I've written about good customer service in the past, highlighting my excellent experience with L.L. Bean. I've postulated that quality customer service is actually free, because the incremental sales more than make up for "excessive" talk time and refunds/credits granted by your customer service representatives.

Here's a trivially-observed example of what lousy customer service will cost you.  In this example, from Verizon, it's a minimum of $100.

The saga unfolds after the break.

We made the switch to Verizon FiOS in December, after waiting for years.  It's a terrific product, with great HD picture quality, and speedy and stable high-speed Internet access.  The installer was excellent and courteous and made sure everything was working perfectly before he left.

The ability of Verizon to handle an easy premium offer (the infamous HD Free TV offer)?  Not so much.

I've been working email and phone conversations with Verizon since January trying to get my $200 Best Buy gift card, which I selected in lieu of the 19" HDTV.  Since then, I've amassed a string of emails with the Verizon executive escalation team which have gone unanswered since January.

Finally, in frustration, I resorted to The Consumerist's list of Verizon executive contacts and sent an email to Ivan Seidenberg on Friday at 5:30.

Talk about quick reaction!

At Monday at 9:30, I received a call from a very nice young man who was very apologetic and who was clearly empowered to do whatever it took to make me happy.  He indicated that the $100 gift card I received in January was the first part of a win-back offer and that I'd get the other $100 in month 13.

The problem was that I never responded to a win-back offer.  I went for the FiOS triple play/free TV offer.  However, I didn't want to get something I didn't deserve, so I let the young man know that if they just sent me a $100 gift card, I'd consider us even and not to worry about anything else.

Of course, he had no way to give me just what was owed to me ($100 of gift cards) and had to resort to shipping out a $200 card.  I practically had to beg him not to FedEx it to me.

So Verizon will get stuck paying a $100 penalty for bad customer service, and that's not counting the time and effort expended via the forwarding of the complaint email from Mr. Seidenberg down the food chain and the inevitable executive escalation report that will be fed back up the chain at some point.

Now, want to take a guess what I expect in January or February of 2009?  Yep, I suspect the CRM systems of Verizon have been so fouled up by the free TV offer debacle that they'll spit out another $100 card for me.

The worst part of the whole experience actually took place yesterday afternoon.

I received a very uncomfortable call from one of my prior executive escalation contact's supervisor.  The supervisor apologized to me for her employee's lack of follow-up to me, and let me know it would be "handled appropriately" and that the person would be "reprimanded."  Yecch.  It felt like one of those unconfortable visits when your neighbor's kid hits a ball through your window and they come over with the kid's ear in a vise grip and make them apologize.  I couldn't get off the phone quickly enough and couldn't believe that Verizon was treating its employees like this--both the supervisor, who clearly wasn't comfortable making the call, and the employee.

Can you imagine how this employee--who's a grown adult, with a mortgage, family, etc.--must feel? I wonder how far he/she will deviate from the Verizon manual going forward and actually even try to use their brain?

I also wonder what brand of bureaucratic punishment will be exacted.  Banishment from the department bowling team?  Six months of replenishing the floor candy bowl?

All it would have taken was for Verizon to have a system in place that let their employees solve customer problems the first time, even to the extent of spending a little bit of money to address the root cause.  This one resolution must have cost them in total the price of 2 or 3 TVs; multiplied by thousands, it's got to be one of the all-time promotional disasters.

What are you doing that's L.L. Bean-like?  What are you doing that's Verizon-like?  More importantly, what are you doing that's more of the former and less of the latter?

photo credit: Daquella manera

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Today's article is a reminder that customer service, when done correctly, isn't an expense.  It can be your #1 marketing tool and put a wide moat between your business and your competitors.

L.L. Bean is the standard against which your phone support should be measured.

From their website:

Guaranteed.  You Have Our Word^TM.

Our products are guaranteed to give 100% satisfaction in every way.  Return anything purchased from us at any time if it proves otherwise.  We do not want you to have anything from L.L. Bean that is not completely satisfactory.

Unlike a lot of companies, L.L. Bean really lives by their guarantee.

I was preparing for our annual Outer Banks vacation this year and checking out our Bean Sunbuster shelter.  We've had it for four years--it's a fantastic product for use when spending long days in the North Carolina sun.

However, the last time we used it, one of the large fiberglass poles broke.  When I pulled it out today, I remembered that and decided to call for a replacement in enough time to receive it before we left for Nag's Head.

I called and immediately got a very courteous phone representative who found the part number in under one minute.  Secondly, he asked for my name.  The instant I gave him my last name, he confirmed my address--he'd apparently pulled my record up via the ANI when I called--and thanked me for giving him the correct pronunciation of my last name.

Before I could even ask the price, he let me know it would arrive at my home via FedEx on Saturday and was there anything else he could do?

The price? Gratis.

I asked about the price, and was more than willing to pay for a new pole.  No dice. L.L. Bean wanted me to be happy and refused to take my money.

In my entire interaction with the company, I didn't hear a representative worried about talk time, first call resolution rates or any of the nonsense you normally encounter in call center management.  He clearly owned the problem, cared about the problem and was empowered to make me happy.

Will I buy from L.L. Bean again?  Absolutely. (In fact this experience makes me think about why I'm not doing so much more frequently)  Will I tell others?  I just did.

