It is hard to put a dollar figure on poor internal communication.  You can probably tell how much not making a sale would cost your company or how much losing a customer would cost your company, but can you tell how much money communicating wrong, unclear, or untimely information would cost your company?  In the majority of cases, not making a sale or losing a customer goes hand in hand with poor internal communication.  A company may blame employees for the outcome without looking at the process in which produced the outcome.  In regards to losing a customer, imagine losing a current customer because your customer service team did not provide your operations department key customer guidelines for their order.  As a manager, your first instinct may be to scold your customer service team for not providing the customer specifications to the operations department.  It is possible that the customer service team simply forgot, but what if this was a deeper issue?  What if this was the third lost customer in two months due to the operations department not receiving the proper guidelines from customer service?  Repetitive breakdowns in a communication process must be examined.

 

How much is it costing your company to have inefficient internal communications?  Do you think your internal communications are fine? How do you know?  According to Business Exchange (BusinessWeek) in an article titled, “The cost of poor internal communications,” inefficient internal communication could cost half of a million dollars to small to medium-sized businesses with 100 employees.  The article goes on to say that a study done all over the world which examined 513 companies showed that poor communication channels rob small to medium-sized businesses of 40% of their productive time. 

 

Your company cannot afford to lose substantial amounts of money on internal communication issues.  Communication problems are silent killers.  They are hard to quantify and are easily overlooked.  Even when managers are trying to seek out communication issues they may not know where to look.  In most cases managers cannot recognize a communication defection because the culture and the daily work routine deter the manager from having an objective point of view.

 

Internal communication consulting identifies and improves communication problems hindering performance and cost guzzling procedures draining operational efficiency.  Successful improvement within those problem areas will increase employee productivity leading to greater work output, reduction in time loss due to inefficient communications, improvement in employee morale between departments by reducing communication ambiguity, improvement in communication flow and communication accuracy to customers, and produces a better environment to manage.

 

The time is now to take charge of your company.  Contact Koji Consulting to begin the improvement process.

Remember, to be successful in business your company must "Run as One"

Best wishes,

David Koji
Koji Consulting

Any business with multiple employees usually has a structure. Owner/CEO-Mid-Level Management-Sales People.

The key for any business owner having a successful staff is internal communication. The owner/CEO needs to properly communicate his goals to management on a regular basis so management can properly train the sales staff to accomplish these goals.

Even the most seasoned sales staff needs constant training. The training not only equips employees with additional skills and techniques, but provides the sales staff with a direction for success. The training, along with each individual’s talents, drives the company’s mission and strives to achieve company goals.

Make no mistake that training is the key to your sales staff’s success. Think about it in this context. The greatest athletes in the world still practice nearly every single day. Hall of fame baseball players don’t stop taking batting practice when they become All -Stars. Even Super Bowl quarterbacks run the same play over and over again in practice. Why? Because you need to continue to work at your craft until everything becomes muscle memory. When an athlete sees the same situation over and over again, he won’t crumble under the pressure, because it’s muscle memory. This works the same with your company. Your sales team needs to build that muscle memory through collaborative training. Sales staff learning the newest skills can unilaterally deliver a consistent sales pitch to prospective clients.

When your sales staff gets an objection from a potential customer, they should have heard that objection dozens of times from your training team. Unsuccessful people usually get nervous both when they are under pressure and when they are unprepared. Successful people are usually viewed by their peers as lucky. Luck is when preparation meets opportunity. A sales staff is never too seasoned or too prepared. It all begins with consistent communication from upper management all the way down to the sales staff. Make sure as a business owner you are constantly reminding your management team of your goals so they can communicate them to the sales staff and accomplish them through proper training.

By Chad Burkett
Marketing Consultant
Certified Branding Specialist
Cumulus Media

A company is made up of many interrelated parts that ultimately serve the same purpose: satisfy the customer.  In order to do this the flow of communication between departments is very important.  To communicate what makes the customer satisfied there must be a way to capture their voice.  In order to capture their voice and find out what makes a customer satisfied, you must find out what makes them dissatisfied.  The best way to do this is through a customer complaint log.

 

 A customer complaint log is the gateway to your customers’ voice and more specifically their pain points.  Your customers’ pain points are the way a customer says, “Here, I am telling you what I need improved so I can be happy and stay your customer.  I am giving you a second chance to do it right.” Fail to listen and fail to act and you run the risk of losing this customer.  Effective short term complaint handling will resolve this particular complaint, but how can you make sure this customer will not run into the same problem in the future? This is where communicating the voice of the customer throughout your company is important.  So important in fact that a breakdown in communication can lead to ineffective product or service development, a non adaptive improvement approach, wasted energy on non-impactful issues, wasted improvement effort, a limited scope of what the customer wants, impaired leadership judgment, and insufficient information to improve on the right initiatives. 

