| Author | Message | ||
     Court |
For those interested I'm going to begin sharing some thoughts, some old, some new, on "The Art or Customer Service". Any and all who are interested are welcome to tune in, listen, discuss and lend thoughts and experience. Some of you have noticed some changes lately and we're on the cusp of exciting times. I see the news today is about Santa Cruz Harley-Davidson shutting their doors. the business is changing and, loosely quoting Warren Buffet, I believe there have never been greater opportunities for Buell. I'm not wanting this to become a forum so much for discussion of current cases, although I may from time to time cite cases I am personally familiar with, in the world of Buell, Ford, Mercedes-Benz and Porsche. You'll likely hear Gibson Guitar cited from time to time as well. My goal is to:
Some of you will feel the need to give me the "you're drinking the Kool-aid®" or question my motives. I'll share a couple up front thoughts with you. I am a huge Buell fan and supported. I've never, when I felt it was necessary, paled from taking Erik Buell to task or challenging him to step back and take a second look at things. He's never paled from telling me when I have my noses in the wrong places. We compliment one another and there is a mutual respect. There'll be places in the thread that may cast Buell in a less than shining light. If you don't know where Buell has been it's almost impossible to play a role in setting the course as the company steers for the future. About a year ago I pretty much resigned myself to get the hell out of Erik business, let the chips fall where they may and come to terms that their are folks whose job it is to do the things I interfere in about 5 times a week. Like a junkie, I tried to quit. It's a lot like trying to quit parenting my 27 and 29 year old sons . . . it's a great theory but in practice it just doesn't happen. I've also gotten more support and encouragement from not only Buell owners but Buell company folks. To the extent I am strictly adhering to the Buell Values I've found nothing but support for what Scott Miller once called "Court's Guerrilla Marketing" effort. I have a genuine care and concern for Buell, the person, the company and the folks who bought Buells and placed their faith, trust and confidence in my friends at Buell. There's half a chance you'll get a couple personal inside glimpses and photos of the folks who design and build your motorcycles. More Housekeeping . . . I am NOT subjective. I understand that and if you do it'll help you read some of my ideas. Don't hesitate to challenge me. At my age, I've little to loose and the years have proven my ego, huge as it is, heals quickly. I historically maintain about a 70%:30% ratio of being right:wrong. I have a 0% track record for seeing something I think needs to be done and walking away from it. I coined the "mobile, agile and hostile" mantra and am confident that Buell can do things and deliver solutions that no other company in the world can. This has gotten my ass chewed good a couple times over the years. I've always survived and learned. I've no hesitation in saying I screwed up. Remind me to tell you a funny Story about Jon Flickinger and Italy . . .  } . . a pure case of where I got all excited, went off half cocked and scrambled the jets. In retrospect I stuck my nose in others business and too darn quick. The very cool part is that once I'd written checks for outrageous commitments, Flick cashed them, made good on my "fix" and a customer stranded on the roadside in Italy was surprised when a dealer from Barcelona arrived "we were sent by Buell to help". I'm sure we got a customer for life out of that deal and I learned a lesson to let folks do their jobs first. The first thing I'll be doing, in the next week or so, is revisiting my old "How To Deal With Customer Service" thread and introducing you to some of the Customer Service folks and how they do business. From there we'll be taking a look at the future. I've given a lot of thought about the future of Buell Customer Service. I abhor the idea of "doing as good as" . . or being "among the best". Buell has the talent and the intellectual firepower to do things that have never been done. I want customer service that amazes as much as fuel in the frame or ZTL braking. The people are largely in place and, a fan of Aubrey Daniels, I truly believe that no one likes "just doing their job" . . . folks LOVE a job where they can excel and do better than anyone. Over the years I've been a competitive gymnast, in the military and am currently in school. I LUST over doing the best and being #1. I submit that folks, with that sort of goal, enjoy their work more. No one does a better job than when they are having fun. Last housekeeping tidbit . . . . I DO NOT work for Buell. I have NO AUTHORITY to act, speak, commit or even order a happy meal on their behalf. If you have a current Buell problem, I'll say again, your course of action should be to start with your Buell dealer. The ideas I'll be discussing here are STRICTLY MY OWN. Please read that twice. If any of you are wanting to follow along or want to do outside research I've a comprehensive library of Customer Service science, applications, and theory. If you'd like I'll post recommended reading lists. In addition, I'll often be citing sources (I spend a lot of time with the Harvard Business Review) and posting links. My thinking is the aggregate of a LOT of reading and study. I'm eager to see where this goes and hope some of the folks at Buell tune in from time to time. Buell has recently done some absolutely (can you say flew a part from Austria at the snap of a finger when a customer had a problem?) amazing things and I'm hoping that perhaps this discussion can help form the framework of what I'd think of at 3G Customer Service. Here we go . . . Court P.S. - can one of the custodians see if they can find and dust off my old thread on how to deal with Customer Service, we'll be needing that in the coming weeks. | ||
| Coolice |
Very cool! | ||
| Ulywife |
Court - I have brought the old thread (I'm guessing it's the right one!) to the top of this page. I have closed the thread so that all comments stay on the current thread. If you'd prefer something different, you know how to find me! Looking forward to following this thread and seeing where it takes us or where we take it. Guess time will tell. | ||
| Lemonchili_x1 |
This kind of thing interests me a lot, both in terms of Buell, and my own work and my own personal projects, so I'll come along for the ride ". . . folks LOVE a job where they can excel and do better than anyone. Over the years I've been a competitive gymnast, in the military and am currently in school. I LUST over doing the best and being #1. I submit that folks, with that sort of goal, enjoy their work more. No one does a better job than when they are having fun." I totally agree and I've seen this in action in both myself and others many times. A company with that type of atmosphere can excel in many ways. What is "3G"? I thought it was a digital telephone network... Court, have you read "The Great Game of Business" by Jack Stack? | ||
