Turning Feedback Into Action

Many of you are surely familiar with the legendary John Wooden, one of the greatest teachers, coaches and mentors of all time. While he made his name in basketball, he has often been cited for his principles on leadership and success both personally and in business. One of his most famous quotes is “Be quick, but don’t hurry”. This quote is one that I often use as a reminder in my professional life, but I also believe it applies very directly to the situation facing Toyota Motor Corporation today.

Faced with the daunting task of responding to harsh criticism from current customers who are fearful for their lives, prospective customers who have lost faith in Toyota’s reputation for quality, the U.S. Transportation Secretary quoted as saying, “My advice to anyone who owns one of these vehicles is stop driving it,” thus fueling a traditional and emerging media that thrives on sensationalism, Toyota must indeed “be quick, but don’t hurry,” as they sort out how to repair upwards of 8 million automobiles.

Toyota must "be quick" in order to stem the tide to prevent the backlash from overwhelming them. Current estimates suggest that they may have already lost $2 billion either in repair costs or lost sales, and the longer the story lingers as headline news, the greater these losses become.

However, at the same time, Toyota cannot "hurry" with the repairs or sweep this under the rug, as they should be very aware that people’s lives are at stake here. While solutions have been posed to drivers who experience a stuck accelerator, another serious injury or death related to this issue could cause irrevocable damage. However, even worse, if repairs are supposedly completed by dealerships, but haven’t corrected the problem, or cause other unintended issues, it could strike a critical blow to Toyota’s credibility in the eyes of all involved.

I’m an owner of a Toyota, and I do have faith in the products that they make, but their reputation is at stake, and how they respond to the feedback received will lay the foundation for how they are seen post-crisis. Perception truly is reality, and there is no better time for Toyota to begin proving themselves again than today. So, I do hope that Toyota will be quick, but don’t hurry. There’s too much at risk not to be.

Brad Harmon
Vice President, Consulting Services

It’s a new year and many of us dove headfirst into 2010 – wrapping up year end activities, moving swiftly into getting new initiatives underway and focusing on what we want to accomplish for the year. I was recently at a conference where different community organizations discussed all the effort that went into their work and one speaker’s closing comment was “Be sure to celebrate success, no matter how big or small it is.” That one statement stuck out to me as something that may not happen enough, particularly the “no matter how big or small”. How often do we celebrate the little milestones that take us one step closer to accomplishing our larger goals?

While planning for 2010 and all that it may bring, celebrate the small success each of us have when taking action on the feedback customers provide. Recognize the account manager that followed up with the customers for participating in the survey. Acknowledge the team members that assisted others in gathering customer names for contact. Compliment the functional teams that incorporated customer feedback into their roadmaps. Let the customers know what your organization is going to do with their feedback and thank them for their support. 

While we need to keep our eye on the big picture, celebrate the small successes accomplished along the way. It can only motivate those taking action to continue as they are acknowledged for the efforts that take place.

"Success will never be a big step in the future, success is a small step taken just now."

~ Jonatan Martensson

Lauri Jones

Senior Analyst

Since the earthquake struck in Haiti last week, it has become so apparent of the need for people to mobilize and get involved.   My colleague Michael Good encouraged us to take action in his blog “You can do something.”  I would like to echo his encouragement to get involved. 

The news media has communicated the tremendous need for food, water, relief supplies, and medical treatment.  If, like me, you have been following the rescue efforts and response from organizations like the American Red Cross and ministries like Nehemiah Vision Ministries, then you have seen many examples of people taking action. 

These groups, along with many other nonprofit organizations, churches, and other organizations are responding to the disaster.  Fundraising efforts have raised hundreds of millions of dollars to provide the necessities.  Medical professionals are heading to Haiti to help people in need.  Many families have volunteered to bring Haitian orphans into their homes if they can get the children out of Haiti.  Groups are packaging food to send to Haiti.  Sports organizations are raising money at local sporting events.  There is a need; people want to help. 

What lessons can we take from this and apply to our efforts in managing customer relationships?  

