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December 30, 2009

Rants are revenues.

Jeanne Bliss shared this insight as guest on my radio show. We were talking about customers, customer service and her great new book: I Love You More than My Dog: 5 Decisions that Drive Extreme Customer Loyalty in Good Times and Bad.

Rants are revenues. I love this quote.

Rants are revenues.

  • Customer rants tell you what you need to do better, faster, more frequently.
  • Customer rants tell you what others are doing better, faster, more frequently.
  • Customer rants tell you this person wants to be recognized, wants someone to care. Customer loyalty...is built on caring. Here’s your opportunity.

Rants are referrals

  • Customers will tell everyone how their rant was handled.
    • Did you listen?
    • Did you acknowledge?
    • Did you use a plastic script or were you allowed to be a real person who has the real resources to solve their real problems?
    • Did you show that you cared?

Rants are also savings.

  • Customer rants also tell you what you should do less, slower, or not at all. Rants make this very clear.
  • Listening to them frees your resources to pursue what you should do, what they’ve told you.
Or they can, if we listen.

Just a reminder for the next time a customer’s on the line waiting to rant: Rants are revenues. Rants are saving. Rants are opportunity. If we listen.

Posted on December 30, 2009 at 07:23 AM in Celebrating failure, Celebrating Failure - Quotations, customer evangelism, My Business Radio Show Interviews, Transcripts of My Business Radio Show Interviews |

Tags: customer loyalty, customer service, customer service training, service customers

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    a bigger challenge than I predicted. It’s not what to say that challenged me. It’s what NOT to say. I start reading and within 3-4 paragraphs, I’m nodding my head and saying Yes, yes, exactly. Bam. Bam, baby. Yeah, come on. Can I get a witness. Then I want to share verbatim Jackie’s translation of Gaga’s strategy. Here’s why. It’s a strategy with 7 steps that any, ANY, business can execute under its own terms and under its own budget no matter how small or large. Granted, I enjoy reading this strategy as it’s applied to Gaga. And Jackie's a good writer. But, what's really inspiring is understanding how even a car wash could apply this strategy with these 7 steps and find success. You could build a global empire selling gardening mulch if you followed these 7 steps. And you could lower your advertising and marketing budgets, to boot.

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  • Stephen Lynch: Business Execution for RESULTS: A practical guide for leaders of small to mid-sized firms

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    I'm an avid reader, always have been. I've read a lot of business books and I’ve led a small business. I recommend you read Business Execution for Results: A Practical Guide for Leaders of Small to Mid-Sized Firms. It is a very, very good book, among the best, most usable business books I’ve read. As a writer, he does things that make the reading very pleasant, very inspiring, very engaging. Very good. He offers personal stories, anecdotes, little clips. They’re genuine, sincere, well-organized to capture your attention, engage you in the story that illustrates the next lesson. I found myself thinking...I can relate...I am relating....I see, feel, remember this personally. And Stephen’s writing is very crisp, very concise in taking you from these stories to the principle with each chapter...and as important to the steps you’re going to take to generate the results you want to see. No hitch in the reading flow. VERY nice.

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