Several weeks ago, I went to a Chili’s restaurant for dinner.

After I sat down, before I’d even had my chips and salsa, I noticed a little touch tablet computer on the table. This is a new thing at Chili’s: This nifty little device lets you order food — queso, please! — pay for your meal, offer your insights so the company can give you better customer service in the future, even “rent” little games for your kids to play while they wait for their food to arrive.

Image by Julep67 via Flickr

You know, in case they accidentally left their Nintendo DSes or iPod Touches in the car.

It’s an interesting concept — from a customer service perspective, it takes those the text surveys I’ve mentioned in a couple of past blog posts a couple of steps further. The table tablets definitely have their benefits: Ordering your own food leaves less room for error between the kitchen and the table; streamlining the payment process allows Chili’s to potentially turn tables more quickly; the opportunity to provide feedback on your experience immediately throughout the meal can be nothing but valuable.

But in my mind, the drawbacks to these devices definitely outweigh the benefits. Not for business reasons, but for customer experience reasons. Theoretically, people go out to restaurants as a family to talk to one another, to spend time together.

Now, this little gadget is so cool, so bright and flashy and useful and novel, that everyone at the table is going to want to play with it until dinner comes — which can be 20 or 30 minutes. But it means we’re not talking with each other or spending time interacting with each other. We’re distracted, we’re playing, and we’re not communicating.

We all have enough going on in our lives. As if the TVs in every corner of every bar and restaurant weren’t enough — restaurant patrons don’t need another distraction from their family life. I like the idea of the technology, but I worry about what it’s doing to an already distracted population.

Related articles

• BFF: Customer Experience & Consistency (customerthink.com)
• Chili’s adds pay-at-table systems (business380.com)
• Complaining Via Twitter? Don’t Expect Much. (hubspot.com)

People are always asking me what’s next in the world of customer feedback. With entire websites dedicated to the latest and greatest general technology, it’s understandable to want to know about the upcoming technologies that could help your business.
To arrive at the answer of what’s next, it helps to look at th

Image by Cea. via Flickr

e path we’ve taken to get there. So let’s talk about the history of customer feedback!
The classic, of course, is the face-to-face communication that came with the simpler times of the past: happy customers bringing baked goods after a particularly pleasant shopping experience; disgruntled customers throwing down with shop owners in the town square. (That happened, right?)
The first formal method for collecting customer feedback was the comment card. There would either be a box with a slot or an address to mail the card to. Do you remember getting those cards in stores and restaurants? How often did you actually fill them out? (And, if you worked with a business that used them, do you remember the time and effort involved in actually converting those insights from illegible chicken scratch to usable customer information?)
Exactly.
Mystery shopping was next. Over the years, the process itself evolved to include audio recording, then video recording. Besides the obvious technological evolution here, mystery shopping also empowered shoppers so much more with a list of things to look for during their experience, and gave the responsibility of interpreting the data to a professional third party. All a business had to do was act on the recommendations set forth in the report.
The latest evolution has been cell phone surveys, which I’ve talked about briefly. A cross between a modern-day comment card and mystery shopping with instant results, cell phone surveys prompt customers (who have already opted in) to provide feedback on a variety of things by SMS.

It’s safe to say that customer feedback technology will correspond to technology in general, so I would venture a guess that there may be a crowd-sourced mystery shopping service sometime soon; or maybe there’ll be “an app for that”! Whatever it is, you can rest assured that I’ll find out about it and share it with you in another blog post.

Related articles

• How Can My Cell Phone Store Benefit From a Mystery Shopper? (measurecp.com)
• How to improve your business’s customer care (premierlinedirect.co.uk)

Ah, the power of the Internet! It’s amazing how reading one thing can spark a tangent that inspires an entire blog post. I read an article the other day about sustainability and hygiene in the workplace , and it got me thinking about bathrooms.

