• About Me
  • Luxury Lexicon
  • Resume

luxsell

~ Sales and customer service in the luxury industry

luxsell

Category Archives: Uncategorized

Those Little Things Really Do Count

17 Friday Jan 2020

Posted by Victoria Macdonald in Customer Complaints, Customer Experience, Customer Retention, Customer Service, Luxury, Luxury Customer Service, Luxury Dining, Luxury Sales Training, luxury service, Luxury Talent, Sales Coaching, Uncategorized

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

Coaching, Customer Experience, Customer Service, Luxury, Sales, Sales Coaching, Selling

tea-cup

When you travel as much as I do (over 100,000 miles last year) AND you write a blog about customer service (four years running), you can start to overlook the little things, feel jaded, and think you’ve written just about everything you can about luxury customer service. Then the littlest thing can happen and you’re reminded again how important good customer service is and to appreciate those who go out of their way to provide it.

We’ve all read the stories of luxury hotel staff who have flown across the country to deliver a laptop inadvertently left behind, or the department store that allowed a customer to “return” four tires even though they don’t sell tires. All grand gestures indeed and worthy of acknowledgement. But this post is dedicated to those who serve—perhaps in the smallest of ways—but who take the time to notice what’s going on and who make that small, extra effort to make your day.

This week I was staying at a mid-level chain hotel in Atlanta. It was the kind that offered a free buffet breakfast: self-serve, but with omelets made to order. Let’s be clear, this was not a luxury hotel. Self-serve, plastic cutlery, watered-down juice, some less than healthy breakfast selections. My service expectations were by no means high. As I finished my last bite of toast and was sipping my tea, a young woman approached in a dull brown uniform and asked if she might take my plate. Nothing extraordinary here, but at least she asked and didn’t just grab the plate—and she said the word ‘may’. All standard good service.  But then, without skipping a beat, said “so you may enjoy your tea.” That is, “May I take your plate so that you may enjoy your tea?”

This simple question blew me away. In her unassuming way, she managed to remind me what luxury service is all about. And that’s PAYING ATTENTION! Here’s how her question breaks down and how you can make the format part of your luxury service repertoire. 

Explain Why
When making a request, give the reason why. My server could have simply asked “May I take your plate?” I would have responded in the affirmative, the plate would have gone on its merry way, and I would have left the table feeling I’d received good service. But by letting me know why she was making her request, she grabbed my attention and involved me more deeply in the process.

Make it about me, me, me!
No it isn’t all about me, but when she explained the “why” of her request, she phrased it so it was about my benefit, not hers. She asked to clear the plate, not in order to expedite the clean up, but to provide a nicer environment for me to enjoy my tea.

Make it personal
She noticed I was drinking tea!  I’m a bit of an outlier in the morning beverage department. Most folks opt for a cup of joe to accompany their ham and eggs. I prefer tea. (So much so that I travel with my own tea bags). She could have looked at the cup on the table and simply assumed I was drinking coffee, as most folks do. I honestly would be writing this same post if she’s said “so you may enjoy your coffee” chalking it up to an honest mistake. But she noticed the string hanging off the cup and let me know she wanted me to enjoy my tea.

So what are the lessons learned?

  • Always ask permission (“May I”) when making a request
  • Explain why you’re making the request and why it benefits the customer
  • If possible, personalize the request

Following her example, I took the time later that day to find the manager to let him know about this exceptional employee. He smiled and replied, “I know exactly who you’re talking about.”

 

Overcoming the January “Return Blues”

07 Tuesday Jan 2020

Posted by Victoria Macdonald in Customer Complaints, Customer Experience, Customer Retention, Customer Service, Luxury, Luxury Customer Service, Luxury Sales Training, luxury service, Sales Coaching, Tiffany, Uncategorized

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

Coaching, Customer Complaints, Customer Experience, Customer Service, Jewelry, Luxury, Sales, Sales Coaching, Selling, Tiffany

RTTAs usual, last Sunday’s New York Times featured the Tiffany & Company advertisement regularly found at the top of page 3. This time the  image was of the multi-heart Return to Tiffany (RTT)  bracelet. Seeing as it’s January, I wasn’t sure if someone in Tiffany’s advertising department might have a sense of humor. This particular bracelet, with all those little RTT hearts, and the timing of the ad made me think of all the post-holiday customers “returning” their unwanted presents to Tiffany. Though it’s hard to imagine someone wanting to return a Tiffany gift, it does happen. During my tenure there, we were especially concerned at this time of year about keeping up sales associates’ spirits while ensuring customers still received exceptional service.

Handling a multitude of returns following the holidays can threaten to turn even the best sales associate into a Grinch. Below are some tips to help you avoid the “January Return Blues.”

