Maniac Marketing Solutions

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Experience Excellence World-Class Service

Experience Excellence World-Class Service

Service U.S. Tourist Excellence in November 2001

The stimulus for further

This circuit has excellent credentials – Which has been running annually for many years under the auspices of the Manchester Business School. There is a sister of UK tour.

For us, the visit was part of a continuing program of professional development, experience a kind MBA – visiting world-class companies. Interestingly, and rightly CEO of Federal Express in a video I saw said

"The most important thing is to spend 'oneself.

It was also an opportunity to spend time with a group of high-level people from diverse backgrounds and understand some of the business challenges they face. traveling companions were directors and senior executives of companies as Sky, Argos, Legal & General, at the national, Alliance & Leicester and Bristol Airport.

Main Goal

The hypothesis is that the reputation of service excellence is the result of how companies align their strategic approach, key processes and people effectively to deliver its customer proposition.

Program Experiences

Elizabethtown Water Monday Stew Leonard

Ritz-Carlton Tuesday night visit FedEx Hub

FedEx Express Wednesday

USAA Thursday Nordstrom Sewell Village Cadillac

Friday Southwest Airlines

Making sense of it all

The concept of "line of sight" through a company's activities has been chosen to analyze the experiences and therefore help the surface of any alignment that may have gaps (see below).

In true marketing fashion should be the starting point with the customer. In terms narrative, however, the flow is better starting with the context that is important for two reasons. First, to help understand how companies got where they are today. Second, because the implications for culture and leadership style was likely to experience.

Business Model is used in place of intent strategic, since it has commercial connotations. In short how will these companies money due to Service Excellence ratings? What advantages and disadvantages were there?

Among the business model and the customer, many companies have processes and design products made so that staff are between a rock and a hard place, as between that company and its customers – "Company Push '. How are staff encouraged to behave?

By finally, what evidence was there to open and timely dialogue with customers? To what extent businesses were listening to your customers? What were doing about it? What evidence was there of the client states that affect what the company was doing? – "Customer Pull.

Inevitably some of the visits were more successful than others in providing inputs for the analysis and much information had to be taken seriously. The quantitative performance data was almost universally absent.

The Visitors

Stew Leonard's

Visit Format

• Tour the store with the introductions to the chiefs of the sections (cafe, bakery, fish, etc)
• Classroom presentation of the Stew Leonard's daughter
• The noon time
• Location: Yonkers New York

Context

• Founded 1969
• Graduate doorstep milk
• entire investment to finance the first store
• Mom & Pop shop to the world class cited by Tom Peters
• Three stores all family now
• Great personality, great writing Stew Leonard across the enterprise
• In the Guinness Book of Records for sales per square foot

Business Model

• Limited range of products – 1000 only items
• Focus on fresh products, where margins tend to be larger (if waste is managed closely)
• Concept of time value of life
• Elimination of open service charges

Processes

• Just across the aisle so customers only as a tour trail
• Section heads treated as owners of small businesses to purchase and fix prices
• Frequent, immediate and highlighting various internal communications staff performance
• Behind the logistics were not examined

Variable Products

• Volume purchase of the benefits of cost-sharing with customers to generate higher volumes still
• The freshness and perceived value for money review
• Rapid (days) of product testing and process error development
• Only recently introduced the Wine section has been very successful
• Disney-style entertainment of a function

Administration Staff

• department managers submitted their respective areas with walk-through
• We could talk with customers and floor staff – good eye contact

• frontline staff encouraged to offer a scandal (see story)
• Rental attitude – as use psychometrics – three interviews
• Focus on self support teams, attention to under-performance
• Promote from within
• Handwritten notes of recognition of outstanding performance – "a bellow to you '
• Fund hero stories making staff and demonstrate exceptional customer service
• Striving to create an atmosphere of smiles
• Staff time given to visit the competitors, it must implement an improvement in 72 hours
• Use toured as a source of income but also energizes the staff

Dialogue client

• Upon entering the store is a "rock of commitment" that says:
  "Article 1-The customer is always right
  "Article 2 – If the customer is always wrong, reread Rule 1
• customer involvement and entertainment material, factory shop / Market feel
• Staff encourages the client to imagine
• As in a theater, the user is an integral part of the interaction
• product constant sampling for an immediate response
• Instant Refund Policy
• Customer Suggestion Box – answered all of whether it was or not
• Customer panels with the management team shop
• Encourages customers to comment on personnel
• Polls Satisfaction

Comment

• The "Line of sight" was very clear in any particular store customer behavior and staff face the level of immediate and ongoing dialogue.
• This experience should be relatively straightforward to design and deliver, but there is no comparison between robotic and sterile experience of many supermarkets in the United Kingdom and the vitality of Stew Leonard's.
• Their challenge bigger – that recognize – is scalability.
• There is nothing to say they have to get bigger – right sizing "has a number of connotations and can be the size at this time.
• The show is the velvet glove of a very focused business model, but its use and encourages people to make a difference
• Sure 'Stick to the focus on knitting. "
• If only recently introduced a department store wine in Yonkers, that was very well suggesting that the flexibility of businesses against maybe a prevailing paternalism.
• There seems to be a virtuous cycle, competitive prices, with the participation of service quality, higher volumes and win-win distribution of benefits between company and customer.

