Improve service recovery提升顾客满意度
One of the most important processes in any organization is that of service recovery following a mistake. Research shows that recovering from mistakes can actually increase customer loyalty and contribute to profitability. Customers who experience creative service recovery tell others more often than those who experience routinely good service the first time. Satisfied customers are more likely than others to give feedback about problems and voice complaints directly to the company. Use and share the valuable information collected during service recovery to redesign and improve your products and services.
Look for ways your group can provide its customers with fast, personalized service recovery—and get it right the second time. Successful service companies recover quickly, and they learn from their mistakes.
As part of this service recovery process, employees must be given latitude to solve problems. Without proper latitude, an organization cannot execute recovery procedures effectively.
The satisfaction and profit disconnect满意与利润脱钩
Customer satisfaction is not a surrogate for customer retention. While it may
seem intuitive that increasing customer satisfaction will increase retention and
therefore profits, the facts are contrary. Between 65% and 85% of customers who defect say they were satisfied or very satisfied with their former
supplier. 
–Frederick Reichheld
Questions asked at listening posts must be designed to find out whether products and services bought by satisfied customers are continuing to meet their needs.
Should existing products be adapted to respond to new needs? Should new services be added to respond to changing lifestyles?
For example, when a leading provider of baked goods saw sales begin to level off, they decided to find out why. By asking questions, they learned that most loyal customers were growing older, and becoming more concerned about fat and cholesterol in their diets.
These customers were not dissatisfied with the company's products or delivery. They stopped buying the company's baked goods because the product line did not meet their needs anymore. They discovered that if the firm offered low-fat products, the loyal customers would be happy to buy them. By listening to their most loyal customers, the company determined that they should offer new products, which have become very successful.
Listening posts must be designed and used to measure satisfaction, of course, but they must also be used to measure factors that will gauge the possible defection of satisfied customers.
Take risks承担风险
Sometimes, talking and listening to customers, studying market research and one process after another, can stifle imagination and creativity. How can a new product or service be introduced without solid approval from its target customers? How can any product make it without the blessing of a hundred focus groups? However, we need only to look at the histories of some of the
most successful businesses to find that they were founded on products that focus groups rejected.
Do your market research. Listen to your customers. Deliver the best service. But use your imagination. Don't be afraid to let a new product or service create a need. Don't let the data drive you. You need to drive the data.
Overview概述
This section provides interactive exercises so you can practice what you've learned. These exercises are self-checks only; your answers will not be used to evaluate your performance in the topic.
Steps for calculating the lifetime value of a customer
计算客户终身价值的步骤
1. Think about an average customer in your organization.
想想你公司的普通客户。
If your organization serves several very different market segments, you may want to choose customers from each segment and repeat this activity for each of those customers.
2. Enter the number of sales transactions the average customer makes with your organization in the lifetime of his or her relationship with your company. 输入普通客户在与贵公司建立关系期间与贵公司进行的销售交易的数量。These transactions may be made in person or through a phone call, an order form, or a contract.
3. Enter the average number of items or services that a customer purchases during each transaction.输入客户在每笔交易中购买的项目或服务的平均数量If you provide service to customers on a contractual basis, write the number 1 in to represent one contract.
4. Enter the average price per item that the customer pays.
   输入客户支付的每个项目的平均价格。
5. Enter the average cost of acquiring a new customer.输入获取新客户的平均成本。 A simple estimate of this cost would be the annual advertising expenses divided by the number of new customers. Use this method, or develop your own. Marketing and advertising cost calculator
Annual marketing and advertising expenses: _________
Number of new customers per year: _________
Divide annual advertising and marketing expenses by the number of new customers you acquire in one year. (This is how much it costs you to acquire a new customer.) __________
6. Use this information with the calculating tool to determine the lifetime value of an average customer.将此信息与计算工具一起用于确定普通客户的生命周期价值。
7. Repeat the calculations for a loyal, satisfied customer. 为忠诚、满意的客户重复计算。Compare the answer to that for a new customer. Remember, when you compare a new
customer to a loyal customer, a loyal customer is more likely to:
◦ Buy from you over a longer period
◦ Visit your organization more frequently
◦ Buy more during each interaction
◦ Be willing to pay more
◦ Refer other customers to you
8. Share the results of your calculations with all employees.与所有员工分享计算结果。 There is no better way to impress upon them the importance of loyal customers and the value of customer satisfaction and retention.
