Glen Gould tells chambers of commerce that 82% of customers leave because of poor service, not price. He says chambers can lead a fix by championing customer service through task forces and roundtables. One company added two words to their approach and saw a 22% profit jump.
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Could something be sabotaging all of your good efforts in your community? Could some not so silent and yet ignored force be hampering growth, crippling your local economy, and killing your local businesses? I'm afraid the answer is yes, and regardless of what happens on this Election Day, this killer will remain. You cannot vote this business killer out of office, and yet you must do something about it if your community your businesses, in fact, your Chamber of Commerce is to survive. Give me just a few moments and I promise I will help you stop this madness in your community. And in the process, I'll share with you two simple words that have translated into a 22% increase in profitability for one company. Hi, my name is Glen Gould, and many of you know me through my work with Ben Turpin and the Inspiration Agents. Now, before you assume this message will be about how you can grow your membership or about sales training or effective networking or marketing for your members, please, please stop right there. Those topics are important, and I, while I still teach them, what I will share with you in the next few moments is far more urgent, far more important, and it will change the way you look at your chamber and your community forever. That's right, I said forever. Once we're done here today, you'll have a choice to make. You can continue with the status quo, or you can lead your community, and thereby your chamber, into a new era of success. And you'll make this choice whether you want to or not, because you'll now be aware, and awareness requires choice. The choice will be to act or not to act. Here's how all of this began. I've had the privilege of working with hundreds of chambers and tens of thousands of businesses and their employees over the past 7 years. I've spoken at national conferences like the American Chamber of Commerce Executives, state conferences in Georgia and Florida and others. I've spoken at the, at the National Rural Economic Developers Conference, and I've delivered the Third Thursday free conference calls for a number of years. And I've also worked with national companies like Allstate Insurance and Subway. During all of this time, I've continued to see well-meaning, good, hard-working business owners chamber professionals and their staff members all but ignore a killer in their community. These well-intentioned people spend hundreds of hours of staff and management time and hundreds of thousands of dollars every year providing excellent professional training in sales, marketing, social media, social media marketing, networking— believe me, I know, I've done a lot of it and I'm extremely grateful— accounting, starting a business, and hiring principals. They attend and/or provide programs in selling to big businesses, selling to governments, connecting for success, identifying your target market, and so much more. And all or most or most of all of them are excellent information. Many even deliver effective results. But in every community I visit, I find the same issue is holding these communities back. The problem exists in Abbott, Maine, Zzyzx, California, and everywhere in between. Just yesterday I experienced this problem 12 times. No doubt you did too. The causes are many. However, it is an epidemic that seemingly has no cure. And worse still, everyone sees it and no one does anything about it or seems to be able to do anything about it. Now, before I identify this business killer for you, I want to warn you that you will quickly dismiss it once it's identified. In truth, most of those who find this video won't get this far. That's exactly why you should listen and why you should act. Doing so will give you the opportunity to have your chamber and your community rise above those who don't. You see, it's so prevalent, it's so ubiquitous, that we assume it's normal. Trust me, it is not normal. The problem plaguing your community and mine is poor customer service. I know, duh, right? Tell me something I didn't already know. Well, I promised to offer help, but first consider this. In the past, we were taught that we lost customers because 1% of them died, 3% of them moved away, 5% of them sought alternative or developed other relationships, 9% began doing business with the competition, 14% were dissatisfied with the product or service, and a whopping 68% said that a perceived indifference— in other words, they felt like their business wasn't appreciated or wasn't needed. Now let me stop right there and tell you in no uncertain terms, you are appreciated by me and the hundreds of businesses you serve in your chamber and your chamber members. I need your business and so do the many businesses you patronize on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis, both personally and on behalf of the Chamber. But here's the bad news. Those numbers are seemingly in the past. In the Customer Experience Report of 2010, 82% of people who stopped doing business with a company did so because of poor customer service. Could this be news? Not if you can do the math like I can. You see, if you take the 68% who perceived indifference and add the 14% who were dissatisfied, you'll find that equals 82%. That means you have the opportunity to improve your members' chances of success by 82% if you will just improve their customer service. Imagine the impact, not only for those businesses that are members of your chamber, but for the hundreds, if not thousands, of potential businesses in your community who might join your chamber if they could find something you offer that no one else does. This is the next generation of chamber focus. How do we make our chamber indispensable? By becoming the home of business success. How do we do that? Well, apparently 82% of it could be done through championing customer service. What's more, imagine this scenario: A major company is considering relocation to your region. They have visited several communities without letting anyone know they are interested. Stealthily, they visit your community. They troll the websites of your schools, your higher education, the municipality's public works, and your county government. They also check out your website. When they come to your community, they check out the infrastructure available, facilities and sites that are available, and they stop into the local restaurant or retailer to get some local perspective. That's right, a couple of interactions with frontline employees may be all it takes to become the frontrunner or the also-ran. You are relying on the service in your local businesses for your community's future. Imagine the loss in revenue in your community, the loss of tax dollars generated by that revenue, the loss of jobs and the loss of opportunities for your members and the greater community. This loss is is your big opportunity. Your members and potential members, your citizens, their children, they're all relying on you. You have a greater impact than you can possibly know. Most businesses will tell you they expect the local chamber to provide programming to help them with their business, and you do. But what could be more important? What greater impact could you provide? Well, I promised you I'd help you So here's what I can do and what you can do right away. First, start by downloading my paper, "10 Steps to Better Customer Service," on the link on this page or on my website, SuccessfulChamber.com. Next, share this information with your board, your members, your colleagues, and your friends. Begin talking about what the problem is and that it is a problem. Awareness can go a long way to solving it. Many aren't aware that they provide or accept poor service. Most don't believe they can do anything about it. Third, launch a customer service task force at your chamber. Put this issue on the same level as your other committees or task forces, right up there with education and advocacy. This will create awareness that your chamber is serious about the issue. Then, Hold customer service roundtable discussions. Hold one for hospitality, one for retail, one for industry, one for government services. Other sectors may apply in your community. When holding these sessions, it's essential to invite non-members to the table. Create a list of potential attendees, mail them an invitation, follow up with an email, and then finally with a phone call. They must know this isn't a typical chamber request. You can download some helpful information on my site as well. Finally, invite me to speak at your chamber. I'd love to come in and help your community become the customer service capital. You can do it, and I can help you get there. If you haven't already clicked some of the links to see parts of my program, please click on the links on this page or on my website at SuccessfulChamber.com. And by the way, those two words that helped a company become 22% more profitable they can be found by clicking on the video named "22% Increase." It only lasts a minute or two, but it's a powerful example. Well, that's it. My manifesto on what I believe is the single biggest correctable problem plaguing our businesses and our communities. And it's the single biggest opportunities for chambers to positively impact their community. This is your opportunity to affect change. It's been said that you'll only be remembered for two things: the problems you solve or the problems you create. Here's your opportunity to be remembered. What will be your choice?
