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Letter to the editor

Smart firms ensure many happy returns

By PAUL SWIDER, Times Staff Writer
Published December 19, 2007

ST. PETERSBURG - At the height of shopping season, frantic customers are dealing with overtaxed workers, and the casualty is often civility. But it can also be the bottom line.

"Even the best product experience can be destroyed if the customer is not well taken care of," said Carl Riche, owner of the Paciugo gelato store downtown but also retired from 30 years in management with Wal-Mart and Sam's Clubs. "That customer is not going to come back."

From retail to airlines to utility companies, customer service is a central but often overlooked part of doing business. Research shows a strong return on investment in service, but surveys also show that consumers continue to find the phrase "customer service" to be an oxymoron.

"Companies tend to focus on getting new customers in, not tracking how loyal customers are," said Kristine Ketcham, who worked in customer service for companies like American Express, MCI and Verizon before starting a St. Petersburg consulting firm, Focused Success.

A happy customer is far more likely than a merely satisfied one to buy again or tell friends, according to research in the Harvard Business Review. Keeping just 5 percent of customers can double profits.

Riche said losing a wholesale customer at Sam's could cost the company $300,000 in lost purchases. Satisfying a customer's complaint costs far less, he said.

Ketcham said ongoing poor service is a function of management, even though some service workers have an attitude of entitlement. Companies that aim for a solid business foundation invest in their front line, while those working for quick profit don't care about disappointed clients, she said.

"If I get 'I-don't-care' service, that tells me it's coming from the top down," she said. She contrasted that with area businesses like Mazzaro's Italian Market or Harvey's Fourth Street Grill, whosemanagement encourages workers to care.

"We hire our servers for personality, not corporate robotics," said Suzy Johnson, day manager at Harvey's, which she helped start 23 years ago. Though she and others came from a corporate restaurant background, she said they converted that into individualized service. "We want them to have fun while they take care of the customer."

Loyalty is rewarding for the business, but Johnson says it also is for the service staff, some of whom have been at Harvey's for 20 years. She said servers earn a standard wage, but a flow of regulars means their total compensation is significant.

Ketcham said concern for and recognition of employees can be as valuable as money.

"Our employees all want to be recognized," said Karen Grosso, manager of Mazzaro's, which prides itself on aisles full of regular shoppers even after quadrupling in size since opening 11 years ago. "They like it when customers come up to me to thank us. It makes my day, too."

Service can mean different things in different industries, so managers have to teach other techniques. A utility company won't have customers leaving for a competitor, but it still wants to inspire loyalty.

"It's important that our customers think well of us when the time comes we need approval for things like new power plants," said Bonnie Bischoff, who handles training for Progress Energy's call centers.

Telephone transactions can feel far less personal, so Bischoff says she takes great care to teach empathy and careful word choice. Scripting is not appropriate, she said, so customers won't hear stilted phrases like, "How may I exceed your expectations?"

"Thank you is not good enough for us," Bischoff said. "We want 'please, may I, excuse me, could I ...' "

Staffers at the Don CeSar Beach Resort sift through a 200-page report every other month prepared by an anonymous "mystery shopper" sent to evaluate their performance. Hotel manager Patrick Brophy is proud of the latest 95 percent rating, but said they missed points for things like using a guest's name only twice, not three times, in a transaction.

"It's very expensive for us to get new customers," he said. "We want repeat guests."

Ketcham said sometimes loyalty-inducing service is counter-intuitive, such as when a business sends a customer to another store because they're out of a product. Riche said information is as important as a smile or a discount.

Some customers can't be helped, Ketcham said, and businesses have to cautiously recognize when it's time to let some go. Loyal customers buy more and more often, but chronic complainers can cost far more than they're worth.

"Some people just didn't get enough cannoli in their lives," said Mazzaro's Grosso, "and they're just not happy."

Paul Swider can be reached at pswider@sptimes.com or 892-2271.

[Last modified December 18, 2007, 21:26:57]