Welcome to the September 06 edition of The Dynamic Dispatch, the email newsletter of Dynamic Advantage.
We bring you better customer service.
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This Month’s Dispatch Data
- Service call: fixing broken window syndrome
- Tips & tools: love the complaints
- Exemplary shopper of the month
If your repeat customers are showing up with less frequency, your business may have broken window syndrome – and you may not even know it.“Broken windows theory” states that disorder in a community, however small, will lead to greater chaos if left uncorrected. One day’s graffiti leads quickly to litter, rowdy behavior, loitering strangers and worse, with formerly stable neighborhoods turning into jungles.
This doesn’t apply just to inner cities and neighborhoods, though – it applies to your business, too.
One day’s dirty cash register leads directly into the next day’s unemptied trash can. Add in a puddle of grease in the parking lot, unwiped tables, and a dirty restroom and you’ve got a business that looks rundown and that says “don’t come in.”
“If disorder goes unchecked, a vicious cycle begins,” the original theorists on broken window syndrome wrote in 1982. “One unrepaired window is a signal that no one cares, so breaking more windows costs nothing.”
What should you about broken window syndrome in your business?
- First, determine whether or not you’ve already got it. (Or have us do it.) Do a walk-around of your business, from the perspective of a first-time customer. Does it look clean and bright? Do your employees treat customers – and each other – the way you’d like? Would you use this restroom?
- Call a staff meeting and give a guided tour of all your broken windows. This first time out, don’t be too quick to ascribe blame; most of your staff probably aren’t aware that their neighborhood (your business) has started to slide, and that it started with little things out of place.
- Communicate how things should look (and be done) in your business, as well as your expectation that everyone will take part in keeping the neighborhood clean. Make sure that every aspect has someone responsible for maintaining it.
- Stay on top of it on a regular basis. As they say, you can expect what you inspect.
Not sure if you have broken window syndrome? Need help monitoring progress? Call us toll free at 866.870.1251. We’ll help you keep your business friendly and inviting.
What’s worse than a customer who complains? One who doesn’t – and just never comes back.Every customer complaint is an opportunity for you to do better. In fact, it’s a challenge to do better – to show that you listen and respond to your customers, and to regain trust and loyalty.
Sometimes the stress of any given day puts all of us in the wrong mindset to hear this opportunity. We think, “Oh, no – here comes another complaint.” When really we should think, “I’m going to learn about something we’re not doing well. Here comes my opportunity to fix it.”
Whether complaints are about operational problems (the service or product didn’t perform) or about customer service problems (employees didn’t perform), they provide the sort of insights that keep companies strong – so long as you act on them.
Need actionable results? We can monitor your performance and show you how to increase sales. Contact us.
Our
Exemplary Shopper of the Month, DA0961, shops in Los Angeles County for
us. Angie has been shopping for Dynamic Advantage for about a year and
especially loves shopping Chow King because of their food. She says she
enjoys this work because seeing things improve at our clients’
businesses month over month thanks to our mystery shopping service
makes her feel great. And congrats to Angie on the birth of her baby,
Jay Benedict, on the 13th of September.
Let us know what you think! Email us at info@dynamic-advantage.com. We’d love to hear from you.
Dynamic Advantage | 866.870.1251 (toll free) | info@dynamic-advantage.com
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| Dynamic Advantage 356 East Olive Ave #118 Burbank, CA 91502 Phone: 866.870.1251 (toll free) 818.238.1251 Online: Dynamic-Advantage.com |