SIKORSKI’S THINK ABOUTS BLOG 11/2/14 – “BACK TO THE BASICS” & MAKING SERIOUS BUSINESS FUN

My recent WebTV show about why organizations need to go “Back to the Basics” was thought provoking and well received by many of our viewers.

http://thedailyblu.com/video/sikorski-s-think-abouts-making-serious-business-fun

Guest Francia Smith, President of CEYE3, discussed the importance of why it helps solve:

• —Organizational drift
• —Scattered organizational energy
• —Excessive Activities/limited outcome

Your organization’s purpose/values, people and performance greatly influence how you are perceived in the marketplace which directly influences your bottom line and your customers’ experiences.

Great conversation and excellent advice about “Making Serious Business Fun.”  Learn about the “Game of the Three™”, the critical few and the behavioral definition of words.

Let me know your thoughts and . . .

Thank you for sharing our blog.

Laura Sikorski

SIKORSKI’S THINK ABOUTS BLOG 10/26/14 – CX AND EMPATHY IN THE WORKPLACE

Our recent WebTV show on The Daily Blu was about “Empathy in the Workplace.” It really hit home for many of our viewers http://tinyurl.com/nt57rcj

Our guest was Deidre Siegel, Founder and CEO of PEAR™ Core Solutions located in Woodbury, NY.

Excellent information on why “empathy” is an important trait for senior level executives, middle management and organizational teams.

Here are the questions Deidre answered:

• —Why do we care about empathy in the workplace?
• —How does low empathy impact your team and your profits?
• —How do you know if your company has low empathy levels?
• —What can we do to boost empathy?

Do hope you will consider some of these great “Think Abouts” for discussion at your next management meeting:

• —Mentor your staff
• —Provide clear career paths
• —Educate by continuous training and outside seminars
• —Walk the workfloor
• —Recognize that your staff is your greatest asset

Our twitter question was “I have a valued senior employee who just isn’t happy at work anymore.  He is always negative and his attitude is starting to rub-off on others.  Any advice on what I can do?”  Deidre was spot on with her advice!

Thanks for sharing our blog . . .

L

SIKORSKI’S THINK ABOUTS Blog 10/20/14: CX and Technology

Traditional customer touchpoints

• Marketing Literature
• Letters
• Appointment Cards
• Comment Cards
• Invoices/Statements
• Surveys

Technology customer touchpoint channels that should interact with your call/contact center

• Telephone
• Email
• Internet (appointments, orders, products/services knowledge, etc.)
• IVR (routing, informational menu’s and self-service)
• SMS (outbound texting, inbound texting to toll-free service)
• Social Media (reviewing, answering)
• Web Chat
• Mobile
• Speech self-service
• Video

Technology contributes to CX by increasing customer expectations

• —Welcome messages/programs via
  • —Emails, videos, new user portals, websites
• —Education
  • —How to get more from a product feature
• —Warning of problems
  • —Communicate failures
• —Confirming delivery
  • —Eliminates unnecessary interactions
• —Help Desk services
  • —Route with a screen-pop of where the customer experienced the problem

Please do not hesitate to comment if you have other ways that technology has contributed to satisfying your customers.

Laura Sikorski

SIKORSKI’S THINK ABOUTS BLOG 10/13/14 – CX Management

What is CX Management?

Multifaceted approach to:

• —  Become more customer driven
• —  Increase customer loyalty
• —  Ultimately improve business performance

Use technology to:

• —  Integrate departments and functions
• —  Manage and measure the entire relationship
• —  Include all functions from initial contact to delivery

Your customers should get accurate and courteous services from the first person they interact with without needing to contact or be transferred to anyone else and they expect:

• Personalized service
• To do business at any time and on their terms
• Raised standards of service
• Product innovation
• Customer intimacy
• Operational excellence

Your staff should have quick access to information and the authority to make decisions so that they can address your customers needs and concerns.

SIKORSKI’S THINK ABOUTS Blog 10/6/14: The CX Affect

Complaints should be profitable.

95% of your customers will NOT complain; however, the remaining 5% get MAD or get EVEN.

• Customers that get MAD
  • —Are 2 times as likely to buy again if they speak up
  • —Are 6 times as likely to buy again if their problems are solved
  • —Are 9 times as likely to buy again if their problems are solved quickly and professionally
• Customers that get EVEN
  • Are UNHAPPY and will tell 10 to 12 others about it
  • If they use Social Media it can reach 150,000+

Be sure your staff is empowered and has the products/services knowledge to change a dissatisfied customer into a happy customer.  Remember, you all want customers who will keep buying from your company and sharing with others how great you are!

“Customer Loyalty” is indeed the “CX Affect” you need to strive for.

Sikorski’s Think Abouts BLOG 9/28/14: Customer Service vs. Customer Experience

Customer Service (CS) is what you do for your customers at a specific time to help with an issue

• —Poor CS almost guarantees that the next time your customer has a need, they’ll look elsewhere

Customer Experience (CX) is how your customers feel about you and your brand (Service and Products)

• —Really helping customers and delivering a positive experience will create customer loyalty
• —It costs 7 times more to attract a new customer than to retain an existing customer

Every industry is now realizing that customers are becoming more and more dissatisfied due to:

• Inconsistent cross-channel experiences
• Reactive rather than proactive CS
• One-size-fits all mentality
• Inefficient technology interactions
• Lack of easy access to a “human”

My advice, “Think like a Customer” when developing/updating customer programs and services, websites, FAQs and voice recorded self-service Press “x” options.

Leadership + Empowerment = Great Customer Experience

SIKORSKI’S THINK ABOUTS WebTV Show 9/22/14

We discussed: Remembering Your Journey, Tenets, What Should You Be, How to Create a New Leader, What Is Empowerment, How Do You Start Empowering Your Staff and How Empowerment Motivates.  Our “Ask Laura” question was about motivating senior staff.  The voice and video may be out of sync on your computer and for that we apologize.  Next week our guest is Mike Conti, Call Center Technologist.  We will be discussing technology solutions that you should be “thinking about” to satisfy your customers.  Thank you for watching and sharing!  L

http://thedailyblu.com/video/sikorski-s-think-about-lead-by-example-not-by-your-power