raving fans by lynn

8/12/2019 Raving Fans by Lynn

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Smmar' o )ain .oints

The story is told +rom the perspective o+ a newly hired Area #anager who is never given a name&3nder pressure to improve the customer service in his company or lose his 4o!$ he is at a loss as to

how to !egin& This is when we +irst meet Charlie$ the Area #anager0s Fairy 5odmother$ who is

actually a man who got to !e a Fairy 5odmother under a newly implemented /uota system&Charlie0s 4o! is to help the Area #anager understand Raving Fans customer service& 1As a reader$ it

may ta-e a while to warm up to the idea o+ a Fairy 5odmother coming down to help in !usiness

matters$ so !e patient 6 he grows on you&2

Charlie0s +irst point is that customer service is o+ten so !ad that people e7pect it& Things li-e dirty

restrooms$ late deliveries$ la.y sta++ and cold +ood are +ound so o+ten$ that it0s considered normal& %+

a company is trying +or satis+ied customers$ they are shooting too low$ !ecause people aresatis+ied as long as the poor service isn0t any worse than e7pected& 8ne /uote that says it all is the

slogan that Charlie suggests +or companies that don0t have outstanding customer service: *o

"orse Than the Competition&

Charlie teaches the three secrets o+ Raving Fans customer service !y introducing the Area #anager

to several !usiness leaders who learned and implemented the -eys success+ully& 9ach o+ the three!usiness leaders introduces one o+ the secrets& The +irst is eo ;arley$ the manager o+ a department

store& "ith a personal greeting and a carnation pinned to their lapels upon entrance$ a supervised

play area +or children and an elegant !athroom$ the Area #anager is impressed& The secret that eoteaches the Area #anager is Deci!e W/at o Want$ which is the process o+ envisioning the

ideal customer service situation +or your organi.ation&

The second !usiness leader is Sally$ a woman in charge o+ the most popular grocery store in thearea& Customers are greeted with valet par-ing$ a wal- down a red carpet$ and have a computer

system at their disposal that organi.es their shopping lists in the order items are +ound in the store

1with a map2&


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1a$$ o *ction

Raving Fans is a simple !oo- that suggests many strategies that !usiness leaders can learn and

implement to dramatically improve customer service& "hat it doesn0t do is provide step>!y>step

action plans& =owever$ you can derive the +ollowing ideas +rom the story:

Be aware o+ what your current customers are saying and$ more importantly$ not saying a!out

your customer service& %+ customers are not giving you positive +eed!ac-$ then they are

dissatis+ied or simply satis+ied and will move along to the competition i+ they +ind something!etter&

Deci!e W/at o Want As the leader o+ your organi.ation$ ta-e a signi+icant amount o+ time

to create the picture o+ what +antastic customer service would loo- li-e in your organi.ation&

?on0t hold !ac- 6 dream !ig@ %nclude leadership team mem!ers in a !rainstorming session$ as

well& 5et !uy in +rom those who will have to implement it&

Disco-er W/at t/e 1stomer WantsCreate a system +or +inding out what your customerswant +rom your company& They may have terri+ic ideas$ e7tremely modest ideas$ and they may

even have ridiculous ideas& %t0s your 4o! to si+t through all these ideas and determine whether

they mesh with your own vision& Be open to changing your vision !ased on the customers0+eed!ac-&

De$i-er t/e VisionTa-e one customer service idea that you !elieve can !e success+ully

implemented$ and do it& 9nsure your sta++ are trained$ and ensure they can do it per+ectly and

consistently& ou will -ill customer loyalty i+ you claim you have some terri+ic service$ !ut

then do it poorly$ or not all the time&

.$s One .ercentContinually plan the ne7t step& 8nce one customer service strategy is !eingdone well and consistently$ !egin implementing the ne7t one& Ta-ing small steps 1that one

percent2 is how to !uild Raving Fans Customer Service@

raving fans by lynn

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