excellence

customer service

The Official Journal of the Customer Service Institute of America

March 09

A Q&A with
Cassie Stern of
Nokia Care
Soothing the Savaged
Consumer Soul
What is
Customer-Focused
Leadership?
Book Review:
Flight Plan

Enroll in Cassie Stern, Head of Nokia

CSIA’s Certified Customer Care in North America

Customer Service
Manager Course.

CSIA- America’s Peak Customer Service Association.

CUSTOMER SERVICE EXCELLENCE
THE MONTHLY MAGAZINE OF THE CUSTOMER SERVICE INSTITUTE OF AMERICA
1
 C O N T E N T S
02 A Q&A with Cassie Stern of Nokia Care

06 What is Customer-Focused Leadership?

13 Soothing the Savaged Consumer Soul:

Customer Love When Times Are Tough

18 BOOK REVIEW: Flight Plan

Welcome to this edition of Customer Service Excellence!

Welcome to the Customer Service Institute of
America (CSIA) and this edition of Customer
Service Excellence! This issue features the United
States’ first organization to be certified to the
International Customer Service Standard (ICSS)
– Nokia Care NA. This division of Nokia was also
the International Service Excellence Award winner
in the Division of a Large Business category (B2B).
Cassie Stern, Head of Nokia Customer Care North
America, is featured in this article and shares some
of Nokia Care NA’s secrets of success.
Also in this edition of Customer Service
Excellence, we learn from Jeanne Bliss, author
of Chief Customer Officer, about Customer
Love when Times are Tough. This Top 11 List
outlines exceptional ideas for standing out to your
customers during this difficult time.
For information about how to submit for the 2009
International Service Excellence Awards or for
more information on the International Customer
Service Standard (ICSS), please contact us using
any of the details below.
Happy reading and Best wishes,

Editor
Contact CSIA Christine Churchill
info@serviceinstitute.com
www.serviceinstitute.com
312-268-5855
Art Director
Tiffany Mehnert

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A Q&A w i t h C a s sie Stern of
NOKIA CARE
Nokia Care staffers celebrate winning the International Customer Service Award in the Large Business Category
BRIEFLY DESCRIBE YOUR POSITION AND
ROLE IN THE COMPANY.
I am the Head of Nokia Customer Care in North
America, responsible for the functional and fiscal
operations, as well as satisfaction and delight
aspects of Customer Service for both the Business to
Business and Business to Consumer channels. I also
hold the additional role of Host leader for Dallas
based employees in Nokia’s Global Demand Supply
Network team.
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WHAT IS THE AIM AND VISION OF THE
COMPANY, PARTICULARLY WITH REGARD
TO CUSTOMER SERVICE, RISK TAKING,
RESEARCH AND QUALITY?
Nokia is a consumer-inspired company that aims to
cater to both trade and consumer customers by
connecting people in new and better ways. Our
business strategy is to develop a trusted consumer
relationship, the best mobile devices everywhere and
context-enriched services – connecting them to their
2
 N O K I A C A R E …continued

Nokia’s management style is very

inclusive and participative. Across
the company, employees at all levels
are engaged in strategy development
and strategy execution planning.

passions. Nokia encourages risk-taking and WHAT MANAGEMENT TECHNIQUES ARE

renewal, invests heavily in research and has
a reputation for supplying quality products
and services that bring additional value to the
consumers’ mobile experience.
WHAT TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT
PROGRAMS EXIST TO DRIVE DEVELOPMENT
IN CUSTOMER SERVICE AT ALL LEVELS OF
THE ORGANIZATION?
In Nokia Care North America, we offer a variety of
formal and informal training solutions. These
solutions include Executive Leadership Learning
Journey for Care business leaders, Service Manager
training, technology training such as 4G technology
evolution and contextual service applications, and
Customer focused training including consumer
segmentation and retention. We also provide product
readiness training for Contact Center team members
either at our own contact centers or those of our
operators. We emphasize Six Sigma as a
methodology for improving the business and 65% of
our employee base in Care is presently trained with
41% certified to green belt, black belt and master
black belt levels. As part of individual performance
and development plans, Nokia also supports
participation in external conferences and learning
opportunities to benchmark and learn from others.
Best practice sharing through these external
opportunities can be an invaluable exchange.
USED, DESCRIBE THE BEST ASPECTS OF
EMPLOYEE RELATIONS AND THE
MANAGERIAL STYLE OF THE COMPANY.
Nokia’s management style is very inclusive and
participative. Across the company, employees at all
levels are engaged in strategy development and
strategy execution planning. Nokia uses internal
wiki’s, blogs, and other interactive approaches for
participation in addition to face to face meetings and
discussions. This facilitates broad reaching
interaction from all areas of the globe. These
approaches are used for open communication in
daily business in addition to strategy development.
Nokia’s Global Care organization is an enterprise
matrix organization which aligns all employees to a
direct manager in their locality and also to an indirect
manager whose virtual network then would set
standard global practices in place thus taking local
differences into account.
HAS THE WORKFORCE BEEN INVOLVED IN
DEVELOPING STRATEGIES FOR SUCCESS?
Yes, Nokia is proud to involve its diverse population,
across disciplines, in all levels of the business
including strategy sharing. Over half the Nokia Care
North America organization was involved in strategy
development last year, for example.