| F_skinner |
Court, that is a great effort you are undertaking. I was just thinking on the question someone asked me not long ago. Why do you ride a Buell? Since I am working a mid shift right now I apologize for this being so long but I think in order to analyze why any of us ride Buells and support the company we have to look at what drew us to the brand in the first place. The Buell story for me began in 1991 after returning from overseas (Desert Storm). I went to pickup my brand new 1992 XLH 1200 Sporty that I bought through Overseas Military Car Sales and stopped into New Castle HD in PA, there sat a RR1200. I could not stop looking at it. At that time I though Buell was a fly-by-night company and I did not think they would be around that long. No way could I afford the price on that RR on my pay but I was hooked and the image of the RR stuck with me, I was 29 years old at the time. After that chance encounter with the RR whenever I saw a magazine that had an article about Buell, I read it. In 1995 I was overseas again (Guam) and started seeing a few Buell ads in magazine. I really wanted to check one out in person but no HD or Buell dealers on the island. Without warning Lightning struck in the form of a 1996 S1! Every magazine I read seemed to have a picture of the S1. I was hooked! That bike was raw, mean, nasty and even affordable. When I returned to the states, this time Maryland, I bought a 1997 S1 in black, I was 35 years old. I went through many Harleys over the years from Shovelheads, Ironheads, Evos and Twincams but I kept the S1. I had some amazing rides on that bike. From the first test ride in Fredrick MD to great roads in MD, SC, NC, PA and NJ. When I was stationed in WV I rode from VA to WV and back everyday over a great mountain road that Senator Bird built for Buells, well maybe he built it for another reason but the Buell was made for roads like that. The bike was absolutely a blast in the mountains of Colorado. I remember riding that beast from Fort Meade MD to Camp Lejeune NC, around 500 miles. I did not have a lot of time so I took the interstate. I stopped for gas every 110 to 150 miles but after a while I stopped every 90 miles, then every 75 miles, then every rest stop I could find. I was absolutely beat to hell by the time I arrived in NC.  Then the recalls started, one after another. Due to the fact I was now stationed in WV there were very few HD/Buell dealerships in the area. I decided, one winter, to take the Buell back home to NC and have a local Buell dealer perform the recalls. I dropped it off and told them I would be back in the area in about 6 months. Six months later I returned and was curious why no one had called me about the bike. They did not touch it since I dropped it off and told me they could not get the recall parts from Buell. Ok, I had six more months before my deployment so no big deal. Six months came and went and still no progress. I told them “fine I will be deploying (Korea) and I will be back in a year“. They somehow “found” the recall parts and finished a day before I deployed. Of course during the rebuild they left out the checkball and spring from the oil filter mount so I had very little oil pressure but I was out of time. I had to deal with it when I returned. I vowed never to do business with that dealership again, and never have. I thought, at the time, that this is the worse dealership in the world but as I talked to more Buell owners I found similar stories about many dealerships during those recall years. Now as a relatively new Buell owner I did not know of the Buell Customer Service resource at my disposable, I should have read the owners manual because the number is listed. However, my feeling was it is a Buell and they were a Buell dealership; they should take care of it. This whole experience soured me on Buells but the bike kept me riding it. I have heard that dealership applauded by a Buell owner at Homecoming but I remain skeptical. I wonder how many Buell owners we lost in the late nineties because of service like this. Life and 9/11 got the best of me (back in the Desert) and it seemed that I did not have time for the simple things in life and the S1 sat neglected for a over a year. In 2002 I decided to retire from the military and plant my roots in Colorado. I remember thinking it was odd that I never see Buells in Colorado. One day I had a chance encounter with another Buell rider on an X1 and we became fast friends, he was the only other Buell rider I knew, in fact that was the only other Buell I ever saw in Colorado up to that time. I decided to fix the S1 and headed down to the local HD/Buell dealership with a list of parts, simple stuff like cables, gaskets, isolators, bearings, tires and oil. They only had the oil and filter in stock. I went to another place and they had everything in stock except the checkball and spring. They let me take the checkball and spring out of a Sporty motor they had out back that they were using for parts. Now this is what a dealer is supposed to be like! I was sad when they later dropped the Buell brand. About this time I got the Internet and discovered the BadWeb and lurked there for many years gaining all the knowledge I needed to fix the S1. Of interesting note, if it the BadWeb was not in existence I may not be riding a Buell today. The fact that I do ride a Buell today is not because of the great dealership support, enthusiastic sales and service or because of the dealerships understanding of something that is greater than the sum of the parts. It is because of the torque, the ease of maintenance, and the uniqueness of the Buell. In 2005 a few Buell riders started a BRAG chapter at the local dealership. I went to the first meeting and there were six Buells; three tubers and three XBs. What an exciting time that was, that was the most Buells I had ever seen in one place. I was hooked but I had more problems with the S1. The dealership that sponsored our BRAG chapter flat out told me that they do not want to work on tubers. That, plus many other events, killed the local BRAG chapter in less than a year after our charter was approved.  Thanks to getting laid off from work in 2006 I had to sell the S1. I sold it to a young man in his early twenties and when I started working again I ordered a 2007 XB12R. While Lynn and I were in WI visiting family I was able to visit the factory for the first time since becoming a Buell owner in 1997. Kenny Rogers took Lynn and me around the plant and gave us a Buell history lesson. I got a glimpse of the XBRR and that was very cool. Lynn was never big on Buells, she is a Harley girl, but that tour really got her excited about my soon to be deliver XB12R. The plant tour really hooked me on Buells even more.  