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Narrow Your Focus to Seek Excellence - 4/1/25


You’ve probably heard companies use phrases such as: “We want to go from being good to great.”  Maybe they’ve said: “We strive for perfection, and although we’ll never reach perfection, maybe we can achieve excellence along the way.” These organizations find some kind of a catch phrase or slogan, but Read more

Avoid the Unfriendly Ghost - 3/25/25


Last week we talked about the qualities of “PERKI Customer Service,” essentially what attitudes and actions are characteristics of those who provide great customer service.  This week, let’s take the opposite approach.  What are some of the mistakes that people make?  Maybe these are mistakes of omission or commission; Read more

PERKI Customer Service - 3/18/25


After having worked on hundreds of projects over the years with thousands of thousands of individuals, some things become pretty clear. There are certain traits held by people who are great in customer service.  Look at this list, and do a self-assessment.  Which apply to you? Positive and Patient Do you Read more

It Helps to Downshift - 3/11/25


One of the first tips I heard when I was learning how to drive related to what to do when the brakes fail - downshift.  Shifting into a lower gear can slow down a moving vehicle.  I would explain this in technical terms to you, but considering I’m not Read more

Patience is… - 3/4/25


Patience is a…pain in the neck.  Why is it so hard to be patient?  Those of us who work in customer service know that we constantly have to show patience with our customers.  We’re ready to move to the next step or the solution because we’ve heard this issue Read more

Everybody Doesn’t - 2/25/25


Joey received the compliment, but he was confused.  Paula, his boss, and Joey had their monthly one-on-one meeting, and Paula noted that, although he was new, Joey was already doing a great job!  While there were learning curves on some of the organizational policies and the technology that he Read more

A Simple Phrase to Transform Your Customer Feedback Approach - 2/18/25


I went to a restaurant called Big Ed’s (no relation) in Raleigh, NC recently.  It’s basically country cooking with fantastic breakfast options!  On the menu there was a quote that said: If you enjoyed your meal, tell a friend.  If not, please tell us. That was an excellent statement that embodies Read more

What Phones and Football Have in Common - 2/11/25


Congratulations!  You made it through weeks/months of hype for football’s Super Bowl!  You made it through hundreds of pregame shows and podcasts, endless debates on things endlessly inconsequential, 10 hours of pre-game shows on Sunday, what seems like 100 commercials designed specifically for the “Big Game,” and the longest Read more

Create Awareness of Alternatives - 2/4/25


Sandy was hungry, and she was on the move.  Driving between meetings, she saw the restaurant sign and pulled in.  The fast-food restaurant had two drive-thru lanes.  One was for any customer who wanted to place an order on the spot. The other was for mobile orders only.  The Read more

Listen with Your Eyes - 1/28/25


Out of the corner of his eye, Patrick saw the customer enter the lobby.  The customer was carrying a large shoulder bag with several papers in her hand.  The customer was shuffling the papers and looking down; then she stopped, looked up, and saw the staff navigator sitting at Read more

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Put Your Fans’ Names on Your Uniform

Posted on June 21, 2012 in Business Advice, Sports Please leave a comment

You may have heard of “Harley Loyalty,” where some customers are such fervent fans of Harley-Davidson motorcycles that they’ll have the Harley-Davidson logo tattooed somewhere on their body.

Well one Italian soccer team is turning the tables. According to an article in Metro.co.uk, “Fans of Italian club Parma have been recognised in a unique way by their club, after it was announced the name of every season ticket holder will be sewn into their new shirt.”

That’s right. Imagine that happening in sports in the US. If you’re a season ticket holder of the LA Kings hockey team, your name would have been on their jersey during the Stanley Cup run. Maybe you’re a season ticket holder of the Miami Heat; your name would be on LeBron James’ jersey. How about Eli Manning of the New York Giants dropping back to pass in the Super Bowl with your name on his jersey – wow!

Sometimes it’s not about how to make your fans more loyal, but it’s about how to show loyalty to your fans. And sometimes it doesn’t take a ton of money to do so. Try not to focus on perks and benefits all the time; focus on methods of recognizing the fans.

We recently co-hosted a Twitter Chat about fan relations/loyalty (see our #fanexperience innovation center for details), and few of the ideas shared cost a lot of money. That’s because the ideas were based on relationships, access, and recognition.

Get creative. Find ways to put your season ticket holder’s name on your uniform.

Listen to our latest podcast episode on “Delivering the WOW Experience!”

See more sports-related blog postings at: http://serviceadvice.wordpress.com/category/sports/


Do You Have Harley Loyalty?

Posted on April 8, 2010 in Business Advice, World of Customer Service Please leave a comment

Your customers are loyal. They wouldn’t consider going to another business for their products and services because your integrity, quality, customer service, and price are too good. They are loyal to a fault. Or are you loyal to a faulty belief grounded in hope or assumptions rather than fact and proof?

What outward signs do you have of your customers’ loyalty? Well Harley-Davidson, America’s most well-known motorcycle manufacturer believes it has proof that few can touch. The company believes the "definition of customer loyalty is when your customers will tattoo the name of your company on their arm."

How many people have "IBM" or "Microsoft" or "McDonald’s" tattooed on their arms? Less than 10…less than 5? That’s not to say that McDonald’s customers aren’t loyal, but how does the company know who’s loyal and who isn’t?

Long-term success is more easily achieved if your existing customer base is loyal. They will fight for your company, drive by competitors to get to your store, pay a higher price than alternatives to your service, and recommend you to their closest friends.

But unless you have all your customers walking around with your company logo tattooed on their arms, you need to generate objective measures of loyalty. Try these methods of gaining solid loyalty data:

· Survey customers and have them estimate the total amount of annual purchases of your types of products and services, regardless of whom they buy from. Calculate their purchases from you as a percentage of the total.

· Distribute loyalty cards. Track either their frequency of use or how often you’ve given discounts/rewards when customers hit a targeted number of uses.

· During purchase transactions from new customers, ask how they’ve heard about your company. Track referral rates to gauge the prevalence of effective recommendations made from your existing customers to others.

In lieu of tattoos, get solid data to confirm your customer loyalty.

Interested in improving your company’s customer service? See more information at: http://www.cssamerica.com/