Do You Know How to Give The Celebrity Experience?

I've said this many times because I truly believe it: "God knows how to connect the dot.coms." That's why I know meeting Donna Cutting was meant to be. I connected with her through the Powerful Entrepreneurs Networking Group and invited her to become a part of Boomer Diva Nation.

Donna has given us business entrepreneurs quite a lesson on what it means to give a client a celebrity experience through her recently released book. I had the pleasure of interviewing Donna recently about her book.


Why did you choose to write The Celebrity Experience?

A conversation with a friend got me to thinking about the term “red-carpet customer service” and wondering if it really exists. Most of my audience members (when I speak at conferences) can easily recall their worst customer service experiences – but it’s more difficult for people to come up with a service experience that they’d consider celebrity style treatment.

I asked myself, who knows how to deliver that kind of service? The answer that came was “people who deliver service to celebrities.” So, I spent a couple of years interviewing people whose customers are celebrities about what it takes to deliver that level of service. Then I found people and organizations that deliver that level of service to every day, ordinary, non-famous people – and are growing their business as a result! I wrote the book to challenge others to raise their standards and commit to delivering extraordinary service.

Has customer service changed that much over the years? If so, how and why do you think it has?

Yes, it has. It’s hard to pin down why. Perhaps it has to do with the rise of big business, technology, etc. More than likely, it’s a lot of factors. We certainly have gotten away from personalized service – allowing computers to do much of the work that human beings used to do.

The good news is that a business owner can differentiate themselves by getting back to basics. Be more accessible. Answer the phone, or hire someone to answer the phone for you. Send hand written thank you notes. Find creative ways to use someone’s name, and come up with ways to roll out the red carpet. Do this and you will stand out in a sea of non-personalized service providers.

How do you handle a difficult customer?

As Sheri Riley, the owner of Glue, Inc. (a PR company for celebrities) put it, “operate under the premise of mutual respect.” You respect your customers and you expect that they will respect you and your team. If there are disagreements, handle them in a kind and professional way. Certainly own up to and make right any errors made by you or your representatives. However, if your customer continually disrespects you and your team, or takes advantage of you, then perhaps your company is not the right fit for them. It’s an individual decision, but if you find a customer is abusing you or your team past the point of tolerance, it might be best to free them up to find another company that’s a better fit for them. I write about this in The Celebrity Experience in a chapter called The Booger Principle. You’ll have to read the book to find out why it’s called The Booger Principle.

In your book, you say it’s important to train your team well. Why?

The companies that succeed in delivering extraordinary service (and reap bottom line rewards as a result) commit to clear standards of service, and train, train, train their team members, holding them accountable for adhering to those standards. Their team members know what the standards are, how they tangibly express them, and what kind of impact their moment to moment choices (to smile, own a customer’s problem, be the first to speak, etc) has on the customer and the company. They know this because they are continually reminded – and they begin to hold each other accountable to these standards.

Why is it important for a business owner to have your book in their collection?

Readers tell me they like the fact that the book has many examples. I don’t just share theory, but I share examples of what others are doing in service. Those examples have inspired many readers to come up with their own service “WOW” ideas – and that’s a must for any business owner!

What’s the one message you want the reader to take away from your book?

Commit to delivering the same level of service to your customers as you would if Denzel Washington or Meryl Streep walked into your place of business, and you’ll have more fun, more customers, create more buzz, and ultimately improve your bottom line.

Where can your book be purchased?

Anywhere books are sold. The best price right now is on Amazon.com. However, all bookstores carry it. If they are out of stock, they can order the book for you.

The link for Amazon.com is: http://www.amazon.com/Celebrity-Experience-Insider-Delivering-Customer/dp/0470174013/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1220310585&sr=8-1

This interview is a part of a blog tour:

Today, you can also go to the other blogs to read about Donna’s book:
Terry Booth http://nashvillerealestateblogger.com/
Denise O’Berry http://www.allbusiness.com/operations/3357-1.html


Yesterday, the virtual blog tour began at these blogs:
Teresa Morrow http://www.keybusinesspartners.com
Dr. Sally Witt www.drsallywitt.com

Carol Deckert http://www.runlancaster.com/blog


And tomorrow it continues
Phil Gerbyshak http://makeitgreat.typepad.com

Melody Campbell http://thesmallbusinessguru.com/topics/business-development/