Image via Wikipedia

The title of the article is “How the restroom symbolizes your whole operation.” The piece focuses on sustainability efforts, but really, it goes even further than that. Think about the last time you went in to, say, a gas station bathroom. I can think of one in particular — or maybe this is some symbolic synthesis of all the awful gas station bathrooms in the world — where there was tissue on the floor, a leaky faucet, poor lighting and a barely legible, laminated “Employee Cleanliness Checklist” that looked like it hadn’t been checked in weeks, let alone every few hours per the instructions.
That quick (believe me, QUICK) experience didn’t exactly make me want to run inside the attached mini-mart and grab a slushy drink. If you have even an inkling of what I’m talking about, you’ll agree that the bathroom is, indeed, the window to a business’s soul.
Maintaining spotless (and even welcoming) restrooms is especially important for restaurants and other foodservice businesses. I’ve always believed a dirty bathroom is a sign of a dirty kitchen; after all, if you’re willing to let the most public area of your business fall into disgusting disrepair, what could that possibly mean for the behind-the-scene area?
As a retailer, if you’re going to offer restrooms to customers, keep them up. It’s not as crucial here as with foodservice, but it’s important all the same. I think I’ve made it plain enough here that every nook and cranny of your business affects how people perceive it. Even in the nooks and crannies where they’re…doing their business.
On the other hand, I can think of a couple of retailers whose bathrooms are truly lovely. Scented candles, potpourri, hand soaps and lotions available in-store. Some will even merchandise them further! (Admittedly, it’s a bit strange to invite customers to shop from the top of the toilet tank, but if their trip to the restroom inspires them to spend a bit more…why not?)
It doesn’t take a lot of effort to keep your restroom ship shape, but the effort required to convince customers that a filthy bathroom is a fluke — and not indicative of a larger cleanliness issue — will be much greater. Keep it clean!

Related articles

• Simple Bathroom Etiquette (Or So You’d Think) (writtenillustrations.com)
• Check Out the Restroom in That Place! (foodservicewarehouse.com)

In the olden days, ordinary people went to restaurants for dinner as a treat on special occasions. Patrons dressed to the nines and many restaurants provided true white-glove treatment. And, of course, when going out only once in a while, people were happy to spend a bit more than average. (They were eating meat loaf and frozen veggies the rest of the time!) But now, dining out is so commonplace, so easily accessible, that both customers have grown largely complacent and restaurant staff has followed suit.

Image via Wikipedia

What would happen if, on the business end of things, we spent a bit more time making the experience something special for our customers? Whether your patrons are just stopping in for a quick takeaway bite between meetings or a fancy sit-down dinner, I would imagine a few simple gestures can make a huge difference. With that in mind, here are six tiny things you can do RIGHT NOW to hugely improve your sales.

1. If you’re a fast-food restaurant or somewhere with self-serve drinks, keep the station clean. This area is clearly visible when people walk in, and it’s somewhere that they interact with directly. If there’s melted ice all over the counters, sticky soda residue everywhere, a mess of tops and straws strewn about…that’s not very appealing. Any effort made to present your restaurant and business as organized, tidy and clean is well worth it.
2. Smile. Yes, employees need to be trained to do this — and it doesn’t matter what type of restaurant you operate. Even if servers are generally pleasant, a simple, genuine smile goes a really long way where customer service is concerned. A smile can make a nice gesture sweeter and diffuse the tensest situations. Trust me — this is one unwritten rule that should definitely be explicit in a restaurant’s policies.
3 and 4. The next two things you can do actually happen at the table — and they both involve treating customers more like humans and less like transactions. Don’t stand over customers when you’re taking their orders — meet them at eye level. (And look them in the eye when you take the orders! And SMILE!) Once you’re down at their physical level, connect with them on a personal level. Don’t just try to upsell them on every course; focus on what they’re telling you they need. As you take orders, consider making the process more of a conversation than a checklist of things to sell. Your attentiveness and engagement will pay off.
5. Check the bathrooms frequently. Not just at the beginning and end of service for the night — I’m talking every hour. This is especially important on your busiest nights, when your restroom can look more like Grand Central Station than a bathroom.
6. And finally, you can literally open the door to more business and higher-dollar tickets. There are few things a customer likes better than feeling welcome, so consider encouraging their generosity of wallet by showing your generosity of spirit. How much energy does it take for a member of the host staff — or, even better, a manager — to greet customers with an open door, smile and friendly hello? It doesn’t take much. Beginning their experience with this gesture of goodwill is a small step to an overall more positive experience.

Related articles

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So, I’ve got this friend.

(No, really.)

This friend of mine happens to be a mother, and she had a really terrible experience with a large national chain of childcare providers. Not one to keep quiet about something that could adversely affect others’ experiences as well, she opened up her email and penned a message explaining the situation. Then she sent it on to 40 of her friends.

Also moms.

Image via CrunchBase

She’s sort of like the EF Hutton of her circle of influence, and she influences some other very powerful moms.

This is a very connected woman, with a lot of influence — influence that would never show up in terms of numbers on a Twitter account, Facebook page or Klout score. Klout.com is a site that measures the “influence” of people on social media, on a score out of 100. The higher your number, the more influence — clout — you have.

We hear a lot about businesses worried about reaching their “influencers” these days. They throw special events for local bloggers, send gift baskets to people who could give them favorable mentions in social media, and respond only to those people who have high Klout scores when they comment on Facebook and Twitter.