 

That is where having a customer complaint log is so important.  Not just logging complaints into an Excel spread sheet and storing it away so no one sees it, but actually developing reports so the departments that are being complained about can improve their processes to make sure these issues do not happen again. A complaint log should not be a way to blame a department or belittle them, but a way to improve in order to make the customer experience better.  If one department is not doing well, the whole company is not doing well. Each department is the face of the company.  If customer service is treating the customer poorly, that customer thinks that your finance department, marketing department, your shipping department, etc. are all treating him or her poorly.  A customer does not look at a company by department; they look at a company as a whole.  One mistake or poor judgment on the part of one department will lead the customer to believe the whole company runs the same way.  Teamwork, an open environment full of trust, open lines of communication, and a company wide initiative to help each improve and grow will foster a committed company which in turn will foster commitment to the customer.

 

Remember, to be successful in business your company must "Run as One"

Best wishes,

David Koji

Koji Consulting

Hello Folks!

Does this sound familiar...

Joe: Jane, I thought you were going to send me the files today?  What happened?
Jane: You said you needed the files, but you did not specify what day you needed them.
Joe: I need them ASAP because I have a deadline to meet!
Jane: I just started a new project and I cannot send you them until later.  Was it the status update files?
Joe: No Jane, the quality report files.

The business world is becoming more complex, more time sensitive, and less tolerating of poor communication.  In these times internal communication has never been more important.  Employees and departments are working closely together to achieve company objectives which are extremely vital for a company to be successful.  The commitment for departments to work in sync as one unit is the cornerstone of my "Run as One" slogan.  In some cases, businesses forget they are on the same team.  Poor communication, lack of clear communication, inefficient ways of communicating, and just poor execution of communication slows processes, increases employee frustration, and bottlenecks productivity.  How can a system comprised of many components expect to succeed if the separate parts are not working together?  The bottom line is, they cannot.  To run at the highest efficiency, the process must be looked at to see where the issues are and where the improvements can be made.  An internal communication consultant, like Koji Consulting, can identify the problems and provide recommendations for improvement.  Even if things seem to be going well, bringing in someone to "test the pulse" of your business is not a bad idea.  Most problems are not seen by management and it takes the eyes of a qualified third party to see the real issues.  The reason management does not see and/or improve these communication defections is due to the fact that the problems have become part of the work culture and they are blind to the reality that their business has poor communication.  Employees do not report them either because "that's the way things work around here."

Whether you know you have an internal communication problem or you are unsure of one, bringing in Koji Consulting to evaluate your internal processes is the best way to fix your problems and improve the communication environment for a more happy and productive work force.

Remember, to be successful in business your company must "Run as One"

Best wishes,

David Koji
Koji Consulting

The benefit of having loyal customers is that you can make mistakes on various levels and still hold on to those customers.  A company with no sense of customer satisfaction, no commitment to learning and understanding how to keep customers, or how to improve or maintain the customer experience will eventually encounter a rude awakening.  Do not take your customers for granted and think they will always come back.  A big reason why customers come back is that a better opportunity has not presented itself, or maybe they think nothing else is better, or maybe they think they will experience the same hassle somewhere else so why bother leaving?  It is nice to think that your repeat customers repeat their business with you because they are completely satisfied, trust your company, love the customer service, enjoy the experience, and look forward to visiting your company in the future.  Does the DMV get repeat happy customers? Repeat yes, but as far as being happy, probably not.  It is pretty safe to say that the DMV is fully aware that people do not like going there, but yet they continue to have a stream of new and repeat business.  This is due to the perception that nothing else is better and they will assume the same treatment at any other DMV.  What if another, newly upgraded, DMV was built in your town.  A DMV that had tripled the staff who were friendly, customer focused, and dedicated to your satisfaction and went the extra mile to make you happy.  A place where they guaranteed your wait time was no more than 10 minutes and they gave away coffee, pastries, and free pens.  Also, this new DMV advertised very well and reached out to the community informing everyone of the upgrade in service they would receive by switching to their business.  Which one would you go to, the old DMV or the new DMV?  That is an obvious choice but it proves my point.  Your company is not safe and you should not think that just because you have repeat customers that they are loyal or they are actually satisfied with your company.  The trouble with most companies is they will never know the difference because no customer measurement is taken.  A lot of companies think and see only through their own eyes and never appreciate what the customer thinks, feels, or wants.  Even though things may seem to be going well, that sometimes is not always the case.

