Free Exceptional Service, Exceptional Profit: The Secrets of Building a Five-Star Customer Service Organization by Leonardo Inghilleri, Micah Solomon, Horst Schulze Page A

‘‘adult supervision recommended’’ disclaimer seemed to have been hastily placed on a card atop the monitor, but was obscured from where you would be most likely to read it. Regardless, disclaimers don’t win back your customer’s loyalty. If customers feel you’re being sneaky, they’ll run the other way.
    Surprises Are Hazardous—Online and Off
    Just because you can get information doesn’t mean you should get it.
    And just because you’ve gotten information doesn’t make all uses of it appropriate. People don’t always like being surprised—even if the surprise shows them the impressiveness of your service systems. ‘‘Permission marketing’’ expert Seth Godin gives these examples.
    If your credit card company called you up and said, ’’We’ve been looking over your records and we see that you’ve been having an extramarital affair. We’d like to offer you a free coupon for VD testing . . . ,’’ you’d freak out, and for good reason. If the local authorities start using what’s on the corner surveillance cameras to sell you a new kind of commuter token, you’d be a little annoyed at that as well. 3
    Those are of course hypotheticals from Seth, but what about this real-life example from a friend of ours who was staying at a top hotel?
    She called the front desk to complain about a problem with the service.
    The front desk clerk fixed the problem but added a mistake of his own: Reading from the output of the electronically monitored minibar in her room, he told her, ‘‘I see you enjoy vodka. Would you enjoy one of our new vodkas with your dinner tonight as an apology?’’ The clerk thought he was being clever, but he came off as basically spying in his Keeping Track to Bring Them Back
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    guest’s bedroom—not something that’s going to warm the cockles of a customer’s heart.
    Keep in mind that you are gathering information to serve your customer . Any other use is at best secondary. And because we are talking about electronic systems, always remember the limitations of working without physical or auditory feedback. Do not require information unless it is an absolutely necessary part of doing business. When you ask for it, ask politely, never using the information in a way that penetrates someone’s protective bubble.
    How to Track Customer Preferences on the
    Internet—Without Intruding
    The Internet tempts us to gather too much information. It’s so easy to ask customers questions in an automated online interface that the temptation to ‘‘pile ’em on’’ can be very strong. Here are some principles to help you minimize this temptation:
    1. If you must gather any sensitive information, explain why it’s necessary—clearly and fully.
    2. Never require a date of birth unless you must screen un-derage users. Many people will either exit a website or falsify their birth date online if it is required of them. Pressuring customers to lie to you is the wrong way to begin a journey toward loyalty.
    3. Think through every question you ask, first arguing
    against it as well as you can. For example, play devil’s advocate about collecting telephone numbers. Why are you requiring your customers to reveal their phone numbers? Why, for that matter, require an email address? (There’s probably a reason, but think it through. Think about the potential costs, not just the obvious potential marketing benefits.)
    4. If you give people a persuasive option of providing private information, your best prospects will often be agreeable. After 58
    Exceptional Service, Exceptional Profit
    that, the problem of sifting out bogus ‘‘required’’ data (999-555-0505 and lateralligator @ getoutofmyface.com.usa.xxxy ) goes away.
    5. Consider the supplemental use of live chat wherever possible and of prominently listed 800/888 numbers. This can keep people from being daunted by lengthy forms (and walking away) when they only wanted a bit of specific information. But don’t let any of this stop