies. A worthy goal that hopefully comes to fruition.
Are You Managing Metrics or Serving Customers? —
Numbers don’t always tell the truth. The real reasons customers have trouble may be masked from upper management simply because of the way these issues are classified and aggregated.

Weekend Reading – March 16th

Joe Rawlinson — Fri, 16 Mar 2007 22:33:08 +0000

Convince me in Five Words or Less! —
Steps on how you can create a catchy, memorable, and effective tag line or slogan for your business.
The Difference Between Usability and User Experience —
Creating a great user experience means coordinating efforts across your entire organization. If customers hit snags as they move between your internal department boundaries, you’re missing the holistic picture!
More Design Lessons from the Tooth Fairy —
Wonderful account of business lessons learned from a Dad’s interactions with his daughter when the Tooth Fairy forgot to visit. Your customers, like the little girl in this story, have preset expectations and need to be cared for when things go awry.

Weekend Reading – March 10th

Joe Rawlinson — Sat, 10 Mar 2007 17:33:03 +0000

In-N-Out Burger: No Buns about Good Business —
Some observations about how this fast food chain has distinguished itself from the competition and managed to grow a loyal fan base.
T-Mobile Suddenly Gets Online Customer Service —
Wonderful examples of personally crafted customer service emails. The author concedes "it’s amazing these messages must be mostly pre-written and yet they are so custom focused to just my problem they are perfect."

Weekend Reading – March 2nd

Joe Rawlinson — Fri, 02 Mar 2007 23:33:02 +0000

Why Customer Service Rocks —
Research showing companies with high customer satisfaction outperform the S&P 500 significantly. While it may seem fine to ignore customer service in the short term, your long term horizon is directly impacted by how you treat customers.
Stock Images = False Advertising? —
Entertaining post about those standard photography shots you see of customer service representatives. Why not just show your real employees? Are they as scary in real life as they are on the phone? If so, you’ve got bigger problems.
Genchi Genbutsu & Ethnography —
Have you ever walked a mile in your customer’s shoes? How about driven in your customer’s car? A Toyota chief engineer did just that and gained priceless insight into how to design the Sienna minivan.

Weekend Reading – February 24th

Joe Rawlinson — Fri, 23 Feb 2007 23:33:02 +0000

JetBlue’s Video Apology – Church of the Customer Blog —
JetBlue’s CEO addresses their recent flight cancellation nightmare. He follows Washington’s advice about handling mistakes. Lesson #1: Learn from your mistakes!
Seven steps to remarkable customer service —
Have your customer service handled by those who can solve the problem. The more disjoint your front line support is from those that can actually fix the problem, the more likely things will never get fixed. You’ll end up supporting the same issues over and over again.
Creating Passionate Users: What tail is wagging the "user happiness" dog? —
Don’t let your company policies or infrastructure problems dictate the customer experience. The customer’s experience, not your internal shenanigans, should drive your products and services.