I started attending Buell events and finally signed on to the BadWeb and decided that I was going to be part of the Buell family. I rode to Buell gatherings in New Mexico and Utah which made me hungry for more Buell events. I was checking on the new owner of my S1 one day and he gave me the bad news, she was stolen! I felt like someone had ripped my heart out. I actually wanted to buy the bike back from him but it is probably someone’s chopper project now. I decided to get another tube framed Buell but which one to get? I always liked the S2s and wanted to replace my Electra Glide. The criterion was simple, something with hard bags and a carburetor. The Uly was out of the question only because I did not give it a chance, I hated the looks of it, they grew on me after a while and are a great long haul bike, almost as good as a S2T. After many bikes slipping through my fingers I found the S2T of my dreams in Oct 2007 and drove 2,600 miles round trip on a long weekend to pick her up, I was 45 years old. I was hooked on this bike the first time I rode it. There was only one problem; it was perfect. I needed to do nothing to it. Nothing to fix or work on!  A few months later I found a ratted out 98 S1W for a song and decided here is my project. Funny thing about Buell, in 97 I bought the S1 and in 98 they made another bike I wanted the S1W. I 2007 I bought a XB12R and in 2008 the 1125r appeared. Damn it! I need to learn to wait a year I guess. The S1W was a fun project and I had intended to sell her once completed but she still sits in my garage. It is a true classic raw hotrod of a bike and a joy to ride.  Many months later someone was selling a 1995 S2 (number 35) close to me and of course I bought it and decided I would make it close to factory specs and use her as a daily rider.  So, I still have 4 out of the 5 Buells I have owned. I ride the XB12R to work everyday and she is a lot of fun. I find myself on the S1W when I want to be rude, loud and quick. The S2T is still the favorite and is the perfect sport touring bike. I am modifying her for the long haul with some gadgets that would make a Uly rider envious. I don’t know what it is about the S2T that appeals to me. I can not isolate one thing about it that makes me say it this is the bike for me. I think it is a combination of several things. Mechanically it is a sound bike. Like any other tuber the key to keeping it on the road is preventive maintenance. I usually wait for something to break but once a year I try to go through the bike to make sure no problems are developing. The body work is great with lines that are very sexy. The ergonomics of the bike are perfect for me. The 1”inch drop down foot pegs and the 1” inch higher bars put me in the right position for the long haul. With the addition of the deep bags and some well placed bungee hooks, I can carry everything I carried on my FLH. It sounds great, pulls like a train and gets around a corner a lot quicker than my FLH. The new Buell riders have troubles identifying it. If they have been around for a while they usually mistake it for a S3T. Virtually no one at the dealership can identify it is a Buell much less which model. With a couple of minor additions like power outlet, GPS, auxiliary lights, bike to bike communications and plenty of duct tape to hold the bags together (just in case) she is just as capable as a XB12XT, twice as sexier and a third of the cost. I read in a book somewhere that she is one of 492 S2Ts made. Bonus! Born To Lean Baby! I recently was in the South West corner of Colorado along with my girl on her Sportster. The S2T was packed with all out camping gear and we were looking forward to three days on the bikes. The 300 miles down to that area was pleasant and we only ran into rain a couple of times and the mountain passes were clear. When we arrived the rain started and did not let up for three days. The last day I watched several bikes try to ride out of the campground only to drop them in the mud. We wanted to take the long way home so we had to get out of there early. I packed the S2T and rode her out of the campground (about ¼ mile) spinning the rear tire and sliding from side to side but I made it out with little problems. After several people tried the first bike out of that mud pit was a 12 year old Buell…. Excellent!  Since my involvement with these bikes I have experienced the full spectrum of ownership emotions from excitement to anger and have always been surprised and obsessed. You see, I am somewhat of a loner but the Buell experience has made me want to reach out to other Buell owners. I have met Erik Buell and Jon Flickinger. I have talked to Court Canfield on the phone and can tell you he is the most enthusiastic S2 and Buell person I have ever talked to. I discovered a lot of like minded individuals at Buell events in Georgia, Utah, New Mexico and Wisconsin that I now consider friends. I have friends with names like Onahog, Ratbuell, 1313, Spiderman, Phelan, Ulywife, Zac4Mac and Bartimus. I have been disgusted with some dealers and overjoyed with others. In the local area I am known as the “Buell Guy” and every now and again I will get a call to help someone shop for a tuber, fix a transmission or to find other Buellers in Colorado. I still have some Buell related goals which include a Colorado Buell Rally, the establishment a good solid cadre of Buellers in Colorado recognized by the dealerships and the S2 Owners list. After owning some type of Harley continuously from 1979 I was not impressed with the “new” breed of Harley riders that think they are a cut above everyone. I have owned many big twins but always preferred a Sportster and they never fail to let me know that is a “girls bike”, I am still not sure what that means. The more I can distance myself from that attitude the better. What I like about the Buell is it is different but what I really like is the owners and they can appreciate all types and makes of bikes and usually know more about their Buell than the new breed of HD rider knows about his Softtail wahtumacallit. Function over posing wins every time. I am an average Buell owner. My enthusiasm for these bikes and their riders pale in comparison to other Buell riders I have met over the last few years but we all love our Buells and love to ride them. Whenever two Buell riders happen to run across each other at a gas station or even at a dealership there is something magical that happens. Anyone with money can buy and ride a Harley, Honda, BMW etc. It takes a special person to own a Buell. It takes someone that is secure, likes to tinker and is willing to help a fellow rider in need. I have often said that there needs to be a 12 step program for these bikes. No matter what others think of Buells I can honestly say it has been a great ride so far. I have read that Buell wants to grow. As with any business in a capitalist society they are about making money from their products just as much as the next guy. So what makes Buell different from anyone else? I can only talk from my perspective; I have never used Buell Customer Service so I can not comment on that but from postings on the BadWeb it appears to work. I do know that my dealer is not enthusiastic about the brand. They are not only hurting Buell