Engineering the Customer Experience
Many of your clients would prefer if you could do all of their critical thinking for them. Others may prefer more of a DIY approach within their experience as your customer. You don’t have to pick just one approach. Offer both options and let them choose.
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Too many service providers are “getting by” by doing barely enough — or worse — falling short of customer expectations. Those are your competitors. By doing even a little more than the status quo, you’re bound to stand out for your customers and be remembered. Start small if you need to.
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If you cannot find great role models in your own industry, you may want to take a look outside, at other industries. Some of your best customer service practices could be inspired in unlikely places; by unlikely companies.
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Even if your role does not involve directly serving external customers, in the traditional sense, chances are good that you *are* still serving the people inside of your organization. Whether your customers are internal or external, the same rules apply.
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Until recently, my wife and I had been housing much of my best friend’s furniture for the previous three years (long story). One Saturday morning, a moving company spent two hours removing all the large pieces from our home. The three movers were great. They showed up on time and worked hard. They were polite and did a careful job.
What could they have done better? At first glance … [Read more…]
“Customer point of view. Always. Filter everything you’re doing, saying and pitching through that and you’ll improve just about every metric you care about today.”
-Matt Heinz, President at Heinz Marketing
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If you find that customers are repeatedly doing something “wrong” inside of your process, there is likely a flaw in *your* system. Remember, customers don’t go to customer school.
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The moment you realize you may be mistaken, when talking with a client, just say so. You’re human, and the client should see that. Your honesty and humility will be refreshing to them and their “guard” will likely go down … instead of up.
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Look to remove anything from the client experience that could possibly serve as a distraction (physical or otherwise).
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Give your customers and clients the benefit of the doubt. Most people are honest, and they deserve that this be assumed of them.
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