As the curator of the INSIDER Guide to New Product Development (NPD), I’m constantly keeping an eye out for bite-size information that will help you develop and scale better subscription products.   Here’s my “Five on Friday” list for August 21st, featuring the five best trends, tips, quotes or stats from my reading this week.

This week our focus is on Customer Service – stay tuned for my Toolkit on the topic this fall.

1. The Cost of Poor Customer Service is High

While this is no surprise, I wanted to share some statistics on the topic, as compiled by Salesforce:

• 59% of 25-34 year-olds share poor customer experiences online.

• Following a negative customer experience, 58% of Americans say they would never use that company again.

• In the US, the cost of poor customer service is $41 billion per year.

So, how do we not only avoid giving poor customer service, but actually delight our customer with our great service?  Here are a few of my favorites:

Check it yourself.  When was the last time you performed a Mystery Customer evaluation of your own customer service?  This should be at least an annual exercise and cover ease of access, accuracy of answer and enthusiasm of team member.

Refund excessively.  Nobody ever went out of business because they gave customers their money back.  I client recently asked me, “Under what circumstances should I refund a subscriber’s payment?”  My answer?  “Any time they request it.”  A dissatisfied subscriber who is treated well is almost as likely to speak well of you as a satisfied subscriber is.

Walk the talk.  If “great customer service” is a differentiator that you use to market your subscription then quantify it, specify it, identify it.  Customers are highly skeptical of any business that makes a nebulous “Come to us instead of Other Subscription Option because we have great customer service!” without something to back it up.

2. Customers Will Pay More For Better Service

3. Customer Service: Beware of Bad Advice

I was looking for a good infographic on customer service best practices.  I found a good infographic – that included terrible advice.  I’m not linking to it here, but want to offer a comment on one of the most egregious of the “10 Customer Service Best Practices” presented:

“While 75% of consumers still prefer phone conversations for customer support, spending time in a contact center queue is not a viable option. If your brand enables customer self-service, then your customers will be happy and you will be happy keeping contact center costs down.”

What should you take away from this “tip?”  The knowledge that 75% of consumers still prefer to call customer support.  What should you ignore?  The idea that creating self-service options will diminish this preference.  What should you learn?  Customer service must be built around the customer, not our convenience.

4. What Do You Want to Know About Customer Service?

You may not be surprised, given the last example, that I find there’s a dearth of valuable, actionable information on how to establish excellent customer service, particularly for our industry. So, let’s begin the conversation with what you need.

Send me your biggest concern – or biggest success – in the area of customer service and I’ll send you a $10 Amazon gift card.

5. Where Product Development and Customer Service Meet

Have a great weekend everyone!

Diane

Diane Pierson, our INSIDER Guide to New Product Development, is a leader in product management and marketing, having delivered results to companies including Dun & Bradstreet, LexisNexis, American Lawyer Media and Copyright Clearance Center. She has built products & services that have delivered over $100 million in revenue and knows what works, and what doesn’t, when executing product plans and strategies. (Read Diane’s full Bio)