Steps for developing listening posts开发听力的步骤
1. Determine your listening posts.确定你的听力位置。
List points at which your organization receives customer feedback—for example, sales representatives, marketing research results, telephone representatives, customer service representatives, or servers.
2. Interview employees to find out what feedback they are receiving.采访员工,了解他们收到的反馈
3. Organize the feedback.组织反馈。 Categorize the significant types of feedback from each listening post. Feedback can include such things as suggestions for new product features, confusion about service terms, or annoyance about waiting for product delivery.
4. Determine the current use of the feedback.确定反馈的当前用途。 Find out how feedback is being used. Is it being used to make product improvements or to create better service agreement instructions? Is it talked about and then ignored?
5. Decide how feedback should be used. 决定如何使用反馈Take action to help you use valuable feedback. Involve your employees in coming up with ways to make feedback more useful by converting it into data they can use in their jobs.
Steps for improving listening posts提高听力的步骤
1. Review the feedback that is being received.查看正在收到的反馈。
2. Look at the timing of information received. 查看接收信息的时间Is the information coming in at the right time? Can the feedback be obtained earlier? Many listening posts can be used more proactively to prevent problems before they occur.
3. Decide what you want to know about customer behavior. 决定你想了解的客户行为。There are information gaps about customers in every organization. Why are customers loyal? Why do satisfied customers defect? Why do new customers come here? Brainstorm the big-picture information the organization needs about retention, defection, and overall satisfaction and ways of getting it.
4. Design ways to use listening posts to find out what you want to know.
设计使用倾听帖子的方法,找出你想知道的内容。
Develop questions to uncover patterns in customer behavior. For example, when an order is being taken, representatives in many organizations ask new customers, "How did you hear about us?" When properly recorded and tracked, the answer to this simple question is invaluable. It helps assess advertising and marketing efforts, as well as the rate of referrals.
5. Establish a process to build in new questions at key listening posts.
建立一个过程,在关键的倾听岗位上提出新问题。
People asking questions must understand why they are asking the questions, and they must have an easy-to-follow process to gather the information. Simple forms, brief weekly meetings, and informal chats are all ways to be sure that good questions are being asked at the right time.
6. Assess the need for new listening posts.评估是否需要新的听力职位。Many organizations are adding a "follow-up" satisfaction call to the listening posts they already have. Once you have redesigned your current listening posts, ask yourself if you need to add other types.
Steps for mapping out a service process制定服务流程的步骤
1. Choose a service process that many employees perform选择许多员工执行的服务流程—one that has a strong impact on customer satisfaction and is prone to problems.
2. List the activities involved in the process.列出过程中涉及的活动 Use a separate note, index card, or sheet of paper for each activity.
3. Arrange the activities in the sequence in which they occur.按活动发生的顺序安排活动 Indicate how long it takes to complete each step.
4. Transfer this information to a work process map. 将此信息传输到工作流程图Add or subtract levels as appropriate.
◦ List people involved down the left (vertical) side of the map.
◦ Divide the horizontal axis of the map into appropriate segments of time, such 
   as hours or days.
◦ Arrange the work activities in sequence from left to right across the map with 
   arrows to indicate the flow. You may find it helpful to represent each activity 
  with a numbered box and include a legend below to name and describe them.
5. Brainstorm with the group to determine fail points.与小组进行头脑风暴以确定失败点。
Fail points are:
◦ Inefficiencies
◦ Unnecessary steps
◦ Lost time
◦ Any factor that inhibits timely, high-quality products or services
  You'll see that the two dimensions of the map (vertical and horizontal) provide
   new insights regarding cost and customer satisfaction.
