We've all got customers that make our jobs harder—particularly when we have to deal with problems that arise from that business relationship.

But as Best Buy has recently shown us, ignoring the problem and the customer don't work. In fact it can land you in a serious amount of legal trouble, with bad PR to boot.

If you haven't heard, Raelynn Campbell filed at $54 million lawsuit against the mega electronics chain for giving her the run-around about her laptop computer, which she turned in to be fixed under her warranty. But after six weeks the machine still wasn't ready—three months later, Best Buy finally admitted to Campbell that they had lost her computer (and all the personal information contained therein).

From Yahoo Tech:

Ultimately, Best Buy offered to pay her $900 for losing the machine... as a gift card. She countered that it had originally cost over $1,100, not to mention all her data that was now gone for good. She demanded $2,100, and Best Buy simply ignored her.

At this point, Campbell was made aware that all her personal data on the machine could lead to a major identity theft issue, though Best Buy never filed their legally required notice that she was at risk. That was the last straw, and she filed suit for $54 million, representing herself.

In case you haven't noticed, consumers no longer tolerate being walked on by businesses big or small.

When it comes to insurance, there's a real benefit of being an agent (instead of being involved with online policy purchases), because you can give the kind of personal attention that keeps customers from feeling neglected and abused—which can keep you and your agency's name out of the mud.

As for Best Buy, I'm sure they're wishing they'd have dealt with the problem instead burying their heads in the sand. I can't say I'm surprised—their lack of customer service is one of the reasons I don't shop there anymore.

So, how does your customer service stack up? Don't stay in the dark about it—survey your current customers and see where you need to improve. The results might not be pretty, but they'll help you improve retention in the long run.

Posted by Megan Mahan at 01:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)
 

Thankfully, 37Signals (creator of various business web applications like Basecamp, which is what we marketing folks use at InsureMe) sheds some light on setting up credit card processing online. Because paying insurance premiums online via PayPal just isn't going to cut it.

Jason, kicks things off by telling us about merchant accounts:

First off, we have a merchant account. A merchant account is needed to accept credit cards. Every business that accepts credit cards needs to have a merchant account.

As you begin your search for a vendor, Jason recommends looking for a reputable company with good rates (they currently use account through Chase bank). While the rates might not make a big difference in the early stages of your business, they will affect your bottom line if your daily volume picks up.

The caveat: Getting a merchant account could provide a challenge. Take 37Signal's experience when they were developing Basecamp:

Continue reading "For the Indie Agent: Processing Credit Cards Online" »

Posted by Megan Mahan at 10:15 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)
 

This week, entrepreneurial blog Springwise featured a new site in the UK which allows consumers to share rants and raves about their insurers.

Zuzzid is a forum of sorts, which not only allows registered users to share their experiences, but also totals all the shared experiences to rank British insurers. A price engine also compiles collective data, presenting users with general premium prices for different insurance types.

Somewhat surprisingly, the site belongs to UK insurer, Norwich Union, a company which is of course evaluated by Zuzzid users. Seems like a dangerous move, right?

Continue reading "Zuzzid: Sharing Rants & Raves about Insurers" »

Posted by Megan Mahan at 10:08 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
 

If you have a big outfit, you may have thought about doing a little outsourcing where your customer service is concerned. Which is funny when you consider that nearly all of us have had to jump through hoops when dealing with an outsourced call center. Yet, as much as we complain about it, companies keep outsourcing their customer service.

This week, my boyfriend's cable box seemingly broke for no apparent reason. When he called the service number, it was evident that the outfit was somewhere overseas. On two separate occasions the service center couldn't even pinpoint Boyfriend's location.

Here's the written [and comical] description I received of last night's debacle:

Continue reading "Outsourcing and Hoop Jumping" »

Posted by Megan Mahan at 12:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
 

Today MSN featured the results of their worst customer service poll, which ranked companies whose service was most rated "poor" by customers.

Among the [dis]honorees:

1. Sprint Nextel
2. Comcast
3. Bank of America
4. AT&T
5. Time Warner Cable

Aside from poor service, MSN pointed out another poke in the eye: That these organizations realize how tough it is to make the jump to another provider of a similar service.