1. Recognize each associate in your organization can make a difference.  
2. Be willing to accept help from others.
3. Communicate your needs.
4. Encourage team members to get involved. 

Kitty Radcliff
Vice President
 

There has been a lot of buzz the past week regarding NBC’s late night line-up and the drama associated with how to handle the failure of Jay Leno’s ill-fated 10:00 prime time slot. It’s hard to remember the days when NBC was on top and they owned “must-see TV.” A string of questionable decisions NBC has made regarding programming has allowed the other networks to catch up and surpass them. When it was announced last year that Jay Leno would be leaving The Tonight Show and get his own show airing at 10:00p.m. every night, many experts questioned the logic of this decision. It was a risky move to be sure, considering that NBC was giving up a time slot usually reserved for scripted dramas.

Now NBC is left dealing with how to deal with the repercussions of this decision. What will become of The Tonight Show? Will Conan agree to share the time slot with Leno? Given recent comments from O’Brien, it doesn’t sound likely.

One could argue that if NBC was more in touch with what their audiences were looking for, they might not be in this situation right now.   The situation at NBC is one that is well publicized and we are all aware of, but the same thing happens every day when businesses do not take the voice of the customer into account when making business decisions.   The best way to avoid this is to make certain that your organization has an integrated approach to collecting and acting upon the feedback your customers provide. Companies who put customers at the center of everything they do outperform those that have not developed effective ways of customer listening. 

Melissa Meier
Vice President, Client Service

If you’re anything like me, you can probably count on one hand the number of times that you’ve had Domino’s Pizza in the past. In the hierarchy of chain pizza restaurants, Domino’s was always about 34^th  on my list of options (even beneath places that I have since found out were no longer in business). But recently I noticed that Domino’s has taken a bold, creative approach to addressing their customer feedback that mirrors the perception I had in my mind whenever Domino’s was mentioned.

If you haven’t seen the commercials (if you’re a football fan, don’t worry, you will soon), Domino’s basically lets us behind the curtain to see and hear the nature of the feedback they’ve heard. Things like ‘the crust tastes like cardboard’, and ‘the sauce tastes like catsup’ were continually mentioned in customer focus groups and on social media vehicles like Twitter (http://twitter.com/dominos) and Facebook.

However, instead of trying to divert attention to other aspects that don’t matter as much (like they used to do with the "30 minutes or its free" guarantee), they’ve now addressed this feedback head-on, and have totally recreated their pizza, as well as their approach toward customer feedback.

You can learn more in a pretty candid take in the video below, or at www.pizzaturnaround.com

 



While it remains to be seen how effective this approach will ultimately be (I’ve yet to try their new pizza, but I have to say I’m at least a little intrigued now), I believe that Domino’s should at least be commended for actually listening to what their customers are saying, doing something about it, and crediting their changes to their desire to be customer focused.

Brad Harmon
Vice President, Consulting Services

As we head into 2010, many people will look back and reflect on the past year.  The media helps in the reflection process, providing lots of “Top 10 lists.”  The most comprehensive list I have seen is Time Magazine’s The Top 10 Everything of 2009.  There are lists of movies, pictures, sports moments, and awkward moments.  There are lists of the best websites, the best television shows, and the best inventions. 

The end of year just seems like a good time to take stock, to reflect on what went well and what didn’t work out exactly as expected.  You might reflect on whether you have achieved your target fitness level, or trained to run a marathon in a certain amount of time, or spent more quality time with your family, or read a certain number of books.   After reflecting, a logical next step is to make resolutions for what you want to do differently in 2010.  What habits will you change?  What things will you stop doing?  What will you start doing?

Similarly, this is a good time to take stock of your Customer Feedback program.  You might reflect on the actions you have taken this year.  What initiatives have been put in place?  What has worked well, improving the customer experience?  What efforts stalled?  Why?  Given what you know about your customers, what habits should you change in 2010?  What should your team stop doing?  Or, start doing?