6. Study the map from different perspectives. Put yourself in your 
   customers' shoes. 从不同的角度研究地图。设身处地为顾客着想。Then ask again how you can change the work process to 
   eliminate fail points and to deliver better service.
Steps for achieving excellent service recovery实现卓越服务恢复的步骤
1. Find out what the problem is.找出问题所在
◦ Listen carefully to the customer's explanation of the problem.
◦ Ask questions to clarify.
◦ Paraphrase to be sure you understand the problem.
2. Find out what the customer expects to be done about it.找出客户希望对此做些什么。
◦ Listen to what the customer wants you to do about the problem.
◦ If the customer's expectations can be met, offer assurances that the problem       will be solved.
3. Take personal responsibility for solving the problem.为解决问题承担个人责任。
◦ Offer to help.
◦ Don't pass the problem along to someone else.
◦ Know the policies of your organization.
◦ Explain the options calmly.
4. Go out of your way to make the customer comfortable.尽量让顾客感到舒服。
◦ If you know that a problem may take awhile to solve, do whatever you can to make the customer comfortable during the wait.
◦ Don't leave a person on hold for more than two minutes. Instead, offer to call back.
◦ In a face-to-face situation, suggest the customer wait in a more comfortable 
  area, or come back in an hour.
◦ Offer lunch, coffee, or magazines—anything to show that you care and that 
  you will solve the problem.
5. Maintain an objective frame of mind.保持客观的心态。
When someone is angry, don't take it personally. The person is angry at the problem, not at you. So just listen. Let the person who is angry get his or her feelings out.
6. Stay positive and calm.保持积极和冷静。
◦ Apologize for the difficulty, even when it was not your fault.
◦ Don't blame others for the problem.
◦ Never tell an external customer that the problem is something that always happens.
7. Resolve the problem quickly.迅速解决问题。
◦ Think resourcefully. Try to determine the fastest and most effective way to 
   solve the problem.
◦ Offer reasonable alternatives if you can't give them exactly what they want.
◦ If you need to get someone else involved, explain the problem so the 
   customer does not have to repeat it. And stay involved, even when someone 
    else is helping.
8. Follow through.坚持到底。
◦ At a later time, make sure that the problem was solved to the customer's 
   satisfaction.
◦ Never ask the customer whether the problem was solved or what happened. 
   You should know these answers.
◦ Send a letter of apology, a gift, or premiums such as coupons, a free item, or
   additional service.
9. Look at the big picture.看看大局。
◦ Determine if the problem is a recurring one. If so, figure out ways to prevent it
   from happening again.
◦ Work with others to find out how they solve similar problems.
◦ Try to put a dollar cost on poor recovery.
10. Look for common sources of problems in the recovery process itself.
查找恢复过程本身中常见问题的来源。
For example, the source of the problem may be one of the following:
◦ Inappropriate selection of people to handle recovery
◦ Inadequate internal support systems (information and other) to do the job
◦ Poor training
◦ Insufficient latitude (within limits) allowed by management to deliver results 
   to customers
◦ Inadequate recognition and reward for good service recovery
Steps for creating a customer-focused design process 
创建以客户为中心的设计流程的步骤
1. Observation: 观察Determine who should be observed, who should do the observing, and what behavior should be observed. The observers could be customers, noncustomers, or the customers of customers. The best way to capture the most important aspects of the environment and people you choose to observe is to send out a small team. Each team member should have expertise in a different discipline. An engineer, for example, may notice angles and mechanical interactions, while a designer may see space and forms.
