By Ken Redekop, director, customer experience management solutions, Telus

With the holidays around the corner, many are looking forward to spreading holiday cheer with families and friends. But, the period leading up to the holidays often brings less than good tidings when a flood of stressed-out shoppers start making their holiday purchases en masse. The crowds. The lines. The staff shortages. All of these experiences prove frustrating to customers and can even impact a company’s bottom line.

As the busy holiday season draws near, companies would be wise to take stock of their customer experience programs. This involves listening to customers in a multifaceted way, including in-person, online, and over the phone, to provide personalized service and educated answers.

[Editor's note: Check out the December issue of CRM magazine for more on the customer experience.]

[Suggestions after the jump...]

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So here’s a new feature: We’re going to start aggregating each month’s posts, for easier reference.

We’ll start this off with a few groupings from the month of October — which, if you’ll permit a moment of horn-blowing, I have to say I’m really proud of. We covered a lot of ground in the month, literally and figuratively, with staffers filing on-the-scene dispatches from nearly a dozen events at various locations nationwide, and guest-blogposts from not only our regular contributors but several newcomers as well.

October also marks the introduction of these monthly archives (which, one hopes, will appear sooner after the end of each month), and compendiums of coverage from all the big events (which, one hopes, will appear sooner after the end of each event). In the Comments below, I hope you’ll let us know if we’re giving you the kind of material you want.

For starters, here’s a blog-only exclusive, one I hope you’ve been watching all along:

Eric Barkin’s “Eric Across America” series of blogposts, a firsthand look at JetBlue’s “All-You-Can-Jet” promotion from the perspective of a participant:

• Eric Across America, Part I: The Story of One Man’s Journey into the Heart of JetBlue and JetBlue’s Entry into the Heart of That Man http://sn.im/dcrmblog100909b
• Eric Across America, Part II: Buying the JetBlue Pass http://sn.im/dcrmblog101209b
• Twitter Drove JetBlue Promotion — Eric Across America, Part II(b) http://sn.im/dcrmblog101309c
• Eric Across America, Part III: Booking Flights http://sn.im/dcrmblog101509a
• Eric Across America, Part IV: Trouble in the Contact Center http://sn.im/dcrmblog102009b
• Eric Across America, Part V: JetBlue Levies a Penalty? http://sn.im/dcrmblog102609b

And our posts from this year’s Oracle OpenWorld #oow09:

• Hello From OpenWorld ’09 http://sn.im/dcrmblog101209a
• GUEST-BLOG: The Perplexities (and Fun) of Oracle OpenWorld, by Beagle Research Group’s Denis Pombriant http://sn.im/dcrmblog101309b
• A Keynote That Will Pump (Clap) You Up http://sn.im/dcrmblog101409b
• GUEST-BLOG: Overloading on Oracle, Both Good and Bad http://sn.im/dcrmblog101409c, by Third Idea Consulting’s Marshall Lager
• GUEST-BLOG: Cloudy Computing at Oracle OpenWorld http://sn.im/dcrmblog101409d, by Third Idea Consulting’s Marshall Lager
• Also keep an eye out for our compendium post of #OOW09 coverage from across the Web.

The rest of the month’s posts — including coverage from The Conference Board’s Social Media Summit, the DMA 2009 show, eMetrics ‘09, the RightNow Summit ‘09, and Forrester Research’s Forrester Consumer Forum — are after the jump.

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I get the chance to write quite a bit about the topic of customer experience — how companies are measuring it, trying to implement it, and figure out what it actually is. Oftentimes, my focus is on North American-based companies, but new research conducted by Greenfield Online (in full disclosure, also sponsored by Genesys Telecommunications Labs) finds that not adequately following through on customer experience is leading countries across the globe to miss out on precious revenue.

According to the study, businesses in Australia, New Zealand, and India lost a combined $5.6 billion in revenue due to inability to meet customer expectations. That’s not chump change. The largest offender of the three was Australia, which lost $2.6 billion, followed closely by India, losing $2.46 billion. New Zealand came in a distant third, posting a loss of $995.6 million.

