Chocolates on the Pillow Aren't Enough

Citation

Dietz, J. (2008), "Chocolates on the Pillow Aren't Enough", Journal of Consumer Marketing, Vol. 25 No. 1, pp. 64-65. https://doi.org/10.1108/07363760810845426

One of the endorsements for this book, from the CEO of J. Crew, states “If you don't work for your customers, you're not doing your job.” In many ways, that sums up what readers must come away from this book embracing: they can never, never stop studying and finding new ways to serve customers whose wants and desires change in all but one way: They are the ultimate reason businesses open their doors every morning.

Jonathan Tisch, the current Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Loews Hotels, has a style that constantly reminds the reader that he is on the front lines every day and that he understands what it is like to win and lose customers. “Competition is intensifying, consumers are becoming more demanding, and old ways of creating customer loyalty have lost much of their impact” (p. 2).

I did not get the feeling from reading this book that Tisch is speaking as a hotel mogul; he speaks as a businessman who truly cares that his customers are well taken care of, and he does not seem to take the position that this is any less his responsibility than that of anyone else at the Loews Corporation. He does not hit the reader between the eyes with his points, but gently guides them to the all‐important message.

The “Ahas” that end each chapter are well suited to a “cheat sheet” the reader can post to his or her bathroom mirror each morning before greeting customers.

The book is written in two parts.

1 Part one: the problem and the solution

1.1 (1) What happened to my customers? (2) Engineering the total customer experience

With shrinking brand loyalty, heightened competition and increasingly skeptical customers, “Organizations are scrambling to revamp their market research programs, searching for clues to what drives the new and increasingly fickle breed of customers” (p. 15). Perhaps competition has for too long been about products and features. Now it is about experiences, as A.G. Lafly, the CEO of Procter & Gamble notes (p. 20). Customer‐centered companies seem to be winning the war for customers in most industries today.

Finding and focusing on touchpoints with customers is important to making each visit better. “Product‐based companies sometimes lose track of their many connections to customers from initial contact, sales, shipping, delivery and installation to service, repair, upgrade, use, return, recycling, and second purchase” (p. 37). The Ahas in this chapter include comments about In‐N‐Out hamburgers: “Look for ways to give your customers both simplicity and flexibility” and “Don't be afraid to stand for something” (p. 30).

2 Part two: reimagining the customer experience

2.1 (3) Reimagining the sale: creating customers who are happy to buy

Great Aha's abide here: Commerce Bank (Cherry Hill, NJ) “practices what they call the ‘10‐minute rule,’ opening ten minutes ahead of schedule and closing ten minutes late – just to make customers feel that much more welcome” (p. 53), and “If you hope to excel, look for comparisons with other organizations in different areas, including those known for much high standards of excellence” (p. 56). These simple ideas are what business schools today call “thinking outside the box” and what truly exceptional companies must embrace to compete.

2.2 (4) The hospitable organization: turning customers into guests

Continuing the theme of finding new ways to look at and serve customers, “Never underestimate the power of information” (p. 75). We are so used to hearing horror stories about passengers stranded for hours on planes with nary a peep from the captain, yet this is common sense: “Providing them with plenty of the information they need is one of the most important benefits you can offer” (p. 75). Not only does Tisch talk about information in this chapter, he talks about a room service model in hospitals. When you think about it, the costs are more than covered by happier, better‐eating and fast‐recovering patients. What is good about this model is that there are many areas where better treatment of clients can improve productivity – the DMV comes to mind.

2.3 (5) Home away from home: the art of welcoming customers

If design is all about human emotion, looking at everything a customer experiences when away from home confirms the importance of a holistic look at what customers see:

• •

  Start with your customers, not with goods or services.

• •

  To keep people interested tweak your look.

• •

  Big organizations can think small.

• •

  Your style is your best form of advertising (p. 87).

2.4 (6) Haven wanted: providing security in an unsafe world

Because all businesses face special security requirements these days, Tisch shows how both comfort and security can add to the customer's satisfaction (p. 102):

• •

  Security and comfort are not incompatible.

• •

  Design from the ground up to meet both institutional and individual needs.

• •

  When you cannot avoid inconveniencing your customers, transparency softens the hurt.

• •

  Look for ways to turn customer negatives into win/win positives (such as refreshments at the gate, better lit dressing rooms).