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 N O K I A C A R E …continued
WHAT AREAS WERE IDENTIFIED BY WHAT SYSTEMS AND PROCESSES EXIST
EMPLOYEES TO IMPROVE THE COMPANY’S TO PROMOTE ONGOING CUSTOMER SERVICE
OPERATIONS? IMPROVEMENT ACROSS THE ORGANIZATION?
Employees looked at all aspects of the Customer A crucial process promoting ongoing improvements
Care business and recommended improvement is the trimester business reviews with trade
initiatives in the areas of Growth, Productivity, customers on all areas of the relationship and metrics
Retention and People. including Customer Care, Marketing, Pricing,
Development and Product Quality. These reviews
generate scorecards from Business to Business
IS THE WORKFORCE COMMITTED TO
EXCELLENCE?
Yes, there is a great sense of pride in Nokia and in
the Care organization and employees worked hard to
help us attain certification and receive the
International Service Excellence Award.

HOW HAVE IMPROVEMENT TEAMS BEEN

FORMED AND MOMENTUM MAINTAINED?
Improvement teams are formed for projects that are
initiated based on our strategy, our balanced
scorecard and the gaps identified during the CSIA
certification assessment. The Care North America
team has a Program Office that guides the execution
of prioritized projects essential to operational and
strategic execution. We staff the projects with the Six
Sigma certified project managers and teammates. North America Care
celebrations are held
HOW DOES THE ORGANIZATION RECOGNIZE
AND REWARD STAFF IN RELATION TO periodically throughout the
CUSTOMER SERVICE?
year to recognize great
Nokia Care North America recognizes employees in a
variety of ways, including the monthly Making A performance feedback
Difference Award, as well as monetary and
appreciative ‘Recognizing You’ awards. These received from our Business
awards can be awarded by managers and peers any
time they witness an employee displaying exceptional
to Business customers
customer service. Additionally, North America Care
celebrations are held periodically throughout the year
on the scorecards they
to recognize great performance feedback received
from our Business to Business customers on the
use to measure us.
scorecards they use to measure us.

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 N O K I A C A R E …continued
customers from which we can identify areas for
improvement, and continue the success where Nokia
is meeting and exceeding expectations. Internal
operative reviews and bi-annual strategy planning
also help to identify key improvement opportunities.
Initiatives are prioritized and resources are assigned
to ensure Nokia Care North America maintains its
rank as #1 or # 2 on all trade customer scorecards.
HOW HAS BEING A RECIPIENT OF AN
INTERNATIONAL SERVICE EXCELLENCE
AWARD HELPED THE ORGANIZATION?
The Nokia Care North America organization is
honored to receive both CSIA certification and win an
International Service Excellence Award in 2008. It is
especially helpful for us to improve using some of the
great best practices that are occurring throughout the
industry. This knowledge enables us to continuously
improve our Business to Business Channel. We also
want to apply the excellent CSIA framework to guide
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development and improvement of our business to
the consumer channel so that we may strive to reach
similar goals in that area of our business.
AS AN ORGANIZATION THAT HAS RECENTLY
BEEN CERTIFIED TO THE INTERNATIONAL
CUSTOMER SERVICE STANDARD, AND THE
FIRST U.S. ORGANIZATION CERTIFIED TO
THE STANDARD, HOW WOULD YOU
DESCRIBE HOW THE CERTIFICATION
PROCESS HAS BENEFITED NOKIA CARE?
What a strong motivational goal this was for us! This
certification process is excellent and has enabled us
to not only recognize the many best-in-class services
that Nokia Care North America provides to our
Business to Business customers today but helps us
understand how to excel to the next level with
suggestions for improvement. This is incredibly valuable
and we will continue the ongoing quest to further
enhance customer satisfaction, retention and loyalty.
5
 What is

Customer-
Focused
Leadership?

BY RAY MILLER

Customer Focus is an aligned organization-wide approach to customer satisfaction and service,

leading to customer loyalty and advocacy. The result is sustainable profitability.