The consumer respondents complained that these three countries, in particular, were displeased with automated self-service programs that didn’t allow them to reach a human agent and were difficult to navigate. Also, working with agents who weren’t empowered to make decisions, and having to repeat information — such as name and account number — every time their call is forwarded to another department was another pain point mentioned.

While those complaints are also levied stateside, the study did come up with some interesting statistics regarding the price tag on how much lost relationships with customers really cost companies.

According to the research, the average value of a relationship ended due to poor customer service experiences costs:

• $338.85 in Australia; the average consumer ending 1.37 relationships;
• $257.33 in New Zealand; the average consumer ending 1.17 relationships; and
• $121.81 in India; the average consumer ending 1.84 relationships.

Scary numbers, especially since the majority of customers surveyed here will not crawl into a corner and cease to use the product or service in question. According to the study, at least 60 percent of respondents each of the three countries took its business to a competitor.

Do these numbers surprise you? Do you think the prices here are similar — or (gasp) worse — here in North America?

As Forrester Research’s Customer Experience Forum continues on its second — and last — day here at the Grand Hyatt New York right next door to Grand Central Terminal, the sentiment here seems to be one of not if customer experience is necessary, but rather when — and how. Fostering a quality customer experience no longer seems to be a nice-to-have, judging by the tone and subject matter of the keynotes and other presentations here. Bruce Temkin, a vice president and principal analyst at Forrester, had a keynote address yesterday (my story on the speech is here) on the beginning steps companies should take.

In other news, Forrester announced the inaugural winners of their Voice of the Customer (VoC) Awards. Out of 40 applicants, only three companies took home the prize:

• Experian;
• Progressive; and
• Vanguard.

Speaking of “voice of the customer”, I sat in on a related track session yesterday: “Building a World-Class Voice of the Customer Program.” While the panel discussion was informative, I picked up on something rather interesting. Only one question in the entire 45-minute talk dealt with the literal audio of a customer conversation. Every other question asked by the attendees dealt with how to parse the information found in social media. This was not only evident to me, but also Natalie Petouhoff, a senior analyst at Forrester who sat with me at the session. Is this the direction VoC is taking? Are we glossing over speech analytics and going straight to social media? I’d love to get your thoughts on this.

Another question I have stemming from this conference: What exactly is customer experience? I haven’t found a catch-all, agreed-upon definition just yet. This is something I plan on exploring when I begin writing my December 2009 feature for CRM magazine on the topic, but I want to know what you believe it to be.

Greetings from the Customer Experience Summit here in the Windy City — Chicago. The conference, just a stone’s throw away from Soldier Field and Lake Michigan, is focusing in on not just delivering service, but a superior customer experience to an ever demanding customer base.

Check out our Web site for daily news postings from the event over the next couple of days. In a session this afternoon, “Going From Good to Great Service While Saving Money: Using the Voice Of The Customer to Drive Brand Aligned Service,” John Goodman, vice chairman of TARP Worldwide (not to be mistaken for the government bailout), pointed out ten myths of customer service that must keep in mind in order to evolve.

1. Always exceed customer expectations.
2. If you answer the phone the quickest, that alone is the key to success.
3. People always prefer talking to people.
4. The customer is always right.
5. If complaints are down, customer service is better.
6. Employees are the cause of the most dissatisfaction.
7. Price and cost cutting are the keys to success.
8. If your company is at 90 percent satisfaction, you should declare a victory.
9. If you measure Net Promoter Score, you are done insofar as analyzing your customer loyalty.
10. If you have a 100 percent satisfaction guarantee, everyone is happy.

“The law of diminishing returns does not really apply when it comes to customer experience,” Goodman pointed out.

For customer service managers and supervisors out there, do you believe that these ten points are truly myths? Are you still operating under these maxims? Are there any myths here that you’d either like to debunk or add to?

In the ramp up for Bozeman, Mont.-based on-demand customer experience management provider RightNow Technologies’ Summit 2008 here in Colorado Springs, you can expect many of the attendees to yearn for — and ask about — ways to continue to improve their companies’ customer experiences amidst an economy that has taken the country for a roller-coaster ride in the past several weeks.

Expect some more “on-the-scene” blog posts after some conversations with key executives and customers as the summit officially kicks off in a couple of hours with a keynote speech from RightNow Chief Executive Officer Greg Gianforte.