Just think about it: cell phone companies charge early termination fees, there are only a handful of cable/internet providers in a given area, and switching financial institutions is, in a word, cumbersome:

Continue reading "Customer Service Hall of Shame" »

Posted by Megan Mahan at 12:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)
 

Recently, Seth Godin made this observation from the point of a new customer:

Hey, I know that your last customer was a jerk. I know that you get asked the same stupid questions over and over. I know that people don't appreciate you, they're boors, they're selfish, they're in a hurry.

But, here's the thing: I'm not those people. I've never been here before. I didn't do anything wrong! Don't blame me for them.

Seth's observation brings to mind my current—and prolonged experience with Flaunt magazine. The backstory here is that I received a subscription to Flaunt for Christmas. I didn't get my first issue until February. And I haven't received an issue since.

My communications with the Flaunt service staff has left me beside myself, wondering who on earth still finds it acceptable to treat paying customers with such indifference. But nonetheless, I'm a fan of picking the lesson out of every unsavory situation, so let us begin!

Continue reading "5 Ways Flaunt Magazine Failed at Customer Service: And How You Can Learn from Them" »

Posted by Megan Mahan at 11:04 AM | Permalink | Comments (6)
 

Boy, there were lots of juicy morsels waiting for me in my feed reader this morning. But in the end, it was a tidbit from MarketingVox that stood out from all the others.

The headline: Companies Ignore Half of Customer Emails

A recent customer service study by Hornstein Associates, a Connecticut-based marketing firm, found that only half of the companies studied bothered to respond to customer emails at all—which is down from the 86 percent high from five years ago. Furthermore, only 33 percent of top firms responded to customer emails within a 24-hour period. This is down from a whopping 63 percent in 2002.

The survey studied the email response rate of 49 top firms, including Microsoft, Toyota, Apple, Starbucks and Wal-Mart, which were selected from Fortune's list of most admired companies.

Well, you might be thinking, these are enormous companies. Of course they can't respond to every customer email.

Can't they? Scott Hornstein of Hornstein Associates disagrees:

Continue reading "Do You Ignore Customer Emails?" »

Posted by Megan Mahan at 09:46 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
 

Recently, Jeb posted a couple reminders on good customer service—which includes keeping your customers informed of changes and owning up to mistakes when they happen. (Check them out here and here.)

The recent Menu Foods debacle is a great example of how not to handle a screw-up. I myself was a little shocked at how difficult it was to find information about the recall—including what brands I should avoid—on their web site.

Marketing Profs posted a great article on the subject today. Contributor Jeanne Bliss points to the Menu Foods saga as a missed opportunity for a number of reasons. Here's the redux:

Continue reading "Menu Foods: Where's the Human Factor?" »

Posted by Megan Mahan at 12:51 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
 

How do you make it up to your customers when making a boo-boo?

Yesterday morning at Caribou Coffee, the happy, highly-caffeinated employees gave my drink to the wrong person. Ultimately, I ended up waiting for 10-plus minutes (in a quite empty coffee house) and was late for work.

"We're so sorry," one of the employees said. "Please come in tomorrow and drink coffee on us."

Sure, I thought as I walked out. They're not even going to remember who I am if I come in tomorrow.

But then I realized this could be good fodder for a blog post, so I went back in this morning. To say they remembered me was an understatement.

Continue reading "Caffeine & Customer Service" »

Posted by Megan Mahan at 09:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)
 

Say you walk into a Mexican restaurant to order lunch. You get to the front of the line and order the chicken tacos, easy on the guac. In turn, they hand you a veggie burrito.

“I didn’t order a burrito,” you would likely say. “I ordered the chicken tacos.”

Instead of amending your order, the employee says, “Yeah, we heard what you said. But the burrito is actually easier for us to make and we earn $.50 more. We’re pretty sure you want the burrito anyway.”

