{"id":14235,"date":"2018-08-01T15:27:26","date_gmt":"2018-08-01T15:27:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.customerservicemanager.com\/?p=14235"},"modified":"2018-08-07T10:01:54","modified_gmt":"2018-08-07T10:01:54","slug":"cake-calamity-proves-canitys-value-in-a-world-of-crummy-customer-service","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.customerservicemanager.com\/cake-calamity-proves-canitys-value-in-a-world-of-crummy-customer-service\/","title":{"rendered":"Cake Calamity Proves Canity\u2019s Value in a World of Crummy Customer Service"},"content":{"rendered":"

May was a great month for entrepreneur and photographer Kym Illman. He was trackside as Perth-born Daniel Ricciardo dominated the Monaco Grand Prix, capturing some super sharp images of the drivers and the celebrities in the huge and colourful crowd.<\/p>\n\"\"\n

Daniel Ricciardo dominated the Monaco Grand Prix<\/em><\/p>\n

As Illman, and anyone following the F1 calendar knows only too well, Monaco at GP time epitomises everything that\u2019s great about Formula 1 racing \u2013 speed, glamour, passion, noise and more than a hint of danger as cars drive perilously close to barriers lining the narrow streets.<\/p>\n

Even after suffering a loss of power in the early stages of the race, affable West Australian Ricciardo, whose parents are friends with the Illmans, managed to hold onto his lead ahead of Sebastian Vettel despite being 20km\/h slower on the straights.<\/p>\n\"Daniel\n

Jubilant\u00a0Daniel Ricciardo with his team mates<\/em><\/p>\n

As someone who looks for parallels between the cut and thrust of Formula One \u2013 where a split second decision can mean success or failure \u2013 and real life, Ricciardo\u2019s grit in overcoming a serious race setback and coming through for a win wasn\u2019t lost on Illman.<\/p>\n

The former disc jockey who has grown his\u00a0Messages On Hold<\/em><\/a>\u00a0audio marketing company from a one-man operation in his spare bedroom to a global marketing success has circumnavigated his own share of hair-raising bends and turns and understands how small the margin separating winners from losers can be.<\/p>\n

During this particular stop on the busy F1 calendar it was another incident, one almost comedic as it unravelled in the day following the race, that was to bring home Illman\u2019s biggest learning of that weekend. Bizarrely, as he explains, it was all to do with a birthday cake.<\/p>\n

Let Them Eat Cake<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cOn the Saturday of the Monaco race it was my birthday and Daniel Bois from Grand Prix Events dropped off a cake to boat we\u2019re staying on,\u201d Illman recounts. (The boat, Quid Pro Quo<\/em>, holds one of the prime positions in Monte Carlo\u2019s Hercule Harbour during the four-day grand prix event.)<\/p>\n\"Monaco\"\n

Monte Carlo\u2019s Hercule Harbour<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cI asked one of the kitchen staff if they\u2019d put it in the fridge so that we could all enjoy a piece the next day. The time duly came around and as we were sitting up on the deck, I asked one of hostesses to bring it out. She seemed confused so I asked the captain to help arrange for it to be served.\u201d<\/p>\n

Illman says it was some time later that the captain returned to say unequivocally the cake had vanished, \u2018it is lost; these things happen\u2019 he explained majestically.<\/p>\n

\u201cThen 10 minutes later,\u201d Illman grimaces, \u201cThey were back. They\u2019d found the cake, well rather part of the cake. Some of it was missing they said, but what they\u2019d found would be served immediately.\u201d<\/p>\n

There, one would suppose, the tale might end, in a glorious late afternoon of birthday sponge indulgence. But no.<\/p>\n\"The\n

The only captured shot of the cake!<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cMore time followed and the ship\u2019s chef arrived to tell us that unfortunately there was no cake,\u201d an exasperated Illman says. \u201cWhen we asked what had happened, he said he couldn\u2019t be 100 percent sure (in actual fact he couldn\u2019t be 10 percent sure) but he felt there probably wasn\u2019t enough room in the ship\u2019s fridges to store it and it was thrown out.<\/p>\n

\u201cA little while later we were surprised to see the captain return again and ask if we enjoyed the cake. \u2018What?!\u2019 we replied. \u2018Didn\u2019t you like it?\u2019 he asked again and one of our very funny British friends chimed in with \u2018we never had it!\u2019<\/p>\n

Drowning in Excuses<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cIt was at this point we suggested he go and get the chef so that between the six of us, we could get to the bottom of where the disappearing cake might be.<\/p>\n