In a Customer Focused organization, Leadership,
Processes and People are customer-aligned. This
requires that:
■ Every action is shaped by a relentless
commitment to meeting and exceeding customer
expectations regarding product and service quality.
■ Customer touch points and supporting internal
processes are constantly evaluated and improved to
meet or exceed those expectations.
■ Every employee understands what he/she must
do in order to maintain and add value to every
relationship with both the paying customer and those
within the organization that rely on them for the work
they do.
While Customer Focus and service excellence is
everyone’s responsibility, this is particularly true for
anyone who manages and supervises others. That’s
why we believe that...
... Customer Focus is a Leadership issue.

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What is Customer-Focused Leadership?…continued
To become a customer-focused leader, it is helpful to
look at the best practices of other organizations
when it comes to management and leadership
practices and tailor these to your specific situation.
Why is this important?
Truly customer-focused organizations are run and
managed on a day-to-day basis by Customer-
Focused Leaders. The buck stops with you.
■ Customer-contact and support employees are
rarely the biggest obstacle to service improvement.
■ It’s up to management to create an environment
in which employees can deliver excellent service.
The reality is that you can talk about how important
service is from the highest levels of your company,
you can begin to change processes and procedures
company-wide which reinforce customer-focus, and
your staff can work diligently at trying to provide
service excellence. But, at the end of the day, the
only way to ensure sustainable service excellence is
for those in management positions throughout your
company to do things which create an environment
where service flourishes. You will make it happen.
Your Key Role as a Leader is to:
■ To build and maintain the conditions that make
service excellence possible and worthwhile
■ To make it real operationally
■ To make it stick culturally
....in other words, to be a Customer-Focused Leader.
Organizations that deliver top quality service have a
number of things in common. These best practices
have been summarized into ten key customer-
focused leadership principles.
These are:
1. Commit to Service Excellence
2. Be Pro-Active in Recovery
3. Enhance and Align your Systems
4. Listen to the Voice of the Customer
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5. Lead with a Customer Focus
6. Define Service Boundaries
7. Provide Autonomy
8. Measure What’s Important
9. Accountability for All
10. Recognize and Reward
Let’s take a look at each of these in more detail.
1. COMMIT TO SERVICE EXCELLENCE
Most managers and staff typically say that service is
important. The question is, do they act consistently in
a way which demonstrates that service is important?
A true commitment to service is based on the belief
that service excellence is a competitive advantage.
The term commitment in this principle means action.
It is what you do as leaders, not what you say that
counts. The best evidence of your commitment is
found in what customers and your internal service
partners say about you and your team.
2. BE PRO-ACTIVE IN RECOVERY
Recovery is a term which describes your actions in
response to a customer’s complaint or problem. Even
with a goal of “zero defects,” people make mistakes.
It is important to remember that the vast majority of
customers don’t complain about the quality of the
service they receive, they just leave. Problems will
happen and should be viewed as opportunities to
impress the customer and create positive stories.
In the world of service recovery, the faster the
problem is resolved the more likely the customer will
be satisfied. Work with your staff to ensure that the
solutions provided to customers are designed to at
the very least satisfy, but whenever possible impress.
Since the most frequent complaints and problems
are predictable, you can work with your staff to plan
recovery strategies for handling these complaint
situations and empower your staff to take action.
Being pro-active also means seeking out disgruntled
customers before they have a chance to complain,
particularly when you know that as a result of a
change in a process or procedure, complaints are
likely to result. It’s about building solid relationships
7
What is Customer-Focused Leadership?…continued
with each customer based on trust, honesty and a
sincere desire to earn their loyalty.
3. ENHANCE AND ALIGN YOUR SYSTEMS
An organization’s survival depends upon rapid,
continuous enhancement to all processes, policies
and systems which impact on the customer. Many
processes are designed to meet regulatory,
compliance and fiduciary standards. Other processes
have evolved to expedite workflow. You need to be
continually examining all processes, policies and
systems which impact on the customer and looking
for ways to make them less burdensome from the
An organization’s survival depends
upon rapid, continuous enhancement to all
processes, policies and systems which impact
on the customer.
customer’s perspective. Management’s role in the
development and implementation of improvement
plans must be strong, and highly visible. Sustained
quality improvement efforts require the highest level
of commitment from managers and continual
attention and action. This commitment must be
demonstrated through their actions.
Any system that wasn’t designed for the essential
purpose of creating a high level of customer
satisfaction rarely, if ever, results in high levels of
customer satisfaction... no matter how hard
employees try!
Employees at all levels of the organization must be
actively involved in the implementation of
improvement plans. Managers play a critical role in
identifying and removing barriers to the delivery of
service excellence. Minor improvements can be
perceived as major improvements by the customer.
Encourage your staff to constantly look for better,
faster and unique ways of doing business in a way
that your customers value and enable your staff to
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make these changes or communicate the changes
required to those who are empowered to do so.
4. LISTEN TO THE VOICE OF THE CUSTOMER
Listening to customers and continually realigning
systems and actions to what customers want and
need is critical. While periodic customer surveys are
important, listening to the customer should be a
routine part of day-to-day business practices
especially at the point of contact with customers. We
will address this issue in greater detail in the Know
Your Customer and Learning From the Customer
chapters. Enable every customer-contact person to
truly listen to what customers say and don’t say.
Recognize that customers’ perceptions are their
reality. Create processes to catalogue your customer
perceptions and act on this intelligence by aligning
your operational practices wherever possible to
positively impact on your customers’ perceptions.
Customers also make sweeping conclusions about
product quality and service based on minor details,
so pay attention to the little things.
5. LEAD WITH A CUSTOMER FOCUS
Like most organizations, you probably have a
Responsive Up Mind-Set where upper management
is responsible for setting and communicating the