I have been going to a business to get my haircut for about 8 years.  Over that time I have built relationships with the hairdressers who were very personable, but their customer service was lacking.  On many occasions I had to wait long periods of time.  Some other notable experiences include: leaving with an incomplete haircut, a hairdresser cutting my hair wrong, and also dealing with their ignorance in customer service.  Eight years is a long time, and most can attest that such a long relationship is hard to break.  With my growing knowledge of customer service, I finally came to the realization that I am customer, I have options, and if I do not like the current situation I do not have to stay.  I am not friends with the people at this business, I do not receive discounts when I have a poor experience, nor do I receive any incentive for being their customer.  Also, I find this company stealing from me most of the time (see the article, “Are You Stealing from Your Customers?”).  I know there are other hairdressers in my town so why not venture out and explore my options?

As my example shows, no relationship in business is safe. Loyalty by familiarity will only take a company/customer relationship so far.  Watch out for your local competitors and their attempt to lure your customers away.  Don’t let you customers get to the point where they will venture out and look for a new place to go, and do not assume your customers are happy.  Assumptions build false confidence, which leads to lost customers. 

Can you confidently say your repeat customers are truly happy and satisfied with your business?  If you do not know or do not care to know then do two things, start waving bye-bye and start saving for expensive marketing and advertising costs.

Remember, to be successful in business your company must "Run as One"

Best wishes,

David Koji
Koji Consulting

When employees are always trying to be right, trying to prove their point, or trying to show why a customer is wrong, nobody wins, including the company.  Employee ego must be left at the door because customer service means successfully servicing customers’ needs, not the employee’s own needs.  Your employees get paid to fulfill job requirements that entail providing service and satisfaction to every customer.  The consequences of an ego driven employee can be detrimental to your business.  Not only does the customer suffer, but also other employees suffer as well.  Here are some conditions that can occur with an ego driven employee:

 

• Conflict.  Since this employee has to defend their point, a collaborative effort to resolve a problem will be difficult.  This employee resists customer or coworker participation because it may infringe upon their thinking.
• Only thinking about personal interests.  An ego driven employee does not care about the team or team results.  The only result this person is concerned about is how the decision will affect him or her.  This employee makes selfish decisions that benefit their own interests which deters a team from achieving goals.
• Hard to work with.  An employee who is not open minded and who does not see a situation from everyone’s perspective will be hard to coach and hard to manage.  Fellow coworkers will find working with this person to be quite tedious.
• Little dedication to the team.  How much dedication can you get out of an employee who is always thinking about themselves?  Not much.  An ego driven employee only sees the risk and reward for themselves.  This could pose a problem if a team goal requires a little risk and this employee is not willing to commit 100% to the project or the team.
• Trust.  An ego driven employee has a hard time trusting the employees around him or her that do not agree with their views.  Trust is the fundamental part of team work.  Without trust you are left with tentative contributions and unproductive results.
• No regard for team results.  Team results come second to personal results for an ego driven employee.  If they are involved with a team project that does really well but they made a few mistakes then they will be angry, conversely, if a team project fails but the ego driven employee did exceptionally well they will be happy.  Results are only deemed a success to the ego driven employee if they personally succeeded in the assignment.

Do you have any ego driven employees?  It is time to seek out those individuals and make sure they are redirected and focused on team results.  Such employees can damage your company in more ways than one and should be dealt with immediately.  An ego driven employee is not the worst employee in the world because they do carry some good qualities such as attention to detail, hardworking mentality, committed to their own tasks, and most likely looking for ways to further their career.  Those all point to personal gratification and a bit of selfishness but with the proper leadership this employee can be reprogrammed to become a valuable team member.  If you have members that are unwilling to change for the greater good, it might be time to rethink who the best employees are in order for your company to succeed.