At least one member of the team should have experience in behavioral observation. Another member should have a deep understanding of the organizational capabilities the development team can draw on. If the team comes from an outside consulting firm, be sure that some of your own group members are included to provide knowledge of your organization's capabilities. Open-mindedness, keen observational skills, the ability to actively listen without speaking, and curiosity characterize a good design team. The people being observed should be carrying out normal routines—playing, eating, relaxing, or working at home or at the office. For some products or services, team members may conduct their observations in a highly unobtrusive way. For example, by simply planting themselves in a public setting where people are going about their normal routines, team members can watch behaviors systematically.
2. Capture the data.捕获数据。The best data will be captured through silent observation, but observers may want to ask a very few open-ended questions, such as:
◦ "Why are you doing that?"
◦ "Describe to me your most recent or most memorable ___________ [the activity that is your focus, for example, fishing, making a bank deposit, installing software]." Observers may carry a list of questions to prompt their own observations, such as, "What problems is the user encountering?" Video can capture subtle body language that may convey important information and store it for future review and analysis. Still photographs or drawings can show spatial arrangements and contain details that may have gone unnoticed while the team was on location. These can also be useful to convey information that might be lost in a verbal description. If video is unavailable or too obtrusive, an audiotape recording may be useful to capture conversations during a service encounter. You may also choose to rely on good note-taking by observers as being the least obtrusive data-capture method.
3. Collate and analyze the data. 整理分析数据。Present the data collected (including photos, drawings, videos, audiotapes) to colleagues and/or customers who did not take part in the observation. These individuals—unbiased by possibly extraneous information, such as the reputations of the people or organizations visited—will see different things than the observation team. As they observe the data your
observation team collected, ask them:
◦ If they see any problems
◦ If they see any opportunities
◦ If they have any other comments
Ask the observation team to remain silent while the others make their observations. Once the others are finished making their comments, you can probe them for more details—but not until they are completely finished with their comments. After reviewing the data, you may find it necessary to return for more observation. Use the data to identify all of the possible problems or needs of those observed.
4. Brainstorm for solutions. 集思广益寻找解决方案。Heed the five rules of brainstorming: defer judgment, build on the ideas of others, hold one conversation at a time, stay focused on the topic, and encourage wild ideas. You may want to include some customers, noncustomers, or competitor's customers in the brainstorming
session. Be sure to provide any supporting infrastructure needed. This can be as low-tech as flip charts or a table covered in paper used for doodling and note-taking. At the end of a session, members can tear off the best ideas and take them home to ponder. In coming up with possible solutions or ideas, be as concrete as possible. You may want to draw or represent visually some of the ideas.
5. Narrow the field of solutions. 缩小解决方案的范围。Determine your criteria for choosing solutions. For example:
◦ What functions are essential (from your customers' point of view) and what are "niceto- haves"?
◦ What criteria are determined by the company's values?
◦ What are your cost constraints?
◦ What are your size or shape constraints (for a product)?
◦ Within what time must you complete the project?
◦ In what ways must the product or service be compatible with existing 
   products or services? Given these constraints, determine which solutions
   are most feasible.
6. Develop prototypes of possible solutions.开发可能解决方案的原型。
◦ Prototypes clarify the concept of the new product or service for the development team. (Or they may show the lack of clarity in your product or service.)
◦ Prototypes enable the team to place its concept in front of other individuals whose functions are not formally represented on the team.
◦ Prototypes can stimulate reaction and foster discussion with potential customers.
◦ Sometimes two prototypes are used when demonstrating a product—one that shows function but not form, and one that shows the physical appearance of the intended product but doesn't work.
◦ Simulations can be useful prototypes. Role-playing can also be used as a prototype of particular behaviors or actions, such as a service product.
Tips for selecting the right people选择合适人选的技巧
• Start with your hiring criteria. Make a prioritized list of the most important attributes and qualities of your most successful customer-service employees.
• Encourage job candidates to self-select into or out of a position. When candidates have a clear picture of the work, they are better able to decide for themselves if they will thrive in the job. Candidates who are unsuited for the work are likely to select out of the job—before you make a bad hire.
• Consider a variety of creative recruiting techniques, such as involving customers in the selection.