With any good resolution, it is important to keep your goal measurable and achievable.  For example, if your goal is to ensure all account teams have easy access to customer information, then consider making Walker Link available to all account managers. 

2010 Resolution:  Take action on customer feedback!

Kitty Radcliff
Vice President
 

The time of year is upon us when we will be bombarded with “year in review” lists. Over the next few weeks we will be talking about the biggest stories of the year. Some of the top ones that come to mind include the inauguration of a new President, the continued economic crisis, the concern over H1N1, the death of Michael Jackson, and most recently the embattled Tiger Woods. Then, of course, there were the stories that just seemed to get more and more outrageous such as “Octomom”, the Gosselins, and the “Balloon Boy” hoax. Whereas there is a lot of fun in reminiscing about all of the events of the past year, hopefully there are lessons to be learned as we reflect on the good, the bad, and the ugly. 

What does the year in review look like for your organization? How effective were you in being customer focused? If you were to create a year in review list for your company, how would you answer the following questions?

·         What was your biggest success in using customer feedback to improve customer relationships?

·         What was your biggest disappointment in delivering optimal customer experiences?

·         What was the biggest surprise you learned from listening to customers this year?

As you reflect on the past year, think about the ways in which you can communicate back to customers the lessons you have learned from them.  This will demonstrate your commitment to listening to your customers and using their feedback to improve their experiences.

Melissa Meier
Vice President, Client Service

If your customers were helping Santa Claus check his naughty and nice list, which one would your company fall into this year? Have you been good all year? Just like Santa, your customers see you when you’re sleeping (or simply ignoring their requests), they know when you’re awake (like when you’ve actively listened to their feedback, and made changes accordingly. They know when you’ve been bad or good, so be good for goodness sake.

If you haven’t done so yet this year, as you prepare for 2010, perhaps now is a good time to take stock of the things that your company has done to improve how you listen and engage with your customers.

•  What things have you started doing this year based on customer feedback?
• What things have you stopped doing based on customer feedback?
• What things have you done more of based on customer feedback?

Do your customers know what you’ve done, and if so have you seen the benefits of these changes yet? While customers are typically forgiving, it may take some time for them to believe you’re not simply trying to fool them into a false sense of security with you.

If you’ve made changes, have you remembered your former customers in your communications? If they left you for a particular reason that has been fixed, have you made an effort to patch up the relationship in order to grow your business?  I’ll cite one personal example of a company that did just that.

I used to be a long-time subscriber to XM Satellite Radio (now Sirius-XM). However, after their recent merger, I felt like the quality of their programming was weakening, and the amount of programming I received for my regular subscription fee was shrinking, so I decided to call them up to cancel. Amazingly, during my conversation with the very polite representative, no questions were asked about why I wanted to cancel, and I was not enticed by any other offers to stick around. 

However, prior to the holiday season, the folks at Sirius-XM sent me a note indicating that they were re-instating my subscription for a short period of time to reacquaint me to their offerings and how they’ve changed since my cancellation. They caught me at a good time, because I’m a bit of sucker for holiday music, so I took them up on their offer. I did listen to their content for another two weeks, and I’m contemplating renewing my subscription as a result of the personal attention I received. It was a small gesture, but one that made me feel like more than a number to them, and gave me reason to put them in my thoughts.

So, don’t forget to make sure that your customers, and Santa, know when you’ve been nice this year.

Happy holidays and best wishes in 2010!




Brad Harmon
Vice President, Consulting Services

It’s official.  We have entered the holiday season!  That usually means a very full calendar with events, holiday parties, and casual get-togethers with family and friends.  Yet, there also seems to be many more things to get done.  

1.  At risk customers were segmented based on their value to the organization. Six high value customers rise to the top of the list.  
    
2.  Other vulnerable customers who plan to reduce their spending are a secondary priority.  They’re next on the list.
    
3. Finally, the last part of the list is made up of those who are not only at risk of departure, but who also have an affinity to the competition.