organization’s vision, direction and goals. In this
structure the frontline and support staff are
responsive to the needs of middle management who
are responsive to the needs of upper management.
To visualize this, think of your company structure as a
pyramid with senior management at the top,
customer contact staff at the base and your
8
What is Customer-Focused Leadership?…continued
customers below the base of the pyramid. As depicted
in Figure 1.
A Customer-Focused Leader’s goal is to combine this
with The Service Mind-Set (Figure 2)
The Service Mind-Set inverts this structure so that
upper management views itself as serving the needs
of middle management who service the needs of the
Figure 1
frontline and support staff who in turn service the
Figure 2
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needs of the customer. This is the mind-set that
supports leadership with a customer focus. This
means seeing yourself as a service organization for
your employees.
Recognize that excellent service is impossible if you
over-control. Understand that people are generally
eager to do a good job and distressed when they
can’t. Remember that frustrated employees do not
deliver good service.
View your staff as your customers while at the same
time become very adept at managing paradox such
as “How can my subordinate be my customer?” or,
“How can I increase customer focus while looking for
ways to exercise fiscal restraint?”
6. DEFINE SERVICE BOUNDARIES
Each employee needs to understand your
organization’s service values and be able to connect
these values to everyday actions. A leader must
define a performance playing field that will allow
employees to handle the routine deviations from
normal customer transactions or interactions. The
employee’s performance playing field must be wide
enough to allow employees to handle all routine
transactions and interactions, as well as the
predictable and routine deviations they face, and
narrow enough to protect the financial integrity of the
business operation. Each employee must have
clearly defined goals, boundaries and guidelines
which enable him or her to deliver quality service. It
must be clear how achieving performance goals will
contribute to service quality.
Setting effective service goals requires that every
employee thoroughly understands the basic promise
your company makes to your customers and
Moments of Truth (this is covered in Learning from
the Customer) for which he or she is responsible and
can identify how to impress the customer. The
customer-focused leader creates a service playing
field that allows people to succeed. Clearly define
measurable and achievable goals and boundaries
based on employee capabilities and guidelines to
enable them to deliver quality service.
7. PROVIDE AUTONOMY
Every employee needs to understand why what he or
9
What is Customer-Focused Leadership?…continued
she does is important in the context of service
quality. Ensure that every employee has the requisite
knowledge and skill relative to their specific job
function combined with a clear
understanding of the playing field.
When employees demonstrate this
understanding and these
capabilities, give them the autonomy
to take action; set them up for
success, not failure.
The people with the most customer
contact are the best source of
information regarding the customers’
needs and wants. The people with
the most internal business partner
contact are the best source of
information regarding their needs
and wants. So don’t micro-manage.
When people show they can do their
job, then let them do the job. Too
many rules make it difficult, if not
impossible, for service providers to effectively
perform their jobs. Rules and procedures designed to
protect against a small percentage of individuals
convey a message of mistrust to the majority of
honest customers. Replace rules with judgment.
8. MEASURE WHAT’S IMPORTANT
Some say “You get what you measure.” ... The reality
is... “You get what you pay attention to.”
A major responsibility of a leader is to create effective
and accurate measures from the customer’s
perspective. Good measurement allows employees
to understand how to be successful within the
organization. You can do this by translating these
measures into actions that will allow employees to
understand what good service looks like and how to
succeed.
Measurement is about paying attention to the service
performance you want, and focusing on outcomes
rather than activities. Set service performance goals
that are realistic while at the same time strive to go
beyond the basics in an effort to exceed customers’
expectations. Ensure that every employee
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understands and agrees to what is being measured,
why it is important and how these measures reflect
the defined playing field. The scorecard you use to
assess success must be developed
from the customer’s point of view.
9. ACCOUNTABILITY FOR ALL
You have an obligation to your
customers, to employees, and to the
company to be unwavering in your
demands for service excellence.
Employees will pay more attention if
they know they will be provided with
solid, equitable and constructive
positive feedback on their performance.
Employees give credibility to service
quality if they are held accountable to
the outcomes of their performance.
Measurement must be followed by
action. Action means giving timely
feedback on both good service performance and
poor service performance, equally. Provide feedback
as close to the service performance occurrence as
possible. A lack of action communicates that service
is not important, individual performance does not
make a difference, there are no clear-cut performance
expectations, and that the organization’s leadership is
not credible. Pleasing the customer is the only valid
end result of service performance.
10. RECOGNIZE AND REWARD
Successful service leaders ensure attention is paid to
those who serve customers well and to those who
assist in that effort. They show their appreciation to
those who make sure the organization’s customers
are served properly. Consistent recognition of
achievement is an integral part of building and
maintaining a customer-focused culture. A good
work environment depends on positive feedback, so
“Catch people doing things right.”
Good leadership makes a big deal of little things and
thereby creates a performance culture where little
things become a big deal. Recognize the desired
changes in service behavior you want frequently and
10
What is Customer-Focused Leadership?…continued
provide rewards when you have seen a sustained Excerpts of this article have
improvement in service performance outcomes. been taken from the recent
Ensure employees know what they need to do to book That’s Customer Focus!
earn a reward. Provide rewards that are valued from For more information about this
the employees’ perspective and ensure that you excellent resource, please visit
reward those who deserve it. www.thatscustomerfocus.com.
Ray Miller is the Author of That’s Customer Focus!
To conclude: and The Customer Focus Companion and Managing
Partner of The Training Bank
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should not be overlooked or taken for granted. You Visit www.thatscustomerfocus.com and www.
have it within your power to make a difference and dare thetrainingbank.com or call at 416-698-8230. The
to be different. Become a Customer-Focused Leader. Training Bank will be pleased to be of service.

