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Don’t Hurry…Be Quick - 9/17/24


No, this is not a take off on the Bobby McFerrin song:  Don’t Worry Be Happy. It’s actually a take off on the John Wooden quote:  Be quick, but don’t hurry. When I read Wooden’s book with this title, I liked the concept, and not just because John Wooden was a Read more

4 Actions for the Customer - 9/10/24


One way to look at the difference between proactive and reactive is that proactive is something that’s often done before it absolutely has to be done.  Maybe it’s something done that really doesn’t have to occur, but your professionalism takes over, and some action or communication that you know Read more

Don’t Kick the Problem Down the Road - 9/3/24


The error was obvious.  Shania is a clerk at a local government office, and she could tell that something was wrong with the permit request.  She was about to reject the request because the address was invalid. If this would have been handled like the normal process, Shania would have Read more

Reflect the Best of Your Customers - 8/27/24


When Alice walks into a business, whether it’s a restaurant or government building, whether it’s a Goodwill or a grocery store, she has a certain way about her.  She’s the customer, and it’s not unusual to hear her say to the employee:  Thanks for being here today! It’s not unusual Read more

Create Your Personal Motto - 8/20/24


Take a look at these mottos: It’s the real thing. Just Do It. Have it your way. Betcha can’t eat just one. Breakfast of champions. Do you know the companies?  The answers are at the bottom of this tip. So why am I asking you about mottos?  And why do almost all of them make me Read more

Create MAGIC with Your Customers - 8/13/24


Years ago, we worked with the Orlando Magic in the NBA, and they needed more consistency in their customer service – they needed a standard of engagement with the fans and their account holders.  They were trying to identify the “Orlando Magic Way” – their desired customer experience with Read more

Build Strong Customer Connections - 8/6/24


We’ve worked in health care, education, local government, finance, pro sports, and many other industries.  And while our clients’ customers are often different, their specific scenarios for engaging those customers are different, and policies and procedures are different - there’s one thing that is pretty similar.  And that is Read more

Running Late in the Rainstorm - 7/30/24


The mom was a little panicked.  She had just left work and had run into an unexpected popup rainstorm, and traffic had come to a halt.  She was on her way to pick up her 4-year old at childcare.  The facility had a policy of charging a fee for Read more

Use AI to Improve Your Performance - 7/23/24


Many companies are integrating Artificial Intelligence (AI) into some aspect of their business.  This could greatly change how they operate, how they communicate with customers. This AI wave reminds me of a story from 20+ years ago when a stock brokerage firm launched a new website that greatly enhanced the Read more

The New Burger Experience - 7/16/24


Floyd loves a good hamburger. Any chance he gets to try a new spin on an old standby, he takes it. Recently, a burger joint opened near his house, and Floyd was very excited! It was owned by and named for a world-renowned chef, so it had to be Read more

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In Sports, Does Loyalty Matter Anymore?

Posted on February 20, 2014 in Business Advice, Sports Please leave a comment

Blog 2-20-14Does loyalty matter anymore?

This isn’t about free agents in basketball or players switching clubs in the MLS. It’s not about Robinson Cano or Wayne Gretzky. It’s about the fan.

Much of the sports world – on the business side – is driven by rabid sales and marketing efforts. It’s the TV ads, the freebies to newcomers, the perks, discounts, packages, and personal attention.

But for the typical sports club – 75%-90%+ of this year’s ticket revenue comes from last year’s season ticket holders. So loyalty has a huge financial impact, but what are teams doing to show appreciation for that long-term support?

In the article Season-ticket holders: Honoring loyalty, the NFL’s Jacksonville Jaguars tell a story of a 20-year season ticket holder and his commitment to the club, regardless of the performance on the field. According to the article, in this – the 20 year anniversary for the Jaguars – the team is recognizing that loyalty: “Each level of tenure will receive wearable memorabilia indicating length of association. They don’t just want recognition, they want to be able to show it off in the stadium. They want their hat to say, ’Twenty-year season-ticket holder.’ There will be things they can do and show people by what they can wear. Their names will be permanently displayed for people to see.”