• Look for referrals from star performers. Winners attract winners.
Tips for providing tools and support提供工具和支持的技巧
• Think about your own group. Does it have the systems in place that enable it to succeed? What are the barriers?
• Think about your customers, external and internal. What are their common complaints? What do customers want that your tools and systems do not support?
• Be sure that any new support systems you consider are in line with your organization's strategy. For example, will the new systems help you better deliver the results that your customers truly want? How will they affect the way in which work is currently performed? Will the new systems require training?
Tips for granting latitude within limits在限制范围内给予自由度的提示
• To determine if employees are given enough latitude, ask employees if they feel micromanaged. Ask them what decisions they feel they could be making that they are not allowed to make now. Determine which processes or procedures impede their ability to make decisions.
• Set limits in one of two ways: clearly define what employees can and cannot do, or define a core set of required standards. As long as those standards are met, employees can have freedom to do what it takes to meet internal and external customers' needs.
• Make sure that the latitudes and limits for your work group enable them to meet external and internal customer needs and deliver the results and service value that customers want.
Tips for rewarding performance 奖励表现的技巧
• Determine the results and goals—the more specific and measurable, the better—you want employees to achieve.
• Align rewards with the organization's mission and culture. For example, if getting people to work together cooperatively is a company goal, don't set up a highly competitive reward structure.
• Look for creative ways to recognize individuals or groups. For example, establish programs in which awards are given by peers or even by customers. Or, share profits with those who participated in generating them.
• Announce achievements in company newsletters, on bulletin boards, on your corporate intranet, or in a companywide e-mail. Let everyone know who succeeded and why.
Why Develop Others?为什么要培养别人?
“At the end of the day, you bet on people, not strategies.”
Larry Bossidy 
Former CEO, AlliedSignal
In today’s global business environment, markets and regulations change quickly. Competitors constantly innovate. Technological changes are the norm.
In order to outmaneuver the competition and meet the demands of the moment, organizations must be agile. They must execute flawlessly. And they must transform themselves continuously. Are your leaders ready?
Dr. Noel M. Tichy
Professor
University of Michigan Ross School of Business
We have now entered an era where I don’t care what industry you’re in, you need leaders who can make decisions, make judgment calls at every single level. All the way down to the interface with the customer.
If you go to a company like Google or any of the high tech companies, a lot of the innovation that Amazon does is happening right at the front line. Go ahead, try it, put it out there, we'll learn from it. That cannot happen if the senior leadership doesn't have a commitment to both develop the leadership capability, but develop the business through engaging people at all levels of the organization.
Becoming a teaching organization成为一个教学组织
I like to tell parents that they cannot delegate their responsibility to develop their children. And I think it is the same in an organization. Day in and day out the person that has the biggest impact on people in the organization is the next level above and the associates around and below. And so to build a learning organization I say is not enough. Learning could be, you know we are learning cooking, we are learning this or that, but teaching organizations, when I learned something, I have a responsibility to teach my colleagues.
So everybody takes responsibility for generating new knowledge and it is not enough to be a learner, you then have to translate it into teaching.
The Virtuous Teaching Cycle教学的良性循环
The role of a leader is to ensure that the people who work for them and around them are better every day. There's only one way to make people better. It's to teach them, learn from them, create what I call "virtuous teaching cycles”, not command and control.
A virtuous teaching cycle is teach learn, teach learn. And the leader has a responsibility for reducing the hierarchy, for having a point of view to start the discussion, but then to be responsible to hear everyone's voice, get everyone involved in a disciplined way. It is not a free for all. But it is the leader's responsibility to create that virtuous teaching cycle.
A wonderful example of virtuous teaching cycle is the program that Roger Enrico ran at Pepsi, where every one of the 10 vice presidents comes with a business project.
Roger Enrico gets smarter as result of five days with 10 vice presidents, because he's learning from them. He needs to lower the hierarchy. He needs to be open to learning. And in turn, the people participating need to be energized and empowered to come up and engage in problem solving.
