Engineering the Customer Experience
The U.S. Census Bureau lists a professional category of “Sales” but in Canada the category is labeled “Sales/Service.” In other words sales and service are thought of as one category. Might Canada be onto something?…
Click to Enlarge
A rapidly growing percentage of your clients and prospects are visiting your web site via their mobile devices (typically about a 3-inch screen). Has your company’s web site been optimized as mobile-friendly?
Click to Enlarge
“Innovation and continuous customer value creation are non-negotiable.”
-Gaurav Bhalla, Ph.D., Knowledge Kinetics
Click to Enlarge
Let frustrated customers know you care by displaying genuine empathy in your response. Since declaring that you care doesn’t usually land well, you might say something like, “Wow, I can certainly understand how frustrating that must be for you. Let’s see about getting this resolved as quickly as possible.”
Click to Enlarge
Ownership means following up with that customer to be sure they got what they needed; that they found resolution. It doesn’t matter whether you’re the “right” person for the task — If you’ve “touched” it, take responsibility for their situation and a positive outcome. Close the loop. Own it.
Click to Enlarge
When you travel to other areas of the country (or the world) pay attention to your experience of customer service in those regions. What are they doing differently and how are you left feeling as a result? You might just pick up something worth adopting … or at least a new perspective.
Click to Enlarge
With your front-line staff, discuss the all-important difference between reacting to customer challenges and responding to customer challenges.
Click to Enlarge
“The easiest way to have great customer service is hire people who love to be of service. It’s not a skill, it’s a value; it’s an interest. And it can be trained if they love to do it.”
–Robert Richman, The Culture Blueprint
Click to Enlarge
Although you may be ready to jump in with a solution, early into your customer’s verbal complaint, just be patient and hear them out first. Your customers have a need to feel heard.
Click to Enlarge
Document your customer experience stories of WOW and service recovery. By keeping a written and/or video journal of these stories (preferably online), everyone in the company can have something to refer to and new hires can immerse themselves in your customer-centric culture by way of these stories. You might even consider giving customers and prospects access to this “gold” and explain how you’re using it internally.
Click to Enlarge