  • There’s a customer in front of you!
    Here’s your chance to distinguish yourself through your grace and elegance, and ensure the customer remembers you above all the other sales associates they’ve seen today. Being warm and welcoming when handing returns shows how much you value your customers. That in turn, will keep them coming back.
  • You now know what the customer doesn’t like!
    What a great opportunity you have to explore what your customer didn’t like about the gift and what they might fancy even more. Offer some suggestions on items that might they might find more appealing.
  • Suggest ways to make sure it doesn’t happen again!
    Offer options for sharing their “wish list” with a friend or loved one to ensure they receive the perfect gift next time.

If you keep in mind that every return presents an opportunity for you to connect with a customer, you can turn January into your favorite time of year.

Aside

Frontline associates need to become fluent in brand language

15 Tuesday Oct 2019

Posted by Victoria Macdonald in Uncategorized

≈ 1 Comment

Nice article in Luxury Daily about my recent LuxeCX talk on training customer-facing teams for transformational luxury customer experiences: https://www.luxurydaily.com/frontline-associates-need-to-become-fluent-in-brand-language/

Capture

 

Aside

Luxury isn’t snobby, it’s inviting.

02 Monday Sep 2019

Posted by Victoria Macdonald in Brand, Customer Experience, Customer Service, Luxury, Luxury Brand, Luxury Sales Training, luxury service, Uncategorized

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Brand, Customer Experience, Customer Service, Hospitality, Luxury, Luxury Customer Service, Luxury Selling, Ritz-Carlton, Sales, Selling

I’m currently reading Excellence Wins: A No-Nonsense Guide to Becoming the Best in a World of Compromise by Horst Schulze (co-founder of The Ritz-Carlton Company). So many wonderful ideas and words of wisdom from someone who laid the foundation for service par excellence!

This quote from the book sums up my approach to luxury “Elegance without warmth is arrogance.” Luxury should never be snobby; it should always be inviting.

Below is a link to a previous post about a study that showed while a snobby approach to luxury selling might result in increased sales, the increase is temporary. Ultimately, customers reject this strategy and leave the brand.

The Devil Sells Prada… and burns the customer!

 

 

 

Yours, Mine and Ours: Handling Mistakes

19 Thursday Jul 2018

Posted by Victoria Macdonald in Customer Complaints, Customer Experience, Customer Retention, Customer Service, Luxury, Luxury Sales Training, luxury service, Sales Coaching, Uncategorized

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

Coaching, Customer Complaints, Customer Experience, Customer Service, Luxury, Sales, Sales Coaching

ImpossibleC’est impossible! That’s what our hostess exclaimed when my husband and I showed up for breakfast at the hotel we’d booked in Strasbourg, France. She didn’t mean it was impossible to have breakfast, she meant it was impossible for my husband to be there. Yet, there he was – alive and well – and hungry.

(Let me back up a bit. When we had checked into the hotel the day before, we discovered there had been a mix-up in our reservation. Though we booked a double-room for two, the hotel showed only a single room was reserved. The error was quickly resolved and we were told what time breakfast (which was included with the room) would be served.

Now back to breakfast. It was immediately apparent there had been no communication between the front desk and the restaurant regarding how many people from room 505 would be showing up for breakfast that morning. Luckily, it took only a short explanation in some broken French to clarify the misunderstanding, and my husband and I were soon enjoying fresh croissants and brioches.

Yet I kept thinking back to our hostess’ reaction, which had implied that we’d done something wrong. It reminded me of similar customer service situations I’d encountered that had been handled less than elegantly. Certainly, part of her reaction may have been cultural (service in European countries can differ from what we’re used to in the U.S.) Still, it prompted me to share some thoughts on how to handle customer misunderstandings—regardless of whether the customer is in the right or not.

Apologize and acknowledge

It may the customer’s fault—or not. You don’t know yet, so avoid jumping to conclusions. Even if the customer is at fault, perhaps there is something you can do to avoid other customers making the same mistake.  Could you provide clearer directions or put a process in place that will catch the mistake before it becomes a problem? Right now it doesn’t matter who’s at fault. A simple “I’m sorry. Let me see what we can do to resolve this” should work in most cases. (And really, aren’t you sorry this happened?)

Be polite and listen

Your customer is upset—he or she is being inconvenienced or is not receiving an expected service. (You may be inconvenienced as well, but part of your job in customer service is handling problems). Customers may become emotional; they may even become loud. It’s up to you to remain calm and listen. Of course, no one should ever put up with verbal abuse, but I’ve found that maintaining a calm, polite demeanor can prevent most situations from becoming overheated.

Focus on the solution, not the problem

There’s a parable I used to share when I taught a class on problem-solving. It applies here as well and it goes like this: A young woman and her two companions are hiking in the woods. A snake bites the young woman. Rather, than helping the young woman, the two companions spend precious time hunting down the snake. Needless to say, things don’t work out too well for the young woman. What’s the lesson here?  Don’t take time trying to find and fix the cause of the problem while the customer is standing front of you. Instead, focus on what you can do to resolve the situation. You’ll have plenty of time later to track down that snake!

Follow up

Once you have the facts, explain to the customer what happened, offer a solution, and determine whether they are satisfied.

