How Your Business Can Survive The Corona Virus Recession

Posted on by Jon Arentz

There is no doubt the Corona virus is affecting the U.S. economy.  As one American city after another implements “stay-at-home” orders, the goods and services we use are drying up. Small business owners struggle with keeping their employees working and staying solvent. 

Getting through this difficult and uncertain time will be a challenge, but one we will survive.  The American economy is robust and the American people are resilient. We have survived worse!

So how can a business survive the corona virus recession and be ready for the inevitable recovery? Here are four basic steps you can begin implementing now.

  1. Customer Service

Beginning immediately you need to provide the best service possible to your existing customers.  Serve and delight them in every possible way. You need to make your customer’s experience working with you or your team an overwhelming experience! 

How do you do this? You build relationships with your clients. People want to do business with people they trust and generally feel good about. Develop relationships with all your clients, help them with things you don’t do. Remember, not everything you do for a customer needs to make money. By providing extra value, your customer will be more comfortable spending their money with you. 

  1. Connect

Connect with as many people as possible and ask for referrals. The people and businesses that you do business with like you and trust you. Take the time to bring people together, connect people and businesses you know and trust with your other customers or others you know. When someone thanks you for the connection and asks how they may help you, ask for a referral. Remember, you need to give before you can ask.

  1. Visibility

This step may not be possible under the current “stay-at-home” directives and the “social distancing” advice.  As the crisis dies down and life gets back to something more familiar and recognizable, we will gather in groups once again. This step may then be implemented at that time.

Attend as many group meetings as possible and offer to give educational presentations or talks to those groups. Educate attendees both inside and outside of your industry on the value your solution provides. Do not turn down any opportunity to educate, you never know who in the audience may need your solution. 

  1. Communicate

Create as much FREE valuable content as you possibly can. Post on LinkedIn, Facebook Groups or wherever your customers hangout. Use videos, images and other digital content. Be as visible as possible. Develop a following.

Positive Steps During the CoronaVirus Down Time

Posted on by Jon Arentz

Now is the time to take some positive actions!

The Corona virus outback has shuttered many small businesses in cities across America and across the world.  We as small business owners are doing our part to help limit the spread of this virus by voluntarily closing shop, furloughing our employees and self isolating. If the projections of the CDC and other experts are correct, we may have as many as 8 weeks of down time.

There is a silver lining to this otherwise very dark which hovers us all.  You have time, the one very precious commodity that seems to elude us all. Time to work, in the words of Michael Gerber and others, “On your business not IN your business”!

So, let’s get started.  Here is a short list of things you can do now to work ON your business.

  1. Dust off your Business Plan.

When was the last time you updated your Business Plan?  You do have one don’t you? Even a one woman operation needs a plan. There are lots of online resources to guide you in developing a business plan or updating the one you have.

  1. Create a Strategic Plan.

What is a Strategic Plan? A strategic plan is the strategy you will use to achieve a goal. If you want to increase customer retention for example, how will you do this? What steps will you take?  Or what if you want to reduce production costs, what steps can be taken to reduce costs or increase productivity?  

  1. SWOT Analysis.

SWOT stands for: Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats. List your organization’s strengths, what you do well. Now list your organization’s weaknesses, what you need to improve upon. Opportunities are favorable external factors that can give you a competitive advantage.  Threats are both internal and external factors that can have a negative impact on a business. 

  1. Your Migraine.

I don’t mean a migraine headache! What is your biggest source of pain in your business? What would happen if you can fix the issue?  What would happen if you can’t? Now is the time to take a deep dive into your most pressing issue and go to work to fix it.

  1. Stay Connected.

Stay in touch with family and friends but also your customers and suppliers. Staying in touch shows you care about the relationship you’ve built with your customers and suppliers. Continue to build on this relationship, offer help if appropriate. We all want to do business with those we trust, and trust builds relationships.

Step 8: Celebrate!

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Develop a system for rewarding employees for great customer service.

Spend time developing suitable rewards and acknowledgements, nothing fancy just something fun.  I recommend acknowledging employees publically within the organization. Let everyone know, tell the story!

Celebrate milestones.  Whatever milestone or target you establish, celebrate the accomplishment.  Set your customer service improvement goals to be achievable but also require your staff to stretch a little to get there. In other words, make the goal attainable but not to easy. 

More than money, employees crave recognition.  So, celebrate a job well done! 

I hope you have enjoyed this series on Customer Service Improvement. For a complimentary discovery session on improving your business, click the link. http://www.customerserviceimprovement.com

Step 7: Leadership

Posted on by Jon Arentz

Owners and managers must fully support the Customer Service Vision. Your every word and action communicates your commitment to providing the best customer service possible. 