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The Official Journal of the Customer Service Institute of America
Volume 1 • Issue 1
July/August 08
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Meet
Service Manager Course” nominal letters: ACSIA, MCSIA or FCSIA
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Is No Service

Enroll in
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 Certified
Customer Service
Manager Course
Certificate and Diploma for Customer Service
The Customer Service Institute of America
is currently taking applications for its two
day Certified Customer Service Manager
(CCSM) Course. The course is administered “I would like to congratulate the
both in the classroom and through workplace CSIA for putting together such a
based activities. practical program in the CCSM
The CSIA has worked with leading organi- Course. I have found its flexibility
zations internationally to develop a training, very valuable in allowing me to work
assessment and certification program leading
to CSIA’s nationally recognized “Certified
at my own pace and in implementing
Customer Service Manager” designation. what I have learnt almost instantly
through the workplace based activities
Organizations can now benefit from qualified
service professionals in the customer service and assignments.”
industry. Anthony Keyes, Baxter Healthcare
The course includes a workbook and a two
day workshop followed by a final assessment
with the Customer Service Institute of America.

For more information

Phone: 312-268-5855
info@serviceinstitute.com
www.serviceinstitute.com
Soothing
BY JEANNE BLISS

the Savaged Consumer Soul:

Customer Love When Times Are Tough
11 Ideas* for Companies and
Customers (*An extra idea because
times are tough!)
In these economic times, when our
nerves are raw and we are stretched
like a rubber-band ready to snap...we
all need a kinder hand, a kinder voice...
just plain more kindness in our life.

Nearly every interaction tests us now.

Opening the cell phone bill and
gasping...then endeavoring to get a bit of
help. First the queue, then the call. Not much
kindness there. Putting gas in our car. Forget about
the boat. Buying groceries which are creeping
up in price daily. Trying to sell our home
or buy one. Calling the support line to have
the appliances fixed which chose NOW to
conk-out.

If you are in the business of serving

customers, right NOW is the time to seek out the
intangible opportunities to soothe the savaged
consumer soul. Here are ideas that will bring you
dividends in rising above the fray and in
soothing the frayed nerves during this
time of spending woe.

