About Social Media Today
When I first picked up the book I was some what skeptical. I am a big believer in customer service I also believe customer service can be over done. What I have found is consumers are frequently driven to the lowest price yet expect five star service to go along with the lowest price. I know this is not the case in all businesses but in many businesses it is the case.
In some cases, superior services clearly does cost more to deliver.
One phrase caught my eye. Keep a firm eye on lily gilding. This comes from a Shakespeare phrase, the "lily gilding" means overdoing something that's already perfect. In customer interactions, it often takes the form of fancying up your offerings beyond what the customers are interested in. Lily gilding has both obvious and hidden costs, including excess features that can make your offering less attractive by complicating it for customers or that imply to customers that they're paying for something they don't need.
As an aside, I often find people who write tend to lily guild.
Value is relative. Customers often judge your value relatively. That is, they judge each interaction with your company against their previous interactions with you-and with your competitors.
To make sure you understand the competitive expectations of your customers, shop the competition-your best competition. Don't let resentment lead you to dismiss a competitor's innovations. Think rationally about whether there is value there that you could make use of for your own customers.
Pricing is part of the value proposition. Not everybody values money the same. If value was all about low pricing, there would be no space for retailers like Nordstrom; everybody would be shopping at Wal-Mart. A reliable equation is "Value=Personal Benefit-Cost and Inconvenience." Therefore, in product and service design, it helps to focus on the personal benefit you provide for customers in return for the price you charge.
A loyal customer is the least price-sensitive customer of all. So think "what can we do to create loyalty".
One great quote was "Don't charge a customer for performing the Heimlich". A touchstone in pricing is that your charges should demonstrate that you care about the customer. Among other things, this means you should never surprise your customers with charges they wouldn't commonly expect. Avoid nickel and diming customers.
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