I’m going to take a shot in the dark here and say if this happened to you, you’d be pretty miffed. In fact, you probably wouldn't be keen on buying anything from that establishment again, regardless of how tasty the veggie burrito was.

And yet, some of you insurance professionals do this to prospects every day: they request one thing; you give them another and call it good.

Continue reading "Tacos, Burritos & The Importance of Listening to Prospects" »

Posted by Megan Mahan at 11:03 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
 

In Windows, ctrl + z is the shortcut for "undo." For a writer, ctrl + z is your friend. It takes away the pain and anxiety of deleting something you didn't mean to delete or screwing up your formatting.

Unfortunately, sales and marketing doesn't come with a ctrl + z command. If you make a mistake with a prospect or client, you just have to grin and bear it. Right?

Wrong.

I'm sure by now we've all heard of last week's JetBlue fiasco, where passengers were stuck on airplanes for upwards of 11 hours. There were numerous other fiascos on other airlines, and yet JetBlue's is the one we keep hearing about.

Why?

(1) They've worked hard—and spent money—to build their brand. A brand which is synonymous with passenger satisfaction.

(2) They're honest-to-goodness apologetic. And they're taking actions to rectify the situation.

The latter is something that the marketing team here at InsureMe commended this afternoon. Because it's not easy to admit when you've made a mistake. It is easy to hide behind the steely façade of the corporation and just continue on with life. But that's certainly no way to garner consumer loyalty.

We all make mistakes. It's part of being human. So when it's your turn to face the music, do so with honesty and humility. And go the extra mile to make it up to your client.

See how JetBlue is righting the wrong

Posted by Megan Mahan at 04:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
 

The easiest way to define customer service may be by what it’s not.

 It’s not getting transferred multiple times, only to repeat your issue with each new rep.
 It’s not dealing with smugness or ignorance.
 And it’s definitely not being treated like a pest instead of a customer.

Good customer service is hard to come by, maybe because it is hard to provide. Dealing with people is no easy task, but is a large part of your job as an agent and apropos Megan’s recent post, an excellent addition to any USP.

In Seth Godin’s post about customer service, he sites technology as the culprit making it harder to satisfy customers because the internet has taught us to demand everything immediately and cheaply.

So some tips to satisfy the most demanding prospects.

Fix their problems…with a smile.

Through your customer service efforts, you can make your customers into fans and receive such rave reviews that prospecting becomes obsolete. They will do the work for you.

The best time to really wow a prospect is when they’re unhappy. Although, it’s unfortunate when a customer becomes upset with something you’ve done, you can use the situation to you advantage. When you fix a customer’s problem quickly, efficiently, and amiably you have the opportunity to earn something no amount of advertising or cold-calling can beget—their loyalty.

Don’t take it personally.

Sometimes if you step outside yourself, serving your customers becomes easier. In his post on customer service, Joel suggests practicing puppetry. Basically, if you don’t take anything personally, you will likely remain calm, which in turn diffuses the customer’s anger or frustration. Even if you are dealing with an annoying customer, employing this strategy might help you keep your cool.

Make them feel special.

Show your customer’s tricks to save a little cash on their premiums. Even if the savings don’t amount to much, you let them behind the curtain or past that velvet rope and made them feel special, something many people rarely experience. Maybe you can’t offer any savings, but remembering their name, their kids’ hobbies or the fact that they recently took a vacation has the same effect.

Cusomer service is perhaps the simplest, albeit most difficult, way to stand apart from the rest.

Posted by maribeth neelis at 04:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
 

Dealing with abusive customers was a recent topic on Ryan Carson's blog, and it was one that got a lot of attention from readers. In this post, he chronicled an abusive email exchange with a customer. (Language alert!) The customer in question was apparently unsatisfied with the service and asked, however rudely, for a refund.

As seen in the conversation, Carson kept his cool and in the end routed the fuming ex-customer to the SPAM box:

Hi XXXXXX,

As I said, our policy states very clearly that the charges would be made and you agreed to our terms and conditions by checking the box.

If you weren’t so abrasive and rude, I would’ve refunded your money - even though we are under *no* legal obligation to do so.