sales but Harley as well. I often wonder about the perspective Buell rider that has only read about the bikes on the web site and goes to our local dealer to talk to someone about bikes. I bet that more often than not they are not impressed. I also wonder about the few Buells I see around town that are not on the BadWeb. How has their experience been so far? I imagine a couple of them are riding Buells until they can get a Harley but not as many as in years past. Our local riding group has suffered due in no small part to the dealerships attitude towards the riders and our attitude towards the dealership. We can be out own worse enemy at times. Buells are few and far between and I would not have it any other way. What kind of future is in store for Buell? I have no idea. In some ways I don’t care. Right now I can get a message to Erik Buell or Jon Flickinger if I have to. I can get parts from dealerships at a discount just by signing up for a free BadWeb account. I can attend any Buell event and know that I will have a great time. I have a great set of friends I can call upon for help or support. What more could I want out of a company that sells motorcycles and how many Harley, BMW or Kawasaki riders can say the same. Frank | ||
| Court |
November 14, 2008 The 3G moniker is, you are correct, properly applied to the 3rd Generation cellphone protocols currently in use. The term, like many in the language, has also been morphed to me "system of the future" and in fact we have, at work, an entire department dubbed "3G - System of the Future" that is developing out electric system that will be in place in 50 years. They travel to and from many countries and on working on some amazing things. I've exercised a bit of poetic license using the term with regard to CUSTOMER SERVICE and confess that my objective is to create a mindset that looks at the BUELL CUSTOMER SERVICE system of the future based on what it can be, not just simply doing what we have or are doing better or faster. Thinking seems to be at risk of becoming a lost art. In the world of instant messages we have become a society of reactors. When we see a customer service "event" (note that term, I'll be using it a lot and will be explaining it in a bit) our first reaction is to make the baby stop crying. We tend, and it's not entirely wrong, to solve the symptoms not the causes. In doing this we risk mistaking the fact that the customer stops complaining (crying) and meaning that the customer is "satisfied". Often just the opposite is true. Think for a moment. Imagine that you went in with a pulsing rotor. Be mindful here that we are in the "thinking" stage. How would be feel in the following situations? Read each and take your pulse after each and rate your "satisfaction" on a scale of 1 - 10, assume in each case that the following response is considered to be the end of the process.
The above aren't specific, they are made up. It's an exercise to simply let you monitor your pulse and respiration in response to each scenario. What I am working toward is the idea that Customer SERVICE and customer SATISFACTION and customer LOYALTY are three separate and distinct items. The mere presence of one does not ensure the others. The CUSTOMER SERVICE PROCESS needs to be looked at in a very global way to really appreciate how it benefits the company in terms of growth. A couple of examples to help you follow my erratic thought process. Customer Service may be simply having a phone number folks can call with a problem. You have a problem with , perhaps a question about, the company you call this number and someone helps you. Customer Satisfaction can be rooted in many areas. One area could be a satisfactory or pleasant experience with customer service, it could be a pleasant experience at a Buell event, the races or a demo ride. Customer Loyalty can, once again, flow from either of the two above events. It can come from some event, some feeling, some anything that has the effect of elevating your brand loyalty to the point where even if you have a problem, you are predisposed to work through it, resolve it and remain a customer in the future. Often times this is the result of feeling, in some way, empowered or enfranchised, maybe just being kept well informed, during the process of resolving an event. I'm going to toss something out now and submit it as prima facie (the thing is so clear it speaks for itself and requires no proof) at this moment but will be working toward building my case. -------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------ quote: Customer Service is worthless, Customer Loyalty is priceless -------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------ Let me share two examples, both incidentally occurring in the last 10 days, and tell me how each would make you feel about a company. EXAMPLE #1: You have a Buell 1125R, a new product in the line. The replacement parts pipeline is filling as most part go toward production. You have a problem. You visit your dealer. The dealer truthfully answers that it will be 65 days to get the part. A keen eyed Elf becomes aware of your plight, tries to get find a way to manually override the system, encountered bureaucratic difficult and, recalling that there is a real person behind this, simply has the part overnighted from Austria and forward it straight to you in Europe thus cutting 50 days off the downtime on the bike. EXAMPLE #2: You break a "non-service" item on a motorcycle, a part for which a replacement can't be bought. Someone again picks up on your plight and says "even though we've never replaced or developed a process to replace that part, I can understand the problem". They get the part, overnight it to the owner with the caveat that they are a "first" and ask for their input, the Elf initiates a process to have R&D folks begin finding and documenting a process so that the problem is less likely to occur in the future. Here's what happens . . . When someone simply "fixes" what is wrong . . well you can have GREAT customer service. The problem is that is the customer doesn't feel like "part" of the company and that they were treated with respect and their concerns were a concern to the company you risk having a customer service system that is more likely to galvanize a customer. Even if my immediate problem is resolved. If I feel I was not listened to and that it was fixed more to get me to go away than to "satisfy" me it's a hollow victory for the customer. I've suggest above that Customer Service may or may not contribute to Customer Loyalty and that it's truly Customer Loyalty that fuels the fire of growth of a company so it seems a warranted pursuit to ask how to conduct Customer Service in a manner that ensures it always contributes to Customer Satisfaction and Customer Loyalty. FOOD FOR THOUGHT: How would you feel if you got a personal call from someone at the factory, they told you they were aware of your problem and aware that, even with everyone doing what they were supposed to do, following the rules, and doing it right that it was going