Remember, to be successful in business your company must "Run as One"

Best wishes,

David Koji
Koji Consulting

Can you think about an instance where you had exceptional customer service, I mean that over-the-top service that happens once every blue moon?  An experience like non-other where you felt you had your own personal assistant who treated you with respect, had a great attitude, valued your presence, and made you feel more important than a million dollar customer?  An associate who dedicated their time, effort, and attention to your needs all because they wanted to make you happy?  How about an associate who did more than you asked for or provided money saving options?  The point is to remember a moment of gratification and extreme satisfaction, a personal service massage if you will where your ego, self confidence, and trust were all heightened by the experience.  Now, would you agree with the following: you would want that experience everywhere you went and if you walked into your store and could service yourself, you would follow the description above?  That is the rule to live by.  Service customers the same way you would want to be serviced.  This means focusing all your attention, willingness, and commitment to the customer to put on a service performance like none other, every time.  One could argue that other tasks or job functions with deadlines are far more important than providing an exceptional customer service experience, so why not just give mediocre service that fills the customer’s need?  The answer is because mediocre service does not retain customers, mediocre service is not satisfying, mediocre service does not exceed expectations, and most importantly, mediocre service does not allow your company to differentiate itself from the competition.  That is the goal, to differentiate yourself by showing your customers, even though you have the same products or services as your competition, they are more valued and appreciated at your company.  As a consumer, if one company does not separate themselves from the rest, you will not show loyalty to anyone and will go to the company with the best price.  What if there was one standout dedicated company that always provided amazing prompt service that always satisfied you.  Wouldn’t you go there more often than a non-service friendly company who did not care about their customers, even if they had lower prices?  Most consumers do not want to be hassled or become frustrated, even if that means giving up price breaks or discounts.  One would pay more for a relaxing and enjoyable experience over a stressful unpleasant one. 

 

To sum up, in order to create loyal, repeat customers, you have to excel in your customer service.  There is nothing more powerful in your quest to build your client base then to give incredible experiences every time a customer buys from your company.  All companies love the term “growth.”  In order to grow, the misconception is that you only have to acquire new customers.  That is true to an extent, but the term grow is defined by adding to what you already have.  What good is it to bring in five new customers when you just lost ten customers the week before?  Since the goal of your company is to grow, you have to make sure you are acquiring new customers while retaining the ones you already have.  How do you do that?  By treating every customer the same way you would treat yourself.  Here some questions you should ask yourself before servicing a customer:

 

• How can I provide the best possible service experience for this customer?
• What are their needs and expectations?
• How is my attitude?
• Is all my attention focused on this one customer?
• Am I asking for feedback to better understand them?
• Am I being resourceful?
• Am I being accommodating and flexible?
• Is this customer having a great experience?
• Did I fulfill their needs?
• Did I suggest other services or products that could benefit them?
• Did I ask for feedback on their experience?
• Did the customer leave satisfied?
• Was the service I provided good enough to invoke repeat business from that customer?
• What could I have done better to produce a better customer experience?

 

You can take my advice and treat every customer the way you would like to be treated, or as someone once told me, treat every customer like a best friend you haven’t seen in 20 years.

Remember, to be successful in business your company must "Run as One"

Best wishes,

David Koji
Koji Consulting

Consistency is a big factor in customer satisfaction.  The more consistent you can become the more predictable you will be.  The more predictable you are, especially with great service, the higher the trust and loyalty.  Predictability is important because it sets the tone for future engagements.  Customers dislike surprises, especially with spotty service or avoidable problems.  Your goal is to set a level of expectations, meet them consistently, and occasionally exceed them.  The more times you can fulfill your customer’s desires and expectations the greater the level of emotional attachment.  As a business, you need to obtain a position with your customers where they regard your company as always getting it right, and if you get it wrong, you quickly make it right.  It is important to maintain that level of consistency to form bonds of trust and security because people form patterns based on trust and security.  That is why when we go to work we park on the same garage level, when we were in school we sat at the same desk, when we wake up we have the same morning routine, and when we want reliability we return to the place of business that we trust and feel comfortable with.

Also with consistency is adaptation.  Since customers’ needs and desires are always evolving, we must evolve with them.  In order to consistently grow, we must be continuously capturing the customer’s voice in a way in which we can measure and apply their input.  We are not looking to maximize customer expectations, but rather optimize their expectations.  It is necessary to find out what the customer wants and where they want to be.  Satisfy for today, adapt for the future.