Another example is at Best Buy, where every morning in the stores you would bring 20 associates or so together and they would review the profit and loss statement from the day before, what we learned from the different customer segments in our stores, what we can do to improve our performance this day. And they do that every single day. The store manager was learning mostly from the associates on the floor.
That was a virtuous teaching cycle were everybody is teaching everybody, everybody is learning and the result has been an incredible result at Best Buy.
“The growth and development of people is the highest calling of leadership.”
- Harvey S. Firestone
Founder, Firestone Tire and Rubber Co
There are clear advantages to leader-led development.
领导者主导的发展有明显的优势。
But for many leaders, taking on teaching, coaching, and other development responsibilities can seem daunting. You might avoid taking on these roles due to lack of time, resources, or your own lack of comfort with this role.
The following tips and resources can help you impart valuable learning to your team every day.
To develop others…
• Start with a Teachable Point of View 从可教的观点开始
The first requirement of being able to develop other leaders is to have what I call a teachable point of view. I often give the example of, if I ran a tennis camp and you just came to day one of the tennis camp, I better have a teachable point of view on how I teach tennis. So you are standing there looking at me and it has got four elements. One, the ideas, well how do I teach the backhand, the forehand, the serve, rules of tennis. Then if I am a good tennis coach, I have a set of values. What are the right behaviors I want, how do I want you to dress, how do I want you to behave on the tennis court.
But if that's all I have, what do I do? Show you a power point presentation and then expect you to hit 500 backhands, 500 serves, run around for eight hours. I have to have a teachable point of view on emotional energy. How do I motivate you to buy in to the ideas and values?
On one end of the spectrum it could be I threaten you with corporal punishment, the other I can give you stock options, I can make you feel good about yourself, I can help you develop as a human being, what motivates you.
And then finally, how do I make the tough judgment calls, the yes/no, decisions as the tennis coach, the ball is in, the ball is out. I don't hire consultants and set up a committee, it is yes/no. And the same with running a business, what are the products, services, distribution channels, customer segments that are going to grow top line growth and profitability of the organization.
What are the values that I want everyone in the organization to have, how do I emotionally energize thousands of people, and then how do I make the yes/no, judgments on people and on business issues. So the fundamental building block of being able to develop other leaders is to have that teachable point of view just like the tennis coach.
• Lead with questions以问题为导向
Questions are hugely important because you want to create dialogue and again, what I call a virtuous teaching cycle where the teacher learns from the students and vice versa. Which means everybody ought to be free to ask whatever is on their mind, whatever it will take to get clarity and understanding, but it is not the leader just coming in and freeform asking questions. I believe the leader has a responsibility for framing the discussion, for having as
best they can a teachable point of view, they may need help from their people in flushing it out, but they need to set the stage but then it has to be a very interactive, what I call virtuous teaching cycle environment, teach learn, teach learn, teach learn.
• Make it part of your routine让它成为你日常生活的一部分
A good example to me of an outstanding leader developing other leaders is Myrtle Potter who at the time I am commenting was Chief Operating Officer of Genentech running the commercial side of the business. And she would take time at the end of every single meeting and do some coaching of the whole team on how we could perform as a team better, and then she would often take individuals and say, could we spend 10 minutes over a cup of coffee, I want to give you some feedback and coaching on that report that you just presented on or how you are handling a particularly difficult human resource issue, but it was part of her regular routine. And I think the challenge for all of us as leaders is to make that a way of life and it is built into the fabric of how we lead and it is not a one off event, three times a year. It is happening almost every day.
• Make it a priority优先考虑
One of the biggest challenges in getting people kind of on this path is to overcome some of their own resistance, either fear or the way I view the world I don't have time for this, everybody can make time. Roger Enrico is CEO of Pepsi. He didn't have time to go off for a week at a time and run training sessions. He had to readjust his calendar. So it requires you to look in the mirror and say, is this important. If it is important, of course I can make the time. Then I have to get over my own anxiety on how well I can do it, but it is a
commitment to get on the path that says: this is how I am going to drive my own performance and the performance of my colleagues.