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Soothing
1 3
…continued
BECOME WIZARDS AT ALTERNATIVE
SOLUTIONS.
Creative solutions that help your customers cope and
manage with the current financial pinch will be
loooong remembered. Can you offer revised payment
plans or offer different pricing schemes? Coach your
frontline how to hold a diagnostic conversation to
understand the financial implications of the current
market with customers. And reach out to customers
proactively, especially if service contracts or annual
commitments are due. In this economy, customers
are more likely to opt out and disappear. If you show
up proactively with a helping hand, empathetic
approach and creative options prior to this decision,
2 4
you can save business and build allies. And the
memory of your actions will serve you long after this
financial pinch is over as you stand out as a partner
in supporting your customers from their point-of-view.
LISTEN; THEN REPEAT.
This sounds ridiculously simple, right? Think again.
Eight out of ten phone calls, retail interactions and
service calls begin with prescribing a solution to a
customer before the customer need is really listened
to, understood and validated. This is a time when
customers will want to vent. Let them. Then repeat
back to the customer what they said. Because not
only do we need to vent right now, we need
validation. That times are tough, that prices are high,
and that we’re in pain. If your customer is not in dire
straits, good results will also follow. Repeating the
reason a customer walked in the store, called your
number or emailed your ‘contact us’ contact will take
you to a level that is just not being received today...
which is internalizing what the customer needs and
using that knowledge to drive an outcome that is
right for them.
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PRACTICE WILD EMPATHY.
Customer empathy is NOT a pity-party! The ability to
empathize, and to put ourselves in our customers’
shoes so we understand what they are going through
— tests the humanity of our organizations. Especially
NOW when times are tough. Bring groups of people
together in clusters of twenty-thirty and have them
identify the top 10 customer frustrations that are
occurring right now. Identify which have emerged
recently. And discuss how customers are responding
and coping with challenges. Then bring people up in
groups of two and have them role play customer
conversations. Film these and make them available
to everyone. I guarantee that the small investment in
filming will be worth it. This action will send a signal
internally that it is recognized that times are tough.
Giving people permission and good examples for
how to empathize will provide not only comfort to
customers who receive it, but also to your employees
who are feeling the pinch themselves. The humanity
and humility that comes with acknowledging this
condition will bring you closer to your employees and
customers.
DELIVER SMALL HEROIC ACTS OF KINDNESS.
Small kindnesses will go a long way right now. We
are all so fatigued from walking away empty-
walleted, that small gestures will really stand out.
Zane’s cycles, a bicycle shop in Connecticut sells
$15 million a year from a single shop. They give away
any item that a customer is in a panic about finding
(read: link that will fix a broken chain) that costs
under a dollar. Think Dad with a 10 year old whose
bike is broken; one stop at Zane’s and they save the
day – WITHOUT charging anything. Every day Zane’s
extends these small heroics that send customers
away shaking their head in amazement. My husband
came home from the dry cleaners last week and they
gave him a $1 package of collar stays which he was
going to buy – but they gave him. What can YOU do?
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Soothing
5 7
…continued
FIND YOUR BEST CUSTOMERS. LOVE THEM!
Your best customers, whether you call them
Promoters from how they rank you or are your
highest value from how you rank them...if they are
hanging in there with you...they deserve all the love
you can give. First, let them know that you’re glad
they’re sticking around. Then reach out to them. Are
you developing new products or services? Bring a
group of your best customers in for an evening of
food and feedback. Perhaps you can send them a
letter acknowledging that you value your relationship
with them and offer an extra service. One company I
work with rotates their executives through outbound
calling their best customers per month. The impact of
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this simple personal and humane contact...especially
right now...lets your customers know that you care
about them and are reaching out to help. THAT in
itself will set you apart!
PLAY DEFENSIVE-END FOR THE FRONT LINE.
Your people at the front who are working directly with
customers are likely feeling two things right now:
their personal pain in the wallet and the pain of their
customers. NOW especially is the time to come up
with uncommon acts of kindness for them. Create a
monthly casual conversation with your front line so
they can tell you what they are hearing and where
they are perhaps being beat up a little by beleagured
customers. Rotate in 10-20 per month so everybody
has a time to vent and have a bit of cheerleading.
Host something fun once a month...bring in lunch,
host a karaoke night. Most importantly LISTEN to
what they have to say. Make a list of the biggest
issues customers are having that they have heard
and work to systematically cross items off the list.
You’ll need to create perhaps some tools to help
them coach customers down from that ledge that
some may be standing at right about now. Don’t wait
to do this!
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HIRE THOSE WITH DASH AND DARING.
Indications are that this financial crunch will take
some time to recover. Profile the type of person who
will thrive with customers in this type of economic
environment; listeners, creative thinkers and naturally
service oriented people for those serving and
interacting with customers. Hire for passion and the