We often tell our clients in and out of sports that customer loyalty is the easiest avenue to recurring revenue. Customer loyalty is the easiest path to business growth. But customer loyalty is also the easiest asset to take for granted.

Look at those clients that have been with you over time. Find ways to reward and recognize them. Find ways to nurture the relationship. Find ways to show that their loyalty matters.

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Learn about our CSS Sports services at: http://cssamerica.com/sports


10 Key Customer Retention Evaluation Questions

Posted on January 9, 2014 in Business Advice, World of Customer Service Please leave a comment

Many times when we address key customer retention strategies and customer retention success stories, the crux of what we’re saying is that you have to get to know the customer on more of a personal level. You need to build a relationship and not relegate yourself to viewing a customer as a prospect and selling to them as if you don’t even know them.

But this blog post is different. This time, I want you to envision yourself in a meeting at your business, and the meeting is all about customer retention and growth. Before you can develop a strategy, you have to ask yourself some key questions about your current state:

  1. Do you know why existing customers initially bought?
  2. Do you know why they would not return?
  3. Do you know who your customers view as your competitors?
  4. Do you know what differentiates you from your competitors in your customer’s mind?
  5. Do you know the differences in demographics, purchasing patterns, participation rates of clients who return every year v. those that don’t return?
  6. Do you know what internal operational factors impact those customer retention drivers?
  7. Do you know how you’re performing in those internal operational areas?
  8. Do you stay in contact (proactively) with customers, even when they’re not in your store, on your website, or contacting you directly?
  9. If so, are your proactive communications about you or personalized about them?
  10. In other words, do your proactive communications seek to learn more about them and educate them, or are they primarily pushing your products and services?

Before you embark on the next big strategy, do a self-scan. Find out what you know…or need to know first.

Ask yourself and those in your organization these 10 Key Customer Retention Evaluation Questions.

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Customer Retention for Marketers

Posted on November 26, 2013 in Business Advice, World of Customer Service Please leave a comment

Many marketing articles, blogs, apps, other tech-related devices talk “customer retention” but are really talking their true love – “marketing.” They talk about how “marketing drives higher retention” and how relationship development is really “drip marketing.”

I’m not going to debate retention v. marketing because many people think only about sales and marketing, they don’t think in terms of customer service and developing relationships for the long-term.

So for any marketers out there, here’s some customer retention advice on mindset, strategies, key questions from the marketing perspective:

  • When considering retention, think of your customer as an individual person – not a group. Communicate with them as an individual, not as a market segment. If you’ve ever had a company for whom you’ve been a long-term customer market to you like you’re a prospect, that company abdicated their relationship with you for the ease of pushing products.
  • When developing strategies, focus on the concept of what you need to do to still have this customer in 1-2 years. In other words, what would you need to do – and when would you stage those actions – over the next 1-2 years? Companies who think short-term, often come across as doing things in their best interest, not in terms of what’s best for the customer.
  • When communicating with them, first know how they want you to communicate with them (not how you want to communicate with them). I’ve oftentimes received multiple sales telephone calls and just let the machine pickup, never to return their call. However, if they would have e-mailed me in a personal way, I’ll always respond, even if not interested at that time.
  • Communicate with them in their preferred frequency of communication. Some people will opt-out of e-mail campaigns coming at them 3-5 times per week (especially since they’re typically just sell-related), but they won’t opt-out if it’s once every 1-2 weeks and/or if there’s a mix of sales and more educational communications.
  • View a customer as a supplier of information to you – the information you need to retain and sell them. Don’t think “push” first; think “pull” first – spend more of your research strategy in getting to know them, asking questions and pulling information from them (especially at the start of the relationship) than pushing offers to them.
  • Base your decisions on their personal retention drivers; base your strategies on them as individuals. If you know why one customer will stay with you, address it. We conducted research for a client that noted that first-time customers who are likely to renew annual contracts are actually interested in upsell opportunities, but a high percentage of first-time customers are not likely to renew. You can’t do much with that general information, but since we knew which customers had which inclinations, we could recommend to whom to market and to whom to take a service recovery/retention approach.

If you’re a marketer, customer retention is for you – just know through what lens to look to create your marketing strategies.

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