We’re currently in the midst of planning a holiday trip to Florida for our family.   All of our conversations lately focus on which day to leave and return, where to stay, the route to take, what impact on the holiday it may have, what activities will be available when we are there and concerns of the weather.  The planning phase is so intense, with so many aspects to consider and debate and negotiate, I actually asked the question if taking a trip to Florida (in the dead of Indiana winter) was worth it!

Planning for anything, including a Voice of the Customer program, is intensive but without a plan, the outcome may fall short of expectations. And when there are significant investments towards learning what your customers think, the planning phase is critical to ensure that investment is fully recognized. As customer advocates, we develop strategies around contact gathering and survey development. But do we spend as much time on planning our internal and external communications throughout the program?  

With a well-developed and executed communications plan, continual awareness building of the program can be attained, clearing the path internally to take action on the feedback gathered.  Plan key communications for customers throughout the customer survey cycle to garner buy-in, participation and awareness of actions being taken. Leverage current communication avenues already in place, be creative in the messaging and send information out at key junctures in the program to help keep awareness levels high. The upfront planning stages may already be intensive and adding another area to plan is not necessarily what we’d want to do. However, the efforts put forth in creating a communications plan will be worth it in the long run.

Lauri Jones

Senior Analyst

Have you ever had a situation that you were dreading, but turned out to be not so bad? That happened to me recently when I needed to take my son to a local flu shot clinic. We weren’t having any luck with the flu shot supply at our doctor’s office, so we loaded up the family and went to a flu shot clinic. I expected it to be a torturous experience. I imagined a line of people hundreds deep, with a wait time that was measured in hours, not minutes. Much to my surprise, the event was very well coordinated and staffed, which resulted in us getting right and out. When leaving, it struck me how easy the whole thing was.

What lesson is there for us as customer advocates? In order to motivate our organizations to take action, we must make it easy for them to participate in the process. If we don’t, employees will view it as just one more thing that they need to and will be looking for ways to avoid it. Think of your company when answering the following questions:

• Is there an efficient process in place for sales teams to provide customer contact names?
• Do people know where to go to get feedback that customers provided?
• If they do know where to go, is it easy for them to retrieve it?
• Is there an easy way for people to document the action they have taken with customers?

If you are like most organizations, the answer to one or more of the questions above is “no.” When designing the customer feedback system, focus on making the process easy for people to participate in.  Think about how the process can be embedded into existing processes and management systems. Use technology to enable efficiency around program administration and documentation activities. If successful, I bet you find that the uphill battle on getting employees to participate won’t seem so steep.

Melissa Meier
Vice President, Client Service

One thing that often gets overlooked in the gathering of customer feedback is what your customers tell you about the competition. Obviously, one of the primary objectives of any customer feedback initiatives is to gauge how your customers perceive their interactions with your company.

But, how you factor in any comparisons to other relationships your customers have may change the perspective on the feedback. For instance, let’s assume that 70% of your customers view your company as Easy to Do Business With. Sounds great, right? You might even be tempted to take this nugget of feedback and trumpet it out to the marketplace. That’s fine if you have benchmarking information that suggests the industry average for this concept is 50%. But, if 80% of your customers view your key competitor as Easy to Do Business With, then this is something you likely need to work on before you celebrate.

Two good examples of taking what customers have complained about have been used in high profile ads recently. Apple has done a good job exploiting feedback about Microsoft in humorous campaign around the launch of Microsoft’s new Vista OS.

Apple has not escaped criticism, and Motorola has recently launched a campaign targeted at some of the negative feedback received about the iPhone.  


 

Both campaigns are humorous, but are made possible only when these companies listen to feedback about themselves, but also about their competition. 
 

The same concept works on Loyalty, and can be even more powerful. In this scenario, if you’re measuring your customers’ relationships with the competition, you can begin to understand how plausible dual-loyalty is in your relationships. It’s very possible that while a customer is Truly Loyal to your company, they may also have a similar level of Loyalty to your biggest competitor. In that case, the ability for you to increase your share of wallet may be harder to achieve. However, if another customer is Truly Loyal to you, but High Risk to your competitor, this represents a very strong opportunity that should be explored to help you prioritize your time and resources.