natural ability to empathize. Find leaders who find the
glass half-full and can motivate creativity and inspire
creative solutions. While these skills are always
desired, if you want to emerge above the rest, they
are a necessity when times are tough. Amy’s Ice
Cream, a beloved place in Austin Texas actually has
their applicants make a creation out of a white paper
bag instead of filling out a boilerplate application
form. What’s your particular brand of experience that
you’re delivering? And what can you do differently
in the interview to make sure you’ve got a match for
the job?
CALL CUSTOMERS WHO HAVE LEFT YOU!
This is the time when acts of heroism for consumers
and business accounts WILL NOT go unnoticed. So
reach into your customer database and identify some
customers who have left you. Then reach out to
them. But before you do, build some creative
financing and pricing options for them. When you
call, first apologize. Then listen. Asking why a
customer left and then really listening and repeating
back the reason is extremely powerful...and yet FEW
DO THIS! Finally ask to be given another chance and
then offer your new creative finance and pricing
options. Even if they don’t bite right away...this type
of gesture sticks with customers. One financial
services company we did with this ultimately got
back 35% of customers who had departed. Just the
shock value that you realized they were gone and
cared enough to ask “what happened” will set you
apart from the rest!
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Soothing …continued
9 10
Finally, for consumers... Here’s a dose of
“customer yoga” to manage your nerves during
this season of spending woe.
GIVE WHAT YOU WANT TO GET.
It’s a jungle out there right now; and if we all let our
stretched rubber bands go flying; well, somebody’s
gonna lose an eye (thanks mom)! Before you call that
call center, remember the gal on the other end of the
line is a stretched like a rubber band too. You’ll get a
lot more back if you decompress before you call.
Just wrap your tone in velvet. Try a little tenderness
for whoever answers the phone. Who knows, maybe
the recession (or whatever we’re not supposed to call
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this state we’re in) of 2008 could go down as the time
when we all grew our humanity instead of the
economy. While our bank balances may be a bit
thinner, as people, we’d all be richer for working
through this time with grace.
REDEFINE ‘GOOD LIFE’.
We’re too used to having our barometer of our
success connected to how much we’re spending.
Stuck in that rut, our measure of how good our life is
right now will clearly sink. Instead, redefine what
“good” is. A great cup of coffee and the paper is
good, but blended with thirty minutes that you give
yourself to just be...is...well, great. Weekend at a four
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Soothing …continued
Take a deep breath
(maybe even a yoga class)
and get creative!
star hotel can be wonderful, but so can a great hike,
or camping under the stars, or site seeing trip of the
city you live in...that you never take the time to see. A
movie is good, conversation with someone you love;
even better. I’d say great. If we can re-blend our
consumption to one part purchase and three parts
enjoying the time between the spend; I bet we’d
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actually enjoy those purchases more. I bet all this
great thinking time will create the next new breed of
consumer break-throughs – which we can get back
to after this economic intermission.
RELEASE YOUR INNER CREATIVITY; CONTROL
YOUR INNER WALLET.
Who would have thought that riding the bus would
be where all the “in” people are? “Yet if you’re
green...you’re riding lean.” Taking the time now to
find out the options in your community to ease the
stress on your gas consumption will do wonders for
the stress in your wallet. In 2007, public
transportation usage increased more than in the past
50 years. And in the first quarter of 2008, 88 million
MORE trips were taken in the first quarter of 2007.
So get on that bus...it’s a party out there! Here are
just a few of the new trends that have crept up in the
past few months. “Stayvations” have increased...
families are actually spending more time together
while consuming less gas! And scooter sales are
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through the roof. So take a deep breath (maybe even
a yoga class) and get creative! There are options out
there that will give your wallet the rest it needs!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
As “Chief Customer Zealot” for five US
market leaders; Jeanne Bliss has
fought valiantly to get “customer” a
place on the strategic agenda. At
Lands’ End, Inc. she reported to the
company’s Founder as leader for the
Lands’ End Customer Experience. She served
Allstate Corporation as their Officer for Customer
Satisfaction & Retention. Jeanne was Vice President
of Franchise Services for Coldwell Banker
Corporation, Microsoft Corporation’s General
Manager of Worldwide Customer & Partner Loyalty,
and Senior Manager, Customer Satisfaction for
Mazda Corporation.
She now runs Customer Bliss (www.customerbliss.
com), where she coaches leaders how to wrap their
company’s focus around customer profits. She is a
worldwide keynote speaker on the subject. Her book,
Chief Customer Officer: Getting Past Lip Service to
Passionate Action is currently available. Look for
Jeanne’s second book soon.
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 B O O K R E V I E W
FLIGHT PLAN
By Brian Tracy
Reviewed By Rebecca Potter
Tired of daydreaming about success,
instead of living it? Then read Brian Tracy’s
book “Flight Plan”.
Today there are thousands of books, videos, seminars,
articles, presentations, key note speeches etc. that
speak of goal setting and success. These books and
discussions often recycle the same old subject matter
over and over again. In his book “Flight Plan”, Brian
Tracy rehashes the same common-sense principles
that have already been advocated in many other