to take a long time to resolve and they offered to "shortcut" (not break rules, per se) some things to allow your bike to be fixed quickly while the paperwork clogging the process gets worked out afterward? How do you feel when someone tells you that your business, trust and confidence is more important than having the "i's dotted and t's crossed"? I'm not suggesting rule breaking, I am thinking about a system driven by a vision of CUSTOMER LOYALTY (doing whatever it takes to resolve an event quickly and effectively) not just CUSTOMER SERVICE (making sure the phone is answered in 5 rings and we keep the problem within prescribed procedures no matter what). Food for thought. To do this we need to think from the mindset of a Customer and a Customer Service Rep. Play, first, the CUSTOMER role. . . again, listen to these two statements take your pulse and respiration and tell me how you feel: STATEMENT #1: I'm sorry to hear about the problem with your horn switch but that's something you'll have to contact your dealer about. STATEMENT #2: I can help you right now. It sounds like you are about 9 miles from our dealer in Rahway, NJ. Give me your name and number and I'll call the dealer and have someone contact you to schedule a time that is convenient to take a look at it. OBSERVATIONS:
Note in the two examples that nearly everything is the same. But the second example takes on a new "feeling". Although the Customer Service rep has done darn little different they have taken ownership and effectively committed to "walking the customer" to the next step not simply pointing them in the direction. I hate it when I go to a grocery store and ask the stupid kid in the Led Zeppelin t-shirt wearing one of his dad's old neckties "where is the Budweiser" and he mumbles "Aisle 9" . . when you are in the business of selling stuff, you WALK folks directly to the product they are trying to give you money to purchase and always close the conversation with "is there anything else I can help you with?" Now let's play the role of the CUSTOMER SERVICE rep. How would you, in that role, react to these two statement: STATEMENT #1: My Buell sucks, I've got one of the Buells with the screwed up gonkulator. I read about it on the Internet and either you get it fixed or I'm suing your ass and am going to go on every GSXR forum and say bad things about Buell. STATEMENT #2: Hi, I'm Bob Curry. I've got a problem with my Buell. I have the VIN, all the contact information for my dealer and myself and would like to explain my concern and the history and get your help. Who wins? I confess at this point to foreshadowing an installment you'll see in the coming days about how Customer Service folks are treated, viewed, rewarded and judged. But for today, I'll close (I'm sitting in a Mercedes dealership getting service on the SCU's hotrod and dreaming of a motorcycle dealership who could ever pull off service at this level. They came out once, as I sat here are one of the many "mini-offices" they have, surrounded by Porsches, Aston-Martins and Mercedes and being catered food and coffee, and told me they were done. . . I told the guy I was busy and to go back and find more stuff wrong with it. . . he's replacing the front rotors now. ) by asking that you review the differences between:
Tomorrow we'll be talking about the history of Buell Customer Service and the general theory (not Buell specific) about customer service departments. Like I said . . we're just talking here. Be thinking, and we won't get to this for a week or two, about how Buell is uniquely positioned to do things other companies can't. What competitive advantage does Buell have that can be leveraged to increase Customer Loyalty? Court (Message edited by COURT on November 14, 2008) | ||
| Redponcho |
Court I have been an aviation professional for 12 years 9 of them as a mechanic in a retail factory service center two as a customer service rep and now a director of maintenance that is a customer of this service center. Through the years customer service was always an after thought until recently. The appointment of a new president that focused on customer satisfaction started the cultural shift. it has to come from the top down. When you are working with the owner of a 20 million dollar asset many things become amplified. The number one complaint was communication. I personally contacted all of my customers daily to give them any updates and to let them know how the project was progressing. The worst aspect was delivering bad news. I learned that most customers would take the news better if a possible resolution was given at that time as opposed to "we will have to get back to you". A constant line of communication goes miles with satisfying customers. As a factory service center the last thing we wanted was this president calling us and saying the customer called him to complain. It took one person to get fired for me to realize just how serious he was. This was a simple policy that made a dramatic affect with the customers. When an aircraft breaks and is stranded in need of parts our parts organization has what we call an AOG board (aircraft on ground). It is a web based system displayed on the wall indicating the aircraft, its location, part needed, and a timer indicating how long the customer has been waiting. This lets everyone know what the hot issues are. Lastly it takes people that care (which I believe the elves do). However they need to be empowered to make the difference. Numerous times I myself would find parts/technicians/ and field service reps to satisfy the customer. What separates us from the rest is we deliver with communication and going above and beyond to satisfy the customer. It does cost money to satisfy the customer like never before but the long term gains are almost beyond measurement. In closing from what I read on this board the number one issue is communication. There needs to be someone holding the dealerships accountable for not calling the customer with updates and status. With Buell being as small and concentrated as it is this will be much easier than with a large company. As a customer of this service center I now feel the pain of dealing with the day to day issues. There is still work to be done in all areas but when I have a problem I have certain individuals that I call that I know will get the job done. | ||
| Buellgrrrl |
Court, I pretty much agree with you. You have some great ideas, but... You are a Buell insider and have access to Buell that most customers don't. I'm just one of over 100,000 Buell buyers. Nobody at Buell has ever called or e-mailed me and asked "hows your Buell doing?" Nobody at Buell has ever tried to come up with a fix for my M2L's achilles heel, the belt breakage problem. Nobody at Buell has offered me a buyout of my M2L so I can upgrade to an XB with it's field replacable belt. After 7 years of this treatment from Buell, I can't help but get the feeling that once Buell has sold me a bike, they don't give a darn about me or any other customer. The story is even worse at the dealer level. Parts? Place an order and wait, wait, and wait. Insist on buying a new Buell? After an hour or so you might be able to drag the leather vest clad salesperson out of there comfy office and away from their biker wannabe buddies. Then he tries to sell you a Harley. He knows nothing about Buell, and you have to help him find the Buell literature. When the discussion turns to price, he looks for the tag on the handlebars and quotes that MSRP plus markups number. If he can't find the tag, he says "I'll get back to you with that", and you'll never hear from him again. At that point the customer moves on to the Honda/Yamaha/Suzuki/Kawasaki/BMW/Ducati/etc. dealer and buys a bike... | ||