Following are two examples:

“We’re sorry you encountered a problem at breakfast. We sat you immediately so as not to inconvenience you while we researched what happened. After talking with the staff, we realized the front desk had not informed the restaurant of the correct number in your party. We will work with both teams to ensure better communication in the future. We hope you enjoyed your breakfast and we value the opportunity to serve you further during your stay.”

“We’re sorry you encountered a problem at breakfast. We sat you immediately so as not to inconvenience you while we researched what happened. We see that while you desired to book a double-room, you indicated only a single room on your reservation. We will look into how we can make this clearer for customers booking online in the future. I you wish, we will change the reservation to accommodate your additional guest at the appropriate rate.”

It’s not impossible for a mistake to happen. In fact, you can be sure you will encounter mistakes from time to time. But by keeping these points in mind, you can avoid the mistake of not handling them well.

 

 

Bye-Bye Bloomie’s!

01 Tuesday May 2018

Posted by Victoria Macdonald in Uncategorized

≈ Leave a comment

Brown Bag

Sometimes I wonder if, like Don Quixote, I’m chasing windmills in my efforts to slay poor customer service. I travel a lot and have learned to manage my expectations for good service against a myriad of rationalizations: they’re not a luxury brand, my standards are too high, he or she’s probably having a bad day, I’m having a bad day, it’s Monday, and so on. Yet I still feel a sense of disappointment when a promised service call isn’t returned or when the hotel desk associate doesn’t ask how I enjoyed my stay when I check out. Sadly, these small disenchantments seem to be occurring more and more frequently. Mostly, I just let them go. But when a favorite retailer, one I consider at the very least a premier store (if not a luxury brand), makes what I consider a major customer faux pas, then I have to pick up my rusty sword and rail against customer service injustice! Continue reading →

Don’t spread the bad mood flu

06 Tuesday Feb 2018

Posted by Victoria Macdonald in Uncategorized

≈ 2 Comments

flu-season-wear-mask

This year’s flu season is one of the worst. My daily news feeds are replete with tips on how to avoid catching the flu and what to do should you get it.

But there’s another type of malady that seems to be common this time of year – the bad mood flu. It can be difficult to keep up a cheery disposition during the first few months of the year– the holidays are over, the weather is cold, and folks generally seem to be tired of winter. When your job is to deliver luxury service, it can be hard enough to keep your own mood cheery, let alone worry about someone else’s. Continue reading →

Own the Moment

19 Tuesday Dec 2017

Posted by Victoria Macdonald in Uncategorized

≈ Leave a comment

Bulb

Nobody owns the customer, but someone can always own the moment.

This awesome quote comes from Scott Hudgins, Senior VP of Global Customer Managed Relationships at the Walt Disney Company.  I recently heard it repeated at a national sales conference for BSH Home Appliances Corporation, where I’m a senior learning partner for the Gaggenau luxury brand of appliances. Continue reading →

The Other Luxury Customer

18 Monday Sep 2017

Posted by Victoria Macdonald in Uncategorized

≈ 1 Comment

working rich 1

Not all luxury customers are immediately recognizable. They may not be pulling up to your store in a Bentley or be sporting the latest couture. In fact, despite having assets in the millions of dollars, some high-net worth consumers consider themselves middle-class. Rachel Sherman, a reporter for the New York Times, recently interviewed a number of wealthy individuals who “never talked about themselves as ‘rich’ or ‘upper class,’ often preferring terms like ‘comfortable’ or ‘fortunate.’ Some even identified as ‘middle class’ or ‘in the middle.’ ” Continue reading →

Remember me? Ensuring luxury clients return again and again

14 Tuesday Mar 2017

Posted by Victoria Macdonald in Uncategorized

≈ Leave a comment

happy-customer-279x300The word ‘return’ can make even the most seasoned sales associate quiver with fear. Yet the returning customer presents a golden opportunity for luxury associates to foster the customer relationship. Your mindset can play an important role in cultivating customer relationships. If you view “returns” as a hassle or something that causes you stress, then customers will sense your aggravation. But if you treat the return as an occasion to build and strengthen the connection you have to your customers, you will have laid the path for them to return again and again.

Continue reading →

← Older posts

Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 353 other followers

Feeds

  • RSS - Posts
  • RSS - Comments

Archives

Categories

  • Brand
  • Customer Complaints
  • Customer Experience
  • Customer Retention
  • Customer Service
  • Fashion
  • Fine Dining
  • Helping Customers Envision
  • John Hardy
  • Luxury
  • Luxury Brand
  • Luxury Customer Service
  • Luxury Dining
  • Luxury Fashion
  • Luxury MBA
  • Luxury Sales Training
  • luxury service
  • Luxury Talent
  • Reflection
  • Sales Coaching
  • The Devil Sells Prada
  • Tiffany
  • Uncategorized

Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 353 other followers

Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 353 other followers

Blog at WordPress.com.

Cancel