In Just 10 Minutes

This morning we got a call from a financial client 10 minutes before their board meeting. The board was about to review their customer satisfaction report from last month.

An open-ended comment in the report was from a customer having a severe issue, and at the time of the interview, this customer was threatening to leave our client.

Our contact called us in a panic- "What if one of the board members asks about that quote? What am I going say?"

Our contact needed to know what had happened with this customer, and he couldn't get the information internally in time for the board meeting.

We sprang.

We found the customer in our database, tracked him down, and conducted an impromptu follow-up interview.

As it turns out, he was thrilled with the service he received since our initial interview. His online bill-paying program had been malfunctioning, leading to all sorts of payment problems.

So the branch manager:

• Contacted him personally
• Took total responsibility for the problems
• Completely fixed the main issue and all of the subsequent problems that the main issue had created
• Made sure that the customer was not assessed any fines
• Proactively ensured that the customer experienced no other negative repercussions from the malfunction

We immediately called our contact and relayed this information.

Now, instead of our contact fretting about the board members asking about that negative quote, he was HOPING that they'd ask about it.

(Oh, and we also offered to email a digital recording of the call so that the board members could hear about the resolution directly from the customer.)

So the client is thrilled and we're glowing with the knowledge that we helped save the day.

All in just 10 minutes.

Nobody Needs to Get Hurt! (Part 2)

An earlier post discussed the bad idea that strikes us all from time to time.

Roughly summarized, the bad idea is: “I don’t need no stinking expert; I’ll do it myself!”

A while back we were working with a bank executive to design an internal survey for (1) measuring employee morale and (2) collecting on-the-ground insights on how to streamline their byzantine commercial lending process.

Let me be clear that this is an extremely smart and successful professional who has forgotten more about banking than most of us will ever know.

But after a few revisions of the survey, he decided to try his hand at “this question-writing stuff,” which, I submit to you, was a BAD IDEA on his part.

The result:

Do you have confidence that we have a timely and reliable process and the right people in the right roles in order to fully meet our client’s [sic] needs?

Oy!

If I answer “Strongly Agree,” am I indicating that:

• We have timely processes?
• We have reliable processes?
• We have the right people?
• We have the right people in the right roles?
• We can fully meet our clients’ needs (as opposed to partially meeting them)?
• Some of the above?
• All of the above?

[Research geeks will also note that the question asks the respondent if they “have confidence,” which deftly pairs clumsy conceptualization with ambiguous operationalization.]The boys after an expert redeemed my blunder.

Look, experts are experts for a reason. They have used their skills countless times, thought about them, revised them, talked to other experts about new ways to improve them even further, learned to fail, learned to succeed, etc.

Remember:

Luke Skywalker couldn’t lift that X-wing out of the swamp. But Yoda, the expert, certainly could.

So my client attempting to write his own question was every bit as ridiculous as me trying to cut my kids’ hair… and with equally bad results.

So please business professionals: I’ll put down the shears, you step away from the survey, and nobody needs to get hurt.

Deal? 

Nobody Needs to Get Hurt!

That’s me with my boys, Xavier and Isaiah.

If you look closely, you’ll note that we have somewhat different hair textures. Consequently, we have very different hair care needs.

So we take them to barbershops where there are experts who know exactly how to cut and edge their hair.

But the other night my wife and I had the BAD IDEA.

You’ve been there. You want to lower your expenses. You want to brag, “Look, I saved money and did it myself!”

And before you know it, you’re holding a pair of shears, hair clippings and slivers of ear and scalp playing in the breeze, wondering why your normally adorable children now look like scabies victims who just survived some sort of paramilitary attack. 

[After picture intentionally, mercifully omitted.]

Clearly, the BAD IDEA led us astray.

There’s a reason we pay the experts (i.e., the barbers), and there’s a reason why there are so many successful barbershops in town. It’s a valuable skill. You can’t just pick up a pair of shears and do this well.

But sometimes we all lose sight and want to think that we’re experts in some other area. And driven by a desire to either save money or show that we’re self-sufficient, we’ll attempt to do things that we really shouldn’t.  

Often, calamity ensues. Even Especially in the research world.

You want a real-world example? Stay tuned…

Excitement!!!

Welcome to our new home! And a huge thanks to all of our clients, friends, and family for the well-wishing. Can’t possibly express how excited we are about the The Magnetic Group.

Stop back often, as this is where we:

• Offer customer service reviews
• Discuss customer research issues
• Provide interviews and insights from training managers and industry experts
• Share a thousand other fun & interesting things

Business First

In case you missed it, be sure to check out our recent Business First interview on the use of focus groups in advertising research (subscription only…sorry).

The key quote perfectly reflects what we’re all about, which is truly engaging with customers for deeper insights:

“The focus group is about letting the customer dictate the terms of the conversation,” Zubric said. “It should feel like four to six friends hanging out, having a great time together and sharing ideas.”

This particular article focuses on our “Concept Testing” product in which we assist creative groups (either ad firms or end clients) by providing customer feedback & insights on commercials, logos, taglines, and other creative material.

Marketing Endeavors

Q: “Are you guys still Marketing Endeavors?”

A: Absolutely! Marketing Endeavors is still a part of our family, and will be the exclusive home of our mystery shopping projects. In fact, ME has a new website, too! Be sure to check it out.