books, however this tome cuts through the fluff and
explains what it takes to be “successful” in a common
sense, no nonsense format. This book provides a
proven method to achieve your life long goals. It is not
about academic strategies that work only in a “perfect
world” but rather a practical prescription for success.
Brian Tracy unpacks the success journey one step at a
time, showing you how to structure your life today, so
that you can succeed tomorrow. In “Flight Plan,” Brian
Tracy reveals the key ingredients that go into
accomplishing any long-term, meaningful success.
This book specifically analogizes your life to an
airplane flight. Just like a pilot needs a flight plan to
guide them to the destination, the same thing applies
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in your life. You need to have clear goals, plans and
schedules to get from wherever you are today to
wherever you want to be tomorrow. It is amazing how
similar our lives are like an airplane trying to get to its
destination. Reading this book bought back many
memories of the training rooms when I use to work for
an airline. The airline industry is uncannily transferable
to our own personal life and ambitions.
Using the metaphor of an airplane trip, Flight Plan
shows that the real secret to success is to first be
completely clear about your destination. Everything
you do today, every decision you make, is moving
toward the destination you have chosen. Second, you
must evaluate all the different routes by which you can
reach your destination. Identify precisely what you
must do to achieve the goals you have set for yourself
and take action and then write your flight plan. Third,
prepare for the journey/flight. All pilots will tell you that
a great deal of time before any flight is spent on the
preparation. Pilots review a checklist, even if they have
flown thousands of hours and been a pilot for over
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 B O O K R E V I E W …continued
twenty years, they still go through a checklist every
time, before take-off, during flight and prior to landing.
Guard yourself against things that could go wrong by
preparing a checklist. Fourth, my favourite metaphor in
this book, is the chapter “Take off at Full Throttle”. An
airplane hurls down the runway, picking up speed until
it is at full throttle and takes off towards its destination.
Successful people always take off at full throttle when
they embark on a new flight toward a new destination/
goal or life dream.
Fifth, plan for turbulence. You become a superb pilot
of your own destiny by dealing effectively with the
inevitable storms that occur in your work and personal
life. You must persist through the inevitable challenges
and setbacks and make continual course corrections,
until you reach your destination. Tracy observes that
any airplane, headed for any destination, will be off
course 99 percent of the time because of air
turbulence. But, by locking in on its destination, taking
off, and making continual course corrections, the
plane will arrive as scheduled. The same is true of
people’s journey through life.
This book helps you understand that without a “Flight
Plan” you will have no direction and simply wander
aimlessly through life. With a “Flight Plan” for life you
will get to where you want to go faster and easier.
Once you read this book you will feel motivated and
appreciate the importance of perseverance and
planning. “Flight Plan” is a fairly quick read and it has
a few exercises throughout that will get you thinking
and committing to your goals today.
Brian Tracy has written a refreshing discourse that
gives you the assurance that you too can apply these
principles and reach your ultimate dreams! The old
verities — Work hard! Think positive! You can achieve
anything you put your mind to! — remain eternally
valid. Most books claim that all you have to do is think
and visualise positive thoughts and in turn, the things
you want will magically appear in your life. This idea
appeals to people who are unwilling to do the hard
work that is necessary to achieve anything worthwhile.
Tracy makes a great point in saying that “the real
secret to success, is that there are no secrets.” Many
writers on this theme like to take the simple and make
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it complex but Brian Tracy takes the complex and
makes it simple...and therefore eminently practical.
“Flight Plan” is not just a bunch of motivational “flak”
— this book helps you take the concrete action steps
you need to take: right now, today. I thoroughly
enjoyed how the author wrapped many of his long
held beliefs about the importance of goal setting,
planning, and perseverance into an analogy of a flight
and was skillfully used throughout the book.
Life is a journey and you need a flight plan. Let the
flight begin!
Rebecca is the Learning and
Development Manager at CSIA and has
a mountain of experience in the
customer service and training industry.
Employed in the service industry for
over 13 years, Rebecca has spent the
past 9 years in the field of training. She
is a highly sought after presenter and a
corporate professional speaker.
Rebecca’s background extends from being a Trainer
and Supervisor with one of Australia’s largest
domestic and highly regarded airlines and previous to
that, owning her own successful business on the Gold
Coast in the field of corporate health. Throughout
these years, Rebecca provided training in the areas of
guest care, customer service management, customer
service on the frontline, leadership and management,
personal development and motivation, health, fitness
and sports and injury rehabilitation.
Rebecca is motivated by others achieving and
growing professionally and personally and she thrives
on taking people to a level, where even they don’t
believe they can go. Her passion is evident through
her high level of enthusiasm and energy for training
and the mentoring of students. Rebecca has a talent
for motivating teams through her strong ability to
coach, develop and inspire her staff and students.
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