Some Delegate comments

Selling to the five senses (sight, smell, hearing, taste, touch)

Resume all the knowledge that is necessary to create a wow''in any company

Effective staff orientation may result in an excellent service but can slogans "tell a story"

Stew Leonard's – A history of service excellence

At five minutes before closing on a Sunday night, a customer said to the cashier Betty Mucci, "Just got back from vacation and are so happy you're open. Our refrigerator is empty, and we needed this bread and milk for breakfast and morning the boy's school lunches. When the total rang up $ 37.12, the customer entered panic and said, 'Oh my God, I forgot portfolio. I have no money! '

Betsy just smiled and said: "That is well, just give me your name and address. "Betsy wrote the information down, place the vacuum in the drawer slide of registration, and said, 'No worry, the next time you're in the store can pay for your purchases. The client asked, "Do you have the authority to let me leave without paying for all these food? "Betsy said yes, but the client was not convinced and asked to see the manager.

When the manager appeared and the customer explains the problem, said, "When it comes to keeping our customers happy, we have very strict rules. Each one of us has the authority to use our discretion and treat each customer the way we want to be treated our "self."

Two weeks later, Stew Leonard met a friend at a local restaurant. He went to stew so high and said: "Stew is not going to believe this story!" He proceeded to tell his wife how he had been the customer who forgot your wallet, and how he had been telling the story to everyone he met. "But I do not understand," he said, is how you can afford to do so. Is not you afraid that the cash used misjudgment and make you lose money? '

Stew said: "How can we afford not to do?" Ninety-nine percent of people in our store at any given time are repeat customers. They return because they met the last time shopping with us. Our attitude is that all If the world is honest occasionally run into someone who is not, so only on the chin. But the important point is that 999 out of 1,000 customers are honest. We simply refuse to let a dishonest customer to determine how we will treat the other 999.

Source: American Management Review

Elizabethtown Water

Format of Visit

• Talks

Andrew M. Chapman, President –

Derek Stroud, vice president of Customer Relationship Management,

Neafy Beth, a change project Team Leader

Professor Bruce Hawthorn, external consultant Design Process

• Time: 2 hours
• Place: New Jersey Westfield

Context

• The Water seventh largest company in the U.S. 500 + staff serving over 1 million customers in New Jersey
• In November 2000 became a wholly owned subsidiary of Thames Water
• Regulated monopoly, have to ask the Public Utilities Board to increase rates
• Company historically consisted of three silos of different places, on the distribution of water and waste managers, engineers and sales
• As the current director general appointed in 1997 have gone through major process and organizational change program to deliver a more customer focused organization.
• CEO also found that customer satisfaction can be a positive differentiator as a procurement tool for the management of municipal water and industry should be deregulated
• He also found that fewer complaints lead to happy staff turnover and therefore the staff.
• The implementation of a CCS SAP customer billing and account management system (the first of its kind in a U.S. utility.)

Model Business

• Formed by regulatory standards
• Pricing is a more cost model
• Penalties if not historical criteria customer satisfaction is met

Processes

• IT Strategic Review identified opportunities to bring together the activities of the silos
• Customer Relationship Management is defined as having unique operational customer
• Used throughout the SAP system the company to re-define processes
• Key Revenue Management process that is, the meter reading to the receipt of funds

Variable Products

• Responsibility is only to supply water to the property line. From road to the property is responsibility of the owner

Staff Management

• Exemplified by the internal team approach process re-design – led by very credible long-serving members of staff
• People Quote 'march to their actions "
• Need to customer representatives ability to solve new problems (think improved) and understand the issues related to water quality (chemistry) and pressure (Engineering) – described as the crew get ready to run the new vessel

Customer Dialogue

• Little evidence that customers have had an input into the process design and change management program
• Industry prescribed measures of satisfaction a particular client even though they were trying to redefine them.
• Implicit customer frustration due to the fragmented delivery through historical silos

Comment

• A different context of Stew Leonard's and other views
• The impetus for change was driven exclusively by the vision of the CEO – that there was no external factors – could be said that the company was ahead of the curve.
• What emerged in conversation that heads of business silos had acted as a brake on the process proposed new approach.
• The pace of change accelerated program with the arrival of a Thames Water UK executive about eighteen months ago
• The orthodox view would be that the processes must be redesigned before it could be applied although argue that the approach was contextually appropriate
• The absence of any customer input on the new design suggests that a provider mentality still prevails and therefore potentially a serious line of sight misalignment.
• Due to the way fee increases were signed off, provided the regulator agreement, our customers, of course, actually pay for the change program.

Some Delegate Comments

The similarities with our current situation and interesting to see the mechanisms and structures established to manage transitional changes

The Change is always difficult, especially when their colleagues merely pay lip service to

Placing a long-standing employee the respect of his colleagues was associated with a visionary leader is a recipe for success

Elizabethtown Water

Customer Service Vision

To provide an adequate level of service for each type of customer that they value, appreciate and choose in an open market.

Client Mission

To provide value to our customers, providing a safe, adequate and correct at the cheapest price for the continuous improvement of our facilities our work processes and the ability of our employees.

Customer Service Strategy

• Billing: to provide draft accurate and timely law that our customers understand

• Payments: collect all the money in a timely manner using all reasonable methods
• Billing Contact: Any contact with a client must bring added value in terms of money, image or both
• Service Contacts: To provide a level of service that eliminates the need for customers to contact the company more than once and that customers value.

Source: Posters meeting

Ritz-Carlton

Format of Visit

• Presentation by Training Manager Stephanie Thomas
  Back of House Tour
• Time: Noon
• Location: Atlanta Buckhead

Context

• Group founded by Horst Schulze 1983
• Based on the legendary Ritz Carlton in Boston, which revolutionized hotels in the United States by creating a luxury setting
• Now 40 hotels worldwide, 22,000 'Ladies and gentlemen
• Winner of Malcolm Baldrige National Award Quality .. First, the hospitality and the organization just to win, for the first time in 1992 and again in 1999
• Only three company-owned hotels – Rest independently owned but the use of systems and processes Ritz Carlton
• In 1995, Marriott International acquired 49% interest. Three years then increased to 99%.

