Unsure how I feel about this Chinese restaurant video
Back-of-house Staff can usually hide their habits. (This 7 second video is to be seen to be believed – for its ordinariness) To increase transparency, some restaurants put the kitchen staff out in the open. The kitchen is out with the diners. The motivation is obvious – to show they have nothing to hide. There’s something reassuring to watch […]
Why technology makes Service even more important
The future has arrived – in China. I’m fortunate enough to travel to my Shanghai Mystery Shopping office every 3-4 months. Since my last trip I noticed that cash just does not exist. Yes, cash does not exist. We are starting to feel this in the West thanks to Apple Pay and Google Pay, but […]
Marketing is service
Marketing is not often viewed as customer service centric. It’s seen as the funnel filler before Sales takes over. But marketing is more than that and your relationships are not so easily compartmentalised. “Prospects are potential customers and customers are potential sales.” Think of it this way. When someone walks into a shoe store we […]
Customer Service is like a party
It’s easy to know if you hit a sales goal, right? But you know it gets more nuanced and complicated than that. What if a large customer left because they went bankrupt but otherwise you were on track for a record. Is that a failure? If you prefer video, scroll down to the bottom My […]
Don’t make the same 10 mistakes Marriott made
Having a name like Di Pietro, with a space in the name can create problems. I made a hotel booking without a space and my membership account has the space. I tried to remove the space from my profile so they’d match. So I head to the Marriott website, where the problems start. Below is […]
How customer service accidentally gets low priority
Everyone goes on about giving “great service”. But it still doesn’t have the profile of other job roles, especially at executive level. Look at these job roles on Linkedin. No mention of Customer Service. Scroll further. Nope — further? Nope — surely it’s in alphabetical order. Must be on the next screen right? Again No. Linkedin and so many […]
The Future of Customer Service 14 July 2017
1. The power of Mobile Google have released research showing that 89% if people are likely to recommend a brand after a positive brand experience. More here Implication: Mobile is everything. All the data is pointing the same direction. Overinvest. 2. Augmented Reality is 5 minutes away for retailers Facebook (through Instagram) recently introduced face filters […]
Augmented reality is a short step from retail
Facebook (through Instagram) recently introduced face filters to let people add all manner of things on their face, like glasses. The glasses are superimposed on your head and they move with your head, like in the video. Sure there are fun applications for kids, but imaging the application for retailers. You could superimpose different colour […]
Customer loyalty for free
There’s no need to over-complicate customer loyalty. Often companies “expect” loyalty form customers, but don’t give it back in return. Customer loyalty is a two way street. Here’s a great example of how to provide loyalty for free. Even if you think it’s a cliche example, then I’d challenge anyone to tell me how it’s […]
The ROI of Mystery Shopping
Although a store may spend $10,000 a month on rent, it seems incredulous that a $100 per month spend on mystery shopping (1% of the rent) needs to be justified with ROI. If salaries and running expenses are taken into account (roughly to equal the monthly rent), then $100 per month equates to 0.5% of […]
Why Measure?
Peter Drucker famously said, “If you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it.” Extract from my book – Mystery Shopping Mastery Time and time again I see companies trying to fix problems they have imagined while ignoring the problems that need fixing. Sure, management is an art and skill, but good measurement provides direction to […]
You can’t watch everything
Extract from my new Book – Mystery Shopping Mastery Let’s start with an extract from a mystery shopping report: The store was in immaculate condition with all the clothes put away and neatly stacked. But I waited eight minutes to be served. The staff were busy talking to each other but I couldn’t hear what […]