• Learn to teach学会教书
I think the biggest mistake is to assume you are going to be good at it right off the bat. It is like learning anything else. First time you go out and try and play tennis, good luck. But you got to stay with it and you got to engage your people in helping make you better and them better. And so it is a journey you need to get on, not I am going to do it perfectly when I start out.
If you want to be a great leader who is a great teacher, it's very simple. You have got to dive into the deep end of the pool. But you've got to dive into the pool with preparation. I don't want you drowning. I want you succeeding. It is extraordinarily rewarding for most human beings to teach others. I think once you can turn that switch on, it is self perpetuating. You get a lot of reinforcement, your team is better. You perform better because your performance goes up and it becomes this virtuous teaching cycle.
Your opportunity to develop others你发展他人的机会
We’ve heard why developing others can drive greater business results, and how to make the most of your leader-led development efforts. The materials provided in Develop Others enable you to create personalized learning experiences for YOUR team within the flow of their daily activities. Use the guides and projects to engage your team quickly. And to explore how key concepts apply to them in the context of their priorities and goals.
The value of teaching is the performance of the organization is totally dependent on making your people smarter and more aligned every day as the world changes. In the 21st century we are not going to get by with command and control. We are going to have to get by with knowledge creation. The way you create knowledge in an organization is you create these virtuous teaching cycles where you are teaching and learning simultaneously, responding to customer demands and changes, responding to changes in the global environment. My bottom line is if you're not teaching, you're not leading.
A leader’s most important role in any organization is making good judgments — well informed, wise decisions about people, strategy and crises that produce the desired outcomes. When a leader shows consistently good judgment, little else matters. When he or she shows poor judgment nothing else matters. In addition to making their own good judgment calls, good leaders develop good judgment among their team members.
Share an Idea
Leaders are in a unique position to recognize the ideas and tools that are most relevant and useful for their teams. If you only have a few minutes, consider sharing an idea or tool from this topic with your team or peers that is relevant and timely to their situation.
For example, consider sending one of the three recommended ideas or tools below to your team with your comments or questions on how the idea or tool can be of value to your organization. By simply sharing the item, you can easily engage others in important conversations and activities relevant to your goals and priorities.
To share an idea, tip, step, or tool with your comments via e-mail, select the EMAIL link in the upper right corner of the page that contains the idea, tip, step, or tool that you wish to share.
Discussion 1: Building customer loyalty
讨论1:建立客户忠诚度
Studies show that the longer customers are loyal, the more profitable they become. Loyal
customers not only generate long-term revenue streams, they also refer new customers and provide valuable feedback. In short, your loyal customers are the lifeblood of current and future profitability.
You and your team can make substantial contributions to your unit or department by improving your capacity to foster customer loyalty.
Use these resources to lead a discussion with your team about: 
(1) How loyal are your current customers? 
(2) Are you targeting the right customers? and 
(3) How do you meet and exceed your customers’ expectations?
Tips for Preparing for and Leading the Discussion准备和领导讨论的技巧
The discussion you have with your team will help individual team members to focus their efforts on building loyalty among its current customers.
Working through the discussion guide can take up to 45 minutes. If you prefer a shorter 15- or 30- minute session, you may want to focus only on those concepts and activities most relevant to your situation.
Discussion 2: Getting to know your customer讨论2:了解客户
A key difference between average and high-performing organizations is how effectively they generate customer feedback, listen to it, and then act on it. Instead of “telling” customers what they need through hard-sell pitches, the best companies focus on listening. Though most organizations have built-in mechanisms for getting customer feedback, many do not take full advantage of customer input to improve their offerings.
Use these resources to lead a discussion with your team about gathering feedback from your customers and making better use of customer feedback.