Business Model

• Superior environment and the psychology of some comfort critical experience – the mystique of the Ritz Carlton
• Market niche is basically corporate business travelers
• Price increase
• Occupancy and revenue per available room (RevPAR) key indicators

Processes

• Whole kernel values collectively Gold Standards: The Credo, The Three Steps of Service, Motto and The Twenty Basics captured in pocket card held by all staff
• Departmental Journal "formations" attended by all employees including senior executives involved in one of the 20 fundamental aspects of every day.
• Using project teams to continually review the key processes and also the solution of problems in self-directed work teams
• For recording preferences of the guests (often of observation) – The entire staff Notes Personal Preference
• Guest Incident Action Forms
• Much attention is paid to the psychological attributes of comfort – the furniture, the quality of the robes, towels and bedding etc.
• Backstage Photos table layouts, the areas in the room of dust and repeated cycles are on display – support for ethnic staff

Output Variables

• Quality Hotels
• Club Lounge, Room service, casual restaurant, banquets Food Recreation / Fitness

• Luxury residential condominiums located at the Ritz-Carlton hotels and resorts.
• The Ritz-Carlton Instituteopen learning executives from other companies who want to learn and adapt the principles of service and leadership to their own organizations.

Staff Management

• Slogan "We are Ladies and Gentlemen serving Ladies and Gentlemen '
• intensive orientation for new employees – two days to guide and select, review 21 days, 30 days Certification Program
• As psychometrics covering empathy, care, accuracy, professionalism, courtesy and positive
• Staff encouraged to take ownership of problems – $ 2,000 per guest 'Recovery' discretion
• Claims script "I apologize" – try to make really small problem – move them out of public areas
• Recognition – 'Five Star Employee of the Quarter "

Dialogue Customer

• Through observation
• Satisfaction surveys
• JD Powers rating

Comment

• Ritz-Carlton is a high quality operation. Was the tangible atmosphere in the hotel? – Yes It was evident the quality in the Club Lounge and bedroom? – Yes Was the high tangible service people? – No uniform.
• Ritz Carlton is a process dominated, in principle, just as McDonald's – Other operation of the franchise. The scope is of course larger.
• Inevitably franchises have to be rules-based time and lot of effort goes into their intrusion on workers – although it was occasionally called a cult.
• While higher price for the service, still facing the challenges of occupation Like all hotels for heads in the beds. It is unclear whether their model is more robust or how they have been post 11 September.
• Behind the scenes there was no evidence of rhetoric break – Ladies and gentlemen referred to as "workers in the notes, for example. The office staff are very narrow – not a case of treatment of its staff as you treat your customers.
• There was some evidence of staff trying to introduce spontaneity in daily prescribed.
• Understanding customer preferences and invading your privacy is a very fine line that hotels have careful not to cross.
• On paper, using a 80/20 basis the lineup was strong. However, it is not clear how open the dialogue with customers is and how it informs the process improvement that the Ritz Carlton performed.
• It was not clear what criteria would trigger employees to use their discretion $ 2,000 staff.

Some Delegate Comments

"All that glitters is gold." It's easy present an appearance but very difficult to effectively integrate the values in some environments

Reinforcement through "program over top communication works well

A simple message to staff associated with the "values" can cover an entire culture and the consequent behavior

Ritz Carlton

Vision 7 years

• For everyone Prime Minister Provider Luxury Travel and Entertainment Products and Services

2 Year Mission

• Product benefits and domination

Vital Few Goals

• Improving Employee Pride and Joy
• Improve customer loyalty
• Reduce customer problems
• REVPAR Enlarge
• Improve the profitability of hotel

Method

• TQM – Application of Quality Science
• Baldridge Quality Award Criteria

Foundation

• Values and Philosophy
• Gold Standards
• Creed
• Motto
• The three steps of service
  – A warm and sincere congratulations. Use guest name, if it is possible to
  – Anticipating and meeting the needs assessment
  – Fond farewell. Give them a warm goodbye and use their names whenever possible.
• Basics

The Employee Promise

• The Ritz-Carlton, our Ladies and Gentlemen are the most important resource in our service commitment to our guests.
• By application of the principles of trust, honesty, respect, integrity and commitment, discipline and talent to maximize the benefit of every individual and business.
• The Ritz-Carlton fosters a work environment where diversity is valued, quality of life is higher, individual aspirations are fulfilled, and the Ritz-Carlton mystique is strengthened.

Ritz-Carlton – A history of service excellence

Henry, a bell hop, he realized that lady was a customer struggling to close the case – tried to help, but in fact the catch is broken and there was no way to secure the bag. The results are due to leave shortly and there was time to go to the mall to buy a replacement. Shortly after Henry was out of service but remains concerned about the guest. He went home, took a suitcase that had recently bought for a holiday of her closet and returned immediately to the hotel to give to the guest.