Leadership involves not only creating the Vision, which you did in step 2 but communicating the Vision as in step 3.  Leadership also includes inspiring others to embrace the vision and make it work. Providing front line staff with the tools needed (training, step 4), effective hiring (step 5) and the freedom to work independently and make decisions (empowerment, step 6) are all part of being an effective leader. But there is more you can do.

The Vision must be referenced as often as possible, When you speak about a customer, regardless of how you actually feel about them, you need to keep your Vision firmly in mind.  Be sure your words reflect the ideals of the Vision.

The Vision should be referenced at employee reviews.  Employee reviews are a good time to discuss the Vision and ask how the employee embodies the Vision on a day-to-day basis. Reference the Vision when praising overall performance and areas that need attention. Referring to the Vision during employee reviews keeps the ideas and ideals embodied in the Vision at the forefront of everyone’s thoughts and has the added advantage of  re-establishing its importance.

Use the Vision as a guide in decision making. Employees will notice if decisions you make align with the Vision. Your credibility and employee adherence to the Vision are impacted either negatively or positively by your or your manager’s actions.  The quickest way to undo all the work you put into the Customer Service Vision is to not follow it. 

While step 7 in entitled Leadership, it is really more than a single step. Leadership is a continuing, ongoing aspect of your customer service improvement plan. As a leader, you need to continually talk to and about the Vision, refer to it in inter-organizational communications and work it into your marketing. The more you as a leader communicate the Vision the greater impact you will have on improving customer service and the overall profitability of your company.



Step 5: Hiring

Posted on by Jon Arentz

Hiring to fill front line or customer contact staff positions has always been difficult. Potential candidates must at least have a pleasant personality and possess good verbal communication skills. But shouldn’t they also possess teamwork and problem solving skills?

When assessing potential new hires, you now have another tool with which to evaluate candidates.  That tool: The Customer Service Vision. You want to use the Vision to gauge whether or not a candidate can embrace the Vision and what it means. 

Just as you created stories and role played during staff training, do the same during the interview process. The story does not need to be as detailed as the training material, just enough to ascertain the candidates mind set.  If the candidate works in a customer service position, have them relate some of their experiences. Be especially aware of their body language and choice of words while describing their experiences. 

Southwest Airlines developed a series of questions to determine the “fit” of a potential hire against their Vision, you can do the same.  Work with existing staff and your own experience with customer service (both good and bad) to develop a few key questions to help you establish a good “fit”.

Here is a tip, when you receive great or better service from someone’s staff, hand them a business card.  Tell them you are always looking for good people if they should ever choose to change their employment, Turn your everyday interactions into defacto job interviews.  You just might find your next super star employee.

Step 2: Writing the Customer Service Vision Statement

Posted on by Jon Arentz

What in the world is a Customer Service Vision Statement?  Good question. Jeff Toister the author of The Service Culture Handbook defines a customer service vision statement as:

 “A customer service vision is a statement that clearly defines the type of customer service employees are expected to provide.“

Your Customer Service Vision (CSV) statement can be a stand alone statement or it can be an integral part of your company’s mission or vision statements.  There can be a company wide CSV and CSVs for individual departments. We will be focusing on a company wide CSV.

Let’s assume that you do not have a CSV and that your Mission and Vision statements really won’t double as a CSV, so where do we start? 

  1. Gather any relevant documents: Mission and Vision statements, quality slogans, even marketing pieces.
  2. Talk to employees, get their input on what customer service means to them and how they would like to serve customers. Jeff Toister suggest asking your employees: “What do you want our customers to think of when they think of the service we provide?”
  3. This is a good time to discover “pain points” in the customer service process which may be vital to the effectiveness of the vision.
  4. Keep these three ideas in mind as you craft your vision: a) is the vision simple and easy to understand, b) does it accurately describe the service we provide for our customers, c) it reflects who we are and what we aim to be.

Writing a customer service vision statement is not easy.  The writing does take time and effort. Don’t expect to finish in one sitting.  Set your initial statement aside for a few days then return to it. Does it really say what you intended? Does it match the 3 key ideas in the above paragraph?

Have staff, employees, and maybe even family members read your statement, multiple viewpoints will assist in creating a great Customer Service Vision statement.

For a complimentary discovery session to determine how you can improve customer service, click the link: https://www.customerserviceimprovement.com/coaching

Step 1: Define Your Culture

Posted on by Jon Arentz

Every business has a culture. Usually the culture begins as an extension of the owner/founder.  The business takes on the personality of the founder; their attitudes, policies, actions and beliefs. As a company grows, these personality traits define the business and how it operates. These legacy actions etc. may actually be getting in the way of business performance.

What is “business culture” and how does it impact your business? In the words of anthropologist E.B. Tylor, culture is “that complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, morals, law, custom and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of society.” In more contemporary terms, culture is the beliefs, actions and behaviors that define how a company interacts with its employees, customers, suppliers and stakeholders.  Your organization’s culture is important because it directly reflects what the organization finds important and meaningful.

