Bottom-Line Case for Businesses to Deliver WOWEDFactor Experiences

WOWEDFactor Definition: a customer service experience that was so extraordinary, "humanizing, engaging or connecting," your perception of the person you were dealing with, and consequently the business or organization, became significantly enhanced

Many businesses don't seem to get the fact that when their employees deliver WOWEDFactor experiences, they go beyond being merely in the "transaction" business into the rarified air of being in the "interaction" business.  This results in "fully engaged customers."  And, the impact of fully engaged customers was captured by the Gallop Organization in a 2005 Study:

WOWEDFactor: Significant Differentiator for All Types of Businesses? Not Necessarily

Specifically, if a person has a WOWEDSighting -"a humanizing, engaging or connecting interaction" at a ... (restaurant, hotel, hospital, call center, car rental airport, visitor center, etc.) does it increase the likelihood that s/he will come back, buy more and/or refer others?

Is the WOWEDFactor a "crucial touchpoint" for all types of businesses?  Is it a path that all should pursue to differentiate and pullahead of their competition?  The answer to all question: not necessarily - it depends on the type of business.

Unappreciated Employees Yield Few Customer WOWEDFactor Experiences

Simply amazing that this goes on ...

WOWEDSightings: Bottom-Line Impact

What's the business impact of WOWEDSightings (humanizing, engaging or connecting brand ambassador interactions) that deliver perception:

• You’re as concerned about my welfare/business as I am.
• You want to be fully accountable.
• You really understand what I’m dealing with.
• You want me to have the best solution even if it means less business to you.

Depending on the industry, the bottom-line impact can be: greater differentiation; more sales overall; more sales per customer; greater customer count; testimonials and referrals.

Firestone
firestone@wowedamerica.com
314-863-4000

I Don't Get Sinclair - They're Missing an Opportunity

Recently I went to Phillips to do a "partial" fill up.  I noticed that the Sinclair station across the street was a full cent cheaper.  Further, I noticed that the cent cheaper got you "full service," whereby an attendant does the gas pumping -- twas not the case at Phillips.  (Note: I know this about Sinclair.  However, if one didn't know they did the full service, it easily could go unnoticed because there are no signs, etc. making the public aware.)  And, I also noticed that the Phillips station was completely full ... people waiting in line, not so with the Sinclair station.

WOWEDFactor Programs: On Target to Impact What Types of Businesses?

Here are some some types of businesses/organizations whose front-line people's ability to deliver the WOWEDFactor could significantly influence business value through enhanced loyalty and word-of-mouth advertising (as well as additional sales):

    * Banks.  Teller's are the front-line interface.  Their ability to engage is crucial to building brand.

    * Hotels.  Service image has everything to do with all the interactions guests have with employees.  Article that explores example of where hotel front desk clerk delivers: Adding Value to Your Products and Services: Learn to Differentiate Your Offerings

Value of the Wal-Mart Greeter?

I'm a Wal-Mart fan.  My wife and I have a Friday-night ritual that includes a grocery shop there.

My favorite part: the Wal-Mart greeter. Most of the time, I get a WOWEDSighting (a humanizing, engaging or connecting customer service interaction that positively influences my staying a "fan"); some of the time I don't.

Recently, I had an experience where the "greeter" looked right thru me and mumbled a plastic, "Thanks for shopping at Wal-Mart."  It was an "OW"edSighting -- the inverse of a WOWEDSighting.  (See Post) My thought:  they'd be better of not having a greeter, than running the risk of an "OW"edSighting.

"Push on the Back of the Car" - What I Learned from a NJ Shell Dealer About Perceived Value

So, I'm doing an "Experience the Difference - You Make the Difference" workshop for Shell Oil dealers in New Jersey and we're talking about how the WOWEDFactor could be an effective differentiator.  A dealer approaches me and says he differentiates the full-service experience by having his people clean the back window -- something that is valued by his customers and that his competition doesn't do.  He goes on to explain, however, that perception is everything -- if the customer doesn't know he's cleaned the back window, he hasn't.