Source: Presentation Ritz Carlton

Federal Express

Format of Visit

• Afternoon visit to Memphis SuperHub
• Half-day workshop
• Speakers:
  Myron Bowery: Corporate Communications Manager
  Kathy Bergeson: Process Manager quality
• Location: Peabody Memphis Hotel

Context

• Founded in 1971 at the age of 27 W for Fred Smith, former U.S. Marine Corp who flew 230 combat missions in Vietnam and based on a paper on the logistics he wrote as a student at Yale (marked C)
• Budget history of the company, "Fred Smith and FedEx is a virtual case study in how American business should work '
• Created modern air / Ground express industry; invented packet delivery during the night: first to offer online shipping and tracking
• Started center and spoke approach
• U.S. 1983 first company to reach $ 1BN income, no merger or acquisition
• 1990 First company to earn Service Award Baldridge
• 215K employees worldwide, 600 + aircraft
• Currently shipping levels in 1998

Business Model

• Philosophy: "Take care of your people. In turn, deliver the impeccable service demanded by our customers reward us with profitability necessary to secure our future "
• Have been redefined from shipping plane Technologies Company Info
• Having a number of companies within the group 'operate independently, compete collectively
• FedEx 2001 Annual Report cites "Only remains focused on a unique business model – to operate each company independently, focused on the specific needs of each customer segment, but also to compete together, taking advantage of our strengths, the power of the FedEx brand and information technology. "

Processes

• Then the model
• 1990 Baldrige Award, but now drivers ISO benchmark
• Activity mix low-skilled labor-intensive high (making sure bar codes on packages is face up to the readers) and highly automated (classification barcode)
• International package scanned 11 times, which provides data for tracking and tracing system
• noticeably focus a "scientific" problem / process analysis
• Use the actual numbers of defects% 's, since even one is too much
• The heavy investment in television FedEx as a means of internal communication
• Have high-level analysis and review weekly (WAR) Committee
• 98% of responses to the annual employee survey – results published within a few hours of cutting time
• Employing 12 meteorologists to help with the flight path

Output Variables

• FedEx Express: given time Global Express package and freight delivery
• FedEx Ground: land small package services, including home delivery
• FedEx Freight: freight deliveries regional less-than-truck
• the delivery of FedEx Custom Critical exclusive expedited door to door
• FedEx Trade Networks: customs brokerage and trade facilitation systems
• Recently invested in the presence of U.S. ground like losing UPS
• Recently acquired U.S. Postal Airport to airport service contract

Staff Management

• Hub has 60% of staff t / o
• Focus on experience (85%) rather than training in the classroom (15%)
• Recently retired "in situ" reward system (Bravo Zulu – A U.S. Navy term for 'Well Done ') as a belt tightening move
• Upward outcome evaluation process that a company wide Leadership Index, which has improved year after years from creation
• SQIs used as a basis for bonuses at all levels.

Customer Dialogue

• No single customer view and the value of
• Your Service Quality Index is weighted and varies from year to year depending on what customers think is important
• He has used television advertising extensively showing a sense of humor, participation

Comment

• The tour center is a classic example of what the tour in question. An intellectual understanding of what was happening was not the preparation of energy raw, noise and cacophony of pure hard rock metal that we face.
• Fedex is a giant of operation and what they were seeing was only the tip of iceberg of the process. The chain of service also includes door to door collection of packages and delivery at destination.
• As an athlete was apparently class effortless professionalism – there was also a sense of the speed of hand to fool the eye!
• As for the lineup it was interesting that FedEx says have not made a single view of customer relationship despite their SQI form factors measured by the customers was a plus in particular.
• The withdrawal of the Bravo Zulu – the reward scheme in place – was controversial. He introduced himself as a much-needed opportunity to tidy up the system but had not to the feeling that could be interpreted negatively by staff. Excellent service should be rewarded at all times.
• It can also suspected that have been used to circumvent a flexible pay system.

Some Delegate Comments

How change from one carrier to a provider of intelligent services

Good effective process management is possible. The operation was very impressive

The operation is most important that staff (process in front of people)

Night Visit to Memphis SuperHub

Enter the center was like going to a football match. At 10 pm there were long lines snaking behind checkpoints. On any given night 8000 people could be in service. It was a wet and windy night, and from employees working in the open loading and unloading of aircraft were involved as the men Michelin (and women of course).

From the observation tower we could see the planes lined up to land. – 85 per hour. On landing, the aircraft moved quickly and efficiently to their bunks where within minutes the doors opened and the containers specially designed – that mimic the shape of the aircraft at no charge. We were told that planes could be emptied in 17 minutes. Container trains pulled by small tractors – or tugboats as they are called "left with elegance to the congestion of – On this night of heavy rain and persistent.

Here the letters, packets and parcels along conveyor belts to be divided streamed between computers workers whose function is to convert the packages vertically to scan the system could do the automatic. Plots then track along a series of conveyor belts where computer-controlled weapons sent to distribution points right. In addition, separate order of priority packets express the destinations close to cities and suburbs of large cities. Shortly after the planes were unloaded, the display of the entire show complex time which will be provided in the class.

Unbundling and re-packaged as it were, the packages are loaded and then again in containers and again in the planes then left. Memphis can cope with almost two million deliveries (overnight – 30% of the total volume of the FedEx system.

As the shaft rotates, small teams of men were awaiting maintenance, such as rapid response units in case of sputtering machines. Indeed such is the contingency planning that aircraft parts are kept in the air in case of mechanical difficulties.

FedEx – A history of service excellence

The call of a large medical laboratory in Phoenix was urgent. Shipments of amniotic fluid from two high-risk pregnancies had failed to arrive for testing. If you do not arrive soon, the mothers who have to endure the complicated procedure again. Senior Customer Service Representative Brenda Currey took the phone and found shipments in a truck near Dallas. With the help of FedEx operations staff, she had stopped the truck and 20,000 pounds of cargo discharge to recover the two samples. "Make Phoenix and I'll take care of them," said manager Dallas ramp Currey. Knew the flight carrying shipments at 11 pm, put them in your refrigerator with the laboratory, and personally delivered the next day. "Why did you do this?" Asked the lab technician. "It I had to do, "said Currey. And I was there. "Three days later the lab called to see Currey their efforts had been worthwhile. Samples just fine. (Brenda Currey has been with FedEx since 1985.)