Nevertheless, there was a recent survey conducted by Harris Interactive (and in the pursuit of transparency, sponsored by RightNow) on the impact of customer experience. In its third year, the study finds that the experience is becoming more important as consumers continue to demand the service bar to be raised.

Here are some highlights drawn from the poll of 2,112 United States consumers (age 18 and older):

• 87 percent will discontinue business with a company after a negative customer experience, an increase of 7 percentage points from 2007;
• 58 percent will “always or often” pay more for a better experience during a down economy;
• 84 percent of those polled will tell others about a bad customer experience, up 10 percentage points since last year; and
• 51 percent of consumers want the option of a live Web chat session.

What was particularly interesting was the way in which consumers react to poor service. According to the study:

• 26 percent have sworn;
• 17 percent have shouted;
• 9 percent have felt sick;
• 5 percent of males say they hit or break something; and
• 9 percent of females cry.

With customer service hubs becoming the first interaction touchpoint for many consumers, the study finds it is imperative for companies to ensure they are doling out the goods for both instant and future business success. Fifty-eight percent of respondents are “at least somewhat likely” to make a purchase during a service engagement. Additionally, outstanding service is the top reason respondents would recommend a company to someone else–coming in at 58 percent. Low prices and product/service quality came in second and third, respectively.

Now for the call to action. For the companies out there waging the war of customer service every single day, are these stats surprising to you? CRM magazine and other media publications have been writing about the customer experience for some time now, but is it really hitting home or is it just another nice-to-have for you at this time?

I recently — OK, just yesterday — moved to a new place in Jersey City, N.J., which significantly decreases the commute I previously made.

In the midst of making many changes with addresses, phone numbers, finances, and the like, moving to New Jersey now meant I had to change my mode of transportation from Metro-North Railroad to The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, commonly referred to as the PATH.

Since getting the 30-day unlimited pass would work best for both my sanity and wallet, I had to get the SmartLink card. In all actuality, it’s a very cool idea. You just tap the card — which looks and feels like a credit card — at the turnstile to gain entrance. You tap it again at vending machines when you want to refill your card.

While it seems very easy to refill and take the PATH using this card, it is not as easy to get a card for the first time. You can either register for one online, or buy the card itself with a trip package at certain PATH stop locations after which you can then refill the card with an unlimited monthly pass.

It’s nice I know this now, but not so much this morning when I was going to different machines at the 33rd Street stop in Manhattan, trying to figure out a way to purchase a 30-day unlimited SmartLink pass outright. In my haste, I called the 1-800 number for PATH customer service only to find the office was not open yet. The automated response also told me I could leave a message.

Mind you, I’m extremely skeptical for leaving a message in a general answering machine that I’m sure is clogged with thousands of messages. I’ve talked to many people who have also found leaving a message for a general customer service time to be a tremendous waste. Nonetheless I gave it a shot, describing my issue (one of knowledge) and left my cell number so I could be reached.

Much to my surprise, I actually did get a call back from a PATH representative. Unfortunately, I couldn’t take the call because I was in a meeting. To my further astonishment, a message was left and marked urgent. I just listened to it, and it described exactly what I needed to do along with the specific locations I could actually purchase a SmartLink card. The woman also left me a direct number — not the 1-800 one — to call just in case I needed more assistance.

The direction she left me was perfect, and I really don’t need to call back. I might, though, just to thank her. Now my memory attached to the PATH — so far — is a great one. In my experience monitoring tip lines and listening to myriad messages, I never expected to get a call back a couple of hours after I called.

The “customer experience” is something I — as well as many of my fellow CRMers — have been writing about for quite some time. Now the latest research from Aberdeen Group finding that 60 percent of respondents have a customer experience management (CEM) program in place, and the remaining 40 percent plan on incorporating a CEM initiative in the next 30 months.

Being that this is a seemingly growing trend among organizations, I want to turn this over now to you, the reader. Have you been getting a better experience when you’ve had to interact with the customer service arm of organizations? Do you feel in your own interactions that we are heading down the path — slight pun intended — of a renewed emphasis on customer service? I’d love to hear your story.