He pulls me over to a table to demonstrate how he teaches his process.  "Let's assume we're at the back of the car driver side and that you've got the squeegee in your right hand.  Before you start cleaning the window, you want to take your left hand and push on the back of the car.  Customer turns around and you've got on a big smile as your squeegee goes to work."

WOWEDFactor Touch Points and Logan College of Chiropractic

Several years ago I was asked to speak to the marketing class at Logan College of Chiropractic in St. Louis, MO. I began by asking the students what were the crucial Moments of Truth that ultimately define the service image of chiropractors.

Moment of Truth: Any interaction between a chiropractor, his or her office and his or her patients (both positive and negative, external and internal, animate and inanimate) that influences perceptions of service image.

I asked them to determine which were the most important, when it came to defining the service image ... the 4s and 5s on the 5-point scale.  Here's what they told me. (Crucial Moments of Truth (MOTs) and suggested Action Plan to effectively deliver on each MOT.)  What's particularly interesting is that if one is to excel in each of these Moments of Truth, many times it requires delivery of the WOWEDFactor components ... a "humanizing, engaging or connecting" interaction.  I thought they did an excellent job.

WOWEDFactor Differentiators: Shell Station and the Helium Balloon"Mom, let's go to McDonald's and let's go to the Shell station!"

While doing an Experience the Difference - You Make the Difference workshop in Michigan, a dealer approached me and explained how he was selling more full-service gasoline than anybody in town and that he was charging a higher price. I was intrigued and inquired how this was happening. He answered with an explanation of an occurrence that happened with regularity every Saturday: A car pulls into full service with kid in the back seat; attendant taps on the back window; kid brings the window down and is presented with a helium balloon, replete with the station’s name. (WOWEDFactor alert!) Needless to say, a happy kid begets a happy parent, which begets a fill up, drinks and repeat business.

Further, the dealer told me that the following parent-child conversations happen with regularity on Saturday mornings in that Michigan town: kids get in the family car and state their requests for the day: “Mom, let’s go to the park; let’s go to McDonalds; and, let’s go to the Shell Station!” This service station owner redefined who his customer was and differentiated his product by giving his “customers” a WOWEDFactor experience. He transformed the customer mindset from “we’ve got to go to the service station” to “we get to go”! Did that dealer’s gas work any better than anybody else’s? Hardly.

Interested in a WOWEDFactor Opportunity Audit?  Contact me.  We'll determine where your "helium balloons" opportunities are.

Firestone
firestone@wowedamerica.com
314-863-4000

Ask WOWEDAMERICA Letters: Options to Compete Other Than Lowering Prices

I received an email recently from a retailer who felt her only option in this market was to drastically cut her prices in order to keep pace with the competition.  She questioned whether there were alternatives. 

My response was there are other options to evaluate.  First, take a step back and ask who are your "Promoters," those customers who, if asked, would refer you to others.  Promoters buy more, pay their bills on time and are responsible for 80-90% of referrals.

WOWEDFactor Essential: Employees Need to Have a "Piece of the Rock"

There is amazing opportunity for businesses to differentiate their offerings when employees regularly deliver WOWEDFactor experiences.

(WOWEDFactor Definition: a customer service experience that was so extraordinary, "humanizing, engaging or connecting," your perception of the person you were dealing with, and consequently the business or organization, became significantly enhanced)

In order for employees to want to deliver the WOWEDFactor, they have to have a sense of ownership; they must have a "piece of the rock." 

AT&T Technicians: Delivering the WOWEDFactor = Success In SellingCase Study

•  Question One: Is it possible to teach service technicians to sell effectively?  My answer: Absolutely YES.

• Question Two: Would the best strategy be to teach conventional selling techniques, like "how to close a sale" and "how to handle objections"?  My answer: Absolutely NO.