Source: "How time flies – FedEx delivered the 21st Century

USAA

Format of Visit

• Half day visit
• Speakers:
  Donna Wildey Planning Manage
• Joe Bruha VP Brand Management
• Beverly McClure Customer Relationship Management NE Region

• Location: Central San Antonio consortium

Context

• Founded by William Garrison, Army Major in 1922
• USAA (Services Automotive Industry Association) serves current and former members of the U.S. military and their families
• One of the leading insurance companies in the U.S. and financial services; 4.7 million customers, 23,500 employees, assets $ 62.4bn
• President and CEO of the most decorated combat veteran lead USAA. Chairman of the Board retired U.S. Air Force and former four-star general deputy chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs Staff
• In essence A direct trade with the majority of business done by phone, mail and website
• Motto "We know what it means to serve '
• E-biggest U.S. company and the third largest in the world

Business Model

• The association's mission is to facilitate the financial security of its members, associates and families by providing a wide range of products highly competitive financial services and in doing so USAA seeks to be the supplier of choice for the military community.
• It expanded definition of the target market to include soldiers, but still remained within the military affinity

Processes

• Using the Balanced Scorecard
  Market Performance 35% 35% Financial Performance
  Projects 20% 10% Completing the Mission
• Within the market performance lost members score = 50%
• View details of the key findings of the areas below
• Key Service Principles
  – Trust and reliability – Simplify the process
  – Multiple Access – Customer Reviews
• Try what they call the "Wizard of Oz effect", ie the illusion of simplicity
• Evidence that the planning process is used for drilling for understanding within the company

Products Variables

• Wide range of insurance and financial products including: property and casualty insurance, life insurance and health, annuities, mutual funds, discount brokerage, credit cards, banking, travel services and alliance
• They had a wheel diagram that incorporates six business divisions, ten important events in life and ten products to give potential segments 600.

Staff Management

• Necessary / the largest employer in San Antonio
• Highly personalized workspaces with heavy use of the American flag, military memorabilia Public spaces

• Head office in San Antonio has three fitness centers, health centers and cafes also offer food to take home.
• There is also a sophisticated system to interact with staff and have never had to lay off personnel.
• One third of employees college education is sponsored by USAA.
• Have a Workforce Transition Team that employees join for 12 months if the job disappears through re-structuring, etc.
• Managers have its own restaurant and bathrooms – shadows of the officers and enlisted

Dialogue Customer

• No real-time single view of customer IT, but gave it a rating periodic snapshots 5 / 10 of the current capacity
• Realign the products and areas of customer-centric support centers of excellence
• double the number of customers every 10 years
• Minimalist and brand advertising – rely on word of mouth in close military communities about
• Claim 98% "loyalty" 4.97 products per household, less than 2% churn
• Only recently have introduced regulations to direct mail volumes – two pieces per member per month
• seen as key marketing tasks
  Exploration management segment – - Life Event Management – Product Design and Delivery – Maintenance – Management Brand
• Extensive customer feedback loops based on their location using formalized processes of research, the retention of key
• One of his secrets is the 140 personal characteristics that are known to keep on each customer

Comment

• USAA have cornered a affinity market outstanding in the U.S. military. Its focus on family and community is reflected in the way that customers value and loyalty of staff.
• If While there have broadened its definition of segment, for example, include men in the list, and have a magnificent estate, you must be a suspicion that could be heading towards a dead end because of an aging customer base and lower recruiting numbers in the military complex.
• His tone could be characterized as one of quiet understatement – no doubt the brand is low in personality.
• Many of their practices and processes seem familiar in Today and approach to direct mail is dated. Clearly it was not possible to compare their prices, but this along with the range of products and features should be a part core offer.
• It was interesting that despite the strength of the brand in the target market that there was no evidence of stretch marks beyond financial services.

Some Delegate Comments

Niche markets are wonderful things, especially if there is an emotional tug

Customer loyalty and trust brings more benefits

Understand your target market

USAA – Key Results Areas

Service Objectives

• Confidence and reliability
• Simplifying processes
• The customer access and delivery
• High levels of persistent
• Assess trends lost member
• The use of feedback members to improve processes and services
• Community outreach
• Legislative and regulatory flexibility
• Industry Affairs
• Civil justice reform
• Public Education
• Educational outreach
• Loss control
• Synergy between business lines
• Expanding the breadth and depth of the partnership
• Growing Member comments
• Educate Member
• Strengthen community affinity
• Build strategic alliances
• Promote customized solutions
• Enough net worth and liquidity
• Strongest possible scores
• Maintain capital adequacy
• USAA Investment Portfolio Optimization
• Migration losses
• Improving our operating environment
• Deploying efficient business practices and solutions
• Quality of financial products
• coordinated packages of products
• Specific Information
• Increase the penetration of core markets

Public Disclosure Objectives

Relationship Building Goals

Financial strength goals

Objectives value products

Objectives of the Mission Support

• Providing sensitive, value-added services response
• Promoting productivity, health, safety and welfare of the employees of USAA
• To provide high quality services and
• Diverse force flexible working, motivated, multi-skilled
• highest ethical standards Foster
• We value the diversity of employees as that the value of the diversity of members
• Cultivating employee feedback
• Educate employees about the products and issues to USAA
• Encourage the development of self employed
• Integrate information technology architecture
• Develop and manage information and common systems technology
• Improve data infrastructure