2.5 (7) Open‐door policy: the challenge of transparency

This chapter follows well on the one about security, because customers want transparency of information at the same time that they want security. “Information known by one customer will eventually be known by every customer,” “When your customers begin forcing transparency, don't fight them – join them” (p. 131), and “Your most profitable customers are likely to be your best‐informed customers” (p. 132) are reminders of what businesses should know about customers.

2.6 (8) One size does not fit all: the new art of customization

This chapter gets at the heart of the need for front‐line employees who can treat each customer as an individual. “Part of the answer lies in empowering your front‐line employees to devise unique ad hoc solutions to your clientele's problems instead of merely following preordained policies” (p. 134). Not only will people for whom customer solutions are delivered flawlessly tend to pay a higher price, even in the low‐to‐middle end of the market, but customized treatment, such as Build‐a‐Bear (p. 148) fulfills a customer's desire to be in control. Technology is the key to making these solutions work, along with empowered front‐line personnel.

2.7 (9) Let me introduce you: customer communities in an interactive world

This chapter builds on the individual nature of customers, how technology is changing the landscape, and the continued need for maintaining and enhancing the human connection. “Corporations … are finding ways to address the need for human connections while pursuing their own corporate or social missions” (p. 155). Examples from the building of community by Harley‐Davidson, a product manufacturer, to eBay, a networked community, show the reader that the channel of business does not matter as much as the experience of the customer.

2.8 (10) High tech goes high‐touch: using the internet to go global and go local

“No company interested in developing intimate links with its customers can afford to fall behind in the understanding and application of today's electronic connections” (p. 178). Ahas:

• •

  Investigate preexisting tools that can help you spread your message.

• •

  New ways of connecting with customers may require new rules of communication.

• •

  Find ways to link the virtual world with the real world (pp. 190‐191).

This chapter notes that the future is a job for those with new ideas, who can think ahead of the customer, and who are open to the fast changing of consumers.

2.9 (11) Everyone is welcome: the challenges of customer diversity

I, personally, think this is one of the most important chapters in this book because most marketers tend to be ethnocentric – we think customers are like us. Tisch points out very well that “Whether you recognize if or not, you are probably training your front‐line employees to focus on the target customer … your sales and service staff, probably unconsciously, ignore or mistreat customers who don't fit the target customer mold” (p. 201), such as a teenager who just might be using a gift card to buy something expensive. Or, more frightening, “In a society as mobile as the United States, the customer you scorn today may be a major customer tomorrow” (p. 206). As I spent 17 years in the Home Center industry, where Home Depot was scorned by many major manufacturers when they began, this is a lesson that needs to be better taught and practiced.

2.10 (12) Your best, and a little bit more: offering something extra to your customers

I tell my students to give their future employers more than they are paying for, and Ken Blanchard, in Raving Fans, explains that the way to get people to rave about your product or service has a lot to do with giving just a little more than expected. Tisch clearly knows that the end of the sale is not the close, it is the customer's decision to return and or recommend your business to others. He says “If you are great at what you do, your reputation is a valuable commodity in its own right” (p. 224). He means great throughout and after the sale, not just the visible parts.

3 Afterward: a challenge that never ends

“The challenge of creating deeper, richer, more satisfying connections to your customers is the single most important task facing any manager in today's complex, rapidly changing world” (p. 233). Another note for your bathroom mirror!

I really think that everyone can benefit from this book, whatever their business. Tisch's points affect every business and he points out why some of them should be paying more attention than they are. I would use the book in a sales or marketing class; I would also recommend it in customer service seminars.

Not all the examples in the book fit Tisch's message. The discussion of Moonview Sanctuary on page 68 adds nothing to the “chocolates on the pillow” message because their high profile clients get exactly what they want – high profile attention. This might be fine for the owners of Ritz Carlton and Loews hotels, but this book is really intended for a more mainstream business proprietor.

Here are the major points distilled from this very enjoyable book:

1. 1.

   Everyone in the organization must be customer centered.

2. 2.

   Track changing customer needs.

3. 3.

   Management by wandering around keeps you in touch.

4. 4.

   Transparency of information can make the difference.

5. 5.

   Everything is local, even as advertisers can reach millions.

I know that I learned a lot that I need to put on my bathroom mirror. I think readers will agree with me.