Service Untitled

Competition among pharmacy retailers and the need to create more efficient business plans are  a sign of the times. Ten years ago, everyone still had a local pharmacist who would fill prescriptions, give a little professional advice and while mother was at the store, she would buy mascara, shampoo,  a sun visor and aspirin.

Mega-stores such as Wal-Mart and Walgreens have pushed pharmacies to new heights in innovative ideas to keep their customers and attract new ones, hence the age of new conceptions as the  Rite Aid  “Customer World Store.”

Rite Aid’s slogan, “With us, it’s personal” had executives redesigning existing stores and planning to remodel, relocate and build between 800 and 1000 stores in a five-year plan starting back  in 2005. The stores were all designed and recreated using the feedback of customers and customer focus groups that had been developed. So what did customers say they wanted? Solutions were derived from the two most important questions:

• How did customers rate the various services?
• How important are each of these services?

Customers overwhelmingly asked for easy ways to find what they were looking for at any visit. Everyone has had the experience of walking into a store with a list of what they wanted to purchase, and upon entering the store had been so overwhelmed by confusing layouts and designs of the store, they quickly got discouraged. Using the customer focus groups, the company was  able to concentrate on targeted problems consumers faced, and with that in mind was able to expand merchandise selection, easier store navigation and create a professional feel at the pharmacy that made customers feel more comfortable and secure.

The customer focus group wanted wide and clutter free aisles. In the waiting areas for the pharmacy, they wanted the experience to be more personal and intimate; thus the new design of the section with lowered ceilings, comfortable chairs, televisions and a consultation section for private meetings with a pharmacist. Online shopping has been partnered with drugstore.com to provide more pharmacy service at all different times. Other improvements suggested by the groups included a separate vitamin department, picture center with digital user-friendly equipment, self-service kiosks and stools, and a drive through pharmacy.

The latest store which opened in Edison, New Jersey yesterday has followed the suggestions of the latest focus group. With more than 14,000 square feet, the new store features direct views to each department, more visible department signs and at center stage, a brightly displayed presentation of cosmetics designed to appeal to female customers.

Listening to the customer, adjusting to the needs of the customer and following through on a practical plan to show the customer that they do indeed matter reflects the importance of something more than just a corporate mission statement. The implementation and the fresh approach to enhancing customer satisfaction goes a long way.

photo credit: Rite Aid

This is my second year participating in the Age of Conversation project/book. Here’s how the website describes the project:

With over 300 of the world’s leading marketers, writers, thinkers and creative innovators contributing chapters, this collaborative work investigates the roles that community, conversation, experimentation, engagement, and collaboration play in shaping the 21st century’s economy of ideas. As businesses, public and private organizations, and individuals realize that there’s much more to social media and its impacts than first meets the eye, Age of Conversation III shows which platforms, tools, and approaches truly work.

The result is a cool book with a lot of different opinions and ideas from the great people listed below. What’s also nice is that all profits from the sale of the book are donated to the Make-A-Wish Foundation. Check out the website to learn more and to order a copy.

Age of Conversation Authors:

Customer focus is more than just adding directions to your company’s mission statement or sending everyone to training. The training part is just one piece of the total package. Everyone has a customer they want to satisfy and therefore the focus has to address needs, expectations, and behaviors. Customer focus challenges a company to adjust certain aspects of an organization to align with customer values through new strategies, organizational design, business processes, performance measures, information and support.

Working as a group, customer service representatives can identify what they deem as important ways to satisfy customers. Here are some suggestions:

• Meeting Customer Requirements: What new processes have been implemented to validate customer needs? With current customers, is the company producing the products they want? Good ways to address these questions are by surveys; perhaps one every six months to stay on top of an ever-changing market. Setup customer focus groups and ask for feedback. If the company has group meetings or sponsored events, that would be a good time to get input from participants.
• Convenient Delivery of Product: A lot of people do their online ordering late at night. Is there an IT support group on call but not on site? That could be a money saver for the company, but not for the customer.
• Principles for Resolving Problems: If a customer places an order and the company is out of the product, how do you resolve the problem? Customers want to be treated fairly, and they don’t much care about excuses. If you resolve their conflicts and you think it is fair, but your customer doesn’t, you will lose your customer.
• Communication is the Key: This must happen actively and often.
• Meeting Customer Commitments: If a company has to make excuses why a commitment has not been met on time, the company has missed customer focus.
• Performance Measurements: Employees have to be held accountable for their actions. Many companies reward exemplary customer focused behaviors with bonuses; positive reinforcement trumps negative criticism.