Unfortunately, when someone starts a business they usually do not make the time for long term strategic planning.  As a result, the organizations grows in a somewhat haphazard manner. The organizations policies and procedures evolve as situations arise and need to be dealt with.  Very few business owners or managers actually plan their growth (tough to do even in the best economic conditions) nor do they define their organizational culture. Employees then get hired as needed without consideration for how they fit into the culture.

The result is an organization with a haphazard set of actions, policies, beliefs and routines that may not communicate the true organizational vision.  For example; the business can’t claim they place an emphasis on good customer service while at the same time not providing employees with the resources necessary to  provide that service. This conflict between stated ideals and actual practices creates a conflict for employees and impacts how your customers view your business.

The start of any customer service improvement plan is to define your organization’s culture. How do you determine what your organizational culture looks like? Take a good look around your organization, observe employee interactions, look at how tasks are accomplished; what’s important and what isn’t. Take notes as you observe the day to day operation of your business. 

Inc. magazine columnist Geoffrey James has a great video on helping you to define your culture. Enjoy! https://www.inc.com/geoffrey-james/steer-corporate-culture.html

8 Steps To A Customer Service Improvement Plan

Posted on by Jon Arentz

Ever wonder how companies like Southwest Airlines, Starbucks and REI consistently offer great customer service? Each of these organizations makes customer service an integral component of their business strategy! Every customer centric organization has a customer service improvement plan and a customer service improvement strategy.

There are 6 factors any business can implement to differentiate their business from that of their competitors. Customer Service is one of the factors. Differentiating your business sets your business apart from your competitors. You no longer need to compete on price alone. 

Here are 8 steps to create a Customer Service Improvement Plan to differentiate your organization:

  1. Define Your Culture
  2. Write Your Customer Service Vision Statement
  3. Spread The Word – Communicate The Vision
  4. Training
  5. Hiring
  6. Empowerment
  7. Leadership
  8. Celebrate

Over the next 4 weeks I will cover each of these 8 points in depth. Focusing on your customers by providing increased customer service will increase customer retention and grow your business.

For a free complimentary discovery session to determine how you can improve customer service, click the link: https://www.customerserviceimprovement.com/coaching

A Pending Disaster!

Posted on by Jon Arentz
Customer Service Failures

Is there a pending Customer Service failure looming on your business horizon? Like the Titanic, is disaster just ahead, hidden and unforeseen? If you are unaware of the following disaster creating actions or worse, you tolerate them, there is a Customer Service Disaster in your future.

Here are three sure fire ways to a Customer Service Disaster:

  1. Smoke and Mirrors: You make unrealistic claims in your sales and marketing. You make promises you won’t keep just to get people in the door. No, a new suit won’t get you that promotion no matter how good you look in it. That new electronic gadget will not enhance your life and make you more popular. Reality sets in quickly.
  2. Keep it Zipped: Do you notify customers when shipments will be late? If an item they ordered is on back order? The color or size is not available for three weeks? Nobody, especially your customers, wants to be disappointed. When anyone expects their order to arrive on time and be correct your business looses credibility when it fails to deliver. This again is making promises you have no intention of fulfilling.
  3. Hear No Evil: When we as consumers are disappointed in a product or service we usually complain. Is your business listening? Failing to quickly respond to complaints, or worse yet ignoring them, sends a message to your customers: You are not important!

Any one of these issues will lead to reduced customer retention and a poor reputation. Two or all three of these actions will probably put you out of business!

Getting new customers is difficult and expensive, keeping existing customers is cheaper and more profitable. Review your marketing, communication and complaint handling to forestall a Customer Service Disaster.

For more information on improving your customer service visit: www.customerserviceimprovement.com

Customer Service vs Customer Care

Posted on by Jon Arentz

We have all heard the terms customer service and customer care. In some instances they seem to be used interchangeably, as if they meant the same thing.  Well, they don’t. There is a big and not so subtle difference between the two concepts.

Customer service is designed to assist a customer in choosing a product or feature.  For example someone wishing to purchase a refrigerator may want to know the difference between a side-by-side and a standard refrigerator.  What features set them apart; ice maker, cold water dispensers, larger fruit and vegetable bins etc. 

Customer service usually includes the front line staff that address issues of product usage, product failings, service requests and complaints. Unfortunately in most companies customer service is only an after sales function.

Customer care is about fixing the customer. Taking the time to really listen carefully to address any and all issues, finding the right solution to meet their needs.  Making that all important follow up call. Customer care is also about developing a relationship with the customer, interacting with them on a more emotional level.

Blake Morgan in her Forbes article comparing customer service to customer care to customer experience states, “Customer service is a vital part of the entire experience—nearly 75% of customers who leave do so because they aren’t satisfied with customer service”.  Think about this fact and its impact on your business. With just a little training of your staff, you can improve customer satisfaction and customer retention.