I’m obsessed with customer service. Have been for some time. Retail brands can be wiped from my consumer consumption in a swipe if things go sideways.True for you too, right? If you don’t feel valued or respected, why should you spend your money there?!?

Customer service has never been easier or harder. Gone are the days:

• Where the employee servicing the customer are the only touch point.
• As an owner, major stakeholder, CEO you never hear about bad experiences.
• 9-5 customer service. A social world means 24-7 visibility. Customers want quick resolution at anytime of the day.

One negative experience can end the relationship.
I had a favorite clothing store, a national brand and I loved them. They were the best. They kept a book on me. I could call ahead. They would have a room waiting with items in my size and preferences.

Until one day … the manager texted me that my loyalty reward was going to expire on Monday. I went to redeem and OOPS it expired on Sunday. The manager wasn’t there, the employees could do nothing for me (even though I shared the text). I decided I would return when someone followed up. It has been 14 months.

Excellent service creates loyalty.
This year, I ordered my Christmas cards. I waited patiently, for them to arrive but after an appropriate length of time and still no cards I called to inquire. They shipped to a previous property and had been delivered and signed for. I FORGOT to change the shipping address in my profile. How did they respond? “We will express print and ship tomorrow overnight.” I asked how much this wonderful solution would be?? It was FREE because they appreciated my business. Just. Wow.

Three benefits of having a customer service strategy. Customer service:

• Differentiates. Blue Ocean Strategy by Chan Kim & Renee Maubogne tells us we need to differentiate to set us apart from a sea of sameness. Recommended read!
• Creates loyal customers.
• Creates happy employees.

Can you service your way to sales? Absolutely.

Can you service your way out of sales? Absolutely.

Do you have a customer service strategy? If not get on it. Your team, customers and P&L will thank you.

On September 20, little did I know I would have a lesson on my latest opportunity to adapt to a new obstacle. I attended Camp Gladiator’s annual CG games, a fitness competition that pushes athletes to their limits.

We were there to do a fun run of the obstacle course. I was amazed, inspired by the competitors and already planning my training to be there as a competitor in 2015. I knew I could do this and wanted to do it!

Two hours later after a fall on the monkey bars, my adaptability was tested. My ACL was toast and needed reconstruction. Out with the goal to compete in CG games in 2015, new plan to be 100% recovered in a year.

Life happens, your professional life happens, business happens. To be successful in all areas in the current world that changes in a nanosecond, how can you ensure success?

To set your business up to prosper, it has to be flexible in any conditions. Here are three ways to ensure your business is adaptable:

1. Stay on top of market trends. Including customer insights, competitors, economy, employment, technology and laws and regulations.
2. Talk to your customers. Get feedback and respond.
3. Create and foster an innovative culture. Be open to new ideas from all levels within the organization.

Companies must constantly evolve to changing dynamics in society or an industry to be successful.

A couple adaptability examples:

• In the technology sector, you can easily see the winners and losers. As we switched from fax machines and snail mail to email and text, from bulky desktop computers to handheld devices, from Mapsco to built-in navigation systems, many organizations had to adapt. Apple was once considered dead. Look at them now. They innovated and adapted and are winning.
• In August 2001, the opening of The Shops of Willow Bend, an upscale shopping center with mostly high end tenants, opened shortly before the September 11, 2001, attacks. Retail sales nationwide entered a slump. When it first opened, the mall’s tenants included Escada, Bruno Magli, Burberry, Armani Collezioni, Montblanc, Nicole Miller, Diesel, D&G and Loro Piana among others. The economy and environment dictated the need for change. Today, they are focusing on opening national retail chains versus luxury stores. This year, the center was sold to Starwood Capital Group for more than $1.4 billion.
• In February 3, 2013, lights go out at SuperBowl XLVII. One hundred million viewers turn to social media to find Dunking in the Dark. That’s all. Oreo, you are genius and a perfect example of adaptability on the fly! Rock on!

Customer’s basic needs don’t change, but how they satisfy them do. Successful brands stay on-top of this.

Wish me luck on my surgery next week? Maybe I will blog about it …

This 4th of July, my family was on the lake. For the first time, we went out to the middle of the lake in a boat to watch the fireworks. It was exciting to be on the water and have a 360 view of the sky lighting up in celebration of our country. My two young boys snuggled up with me looking up at the sky and eventually fell asleep in my arms (that hasn’t happened since they were babies). For me, it was a perfection. For them, not so much …

Is your brand, product or service perfect? Of course! No one ever says, “My baby has imperfections.” If customers view your brand as less-than perfect, there is a perception challenge. Your customer’s perception is your business’s reality.

The Dove’s “Real Beauty Sketches” Ad Campaign of 2013 is one of my all-time favorites! A woman describes herself to a forensic artist and strangers who have met the woman that day do the same. The result is two images that are very different. The tagline is, “You are more beautiful than you think.”

How interesting would it be if brands could do this? If executives and employees could describe their products and services and customers do the same. How would the pictures differ?

In 2009, Domino’s Pizza had a perceptions issue. What did they do? They listened, responded and communicated how they were changing, resulting is amazing business results. Watch this Domino’s Pizza Turnaround.

Perception is reality.

Three ways to do a brand perception reality check:

1. Outside Business Consultants
2. Customer Intercepts, Focus Groups & Surveys
3. Social Media

Outside Business Consultants come in many forms; research firms, advertising, marketing and PR agencies, executive coaches, assessments, mystery shoppers to name a few. The value an outside partner can bring to your business is an objective view of your customer’s perception

Customer intercepts, focus groups or surveys are feelings and attitudes of your product or service. When asked, people will give you insights on areas to improve or let you know to stay the course. A very simple first step is a suggestion box in retail locations. You can get some really great ideas!

Social Media has opened the customer conversations wide open! Leverage this opportunity to listen, watch, collect and engage with your audience. People have immediate access to your brand to share in a public forum their likes, dislikes and desires for your product and services. Are you listening? Are you taking action? Social media allows you to respond immediately to customer feedback.

Listening to your customers and being open to feedback is an important business strategy to ensure your products and services are aligned with your customers’ perceptions.

My oldest son’s journal entry on my perfect 4th of July night: “On 4th July at night we did not get to see that much fireworks.” It was not his best 4th of July, our perceptions of the evening differed greatly, but perception is reality.