Excitement!

Join our email list to keep up with all things Magnetic !

(We hate it when people bombard us with useless junk, and we promise not to do that to you.)

Enjoy!

Service Review: T-Mobile on 4th Street

 “I’ve never seen that before.” Definitely not something you ever want to hear from your doctor. But it’s not much more reassuring coming from a customer service rep.

But as the T-Mobile associate stared blankly at my brand new, already malfunctioning BlackBerry, that’s what he said to me.

I had purchased the phone in elation the day before. To do our jobs well, we need to be in constant communication with clients and coworkers.

 So our company outfits all of us with a BlackBerry. (And to a girl who used to sport a bottom-of-the line $29.99 Nokia, this is a big deal!)

After I had joyously opted for the sleek BlackBerry Curve, I explained to a T-Mobile service rep that my company had a business account and that my phone should be added to that account.

 The associate rang me up, packaged my new BlackBerry, and offered a friendly farewell. 

Filled with anticipation, I got back to the office and started to test its new features. But something was deeply wrong. Very wrong.

• My Internet was not registered
• The e-mail setup was plummeting
• None of the add-on features were working

The next day I walked back to the store and handed it to a different service rep- the one who had never seen that before.

After several minutes of navigating through my BlackBerry, the representative finally figured out the not-so-complicated issue: “Your phone doesn’t have the BlackBerry feature.” 

?!$@!?!**!?

Why would anyone buy a BlackBerry without the BlackBerry feature?

My original rep never offered this as an option, and I completely assumed that it would be installed. Otherwise, there’s not much point in purchasing that phone.

Further, every other employee on our business account has the BlackBerry feature, and had it from the get-go. So why did my first rep assume that I would be any different?

Clearly, she wasn’t listening to me and wasn’t really thinking about helping me.

Instead, she went through the motions and overlooked something so basic, yet so crucial.

And after the second rep figured out the problem, it would have been nice if he had offered a sincere apology for the oversight and the inconvenience. But that didn’t happen.

Every dealing with T-Mobile’s call center has been superb.  Over the phone, T-Mobile’s customer service representatives demonstrate attentiveness, sincerity, and knowledge. 

But the in-store experience really left something to be desired, reminding me of a great quote by Ralph Nichols: “The best way to understand people is to listen to them.”

Next time, please listen!

This visit: 2 Magnets

Sorry isn't enough (Part 2)

Yesterday I talked about my first visit to night racing at Churchill Downs.

After spending a night waiting in interminable lines, my friends and I swore that we would never return.

But the next morning, something caught my eye. Churchill Downs released, via the Courier Journal, an apology to everyone who had attended the previous night.

The Downs admitted to underestimating the turnout and promised to fix the problems for the remaining night races.

But they didn’t just say they were sorry. They showed they were sorry by also offering a clear strategy for how they were going to improve (e.g., $1 happy hour beers...yippee!).

I was impressed. They didn’t deflect blame on others, they didn’t try to minimize the problems, and they didn’t deny responsibility.

And it worked. The next week we decided to give it another shot in hopes the problems really were fixed, and they were!

Churchill Downs kept its word. Food and beverage areas were doubled and employees were tripled. We didn’t have to wait for anything, and patrons were able to socialize in groups instead of lines.

So the experience did a 180-degree turn.

Attendance only dropped from 28,011 the first night to 27,623 the second night, so the apology was extremely effective.

In all, the Downs (1) sincerely apologized, (2) asked for a second chance, and (3) then made sure to make that second chance count.

[Can you imagine what would have happened if they had apologized and then not fixed the problems?!?]

So what could have been a disaster ended up being a hit. Churchill Downs made a mistake, said they were sorry, and then proved they were sorry by correcting their mistake.

If only my nephew were that focused on public relations...

 

Sorry isn't enough

Little kids seem to believe that saying “I’m sorry,” can erase any wrongdoing.

Yesterday I told my 3 year old nephew, Daniel, not to shoot me with his water gun. So he blasted me in the face with his water gun.

But he immediately offered an unconvincing “I’m sorry!” as if that made it all just fine.

I explained that you can’t just say you’re sorry and make everything better; you have to actually mean it when you say it, and take steps to make sure it doesn’t happen again.

It’s a lesson that Churchill Downs obviously understands.

I was there recently for the first of its three night racing events. When I arrived at 8pm, I couldn’t get over how big the crowd was. That many people surely guaranteed a raucous, fun night...right?

But appearances can be deceiving.

What I took to be enormous crowds of happy, socializing people were actually herds of anxious people all standing in queue, waiting for everything- betting, food, beer, you name it. The lines were ridiculous.

My group thought about leaving, but we were already there and we were all hot and thirsty. So we followed our instincts- we jumped in back of one of the beer lines! And 45 long, hot, beerless minutes later, we were finally rewarded with our brews.

It wasn’t entirely bad. When you spend the entire night ordering beer and getting right back in line, the fun is bound to “kick in” eventually.

However, paying $4.50 for 16 oz beers would have been far faster and just as much fun on Bardstown Road or at Fourth Street Live. So why return to the Downs?

My group agreed that we would never visit night racing again. And that seemed to be the general consensus of many of the other patrons I spoke to that night.

But Churchill Downs did get me to return. Tomorrow I’ll talk about how they got me back, and how they treated me on my return. Cheers!