Remember, to be successful in business your company must "Run as One"

Best wishes,

David Koji
Koji Consulting

Experience

Not long ago my wife and I took a trip to Washington D.C. for a vacation.  We enjoyed the sites D.C. had to offer and really took in the history.  It was our first trip to D.C. so we were very unfamiliar with the areas.  On this particular day we were planning on going to Arlington Cemetery.  The tourist map we were provided did not really give us the best directions so I decided to go through the phone book to find better directions.  I ended up calling a local tourist bus business in attempt to get directions.  At first I was not sure if the customer service representative on the other side would give me directions since I was not planning on using their bus company.  I asked the lady for directions and in an almost confrontational voice replied, "Sir, are you asking for directions from your location to the cemetery?"  At first I assumed this was indeed a bad idea and got the impression she was not interested in helping me.  Then she proceeded to say, "Do you have Map Quest?"  I replied I was in a hotel and I did not have access to a computer.  She then says, "Give me your address and I will map quest the directions for you."  I was quite shocked by her words since I perceived the phone call to be going in the other direction.  She did "map quest" the directions and relayed them over the phone, giving me enough time to write them down.

Conclusion

At first I really was not sure what to expect when I made the call.  I suppose my expectations was for this individual to answer my inquiry with a, "it's not my job" or "this is a bus company not a place to call for directions."  This CSR went out of her way to help me by going above and beyond.  It would have been one thing if she had the directions right in front of her, but she had to go to Map Quest, type in my information, and then relay the information.  It was quite impressive to say the least and I sure was appreciative of her service.

What to take away

This one individual, with this one experience, proved to me that this company is customer focused and committed to the needs of people.  It is not what you cannot do, but what you can do that separates one company from the next.  Hiring people and letting them be accommodating and creative allows these employees to satisfy the needs of customers and future customers.  Instead of letting CSR's be helpful, some companies would frown on such behavior like the one I received because it is not immediately benefiting the company.  What they don't know is that such behavior will bring in business in the future from not only the person that was helped but by the people this person told.  Even if I do not go back to D.C., this type of service, if given to everyone that calls, will ensure customers in the future.

This blog will serve as the final report of the vision center experience.


Compiled Results (starting with the first visit to the last visit):

• What was my satisfaction level:

          10, 4, 7, 5, 4

Obviously my first satisfying visit was never duplicated.  My satisfaction became disgust, annoyance, and frustration.  Your customers should never move to the level of negative emotions.  A customer should only feel dissatisfied up to when they come back to complain about a poor product or service.  After they complain to your company, that dissatisfaction should turn into satisfaction before they leave.  Make sure proactive steps are in place to handle unhappy customers.
     

• Overall Service Rating:

          9, 4, 6, 7, 7                                                 

Service was never consistent.  A disappointing array of service throughout the experience.  Now looking back, those "7" ratings were generous.  Nothing is more important than service especially with a faulty product.  How a customer is handled is the most important factor in retaining that customer.  Products can sometimes have a mind of their own and cannot be controlled.  What can be controlled is the service a customer receives when he or she complains about the faulty product.  It is how you handle this situation that will determine your true character as a company.  It is important for your front line employees to have the power to satisfy each customer every time in a very prompt fashion.

• Were my expectations: not met, met, or exceeded:
  

          Exceeded, Not Met, Met, Not Met, Met

Meeting expectations is crucial for repeat business.  In most cases, people have low expectations when they enter or agree to a business transaction.  First and foremost your customers expectations should be met and occasionally exceeded.

• After this visit, will I recommend this place of business to others:
  

          YES-Positive Experience,  No, Yes, No, No

The most powerful, least expensive, and most effective method of advertising is word of mouth advertising.  Conversely, nothing will deter a customer away from your business faster than a poor review from a friend or colleague.  Word of mouth advertising happens when a customer has a wonderful experience.  What are you doing to provide a great experience for your customers?

• Did I receive the most value for my money:
  

          YES, N/A, N/A, N/A, N/A

Most of my responses here were N/A because I was not buying anything at the time of my additional visits.  This is an important topic though.  A customer will buy from you more often if you are providing them more than they pay for.  That "more" is usually great service and a great experience!  Since your normal products (food, clothing, furniture, etc) can be bought anywhere, it is important that you are separating yourself from everyone else.  To do this you must give your customers more than they expect and really "wow" them with your generosity.

• Will I return to this place of business:
  

          YES, Yes, Yes, Yes, NO

The ultimate goal with your business is to attract repeat customers.  A repeat customer is a cheap way to gain new customers.  Every time a repeat customer comes back to your business, you should consider those individuals as new customers.  A "repeat customer" can easily go to your competitors instead of your company, not so repeat anymore.  The point here is to treat familiar faces with the same, or even more, dedication you would with a brand new customer.  Embrace repeat customers as very valuable, because they are!

I hope you enjoyed the vision center journey.  More experiences will be coming, hopefully more pleasant tales.

Thanks!

Koji Consulting