Many times owners and managers take it for granted that their staff works towards the same objectives. Group sessions are positive methods to help staff understand the customer-focused vision which enables companies and employees to succeed in a very challenging market.

photo credit: Torley

Just check Terminal 5 at New York JFK airport for the state-of-the-art facility geared for efficiency and customer comfort. In 2009, JD Power & Associates, a global marketing information service which measures customer satisfaction based on millions of consumers annually, rated Jet Blue ” Highest in Customer Satisfaction” among low-cost carriers in North America.

Jet Blue serves 60 cities with 600 flights daily. All passengers have assigned seats; all fares are based on one way and an overnight stay is not required. They provide the most non-stop departures from JFK to Florida and rank as the 7th largest carrier in the US.

Jet Blue delivers service differently than most low-cost carriers. Where other companies have decided to cut back and charge passengers to use blankets and pillows while flying, Jet Blue, in the quest to become America’s Favorite Airlines, boasts their Customer Bill of Rights aimed at ” bringing humanity back to air travel.” On Valentine’s Day, 2007 an ice storm in the northeast set the venue for a customer service disaster when hundreds of passengers were held captive on the tarmac and thousands of travelers were stranded in airports. In order to regain their credibility,  instituting a Customer Bill of Rights now offers full refunds, re-accommodations due to Jet Blue cancellations within 4 hours and even refunds due to “controllable irregularities.” There is now compensation for departure delays,  overbookings  and on board ground delays. If a customer is involuntarily denied boarding because of a Jet Blue overbooking, the company claims to reimburse a passenger $1,000. The airline brags about “lots of legroom” and for a small additional fee promises to provide ” even more legroom.”

Attention getting promotions last week celebrating Jet Blue’s  ten years of service included $10 thank-you fares on all remaining seats between NY JFK and the airline’ s first ten destinations. Complimentary in-flight email and instant messaging known as “Beta Blue”,  first checked bag free, 36 channels of Directv, 100 channels of XM Radio, and unlimited named snacks are advertised on their website. On overnight flights, the airlines supplies a “snooze kit”  that contains an eye shade and earplugs.  Before arriving at the morning destination, airline attendants hand out hot towels, coffee, tea, orange juice or water.

Jet Blue’s promise of  “Happy Jetting” may indeed be a reality.

photo credit: albertopveiga

When I started Service Untitled back in April 2006, I was the only writer. I’d have occasional guest writers contribute to the blog, but for the most part, Service Untitled was me and me only. Nearly four years later (!), I’m happy to formally announce and introduce Service Untitled’s team of regular writers. The writers page features a listing of the regular contributors to Service Untitled, along with the photos and biographies of the people who bring you customer service advice and insight five days a week.

These people have been writing for Service Untitled for some time, but before today, there was not much information available about who they are or what they specialize in. The writers section is designed to provide that information. The writers section is released along with an entirely re-written and re-designed about section and revised contact and consulting pages.

In the new about section, you’ll also notice a new Service Untitled logo as well. This will be implemented into the main site’s design in the near future, but in the mean time, I want to show it off on the about page. A big thank you is owed to Bruce and his team at Logo Design Consultant for their hard work (and great customer service) in getting the logo designed.

Happy Holidays from Service Untitled!

Take some time off and enjoy the company of your friends and loved ones.

As always, thanks for reading, commenting, emailing in post ideas, and more. At Service Untitled, we will be starting off 2010 with a great interview and some new content. We’re looking forward to a great 2010 and wish you the same.

photo credit: CJeppson

I got an email earlier this week telling me that Service Untitled had been recognized as one of the top 10 call center websites of 2009. Service Untitled was listed as number one on the list and I’m honored to see that Service Untitled was included and referred to as one of the author’s “real finds of the year”.

I’m also glad to see that my friend Tom Vander Well from QAQNA made the list, along with eight other interesting sites and blogs.

In other news, I upgraded Service Untitled to the latest version of WordPress (2.8) earlier today. Everything appears to be working fine, but if you notice any problems or oddities, please send me a quick email and let me know.

If you’re running WordPress and haven’t upgraded yet, please take the 10 seconds required to do so and get your blog upgraded. There are some nice improvements in 2.8 (new widget interface, speed improvements, one click themes, etc.) that certainly make it a worthy upgrade.

Sorry for the lack of updates!

I’ve been getting ready for WordCamp San Francisco (taking place Saturday, May 30 at the Mission Bay Conference Center at  UCSF). I’m presenting at the conference and also helping to organize some of it.

I’m really looking forward to the event – they have an excellent lineup of speakers (excluding me), a great venue, and a lot of interesting things to learn.

If you’re going to WordCamp SF and see me there, please be sure to say hello!