Tips for Preparing for and Leading the Discussion准备和领导讨论的技巧
The discussion you have with your team will improve their understanding of your customers' needs, wants, and evolving preferences. It will also provide new ideas for applying customer data within your organization.
Working through the discussion guide can take up to 45 minutes. If you prefer a shorter 15- or 30- minute session, you may want to focus only on those concepts and activities most relevant to your situation.
Start a Group Project启动组项目
Just like any change effort, successfully incorporating new skills and behaviors into one’s daily activities and habits takes time and effort. After reviewing or discussing the concepts in this topic, your direct reports will still need your support to fully apply new concepts and skills. They will need to overcome a variety of barriers including a lack of time, lack of confidence, and a fear of making mistakes. They will also need opportunities to hone their skills and break old habits. To help ensure their success, you can provide safe opportunities for individuals and your team as a whole to practice and experiment with new skills and behaviors on the job.
For example, to encourage the adoption of new norms, you can provide your team members with coaching, feedback, and additional time to complete tasks that require the use of new skills.
Management approaches such as these will encourage team members to experiment with new skills until they become proficient.
Group learning projects provide another valuable technique for accelerating team members’ development of new behaviors. A group learning project is an on-the-job activity aimed at providing team members with direct experience implementing their new knowledge and skills.
Through a learning project, team members discover how new concepts work in the context of their situation, while simultaneously having a direct and tangible impact on the organization.
The documents below provide steps, tips, and a template for initiating a group learning project with your team, along with two project recommendations for this topic.
Closing the Customer Feedback Loop关闭客户反馈回路
Rob Markey, Fred Reichheld, and Andreas Dullweber. "Closing the Customer Feedback Loop."
Summary
Realizing that customer retention is more critical than ever, companies have ramped up their efforts to listen to customers. But many struggle to convert their findings into practical prescriptions for customer-facing employees. Some companies are addressing that challenge, say three Bain & Company consultants, by creating feedback loops that start at the front line. They
forgo elaborate, centralized feedback mechanisms in favor of quickly polling customers with the question, How likely are you to recommend us? Firms use the responses to calculate their Net Promoter Score (NPS), a metric everyone in the organization can track. The greatest impact comes from relaying the results immediately to the employees who just served the customers— and empowering those employees to act on any issues raised.
Leadership That Focuses on the Customer—Really专注于客户的领导力
Anne Field. "Leadership That Focuses on the Customer—Really."
Harvard Management Update
Summary总结
Many executives and managers exhort their followers to make the customer the center of everything they do. Yet for all the passion and conviction of their words, genuine customer focus remains theory rather than practice. What can you do to make customer focus a reality in your organization? In this article, HMU distills expert wisdom on building customer satisfaction and loyalty.
What Serves the Customer Best?什么服务客户最好?
Summary
As president of Scotch whisky maker Glenmeadie, Bob Littlefield is pleased to see the results of his CMO's recent marketing initiatives. There are new interactive capabilities on the company's Web site, a product information call center, and numerous other customer interfaces designed to deepen consumers' connection to the brand. Thanks to these front-end innovations, sales are up—and largely because of more loyal purchasing behavior, research shows. But not all the news is good. Glenmeadie's CFO says the marketing programs account for half the company's costs.
Meanwhile, Glenmeadie's master distiller, Ellis Cameron, resents the fact that, with so much money going toward enhancing customer relations, there isn't enough left for his R&D efforts. In a meeting with Bob, he launches into a tirade about priorities. "There's an old expression," Ellis says, "Build a better mousetrap, and the world will beat a path to your door." Glenmeadie, he
says, is neglecting the customer's basic need, "We've given up on redesigning his mousetrap and are trying to trap him instead!"
Commenting on this fictional case study are David Herman, president of luggage maker Hartmann; Marketspace's president, Jeffrey Rayport; Stephen Dull, vice president of strategy at VF; and Joe Scafido, who leads innovation at Dunkin' Brands.
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