Strategic Assets – People

Strategic Assets – Technology

Source: CD-ROM 'Take a journey with USAA as "12/98

Nordstrom

Format Visit

• 1 hours Lunchtime visit
• Presenter: Cindy Mahan Store General Manager
• Location: Dallas Store

Context

• In 1901, John W. Nordstrom – who emigrated from Sweden aged 16, used $ 5,000 of their participation fever Alaska Gold to open a small shoe store in Seattle, Washington
• Shop later became the children and grandchildren and Nordstrom family still
• Enlargement of the shoes in 1960 and is now one of the nation's retail fashion leader with 132 stores in 25 states

Business Model

• Family management, values and accessibility
• entrepreneurial approach to personal income largely commission based in – Have own business
• salespeople can earn more than senior management team
• The sales staff build and manage portfolios customers' own

Processes

• Examined the underlying logistic

Products Variables

• The perception of the price premium created by the environment and the environment but not the price of the premium itself
• Objective never out of stock of any size of shoes catering for exceptional widths and lengths
• important Ambiente – wide aisles and shelves low so you can see the length of the floor

Staff Management

• Employee Manual is a double face card with the message only 'Use your wisdom in all situations "see below
• You can hire people 'nice'
• frequent performance recognition ceremonies and celebrations

Customer Dialogue

• Quality and frequency essentially sales in the hands of people who manage the contact strategy and your own thank you notes, etc.

Comment

• We had the opportunity to view corporate video traces the history of the company and a brief chat with the store manager in Dallas – a woman who had been a buyer them.
• A staff member (see article below) was grossing 1.5 million dollars in sales a year and earned more than the manager Store.
• After the appeal confirmed the purchase of the environment and the environment compared to other major U.S. retailers
• The staff were particularly pleasant and adequate attention in the beginning of the sales process. Prices were comparable to the other shops in the main Mall.

Some Delegate Comments

The natural confidence that comes from the empowerment

Pride in work is noticed and appreciated by its customers (and rewarded by your company)

Training of key staff works for the baseline (regardless of state) – to ask people to do what is good

Welcome to Nordstrom

We are happy to have that withour Company.

Our number one goal is to provide exceptional customer service

Set your personal and professional goals high.

We have great confidence in their ability to achieve them.

Nordstrom Regulation

Rule # 1: Use your good sense in all situations

There will be additional rules.

Please do not hesitate to ask

Your department manager, store manager or division general manager any question

at anytime

Nordstrom

Nordstrom Stories of Service Excellence

• Nordstrom is famous for the refund policy. The archetypal story told by Tom Peters is a customer who returns two tires to a shop for the customer was given money. Nordstrom does not sell tires, but apparently there was a garage on the site before Nordstrom arrived.
• A male customer arrived with a bag of about fifty pairs of socks at the store in Dallas. He emptied his socks on the counter and requested a refund on the basis that they were uncomfortable to wear. The seller – relatively new – started saying that revenues would have to see at which time a more senior colleague took over. A full refund was processed and found socks had not been properly implemented. Proper was found and returned the next day the customer to buy $ 1000 worth of shirts. The seller of high-level question grossing $ 1.5 million in sales!
• The Store Manager Dallas was having a difficult time in a piece of jewelry worth $ 10,000. The circumstances were not made in the Manager of the store, but decided to personally ring Nordstrom family member responsible for this product line. "You know, "he said," we knew that this was a difficult product groups to get into what was our decision not yours. You do what you feel is right for this customer and you have my total support. "The cost of the jewelry was repaid.

Source: Dallas Store Manager

Sewell Village Cadillac ( www.sewell.com )

Format of Visit

• 2 hours visited two showrooms
• Guide: Besio chip sales and marketing director
• Location: Dallas

Context

• When Carl Sewell joined the car dealership from his father in 1967 set out to do better in the world.
• Thirty years later, the company has grown from $ 10 million turnover of $ 500 million
• In four locations in Dallas, Fort Worth, San Antonio and New Orleans
• Co-wrote the book "Customer for Life"

Business Model

• Exponent of the value of life time
• Mission: We will provide the best vehicle sales and service experience for our customers. We'll do it in a way that promote continuous improvement of our people and our company. We are going to be a better performance, professional and caring organization in all I really do.
• The first to recognize that the purchase of cars (in lesser extent) of the potential revenue stream – maintenance, spare parts and car sales in the second significant hand

Processes

• This is about integrated engineering total customer experience that each employee brings
• Has terminal computer in the car park so that it falls a car mechanic can enter to see where the next job and minimize downtime
• Germany automated parts storage system
• McDonalds type tiles on the floor – justified by business case
• Guests staying with the same team director Service

Variable Products

• Cadillac, Hummer, Lexus, Saab, GMC, Chevrolet, Pontiac, Oldsmobile, Infiniti
• Use the physical signs to denote high quality leather sofas and care – private working areas for customers, candles and flowers, mosaics on the shop floor, chrome
• It is worth bearing cut grass skirts more often than do companies

Administration Staff

• psychologist used to select the same staff for 25 years – until the workers ask candidates to eat as part of the selection process – if staff did not want to spend time with the applicant, customers probably will not.
• Service staff is self employee – correcting faulty work in the technical Leisure

Customer Dialogue

• after purchase / Service surveys
• Mystery Shopping

Comment

• It is often said that "retail is detail and it is a impressive example of the "line of sight" factors are designed to create a total customer experience memorable.
• It also again emphasizes the fundamental role of product in the total experience and the added benefits of tangibility missing in most contexts services.
• In the suburb of Dallas Sewell is located, have three showrooms and workshops important within say 500 yards – a saturation strategy.

