Boomerang Principle

Susan, Jenna, Paul and I were discussing customer service issues and specifically Susan's recent experience at a local retailer.  We discussed challenge of handling returns, missed expectations, quality issues, and pricing mistakes. 

At Accenture, I helped many companies with their computer systems which have grown to be integral to the customer service experience and measuring performance.  When I was consulting in the Consumer Products industry, I used to send a book to my clients - "Crowning the Customer" by Feargal Quinn.  In that book Feargal explains a simple customer service metric that can completely change a company's business strategy, objectives and employee focus.

Feargal learned this metric while working at his Dad's holiday camp called Red Island just outside Skerries on the coast of north County Dublin. When a customer booked a week or two at Red Island everything was included (like a cruise).  They had their money up front.

"The fact was that when guests arrived, we had made as much money from their visit as we were going to make. No matter how hard we worked to give them a good time, we would not increase our profit from their stay. That was already fixed.  So why did we work our tails off, week after week, trying to create for these visitors the best holiday experience they had ever had?

Every single thing we did was centered on one..... simple benchmark ... the number of repeat bookings (while they were still at the camp!)."

The Boomerang Principle: the name of the game is getting the customer back.

If you want to read a book filled with Customer Driven principles - this is one for you.
(1) Boomerang Principle
(2) Getting a "feel" for the customer
(3) Listening to customers: three secrets - Listening System; Listening from the Top;  Hear what you don't want to hear;
(4) How to make customer panels work
(5) How (and why) to create MORE complaints
(6) How to see customers as people
(7) The secret weapon: availability
(8) The jokers in the pack: fun and surprise
(9) Don't let the accountants win