I’ll put it this way: It’s definitely possible for a person to have Klout but no real clout — and, of course, the other way around. Then again, it’s possible for someone to have both. So don’t immediately discount those quantifiable “influencer” metrics as meaningless, but don’t ignore customers who don’t seem to have much influence.

Never underestimate the power of a deeply satisfied — or unbelievably disgruntled — customer, no matter what some website tells you about their power to inspire others. Because you may just find that the person you ignore is too busy being successful and influential in real life to mess around with social media, and can still do a lot of damage to your reputation.

Related articles

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These days, with everyone and their mother — literally — wielding digital SLRs or iPhones all tricked out with photo editors and Instagram, you can’t just put up a backdrop and tell people to put a fist under their chins for that perfect shot.
Everybody can be a photographer now…or so they think.

Image by Through the Lens of Kimberly Gauthier via Flickr

This means, of course, that professional photographers and the studios they run need to do more to provide above-and-beyond customer service and quality that keeps people coming back, instead of setting up makeshift studios in their living rooms. (This is especially true going into this holiday season, when budgets are tighter than ever.)
Implementing a mystery shopping program at your studio can be one way to gauge your chances of attracting those repeat customers — and how you may be able to improve the odds going forward. When you hire a company that specializes in mystery shopping, they’ll send specially trained people to visit your studio and go through all the motions of a normal customer, but they’ll come prepared to meticulously document their visit. Afterward, they’ll compile a report that will show you the strengths and weaknesses of your business.
It may benefit you to choose shoppers from the motherly demographic — they’re likely the ones who will be making the final studio decision for their family’s photos. Consider having mystery shoppers look for things like:

- What sorts of packages does your studio offer?

- Are those packages a good value?

- What’s the appointment making process like? Is there flexibility in studio hours and times available?

- Is there a reception staff? Are they friendly and courteous?

- How well do your photographers interact with subjects, especially children?

- What shape is the studio in? The equipment?

- Is the environment conducive to making memories?

- What’s the proofing and final approval process like? How is turnaround time for photos?
A mystery shopping program of this type will be less based on metrics and quantifiable data points, and more on a feeling. After all, mothers and families will be judging your studio just as much on how you make them feel as how your photos look in the end. You’re not just taking photos; you’re making memories!

Related articles

• Stock Photography (chesneyinspiration.wordpress.com)
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Blankets. Pacifiers. Cribs. High chairs. Tiny bowls and tiny spoons. Stuffed animals. …All lined up in perfect rows, glimmering in the sunlight of your big picture windows.
Either you’re running the prettiest day care center ever, or you’ve got a baby store on your hands. On one hand, you’ve got a pretty solid demographic, and you’re fairly recession proof. Babies will keep being born no matter how bad the economy gets.

Image by Getty Images via @daylife

On the other hand, it’s safe to say that mothers are a picky and demanding bunch — and why shouldn’t they be? Nothing but the best for their little bundles of joy, whether they’re still expecting or just keeping up with the demand for new sizes of baby clothes and other items to help them dote on their beautiful children.
Whether mothers choose to shop in your boutique or store, or take to baby-gear swap websites or yard sales, all depends on the kind of service you provide them when they give you that first crucial chance. How can you be sure you’re making the best impression on this very important shopper demographic? Hire a mystery shopping company.
A mystery shopping company will choose and specially train people to come to your store and act like real customers — customers who take copious notes on everything that goes on during their visit. When they leave, they’ll put those notes together and report back on their experience, which will help you understand how to build on your store’s strengths and eliminate the weaknesses.
You’ll work with the company on a list of things mystery shoppers will look for, but here’s a sampling:

- Is your shop organized and merchandised well?

- Does the store have a clean, welcoming environment? Music? Scent?

- Are products (especially ones you’ve advertised) stocked up and on the floor for purchase?

- How long does the in-store experience take, from entrance to checkout? (Moms are busy ladies!)

- Is your staff friendly and helpful?

It’s important to take good care of all your customers, but in a baby store, moms should be your No. 1 concern — hiring mystery shoppers can help you do the best possible job catering to this important demographic.

Related articles

• How Can My Cell Phone Store Benefit From a Mystery Shopper? (measurecp.com)
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As a woman, I can say from personal experience that shopping for clothing can be incredibly frustrating. The store I’m in makes all the difference in the world; even in chain stores, the employees and attention to detail in a particular location can make or break my experience.

But we rarely get to voice our opinion on that. While nothing will ever take the place of a live human making eye contact and asking sincerely, asking for feedback in any way will put you head and shoulders above most clothing retailers. Consider using text message–based surveys to gauge your customers’ feedback on a day-to-day basis. Here are two ideas of areas in your stores to use these surveys:

Image via Wikipedia

In fitting rooms: Try hanging signs on those floor-to-ceiling mirrors inviting customers to tell you about their experience with your product thus far. Did they find the sizes they needed? How are things fitting? Did they need help finding things?

