Donna Cutting has been an inspiration to me ever since I read her book, The Celebrity Experience: Insider Secrets to Delivering Red Carpet Customer Service.

Today Donna shared a customer service tip on her Facebook page that I wanted to pass along...

Want more Red-Carpet service tips? Connect with Donna on Facebook!

As anyone who owns, runs, or works for a business will know, customer satisfaction is really important. No matter what your company does, if your customers aren’t happy, you’ll find it very difficult to increase your profit. You’ll also find it hard to make your business sustainable, as poor customer satisfaction can often lead to a dearth of repeat business as your customers take their business – and their money – elsewhere.

So customer satisfaction is important. But how can you improve satisfaction in order to increase your profit?

There are quite a few things you can do, both on the front line of your business and behind the scenes. Also, everything you do needs to integrate properly so you can feel the true benefits of it. Otherwise, an improvement in one area of your business will struggle to really take hold if it doesn’t find support from elsewhere. This suggests that unity of the company is important: the customer needs to feel that you know what you are doing, rather than operating as a series of fragmented departments.

Organising your company operations through CRM software can help here, as it allows you to keep information relating to all your customers and other contacts in one central location. It also helps to draw together different aspects of your business that have an impact on customer satisfaction, helping to make sure everyone stays up to date with what is going on in the business as a whole as well as with individual customers.

Communication is also a really important part of improving customer satisfaction; customers are much more likely to buy things from you if they trust you and feel that their questions are adequately answered when they contact you with a query. A good CRM system can help you set up templates that will be useful when you are dealing with customers. Even simple things such as a standard company letterhead and keeping a note on your CRM systems of all your correspondence with them can make a big difference to satisfaction.

Also, if you want to increase your profits, you need to be monitoring your sales processes. Again, good CRM solutions will be able to help you here, enabling you to track the development of sales from start to finish so you can identify customer trends and ensure that your service is of a high standard at all times. Keeping all of these things in mind and never forgetting that your customers are people, not just a money-making opportunity, should help you to drive up satisfaction – and, with any luck, your profits.

Photo Credit: _tar0_ on Flickr

Larry Kahaner of The McGowan Blog shares his thoughts about why Netflix lost their customers.

I can see the big picture in that Netflix wants to keep up with technology and how people are gravitating towards streaming movies, but the company broke one of my cardinal rules of customer service: Make it easy for customers to do business with you. Separating into two different departments (one providing DVD's and one providing movie streaming) creates confusion for customers. Now customers have two separate accounts and will have to deal with two different service departments.

I personally don't mind paying more for a service if the service is better, but having to deal with two different service departments does not make life easy for me.

The following is a guest post from Joseph Michelli. Enjoy!

Zappos, the online product provider known for its playful and somewhat wacky workplace is definitely garnering the attention of business leaders and the media. Recently, for example the company's CEO, Tony Hsieh, was featured on the television program 20/20 as Barbara Walter's profiled self-made billionaires. But how does an upstart dot.com era company defy the odds and achieve such positive attention and success? In a nutshell, by creating an unorthodox service culture that connects with employees, customers, and all stakeholders. In my recently released book The Zappos Experience, I highlight 5 key principles that have catapulted Zappos to greatness:

Serve a Perfect Fit – Most businesses fail to differentiate themselves from the competition because they never take the time to understand what they uniquely value or possess. Rather than emulating the core values of other businesses leaders, Zappos leadership asked their people “what does it take to be a success here?”. After securing that honest assessment, leaders used those core values (things like create fun and a little weirdness) to guide all decisions for the company including the selection of applicants who possess those qualities.

Make it Effortlessly Swift – Before a company can build an emotional relationship with its customers it has to get the basics right. In today’s world that involves making it easy and quick for customer to get their needs met. This principle focuses on a concept I refer to a “service velocity.” It is not just service speed (because you can have service that is so quick that it is inaccurate) but rather service speed in the direction of desired customer outcomes.

Step Into the Personal – Once your company can “get it right” and “make it right” for customers you are satisfying consumers. But satisfaction is just a coupon away from your customer trying a competitor. This business principle emphasizes the importance of leaders developing personal relationships with their staff and in turn inspiring their staff to do the same with customers.

S T R E T C H – Many great leaders and companies become irrelevant because they stop growing. They, in essence, lose their entrepreneurial restlessness. This principle examines the need to grow people, products, and service delivery strategies while maintaining a health respect for the processes that led to greatness in the first place.

Play to Win – Work and play should not be antithetical. Play without purpose is not a sustainable business approach but a workplace devoid of play is not likely to fuel innovation and collaboration. This leadership principle shows how productivity can be increased through play and through a mirthful work environment.

Looking across your business, where might you sprinkle on a little dash of The Zappos Experience?

Much has been written about Zappos. Do a simple internet search and you’ll find thousands of articles and blog posts. The company certainly has made a significant impact in the world of business with its legendary service. But what exactly does Zappos do to create wow experiences for people? What makes this company so special? That’s what Joseph A. Michelli uncovers in his book, “The Zappos Experience”.

The book is based on 5 principles that the author believes are the keys to “inspire, engage, and wow”:

1) Serve a Perfect Fit
2) Make It Effortlessly Swift
3) Step in the Personal
4) Stretch
5) Play to Win

In the beginning of the book Michelli takes us on a journey through Zappos history. We also learn through the author’s interviews with employees what life is like as a “Zapponian” and what it takes to even be part of this company. It’s definitely not just a regular job. I was reminded of the Zappos Headquarters tour that I took a few years ago and how all the employees looked like they were genuinely having fun at work.

The book is filled with examples of Zapponians working their magic to surprise and excite each customer, but to make it even more interactive, the author includes QR codes throughout the book if you want even more resources. At the end of each chapter, the reader gets “Ideas to Run With” that offer the main points or things that should be given further thought. You’ll also be questioned in the “Try These On For Size” sections of the book which will help you reevaluate your own level of service.

Not only is this a book that gives you all the juicy details of how Zappos creates wow service, I also think of it as a manifesto or template for other businesses to follow. If you’re truly serious about taking your service to the next level, this is the book to read. I can just imagine...What if every business owner in the world read this book and was inspired by these principles? Would we finally reach Utopia?

The big takeaway that I got from reading “The Zappos Experience” is that there is no “bottom line”. The Zappos philosophies and culture extend beyond business. It’s about creating happiness and making positive change in the world. If I had known back in college that my future self would be reading this book, I don’t think I would have taken all those business classes. Everything I needed to know about creating a successful business is in this book. Well, I probably still would have taken accounting classes.

Stay tuned Thursday for a guest post from the author of "The Zappos Experience"!


Purchase "The Zappos Experience" at Amazon.