| Redponcho |
Buellgrrrl It is obvious by this thread and Courts posts that there is focus on customer satisfaction. If all is being done is drudging up 8 year old stories of malice and discontent there will be no gains. Cultural change takes time, and energy. It is one of the most difficult business ventures to undertake. In the case of my company you are either with us or not. If you are not then you done need to be here. To my knowledge very few manufactures call a customer after purchase of a vehicle to see "how things are going". What needs to be improved is the reaction time and level of communication when a major issue or service event arise. It is clear that the dealerships will need to be the focus of the cultural shift but someone high up will have to stand on their chests to get it done. If giving a new Uly to a dissatisfied customer isnt proof enough for you then what is?????? We as consumers have a responsibility to act in a patient and courteous manner. Screaming, yelling and cussing will get you no where. The manner in which you conduct yourself will in turn be reflected in the level of service you receive. Food for thought................ | ||
| Aptbldr |
I want to visit a Factory dealership where Buell is well-integrated with its older & bigger sibling; where it's "like it should be". Service dept magicians, largest parts inventory, or other single-facet of dealership greatness alone don't satisfy my question. Confess: I'm skeptical its out there. How well can these two customer cultures integrate "for consumer purposes". Given we're all motorcyclists down-deep, and there's plenty of stereo-typical group overlaps. But, H-D recently re-built a dealership image tailored to its customers & their motorcycles. How does Buell grow/build a unique dealership image for its customers and their machines? Given H-D's existing (new)dealership environment with its own branding statement and success? Anyone care to recommend such a place in my Carolinas neighborhood? A really cool model of a well balanced H-D & Buell dealership? I like to have a destination in mind. | ||
| Buellgrrrl |
Redponcho, would you dare tell one of your customers who isn't entirely happy with the product they "done need to be here"? | ||
| Ratbuell |
Court - very intriguing thoughts. I like where you're headed...although, I thought our current legal system was trying to breed "thinking" (along with "accountability") out of our species. I'd love to see a resurgence of free thought, on both sides of the counter. I agree we've become a society of solving symptoms, not root problems. I hate that. I also agree that keeping in touch with owners/customers during an "event" of concern is paramount. Personally, and I'd be willing to bet a lot of folks feel the same way, I'd rather hear news I don't like, in a timely manner, than have to wait and wonder for (seemingly) ever. Not-knowing is worse to me than knowing something I don't like. I look forward to the next installment | ||
| Crusty |
Please don't feed the troll. Court, I'm finding this fascinating. | ||
| F_skinner |
Seems to me that Customer Service is an attempt to develop Customer Satisfaction and if done correctly, in the eyes of the Customer, will lead to Customer Loyalty. Making Customer Service, Satisfaction and Loyalty all related and dependent on each other for the ownership experience. | ||
| Endoman33 |
Court, I've worked for the same dealership for a little over 7 years. Our customer service score with HD and Buell has been in the top 10 in the country for many years. The Flow chart of personel begins with the customer and gose out from there. We belived that customer service would drive customer loyalty. In many customers that has been true the rest are just looking for the best deals loyalty be damned. Many small market dealers got punished by Buell in the delivers of the 1125r models. I personaly had 6 units pre sold after my fourth call to let my customers know the bikes were under another dely 5 had chosen to buy another brand and get themselves a bike. Buell's distubution needs to be adjusted so that future sales are not lost. Not only did this cut into my income it affected my dealership's income and Buell Motor companies income due to this. The sad part is that my 5 lost customer may not return to Buell due to this. Yes I do understand supplier delays, but when one dealership is on this sight is braging about having 8 units in stock and I could not even get one for my customers that is frustrating. I mean this to be helpful not a bash. JUST REMEBER THAT THE CUSTOMER IS THE ONE AND ONLY WHO PAY THE BILLS BY BUYING THESE QUALITY PRODUCTS. Every business has a customer and they must be taken care. | ||
| Court |
At the risk of sounding a bit dictatorial, we'll not be discussing specific events, other than to cite examples of concepts. Introducing specific events, names and dealers will tend to stratify the THINKING process by sending folks to defensive positions. If you can't think, you can't learn. And I'm going to reserve the right to have posts deleted that are not germane to an important topic and my research. Some, finding that undiplomatic, will exercise their freedom to choose by leaving. So be it and rejoice in the fact that you do not work for me. On we go . . . and although I am done writing for the night . . . I need to share two examples as those gathered her shape the collective mindset. EXAMPLE #1: (Actually your first assignment} - Start by reading THIS story. ASSIGNMENT: How far out of the box can you get?
Your homework is due tomorrow by 2:00PM EST. EXAMPLE #2: (BONUS) My SCU bought me a Mac as a gift a while back, got the "Apple Care" protection with it. Last week the hard drive crashed. I fiddled with it and tried to assert "Court Dominance" over it, capitulated and picked up the phone.
It's one thing to SAY that . . .he proved it. I'm on hold now canceling the order for the expensive PC I ordered a month ago and have been waiting on. For bonus points. . . see if you can find the correlation between:
Go work on your assignment. Some of you know the answer, if you do . . don't blow it. We'll convene tomorrow afternoon. | ||
| Court |
Micah: You get a special assignment. Please cooperate. Your dealer perspective can add much to what we are doing here. It's important you give this your best effort. I am going try to help you think differently.