Had an opportunity to develop and deliver a series of seminars for AT&T technicians on how to sell extended warranty agreements to their business customers when they were on a repair call.  Initially the request to us was: "Teach our people techniques to get clients to buy the agreements."  In essence, the request was for the zero-sum manipulative selling stuff. (e.g., "The 10 key words to get people to buy now!"  "The 5 most effective closes."  "How to handle objections.") My take on these approaches: they only service to compromise the perception of trust and integrity - not enhance it. 

WOWEDFactor: $1.39 Bootie Investment at Walgreens

In one of our Pullingahead/WOWEDFactor workshops, I had a distributor of home entertainment systems approach me and say he was challenged to differentiate because as a distributor he provided the same products at basically the same price points as his competition.  He thought that lowering his prices was the ticket to a competitive advantage.

Certainly the easy solution, but not the way to go.

Instead, we looked for ways to "de-commoditize" -- focusing on all the crucial touch points that made up his service image.  He concluded that how his home entertainment systems were installed could significantly impact his service image.

"OW"edFactor/WOWEDFactor Differentiation ScaleEvaluate your experience ... where does it lie?

  OR

 

1   2   3   4   5   6   7   8   9   10

"OW"ed                               WOWED

Congrats to OfficeMax for Celebrating Employee's WOWEDSighting

Amanda Kassabaum, OfficeMax Employee and WOWEDSighting Certificate Recipient,
Acknowledged by OfficeMax

Some background ...

WOWEDFactor: Do We Have Something In Common With Cows?

OK, now what's this article about??  Bear (or cow) with me. 

In a 2009 study (published in the academic journal Anthrozoos), involving 516 dairy farmers in the UK, Dr. Catherine Douglas and Dr. Peter Rowlinson at Newcastle University found if cows were treated with a "personal touch" (an interaction), it increased their production (the amount of the transaction).

The average amount of milk produced by a cow over its annual 10 month lactation period is 13,198 pints. Those cows with names had an average higher milk yield of 454 pints!

1-800 "Shell, You Got a Problem!"

I get a great gig.  I'm brought down to Houston by Shell Oil Company to do some workshops for the folks who answer their 1-800 number.  I'm there as part of their "Experience the Difference  - You Make the Difference" customer service program.  The essence of the program: if customers are to "experience the difference," employees need to "make the difference."  Makes so much sense.
 
Let's just say the people who call into the Houston center aren't doing so to thank Shell for the great experience.  They're calling because something is wrong.  Their bill is wrong.  They received poor service.  The pricing is unfair. etc.  Essentially, when they call they're saying, "I'm about to drop your brand!"

Announcing Contest for "Best Southwest Airlines WOWEDSighting!"

Year end results for 2009 marked Southwest's 37th consecutive year of profitability. WOW.  Doubtful any other airline can claim this amazing record.

Here's my take.  In part, their success is because they're not in the same business as many of the others. Southwest is in the experience business, while the others are merely in the airline business.  Quite simply, if you've ever flown Southwest, I'd venture to say your airline "transaction" (you pay X amount for the airline to take you from point A to point B) morphed into an "interaction" very quickly.  They are the epitome of a WOWEDFactor organization: every crucial touch point along their cycle of service is designed to deliver an extraordinary customer service experience that adds significantly to the Southwest value proposition.

Why I Don't Like the "No Soup for You!" Subway Model

"No soup for you!" blurts out the Soup Nazi in Seinfeld.  Although not an "OW"edSighting on the episode, other than in tv-land it would have been.  ("OW"edSighting Definition: a customer service experience that was so bad, you quit going back to the business.)

My take ... there's a certain sub shop, Subway, that has a way of doing business whereby a request for a few extra of  "anything" on a sub very well could produce a customer perception that they're facing down that infamous Seinfeld character.  And, notwithstanding those long soup lines on that episode, this is not something that engenders customer loyalty.