Three Red-Carpet Service Tips for Product Sellers

Michelle’s Note: I purchased Donna’s book, Insider Secrets to Delivering Red Carpet Customer Service, on Amazon and received it about a week ago. I have read most of the book — and can say that she has some awesome information. Her advice and insight will help you change your perception of what is excellent customer service.

But she doesn’t stop there. I have written several blog post on customer service and how it is a partnership. Donna goes a step further and has an entire chapter of her book dedicated to describing how to be a better customer. Not only will this help you in your role as a customer, but will also help you identify the star customers in your business.

I’m also proud to announce that Donna has written a guest post for me to share with you about how you can provide red-cart service for your customers….

Three Red-Carpet Service Tips for Product Sellers
By Donna Cutting

It’s Award season again! That time of year when Hollywood rolls out the red-carpet for the fabulously famous and their entourage at the Emmys, the Golden Globes, and the cream of the crop – the Academy Awards. What better time to take stock and ask yourself, how can I give my customers a little red-carpet treatment of their own? Here are three ideas you can implement right now to give your customers The Celebrity Experience.

1. Give Them SWAG! – One of my audience members told me this story: She found a clothing store that she absolutely loved. She bought a few outfits, and wrote to the CEO of the store about how happy she was to find them. Two weeks later there was an unexpected box at her front door. She opened it to find 3-4 outfits, in her size, from the store with a note from the CEO: “These are for you with our compliments! We’re so glad you found us – and we look forward to your continued business.” Do you think she shops there regularly? You bet she does! Do you think she tells that story to everyone she knows? You better believe it! If you’re not convinced at how much giving products away can create buzz about your business and bring new customers, ask Ben & Jerry how much press they receive when they hold “free cone day.” It’s the kind of buzz that enabled a small scoop shop housed in a renovated gas station to grow to a $4 million business in six short years, and later to be sold for $326 million.
2. Let Their People Talk to Your People – If you sell products online, you want the online experience to be so easy, so smooth that the customer can simply make their selections, enter their credit card information, and cha-ching – they’re happy and you are that much richer. However, when your customer has a question that they can’t find an answer to online, or they simply want to talk with a live person, nothing is more frustrating than not being able to locate a phone number on the website. Delivering red-carpet customer service means being approachable and accessible. Otherwise, it’s like walking into a store and finding no one who wants to help you. Frankly, online it’s even easier to simply find another store. Give your online store a personality. Put your photo up, tell your customers a little about you, and let them know how to reach you. They may never have to – but it will ease their mind to know that if they need you, you’re there.
3. Give Them Star Power – Celebrities have choice, a voice, control, influence, and power. If you want to give your customers a true Celebrity Experience, consider giving them more power and participation in your business. Give them a choice – online ordering? In person? On the phone? Give them voice – write a blog and allow your customers to post comments.  Give them influence –Invite people to make recommendations about your products or give you suggestions for new ones. Remember when the Mars company invited customers to vote on what color would replace the tan M&M’s? Give them the power of an inner circle. Create an elite club and make your regular customers the members. Look at Harley Davidson’s HOG (Harley Owners Group) club for a great example of how this can work brilliantly.

Donna Cutting is the author of The Celebrity Experience: Insider Secrets to Delivering Red-Carpet Customer Service (Wiley, 2008) and is a full-time keynote speaker on the topics of employee engagement and customer experience.

This guest blog post was done as part of a virtual blog tour for Donna Cutting.

Yesterday the blog tour stopped at these blogs:

Phil Gerbyshak displays a book excerpt from Donna’s book
Melody Campbell / The Small Business Guru

Today, the blog tour is featured at these blogs also:

Terri / Pop Art Diva
Dawn Goldberg / Write Well Me

And tomorrow the virtual book tour continues with these blogs:

Dr. Sally Witt will conduct a book review on her blog.