So, while it’s good to be selfish when it comes to customer feedback, don’t forget that it’s not always just about you.

Brad Harmon
Vice President, Consulting Services

Recently, the topic of encouragement came up in a small group discussion – the question being “Why is it so difficult for some people to encourage each other?” The general sense being too often we don’t recognize the efforts and lengths people go to since they are “simply doing their job.”

You may have seen the video where two students at Purdue University,The Purdue Compliment Guys, show us it is not difficult to encourage others.  Last spring they gained national attention for standing on a prominent walkway at the center of campus every Wednesday and offering free compliments to hundreds of passersby. Their goal is simply to brighten people's days.

Their praise might be surprising, but is definitely appreciated and makes people feel good:  
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QShPNcjgtfs

As a customer advocate, you likely recognize the importance of motivating individuals to take action on customer feedback. It’s true some people are motivated by linking their personal success with customer success (through pay and other rewards). But, let’s not forget the importance of reinforcing or sharing positive messages to keep people motivated. Recognizing their efforts can go a long way in motivating for action.

You’re doing a great job!  And, I encourage you to offer a word of encouragement to your colleagues…


Kitty Radcliff
Vice President
 

It is at this time of year where many conversations start to center around fantasy football. In fact, you are probably in the minority if you don’t have contact with fantasy football, either directly or through someone you know.   Just think if the amount of time and energy that went into research and making decisions for a fantasy football team could be channeled into taking action on voice of the customer!

What it is about fantasy football that draws people in? It makes football even more fun to watch - especially if you are watching a game with no vested interested in either team – because you are rooting for your fantasy team’s players. It also taps into the competitive spirit in all of us. It is fun to engage in friendly competition with friends, family members, and strangers all with the goal of coming out on top.

There are applications here that can apply to voice of the customer programs. Sales organizations are famously competitive, so think of ways that the competitive nature of your sales teams can be levered to drive action. For example, reward and recognize those sales teams who provide the most contact names or who are first to complete close the loop activities. Many companies use a “wall of shame” approach to encourage superior performance across all teams…no one wants to be at the bottom of a performance list. Also think of ways in which fun can be incorporated into these competitive elements. Creating some excitement around the voice of the customer program is a great way to motivate people to participate, and prevent them from viewing this as "just one more thing to do."

In this time of information overload, who isn’t suffering a bit from attention deficit? 

Recently, I noticed in a meeting that over a third of the attendees had their laptops open in front of them. What a great way to multi task! Not only could they watch the presentation, but at the same time they could catch up on email and get other work done. Some of us were a little more subtle, using our mobile phones to stay connected with the rest of the world for the entire hour we were in the meeting. Regardless of method – isn’t it true we likely missed something from the presentation? 

My church recently started a series about paying attention – or not – making the point that we often only half look and half see because we’re too preoccupied with other things.

“From the time we were children we were told to “pay attention,” as if this were the simplest thing in the world. But in fact attentiveness is one of the most difficult concepts to grasp and one of the hardest disciplines to learn. For we are very distractible people in a very distracting world.” Leighton Ford, The Attentive Life

Linda Stone, writer and consultant, uses the term “Continuous Partial Attention” to describe a state where workers fade in and out while conducting other activities. 

This idea of not paying complete attention struck a chord. I know that there are times when I should be more focused on the situation at hand. Our partial attention or partial inattention is not inherently a bad thing. But, in my example above, the presenter was competing with e-mails, instant messaging and other work related distractions. Really – how much would someone miss if they disconnect from email during a one hour session?

As a customer advocate, how do you keep your information users engaged and attentive enough so they will take action? Some ideas for communicating in a way to maintain attention include:

·         Be creative – Look for fresh and creative ways to get your message across

·         Be targeted – Have a focused message

·         Be clear – Communicate a manageable amount so the message is heard

·         Use variety – Mix it up by leveraging existing communications and use multiple methods to communicate your message

·         Make it accessible – Make sure you have a way for information users to have access to the information in the way they need it to keep them engaged

There’s no magic bullet, but recognizing the potential for distractions or giving only partial attention is half the battle, isn’t it?