Summary and takeaways

1. Treat customer service as a marketing investment.  Not an expense.  Give those front-line employees all the tools they need to keep your customers happy and let them have at it.  Treat product replacements as marketing, not a cost to be squeezed out ruthlessly.
2. Ignore the traditional call center metrics. Stop beating on your employees for talk time "infractions" and other petty nonsense.  Your customer service team is your key to success.  Treat them and pay them well and let them win for you.
3. Fire a few MBA's. Get rid of the people who come to you with "metrics" about why you can't do #1 and #2 here.  Take the money you save and use it to pay more to your customer service team.

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At one point during my college days I wanted to be an A&R guy for a record label.  My reactions to smoke-filled clubs and early-to-bed habits caused me to rethink that career option.

But music, and the marketing of it, has remained a lifelong interest.

Last night, my wife and I saw Duran Duran at Merriweather Post Pavilion in Columbia, MD.  This was her 11th or 12th time and my 10th time to see the band.

When you go to a Duran Duran show, you know you're going to see a great performance, an enthusiastic crowd and hit after hit.

What I didn't expect was a textbook example of creating and maximizing a marketing channel, and an example of how big a part luck plays in everything we do as marketers.

Creating a marketing channel.

Opening for Duran Duran was Your Vegas, a band from Leeds, England.  We sat down early to catch a few minutes of their show and thought they were pretty good.

At the end of their set, they thanked everybody for listening and said they'd be up at the top of the hill signing autographs and giving out free posters.  I listened to their call to action and headed up the hill to see the response, and purchase a CD.

I was pleased to see no aloof rock stars there.

That call from the stage created a long line in front of the entire band, where they took their time chatting with the fans, signing the free posters and CD's and taking photographs with the fans.  The band was gracious, appreciative, and seemed to be genuinely enjoying the interaction.  Further, their new CD was moving briskly from the stand next to them.

Will Your Vegas be the next Killers?  Luck will play a big role, but the band is doing everything right by:

1. Creating a face-to-face marketing channel, starting with their call to action from the stage
2. Engaging in CRM by getting face-to-face with 50-100 fans every night.
3. Making a small investment in posters and pen ink to support the campaign.

Luck and music.

Anna Ross, Simon Willescroft and Dom Brown joined the band as backup vocals, sax and guitar, respectively.  All are highly talented and excellent performers.  Ms. Ross has been touring with the band since at least 2005 as well.

Any of these folks could be headlining a show with their own band.  Why not, then, last night?

In a word, luck.

• Answering the right ad in a paper looking for a guitar player.
• Sitting next to the right person in grade school.
• Being in front of that guy in an audition.

Anna, Simon and Dom are surely doing fine touring with Duran Duran and have done everything right to prepare for success.  One or two breaks and they might be headlining.

The point of this?  The impact of luck on your marketing efforts can't be entirely eliminated, but can be minimized by proper planning and preparation.  Also, don't get down when things break the wrong way, as will invariably happen.  Go right back to planning for the next effort.

Summary and key takeaways.

1. Look for unique opportunities to talk with your target audience.  Don't necessarily think "sales channel", but instead find unique opportunities to talk with those who are interested in your products and services.
2. Prepare for the impact of luck.  Preparation won't eliminate the impact of luck on your campaign outcomes, but it will position you to capture the upside when things are working well.
3. Wear earplugs. Tinnitus (of which I have a mild case) is no fun and only gets worse over time.

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I'm not normally one to carry on about my experiences with fast casual dining establishments, even though we frequent them as a by-product of having two children who are connoisseurs of the category. The food quality can be variable, as can the staff attention to the customers.

But that's all changed after Saturday's experience at Famous Dave's restaurant, where I had a terrific customer experience which doubled as a strong CRM effort on the part of the chain.

My wife and I had the luxury of a few minutes without the kids and, while driving by the restaurant, decided we should stop for lunch. We'd never been to the restaurant, although we've driven past the place every weekend for the past several years.

On entry, we were greeted by a smiling young man who welcomed us and held the door. His co-worker, equally welcoming, promptly seated us and informed us that our server would be with us shortly.

The CRM magic started when Chris came by our booth.

As we were welcomed, Chris asked a simple question that we've been asked hundreds of times before. "Have you ever been to Famous Dave's?" A simple qualifying question, but it's one that apparently kicked off a customer activation process after we answered "no."

Midway through our meal, the restaurant manager stopped by to introduce himself. He asked how the meal was, talked about the fact that Famous Dave's can cater just about any gathering at short notice (a strong consumer benefit) and provided some take-home literature which was personally signed, a very nice touch. He also gave us a free 14.5 oz bottle of their signature BBQ sauce to take home.

I was impressed that Famous Dave's saw fit to spend under $1.00--which would be the cost of the bottle of sauce and the printed materials--to welcome us as customers and tell us about the other benefits (quick catering, BBQ sauce) they offered. I was also impressed that the training for the store staff worked as well. The waiter asked us the qualifying question and then relayed that back to the manager quickly for prompt action on his part.

Will we be back? Probably. Did the CRM effort work? Definitely.

Summary and takeaways

1. Are you qualifying your customers? It's easy to identify a new customer. Simply ask them or, if online, check the cookies.
2. Are you making an investment in managing your new customers? It doesn't take much. The cost to setup a new customer welcome program is minimal at best. The cost of a small welcome gift (which isn't always necessary) can be made up quite easily over the customer's lifetime.
3. Are you building a marketing database? Ensure you're capturing as much of that customer's information as makes sense. Use it to enhance the next visit or interaction with the customer.

Have you had an interesting CRM experience recently, good or bad? What organizations do a great job in starting off a customer relationship on the right foot?

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