Some Delegate Comments

Need to continue to innovate. Differentiation is always key. Understanding the subtleties of your market

The environment is important – it helps to attract good staff and encouraged as

Engineer of the total benefits package to deliver an experience superior.

The Ten Commandments of Customer Service

1. Let them come back alive

Ask customers what they want and give it to again and again

2. Systems, not smiles

Say "Please and thank you guarantee that you will not do the job right the first time, every time. Only systems guarantee.

3. Underpromise, overdeliver

Customers expect you to keep your word. Beat it.

4. When the customer asks, the answer it is always

Period.

5. Fire your inspectors and customer relations departments

Any employee who deals with customers should have the authority to handle complaints.

6. I do not complain? Something is wrong

Encourage your customers to tell you what you're doing wrong

7. Measure all

Baseball teams to do so. Basketball teams do it. You should also

8. Salaries are unfair

People pay as partners

9. Your mother was right

Show respect for people. Be polite. It works.

10. Japanese people

Learn how best to really make their systems your own. Then improve them.

WARNING: These ten rules are not worth a damn … .. unless you make a profit. You have to earn money to stay in business and offer good service.

Source: "Customers for Life by Carl Sewell and Paul B. Brown

Cadillac Village Sewells

Beliefs and Values

1. We at the top when compared with appropriate business standards or performance in every function in every department, at every performance.
2. Strive to adopt the quality and profitability in order to stay in business and provide jobs for our people.
3. The development of our people is essential to our growth and future success. We will provide training and education to promote long-term employment and professional advancement of all our Associates.
4. We will win and regain the goodwill, confidence and trust of our customers and colleagues every day.
5. Our suppliers are important to our success. Let to establish long term relationships with suppliers whose values and quality are consistent with ours.
6. The highest ethical standards guide all what we do.
7. We will strive for continuous improvement and innovation in everything we do.

Sewell Village Cadillac – Excellence Story service

Some of our clients are more grateful people who have gone with us to buy a Jaguar, Mercedes or BMW and have experienced customer service distributors offer.

I have a great memory to pick the president of a company here in Dallas who was in front of the Mercedes dealership waiting for a taxi to take him to work. I had to call a taxi because he could not get a ride from anyone in the Mercedes dealership. I was driving down the street, and saw that he expected, so I picked it up and took him to his office. Along the way, shook his head and said, I do not know why left. "Twp years later, when it came to trade in your Mercedes, which was negotiated with us and bought a Cadillac. He said the Mercedes was a good car but it not worth the hassle of getting to be given maintenance.

Source: "Customers for Life Carl Sewell and Paul B. Brown

Southwest Airlines

Format of Visit

• Visiting day
• Presenters: Pat Jansen
  Brian Allen Career Coach
• Location of Southwest Airlines University of Dallas People

Context

• Nonprofit for 28 consecutive years
• No layoffs announced before or after 9 / 11, stock prices fell only 24.1% v 43.2% United
• At Within days of September 11 had moved the staff profit sharing fund to a trust account for the funds would be there to distribute
• Facing years of legal wrangling and obstruction of established players and vested interests
• Have a history of advancing quickly if a new company expansion opportunity occurs for example, failure of a competitor, the availability of the door at a convenient airport – based on scenario planning
• Stock Exchange symbol is LUV
• Marketed as the LUV airline
• 33 000 employees, 84% unionized
• Strongly associated with the personality of Herb Kelleher, who is frequently quoted about the company – once a major legal dispute resolved by due – and lost!
• Described by Tom Peters as "Greatest Show on Earth Air Transport '

Business Model

• Low cost domestic airlines
  – Only fly 737-15 minutes programmed to turn round, not reserve a place – no meals
  – Plastic reusable shipping cards-no hub – one city to another only – firstly the use of two levels and lower peak demand pricing
  – Use smaller airports in the city not international
• Perfected niche travel short flight door flights daily average of 10.5 v 8.0 of the industry; plane flying 11.5 hours per day typical industry average of 8.6 v
• Each station functions as an independent business unit

Processes

• Percentage of arrivals' is displayed on a screen live on all computer screens

Variable Products

• Frankly, the university seems to nursery school. The walls are unfinished. It is decorated with murals representing the cities and places in the U.S. – Feel proud of what little money spent and the symbol of the unfinished nature minds are always under construction
• Have a program of "Gateway Games" if flights are delayed

Staff Management

• Talk about the E 4 – Employment, Training, Environment Environment and enjoyment. Encourage staff to ask for forgiveness not permission. Promote okay to be "Younique"
• Staff encouraged to own "their part of the business
• Look warrior spirits (see below)
• Having coaches Committees Training and Culture
• Putting your staff before your customers – the customer is always right
• family spirit is based on the customized environment, spontaneity and frequent personal events – pizza parties, barbecues, etc.
• Casual clothing is a fact – not just specific day

Dialogue Customer

• No suggestion boxes – challenge managers to interact with staff and staff with customers
• JD Powers Fort ratings

Comment

• For any point of view was an extraordinary experience – a business model rigorously pursued that has been copied many times, but not replicate their overall success;
• They have always stuck to the tissue and has not been absorbed by another value destruction of areas;
• Emotion, passion and fun are used as strategic assets. The family card is played with great force. They go public to put their staff before their customers.

• It is often observed that people park their brains when they come to work, but personality is also important;

• Succession in a company where there has been a dominant personality is always a challenge. The sense is that the culture is so well established is going to live anyway;
• Another challenge Soutwest face is simply the current economic climate – the culture would not be hurt if the company had to lay off staff? Once again it would be a trust given to the rigors have historically faced could earn through this too.

