Flip the Funnel: How to Use Existing Customers to Gain New Ones

CUSTOMER SERVICE IS NOT ONLY ABOUT SOLVING PROBLEMS

The other day I called Starwood Hotels’s customer loyalty program, Starwood Preferred Guest (SPG), with a routine query: I wanted to add my SPG number to two upcoming hotel reservations. As a keynote public speaker who constantly travels around our wonderful planet, it is wonderful to be able to add up all those hotel, car rental, and airline miles and use them for future family vacations. The Starwood person I spoke to not only took care of my request, but—completely unprompted—proceeded to look into getting me better rates on my reservations.

Figure 10.7 Google Search Results for Delta Business Class Platinum

I was blown away. Was this an example of a rogue employee, a company with a sick masochistic tendency that got off by lowering profits or, in fact, a rare selfless organization? The answer is most likely none of the above or possibly some triangulated point in the middle. Either way, here was a gesture that’s being acknowledged and recognized in this book and rewarded with future business from me and now, quite possibly, you. See, customers aren’t always flipping the bird right back at companies. Sometimes they’ll flip the funnel and return the love.

Every single time you make contact with your customers, it’s a moment of truth. It’s an opportunity to connect, to build or rebuild the relationship, to learn more about ...