\u201cCaption Clueless and Chef No Idea presented a few minutes later to explain themselves and their final version of the fate of the cake? \u2018We can\u2019t serve food that is more than 24 hours old as it is a health issue,\u2019 Chef proclaimed. This, despite the fact that we were having this bizarre discussion less than 24 hours after the cake was brought on board the vessel!\u201d<\/p>\n

For Illman, who built an entire second business \u2013\u00a0Canity.com<\/em><\/a>\u00a0\u2013 following his continued frustration at the lack of customer service he experienced both at home and while travelling, it was further evidence the message the customer is always king still hasn\u2019t hit home in many places of the world.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf any business ever needed Canity.com<\/em> staff training, it was this one,\u201d he says of the hapless boat crew. \u201cWhy is it we\u2019re still shocked when we actually do receive excellent customer service? There\u2019s been so much research to prove the value of looking after the people doing business with you.<\/p>\n

The Cost of Losing Customers<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cResearch shows it costs up to 10 times as much to attract a new customer as it does to keep an existing one,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

\u201cA 2017 study<\/a> showed that 62 million families in the US report at least one service problem a year, which left 56 per cent of them in a rage or extremely upset. According to the same study only 25 per cent of them were able to resolve their problem in one go with the company.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn fact 19 per cent of them had to contact the company more than seven times! And after all of this, 80 per cent of customers remained unhappy, even after the matter was sorted,\u201d Illman says.<\/p>\n

In Australia, the cost of below par customer service is estimated at around $40 billion per year, or $720 for every negative customer experience.<\/p>\n

\u201cYet so many companies continue to ignore the message,\u201d Illman says. \u201cGetting the customer experience wrong is an expensive business and once you\u2019ve lost a customer, as the statistics show, it\u2019s very hard to win them back.\u201d<\/p>\n

Which is where his online training platform, Canity.com<\/em>, comes in. Designed to tackle the problem at the actual workplace through a series of modules made up of short, entertaining and easy-to-digest animated video lessons they are delivered directly to a participant\u2019s email inbox.<\/p>\n

Canity Can Do<\/strong><\/p>\n

Usually running less than a minute the videos cover all the fundamentals of customer interaction \u2013 ranging from presentation skills to phone and social media skills, to dealing with disappointed clients and everything in between \u2013 to help service businesses manage their all-important interactions.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s also a Master Series, with modules for business owners and managers looking to change the way they work.\u00a0 At the completion of each module, the viewer completes an interactive online quiz and can download further training content,\u201d Illman says.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have absolute confidence that this product is a winner and we are seeing that in interest from around the globe.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt all happens online and just when it\u2019s convenient for the staff member so we\u2019re not impacting on productivity. The back end of the product allows the boss to see who\u2019s done the training, how they\u2019ve scored and what areas they might be falling down in. For managers, Canity does all the work for them.\u201d<\/p>\n

For the hapless boat crew some timely instruction on, perhaps, \u2018Acting on a problem\u2019, \u2018Handling complaints\u2019 or even \u2018Letting angry customers vent\u2019 may have meant the difference between hours of frustration for an amused and ultimately annoyed Illman and his friends, and for a happier birthday!<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve always had that personality of wanting to please someone. In business I think you have to think \u2018what\u2019s the extra, what can I give people that will really get their attention and make them come back? That surely is what customer service is all about,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

As well as Canity<\/a>, Kym Illman has also launched The Groove Gallery, tourism website\u00a0<\/strong>Lancelin.com.au<\/u><\/strong>, marketing endeavours MessageVision and VideoUpdateMe and is renowned for his spectacular ambush marketing techniques across Australia. His entertaining and informative Formula 1 Blog can be found at https:\/\/www.kymillman.com\/f1-diaries\/<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

May was a great month for entrepreneur and photographer Kym Illman. He was trackside as Perth-born Daniel Ricciardo dominated the Monaco Grand Prix, capturing some super sharp images of the drivers and the celebrities in the huge and colourful crowd. Daniel Ricciardo dominated the Monaco Grand Prix As Illman, and anyone following the F1 calendar […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":342,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[4],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.customerservicemanager.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14235"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.customerservicemanager.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.customerservicemanager.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.customerservicemanager.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/342"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.customerservicemanager.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14235"}],"version-history":[{"count":20,"href":"https:\/\/www.customerservicemanager.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14235\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14270,"href":"https:\/\/www.customerservicemanager.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14235\/revisions\/14270"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.customerservicemanager.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14235"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.customerservicemanager.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14235"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.customerservicemanager.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14235"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}