This is the year of confessions. I’ve told you I don’t like cleaning up and filing things away. I’ve admitted I only went to the University of Michigan to get football tickets. As much as it pains me to be one, I’ve even admitted I’m a Detroit Lions fan.
I have one more confession. I love musical theater. I get cranked up watching Broadway shows. I even get excited watching live Broadway-esque performances like the one Neil Patrick Harris did here.
Last night I watched Disney’s Newsies on Netflix. Not the 1992 movie starring Christian Bale but a filmed stage production. Loved it!
While reading more about the production on IMDb.com, I noticed it had a pretty high rating from the public. I started reading reviews and and they were mostly 10’s. The reviews that weren’t so stellar didn’t talk about the acting or singing or dancing or storyline. They talked about camera angles and editing of camera shots.
One person gave it a 4 solely because of the choppy editing of the dance sequences. Tough critic.
It got me thinking about how we measure success of our business and how our customers measure success of our business. The two criteria are completely different.
Your customer considers your business a success if she comes in, gets what she needs, and feels good about it. You consider your business a success if you can pay all your bills and make some money for yourself. Two completely different sets of measurements, yet when you stop and think about it, the more you take care of your customer, the more likely you’ll have enough business to pay all your bills and make some money for yourself.
You need to measure what is important to your customers as much as you measure what is important to you.
Notice that I didn’t say, “instead of.” I said, “as much as.” You need to measure both.
You need a method of keeping track of how many times you say, “No we don’t.” to a customer request. I have a friend who has a “No List” she keeps by the cash register just for that purpose. Every time a customer asks for something they don’t have, the staff has to write it down. She figures if a lot of customers come in believing she might have a certain item, then it would be in her best interest to look into carrying that item.
You need a method of tracking how many customers are repeat and referral customers. Only customers who get their needs met and feel good about it will come back and bring their friends. If those numbers are rising, your customer service is succeeding.
Inventory levels, cash flow, profit margin, and sales are all important and need to be tracked, but they are as much a result of the first two numbers as anything else. The more your customers think of your business as a success, the better those other numbers will be.
If you have a lot of items on your No List then you need to figure out why your customers have such a different view of your business than you do. If you have a lot of new customers not referred by a friend, then either you’re a tourist destination, your advertising is stellar, or you need to up your game on taking care of your customers.
When your customers come in, get what they need, and leave feeling good, that’s the singing, acting, and dancing that gets you the standing ovation.
-Phil Wrzesinski
www.PhilsForum.com
PS Speaking of measuring the right things, here is the survey that the American Specialty Toy Retailing Association (ASTRA) uses for the presentations at their Academy.
Here are the averages of the survey responses from your presentation, “Cash is King & You are the Advisor:”
1—Unsatisfied 4—Completely Satisfied
| Did the presentation meet your expectations based on the session description? | Were you satisfied with the speaker(s) level of knowledge on the topic? | Rate your overall satisfaction with this session: |
| 3.9 | 4 | 3.9 |
Those of you who have followed this blog a long time know that the three things I stress the most about Customer Service are:
- You have to meet your customer’s expectations. (Question #1)
- You have to build trust. (Question #2)
- You have to leave them feeling good about the transaction. (Question #3)
Did the audience come in, get what they needed, and feel good about it? Those results were my standing ovation.