Get a pencil and paper . . . write that down five (5) times, reading it aloud each time. THINK (remember why we are here) very carefully about the statement and tell me what you hear. I'll give you a hint, and please believe me that you and I are together here, you've just handed me the best example I could hope for at this point . . if I said that to Erik Buell he'd turn and walk away. He's never comes to me to tell him his problems, he values my input for solutions. Now . . having read and reflected on that . . I *THINK* you can get each and every one of those customers back. I know how. See if you can break free of the paradigm you're in and tell me how you'd do it. I'm not messing with you. This is vitally important and you, I and Buell can benefit from this. Court P.S. - Don't take my calling on you in class as anything but a compliment. Your data is good, your facts honest and your heart true. The purpose here is to explore and learn. As Crusty, Frank or any of the old times would have warned you when I play full contact. . . I think you hold the key to opening a door as we move ahead. | ||
| Court |
Eric Redponcho:
I've been reading and re-reading your post. You are two chapters ahead of me but stick close, you're going to add a lot to this. You're going to enjoy the part when I get to "are the things we are providing to satisfy customers actually viewed, by customers, as satisfying?" portion in a couple days. Sometimes we're busting our ass to give folks something they neither want nor need and missing the simple and cheap stuff that are the true "satisifiers". Communication will be mentioned ad nausea when we get there. You, in the high end aircraft business, have tons of similarity to Buell. One trick (you guys will have to allow me the periodic Buell war story) I used when I was at Buell . . . I would ALWAYS end each call with a "I'll call you tomorrow at 11:17AM" (or some odd time). It was important that the time be weird enough to create what is called a "memory trace" . . an event that will tend to linger in short term memory for 2 or 3 days. The next morning, whether they hated or loved Buell, I'll guarantee your ass all they could think of all morning was the clock hitting 11:17AM. Here's where the BUELL VALUES, courtesy and common sense collide. . . I was just as intent as they were. I'd have my information, or lack thereof, together an hour ahead. As the second hand approached 11:17AM my finger was poised. What the deal? Even if I had nothing to say . . if I knew nothing more than I did the day before. . . of had to tell them "you are a horses ass and screwed the bike up" . . I wanted to develop a "habit" of telling the truth. I did it through an odd form of Pavlovian (the name Pavlov ring a bell?) Classical Conditioning. I wanted the customer to TRUST me and I built that trust my making and KEEPING small commitments. Even when folks didn't like what they did, they knew I'd do what I said. Sorry . . . see ya tomorrow. | ||
| Bikerjim99 |
Court, I would like to tell you about my experiences with Buell customer service, with my new Buell purchase in 2002 (S3 leftover 1999 ). I first must explain that every service question is unique, so anyone else with my experiences may have a different outcome. After I purchased my motorcycle, I was concerned with making sure I received the proper recall parts. Customer service was exemplary, with the person checking to make sure I had all the updates, even the non safety product improvements that they had no obligation to get to me. This experience made a great first impression on me. The next time I needed to call customer service was about a year later. A dealer out of state replaced a worn tire for me. Unfortunately, the belt guard was installed incorrectly, and damaged the rear tire cover and several other small parts. I stopped at another dealer in another state for the repair. After coming home a few days later, I called Buell Customer Service for reimbursement of the repair bill. The representative was very kind and cooperative, and assured me that the bill would be taken care of. I sent in the information, and the bills were certainly taken care of! My bill was paid, along with the cost of the tire and labor to change it. I called customer service, thinking that there must be an error, but I was told that that was for my inconvenience for the problem! Where else would you find service like that? About a year later, my rear isolators went out on me. My selling dealer told me that they would check with customer service and see what they could do for me. No charge for the repair. The bike was far out of warranty, and there was no obligation on Buell to replace the isolators. But they did anyway. As you may expect, Buell has made me a lifelong customer. When talking to any customer service, I always try to talk to them the way I would like to be talked to. It has usually been very successful for me. So many times people like me do not share the good experiences had with Buell and with their dealer, so you hear only the problems people have. I am sure that there are many more satisfied customers of Buell than most of us know of. This is my continuing story, with my S3 at 36,000 very enjoyable miles. | ||
| Court |
Capture that thought. Do you consider yourself a "lifelong customer" because: or 2) The way you were treated? Talk to me. | ||
| Endoman33 |
Court, Micah here I'm working on this right now. It dosen't bother me to be called out. I'm working to understand customers better and to make me better at my job helping customers choose their dream purchase of a bike. I think I may be at some fault, may have give into frustration on delays instead of reasuring the customer that Buell was doing their job of handling delays. Objections are selling tools in them selves. How you handle them is the key. I would like to help in this research. So I will work on this at work tomorrow. I'll work on an answer for my customer and check back by 2:00pm est. Please help me to think new ways. Thanks,Micah | ||
| Bikerjim99 |
Without a doubt, I am a customer for life for the way I was treated. On every occasion when I dealt with Buell through customer service I was treated with consideration and professionalism. I am not saying that I always received everything I might have wanted, but I feel that they "went the extra mile" to satisfy me in regards to my situations. As a customer, one has to realize that everything cannot be perfect. There has to be some give and take. For instance, I needed to have rocker cover gaskets installed, as most of the older Buell engines did. I paid for this service, and was not reinbursed. There was a product improvement with the new gaskets, and I was glad to get the new improved set installed. As a Buell owner, I realize that many things that can go wrong on my bike have seen improvement, and I only gain when these parts are available. One cannot expect the company to send me a new motorcycle when an improvement comes along. I have a obligation as a Buell customer, and more importantly, as a human being, to treat my fellow man as I would wish to be treated. In my experience, thats how Buell Customer Service has treated me. In my working life, I have experienced other companies dedicating themselves to superior customer service. Some companies did not. You can guess which I chose when it came to new purchases. I have a story about a Waukesha generator set that I can tell sometime...great company! | ||
