Customer Experience Tip #1611

If you’re going to ask your customers and clients how their experience was, be prepared for their answers. Be open to anything you might learn. Be prepared to acknowledge your team for their strengths. And be prepared to make improvements and coach your staff when/where necessary.

Customer Experience Tip #1610

“Speak as an individual, not part of a team … saying ‘How can I help you?’ outperforms ‘How can we help you?’). For one company, an analysis of over a thousand email interactions with customers found that switching to first person singular pronouns could lead to a potential sales increase of over 7%.” –Harvard Business Review

Customer Experience Tip #1609

Your company is making an impression on prospects, customers, and clients. That impression says one of three things: Either 1) we’re engaged and we’re here to serve you; 2) we’re indifferent, we don’t really care, or; 3) we’re annoyed by you and we’d rather be doing anything but serving you. What impression are you making as a company?

Customer Experience Tip #1608

If you want your customers to feel that your process is fun and light (assuming this is appropriate for your particular industry), then you have to give your employees permission to have fun and be light … while keeping it professional enough, of course. #Balance

Customer Experience Tip #1607

Giving your customer too many options can stifle the process and feel frustrating to them and (subsequently) to you. They are relying on you to guide them and do their critical thinking for them. You’re the expert. Give them options, not a “project.”

Customer Experience Tip #1606

A phone that rings more than 2 or 3 times isn’t only disappointing to the caller, it looks bad (and serves as a distraction) to anyone nearby who’s hearing a phone go unanswered for so long … like that customer in your reception area. #FirstImpressions

Customer Experience Tip #1605

“Service surrounds us. It’s the relationship between your organization and the people you serve. And while you can’t force people to feel a certain way about your brand, you can design your service to create the experiences and impressions you want your customers to have.” –Melanie Bell-Mayeda & Ilya Prokopoff, IDEO U

Customer Experience Tip #1604

Often, what makes that front-line person exceptional is an innate ability to deliver remarkable service and ultimately WOW customers and clients. Innate abilities are generally unconscious; something for which that person may not have as much self-awareness as you’d imagine. Don’t be so quick to promote this person to become a trainer to others. Trainers must be trained on how to train.

Customer Experience Tip #1603

Trying to create “buy-in?” Your people will support … what they help to create.

Customer Experience Tip #1602

When more than a few customers are telling you that they are annoyed with your process, it’s your process … it’s not them. #DontShootTheMessenger