I am now marking your email address as spam and your communication will no longer get through. If you don’t want to use our service any more, please cancel your account. [...]

Sincerely,
Ryan

I think insurance professionals—especially those running a small agency who may handle their own customer service—can resonate with this post.

Continue reading "Dealing with Abusive Customers" »

Posted by Megan Mahan at 10:11 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)
 

My birthday passed recently, and in addition to the cards from friends and family, I received three cards from previous and current insurance agents of mine.

Now, the reason I've switched insurers somewhat frequently is because I work at InsureMe and understand the importance of shopping my insurance every six months. Each time I've shopped, the next guy/gal has been able to give similar coverage for a lower premium. Boom. Done.

When I've broken up with previous agents, I've explained this to them. My last agent, one of the nicest guys I've ever met and a fellow Iowan (who went to high school with my mother, no less), was tough to walk away from. But he, like the one before him, understood. And they've both continued to use my birthday to create a touchpoint—not only to wish me well, but to remind me of the great times we had together. I appreciate that.

But it's important, I think, to go above and beyond here. The average we-ordered-these-cards-in-bulk correspondence doesn't do anything for me. I know all your other clients get the exact same card with the scribbled signatures of you and your office assistants. That doesn't make me feel special...and let me tell you—people like to feel special.

Continue reading "Birthday Cards and Previous Customers" »

Posted by Megan Mahan at 09:38 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)
 

Perhaps the most difficult aspect of sales is also the most rewarding: working with people. A gracious customer can not only vindicate your choice of profession, but raise your esteem of humanity. On the flip side, as New York Times reporter Stephanie Rosenbloom put it recently, “Certain mortals have the power to sink hearts and sour moods with lightning speed.”

This presents a unique challenge, because to be an effective salesperson you’ve got to have a keen human intuition—a sensitivity to others—but you’ve also got to have the epidermis of an elephant . If it isn’t, you’ll either end up getting trampled or losing the sale after you lose your cool. However, if your skin gets too callused, you’ll become, well, callous.

So how does one be a responsive saleperson without becoming vulnerable to the difficult people of the world? According to Rosenbloom’s recent article “Help! I’m Surrounded by Jerks", the answer may come from within: “[Psychologists] say people exhibit difficult behavior because they have a need that is not being met. Understanding that need — a colleague may be snappish, for instance, because his personal life is in turmoil — helps take the sting out of his or her actions, they say.”

In essence, the key to being sensitive without making yourself vulnerable to the jerks of the world is to be more sensitive, more empathetic. “Rather than seeing the office curmudgeon or the post office nitpicker [or ornery customer] as the sum of their most wretched behavior, it is better to think of them as full people, even to empathize with them, if only to maintain some sense of control.”

Read the full article.

I’ll leave you with a quote from the eminently quotable Jack Handey:

"I think my new thing will be to try to be a real happy guy. I'll just walk around being real happy until some jerk says something stupid to me."

Posted by Jeb Foster at 12:51 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
 

Another stellar post from Creating Passionate Users, on making customers smile:

Marketers and managers tell us to "delight" the customer. But they're usually talking about heroic gestures, "empowering the front line", and virtually always about how to use this "happy customers" focus as a competitive advantage. But sometimes it's the smallest of things that can make all the difference.

CPU blogger Kathy Sierra gives a handful of examples of uninstitutionalized, smile-inducing touch points, which create a genuine (and positive) lasting impression. Here's one:

Fresh-baked cookies in the lobby. GOOD coffee in the reception area, not that crap instant with fake creamer. When I taste that first sip of really good coffee, I always close my eyes and smile. Bliss : )

Ugh. I really, really hate the fake creamer.

All of the examples speak to exceeding a customer's expectation of the experience. And it usually is the small things that make all the difference.

This really is a can't-miss post; check it out in full here and think about the little things you can do to improve your customer's experience—to make them smile.

Gorgeous photo by Flickr under Creative Commons license: http://flickr.com/photos/daexus/329687468/

Posted by Megan Mahan at 04:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)