Some Delegate Comments

The most powerful force for excellence in service is its people and how they treat you, and lead

The importance of conclusion, the attitude and live the values to the creation of a truly innovative

Culture is at the heart of success of the organization – which is at least as important as the process

You are the spirit of Southwest Airlines

S ervice – are positively scandalous

roductivity P – always give your personal best

I ndividuality – You can make a positive difference

esponsibility R – hold yourself accountable first

I magination – Create a little fun at work

eamwork T – together we can achieve great things

Southwest Airlines Excellence in the Service Story

In midsummer, a young man boarded a flight in shorts and T shirt. He sat down, but when the plane rolled off the stand – and against the rules of Civil Aviation – quickly ran to the bathroom. The flight attendant knocked on the door and remonstrated with him to return to his seat. When timidly opened the gates asked him what was wrong – too much beer suspect. Embarrassed and red in the face, admitted, "My balls are on fire!" "Excuse-me responded. Was repeated and explained that someone had left some dried jalapeno peppers in your seat and have found their way into his shorts. The flight attendant, the suppression of the urge to laugh, took over immediately and bought the first aid needed – a towel, an ice bag and a blanket.

Source: Presentation

The British are coming

The day we arrived at Southwestern University was the day George Harrison died, the meeting began with one of their songs being played on the hi-fi system. As representatives of the United Kingdom has offered condolences to submit teams.

The same day was graduation day cabin crew about 200. They had been reduced from 90 000 applicants for the first phase and 200,000 in general.

Had been in training for five weeks without pay and (this was the end of November) would not get your first payment until early January. We were invited to go down – for singing the British are coming – and join them – and what was an experience! Ten minutes 'Hello' became an hour-long cultural exchange.

The energy, enthusiasm and positive emotion in the room was palpable. Reserved for us British people was a bit of an Oprah Winfrey show in his office. We paraded in front and heard as a personal tribute to the family of Southwest Airlines, and community spirit came from young and old, male and white and color and female. Individuals stood up and personally told why they were proud to be part of the family of the Southwest with the accompaniment of cheers, whistling and clapping.

Such was the nature of infectious enthusiasm that we have responded by a tour of the room "high fiving" with as many people as we could.

This personal story telling and spiritual commitment seems to be a property of the company. It happened again when we sit with the team as a recruit training relatively new recounted how he had been fired from his last three jobs and had been expecting the same again because of difficulties in the industry air as a whole. So far, SWA has dismissed any employee.

To summarize the findings

A quantitative evaluation Classification giving the company said. However, taking into account the different formats of the visits, data collection has been uneven and this approach was therefore discounted.

Dealing then with the "line of sight to the components in turn:

Context

• An important part of context is the concept of the American dream and a society of equal opportunities. Many companies play this with his repeated "Poverty in the history of wealth" dynastic corporate endless stories, Mark Twain aphorism type, and focus on friends, families and communities. In the context UK companies were also relatively young.
• The tour took place in the U.S. economy was in recession and the post 11 September. There evidence that companies were tightening their belts and more difficult trading conditions. For many, the welfare of their society is under threat.

Business Models

• Business models were always well-defined niches ranging from the widespread "mom and pop" store Stew Leonard's with the low cost model of Southwest Airlines.
• In all cases their origins were in a definition of market innovation they were in, customers are served and how they chose to deliver his thesis.
• In some cases these models appeared to be tiring and strategic renewal was becoming a necessity. There was a sense, too, that some of the risk models increasingly exhausted but there is no concrete evidence of consumer reaction violent at the moment.
• Well connected and shared values are an explicit part of business models. Leaders personified these and put great emphasis in eliminating the gaps between perception and real leadership, the ownership and management. In many cases, this meant that the resulting model is highly entrepreneurial and high levels of personal involvement as staff think and act like owners.
• While Service Excellence is a unifying goal for the companies visited, this was not a blank check and investment must be justified by corporate earnings.

Key Processes

• In most cases the stories told by the companies we visited were similar to the case studies well rehearsed. Your company wide performance models were established well and in the time available it was difficult to find the gaps.
• Exposure to Baldrige and other quality measurement systems has made managing extremely detailed and scientific processes, but in a way that is largely accessible and comprehensible to the majority of staff. As a result, actively involved in process re-design and continuous improvement of its own and deliver the results.
• The processes are essential, because in the same way that may facilitate alignment can also engineer misalignment and higher operating costs. The lighted companies made a point of reverse engineering the understanding of customer needs in the organization (as shown in the "customer feedback Pull 'loops in the previous' line view diagram) – And keeping it simple.
• One tends to think of processes that have a connotation of manufacture or production. However, many of the tools used by companies in personnel management and internal communications had the same structure and focused rigor.

Variable Products

• functional value and competitiveness of commodities remain a key element.
• There is no evidence of price fixing of commodities in general – although this may be varied for individual product lines – (apart from Ritz Carlton) for the service or environment benefits.
• In a given volume, usually the bank will be negotiated depending on the volume to share the benefits with customers and deliver greater incremental income.

Staff Management

• Most companies have developed their own models of recruitment psychometric with a focus on good personal qualities and positive attitude rather than academic skills.
• The training programs were as much to do with culture and ethos as technical skills. There were frequent opportunities to reaffirm the cultural and personal adjustment.
• There was a strong emphasis on accountability reinforced by the family staff, equipment and community values. Employees are encouraged about their feelings.

• prevailing business models and were reflected in the measurement and reward processes – 'Go Big or Home, Go!'.

• Promotion from within is a regular occurrence companies have worked hard to become an employer of choice.

• Staff are encouraged to bring their individual personalities to work and see with the eyes of the customer.
• Fun and excitement are seen as strategic assets in the renditions of WOW

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