| Buellgrrrl |
I hope you guys are enjoying all those mystical customer service mantras... But I'm still stuck with a Buell with an unreliable drive belt that takes all day to replace. | ||
| Bikerjim99 |
Some people just don't seem to be able to communicate properly, and that also makes a problem for any customer service. For instance, I have heard of a person that expects Buell to retrofit all previously manufactured bikes with an improved drive belt, or perhaps buy back their older model motorcycle because it does not have latest equipment. Nothing will ever satisify some people, and nothing can be discussed with said people. They are to be pitied, for they will never be happy with anything. | ||
| Ratbuell |
...just watching patiently and quietly, since this is all headed in a very good direction. Hopefully I'll absorb a lot of useful stuff by the time I'm back at work (around the first of the year), and can really hit the ground running. I have some answers about the Ford scenario...and nothing but amazement regarding the Mac scenario. Just not sure if that was an open invitation to post about them | ||
| Buellgrrrl |
BikerJim, you don't get it- Apple didn't get where there at today by telling customers to go to hell once the warranty expired. Court, good to see you've discovered Apple- I've been using them for years. Your experience is not unusual- a friend of mine had problems with a year old iMac. They propmptly answered the phone and talked her through the diagnostics. Having determined the iMac needed hardware repairs, they gave her the option of overnighting it to Apple at their expense or taking it to the nearby Apple store. She took it to the Apple store. After a few minutes of testing the genius went to the stockroom, brought out a new iMac, transferred her data to it, and sent her home with a new iMac, no charge. It's experiences like that that have made me an Apple customer for life. BTW, you mentioned Ford too- they replaced the worn out Firestone tires on my pickup for free- even thought the size on my pickup wasn't involved in the rollover accidents! I'm a Ford truck customer for life, and when I need a new one I won't even look at anything else, and I just bought a thousand dollars worth of Ford stock. What would it take to make me a Buell "customer for life". Not much. First off, Buell needs to drop the "it's out of warranty" BS- Many times in their history, Apple has made free out of warranty repairs and buybacks. The biggest flaw in Buells is the drive belt- Why not give Buell riders the newest Flexten belt for free, then warranty the new belt for life? And offer a guarenteed trade in value of half of original MSRP for tubers traded in on a new Buell twin? That'd make me a Buell customer for life! | ||
| Chrislightning |
Hey Court Cool write up. I hope you can help with the Buell experience. Buellgrrrl- I don't understand your logic. Do you want free upgrades on updated motorcycle parts? Parts wear out, or get better with technology. Why should they be free? Unless there was a flaw. The biggest problem with Buell is customer service at the dealership level. | ||
| Endoman33 |
Court,I did what you asked. Here is whar i have came up with. Dtermination- the sad part is Goal reconnect with these 5 customers by inviting them back to the store for events,specials, and to use our dealership as a resting point from the rides that they have been on Personal- My 5 lost customers Goal if i still consider them customers the i have an oppurtunity to bring the back to Buell bikes Defeat- lost customer Goal don't give up on a customer regardless of what bike they have purchased. Just keep in thouch with them and keep the thought of a Buell bike in their mind. Win Back- may not return to Buell due to this Goal buying a frist year prodcut, may allow you to be a part of a learning process, threw feed back to the company customer feels important creating BRAND loyalty which in the long run helps improve products, product distrubtion profit and future customer happiness. Please send any feed back. Postive or negative for me to learn from Thanks, Micah | ||
| Blake |
Buellgrrrl, Please honor Court's request as to content here. Court, EXAMPLE #1: (Actually your first assignment - Start by reading THIS story. Both. What could Ford do to MAKE it a problem? Fail to connect with their customers, meaning to ensure that their customers feel well looked after and respected, part of the solution. What could Ford do to MAKE it an opportunity? Successfully connect personally with their customers. In short, use the "Mac" model you mentioned above and then some, actually schedule a time to retrieve the car from the customer and also when they plan to return it. The customer is blown away by the service and consideration. Which would you do? The latter. Give me a brief business case for how you'd address the event? You are really pushing an engineer to think like a businessman here. In short the business case I would make would include a huge nod to the potential marketing value, not just for the meager few customers involved, but for the market in general, at least the sports car market. The prerequisite would be that all dealerships must be willing to provide similarly amazing service to ALL their Ford sports car customers. The marketing value comes in garnering significant media attention; the LA Times should be easy to convince to print a follow-up, not sure about SpeedTV and the like, but that would be huge. Call Dave Despain, put out a press release with dramatic accounts of the risk (the hook for any reporter) but also the stellar customer service plan to resolve the issue. It's also an opportunity, being such a small scale issue, to display in real time for all the naysayers and company bureaucrats how customer service really should be handled while proving that it works and yields great benefits to the company. (Message edited by Blake on November 15, 2008) | ||
| Thesmaz |
Court, Glad to hear that everything got worked out with you Macbook and everytime I've had to call Apple Customer Support I've had really good experiences, especially given that I'm overseas and there aren't Apple stores on every corner (there were TWO within 1 hour drive in Belgium). Apple's customer service is among the best I've ever dealt with as well as the iLuv company (they make iPod/iPhone accessories). I have a bit of a story to tell regarding HD/Buell Customer Service and that saga is still on going. If you'd like to hear it, I'll send it to you by email and then you can decide whether or not to include it in your online lessons here. |