At checkout: Ask customers whether they got the help they needed. By sending a message to the text code on the sign at the register, they can give feedback on their experience, from the girl in the fitting room to the person ringing them up.

You’ll get their feedback instantly, pushed to your phone or e-mail. That gives you an opportunity to find them while they’re still in the store, if necessary, and correct anything that has gone wrong as soon as it’s happened. If a customer speaks especially highly of an employee, you can reward that employee instantaneously for their excellent survey. There’s a lot to be said for quick response.

This might also be a great opportunity to leverage members of your store’s loyalty program or mailing list: Push an SMS/text message to them inviting them to participate in a survey, in exchange for a token discount they visit your shop — or an invite to a members-only Ladies Night Out event, or a perk of your choosing. Make it special for them!

These surveys can be especially valuable because they provide real-time, real-life feedback from people who already shop in your stores. They aren’t being paid to come in and buy things; they don’t have a list of criteria to look for during their visit. All they’re worried about is having a satisfying experience in your store that ends with them finding clothes that fit them well.

The average department store sees hundreds of customers every day: male, female, young, old, busy, leisurely and everything in between. How often do you, as a manager, get to ask for those customers’ honest feedback, especially in the less frequently trafficked areas?

Nothing will ever take the place of a live human making eye contact and asking for an opinion, but asking for feedback in any way will put you head and shoulders above most retailers. Consider using text message–based surveys to gauge your customers’ feedback on a day-to-day basis.

Image via Wikipedia

Here are two ideas of areas in your stores to use these text surveys:

Among product displays: You could hang signs inviting customers to take a quick survey on their shopping experience. Give them an opportunity to sound off on whether they found the sizes they needed, whether they needed help locating them, and how friendly the staff within the department was.

At checkout: Put a placard on the counter by your registers asking customers how their service experience has been. By sending a message to the code on the placard, they can offer feedback on a specific person who helped them find a particular product or went above and beyond in some way, or complain about a particularly negative associate without worrying about an uncomfortable confrontation with that person — or with management.

You could even, upon customer completion of the survey, offer an instant discount on whatever items they plan to purchase.

These surveys can provide special value, especially in conjunction with a bona-fide mystery shopping program, because they provide real-time, real-life feedback from people who are actually in your stores. They’re not worried about filling out their forms correctly or going through all the necessary steps for their mystery shop — they just want a good shopping experience, to get in and get out in as little time and with as little frustration as possible.

The best part: You’ll get feedback instantly, as soon as customers respond. Which means you can follow up immediately if necessary to ensure that your customers stay happy instead of taking their business elsewhere.

Let’s play a little game, shall we?
It’s called “Good Boss, Bad Boss.”
Good Boss: Tony Hsieh, CEO of Zappos.
Not only good because he spearheads a company that sells awesome shoes and gives everyone free shipping, but because he’s created an incredible company culture that revolves around keeping his employees happy and excited about their jobs. I recently read an article about the culture Hsieh’s cultivated. Not only does the company encourage transparency and allow every single employee to talk to the media or anyone who asks, but call-center employees are also empowered to be themselves as they take care of customers. Personality and authenticity alone can wow customers.
On the other hand…
Bad Boss: William Ernst, owner of a chain of convenience stores called QC Mart.
You may have heard about this already, but Ernst is the Iowa “boss from hell” who pitted his employees against each other by offering a $10 prize for the person who could guess who’d be fired next. REALLY. He actually went out of his way to accentuate the negative aspects of his employees and totally ignored what they were doing well. You have to work pretty hard to create such an antagonistic work environment.
Enough said.

Playing this game really shows that how you treat your employees is far more important than some might think. It’s crucial, actually. Forward-facing employees — customer service reps, call center employees, servers, bartenders, front-desk folks — are under a lot of pressure from your customers as it is. To take flak from both sides, to feel unsupported by the person who hired them and entrusted them to do a great job? That’s just a recipe for disaster.
I heard once about a restaurant manager who put his staff before the customer. When a customer complained, he would help them out and treat them with respect, but in the end, he always backed his staff member. And because his wait staff knew he had their backs, they were more loyal to him.
Contrary to the popular saying, the customer isn’t always right. The customer is always the customer, yes, but sometimes they’re also rude. Sometimes they’re blowing things way out of proportion. Sometimes they’re flat-out wrong. Let’s face it: Even if the customer is right, your employee is the one whose loyalty you really need.
In the game of “Good Boss, Bad Boss,” it really pays to be the former.

Related articles

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• Zappos CEO: Company culture is higher priority than customer service | ZDNet (serve4impact.com)