Kitty Radcliff
Vice President

I’m convinced that my soon to be three-year-old son has an aspiring career as an agent of change. Maybe not tomorrow, of course, but the seeds have been planted for him to at least challenge his parents, teachers, and friends in the near future.

Over the past six months or so, my wife and I have traveled down the road of understanding the root cause of everything you could possibly imagine. My son has latched onto the question ‘Why?’ in reference to any subject he can think of. While frustrating at times, I’ve been somewhat amazed at how deep he wants to go into the reasons something is the way it is. In the process, I’ve found myself rethinking why I do things the way that I do, and why companies operate the way they do.

However, recently, I’ve seen a shift in my son’s interrogation techniques. It has moved from ‘Why?’ to ‘Then what?’, which I believe is a question that has even more relevance as I think about taking information and driving meaningful actions based on it. It’s not always sufficient to think about the very next step when looking to act upon feedback. We need to be thinking about the consequences of those actions, and what new actions might become evident either due to the fact that an issue has been completely resolved (raising others in priority), or repercussions (or even fallout) from the initial actions being taken. If we’re looking out for the best interests of our customers, we have to recognize that this activity never really stops, and that the celebration for any success is short-lived, as each action we take can and will elicit a reaction from our stakeholders.

We’re never going to be perfect, whether it be as parents, change agents, or organizations, but to the extent that we’re not only thinking about ‘Why’ things are they way they are, but also, ‘Then what’ based on our actions, we can minimize the likelihood of a misstep, and get ever closer to the elusive goal of undying customer loyalty and the success that accompanies it.

Brad Harmon
Vice President, Consulting Services

I recently had a very poor customer service experience at a local restaurant. I am usually laid back about these sorts of things, but in this particular instance I felt it necessary to speak to a manager about my concerns. Unfortunately, the manager heard me, but did nothing to compensate for the trouble that we had. He heard my story, and said “thanks” but offered up no solutions.

Is this situation any different than asking customers to provide feedback in a formal way, but then not acting upon it? It is not enough to just say “thanks” to customers who take the time to fill out a survey but then tune out their concerns. While acknowledgement of feedback is important, we must go beyond a thank you and translate feedback into action.

The impact of acting upon customer feedback is compelling: 

·         Increased revenue from relationships that are saved,  as well as new opportunities with happy customers

·         Strengthening customer relationships and cultivating more loyal customers

·         Increases in the numbers of customer willing to provide feedback in the future

In my situation, because I felt “tuned out” I will likely decrease the amount of business I give that restaurant and look for other alternatives. Is that the message that we want to be sending to our customers?

Melissa Meier
Vice President, Client Service

Sometimes even the most perfectly laid plans can go a bit off track. With school back in session and summer winding down, many of us are taking one last weekend road trip. On just such a trip, my family encountered a detour due to road construction. The detour necessitated driving several miles out of the way, taking extra time - thus we arrived later at our final destination than originally planned. 

Detours are a fact of life when you’re on the road, just as obstacles and barriers are a fact of life as part of the Customer Experience journey. Being aware of common obstacles and having a plan to overcome them is critical.

Recently, a customer advocate faced a major obstacle when communicating results - skepticism. Having a skeptical crew can be a major roadblock to getting them to take action on customer feedback. Ideally you can address it early in the process and get the buy-in ahead of time. Involving the right people at the right stages is extremely helpful in avoiding or minimizing skepticism. 

Unfortunately detours are often a surprise. In instances of unexpected skepticism, it is important to uncover the root cause – otherwise, you might spin your wheels trying to get around the wrong obstacle. Using techniques such as “The Five Whys” can be a great way to confirm the root cause of the skepticism. From there, update your road map to get around the detour and get back on track!

Kitty Radcliff
Vice President