customer experience

HOW A CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE ROAD MAP CAN GROW YOUR BUSINESS

August 13, 2018

If I asked you to guess which company had the third most popular app and was fast implementing new technologies that their customers are lining up for, enhancing their customer experience, who would you guess?

Amazon?

Starbucks?

Uber?

Nope. Scroll down……..

McDonalds.

Over the next year, customers will be able to go to any McDonald’s around the country and order directly from one of their new in store kiosks, after which they can then pick up their food at a counter or wait on an employee to bring the meal directly to the table.

It makes sense since when you really think about it, McDonalds is in the convenience business. People eat there because they don’t have time (or desire) to cook, and they want a meal that won’t break the bank. We live in a world where we are used to using a computer, pad or phone to streamline most of our daily chores, so a self-serve kiosk (or mobile app) is comfortable to us. McDonalds understands their customer and how to use this insight to enhance the customer experience.

But McDonald’s knows that it’s not about the kiosk. As Justin Bariso points out in Forbes: “The new tech is only the surface. It’s about reaching people emotionally.” It’s about the experience, the journey.

“But I’m not McDonalds!” You don’t need McDonald’s vast resources to understand your customers experience. Map your customer’s journey from their viewpoint; it might lead to unexpected treasures.

IT’S ALL ABOUT CREATING A CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE ROADMAP

6 KEYS TO IMPROVING THE CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE (WHICH IS THE KEY TO SUCCESS)

July 16, 2018

IT’S ALL ABOUT THE CUSTOMER’S EXPERIENCE

I saw an ad from a social WiFi marketing company touting the data they collect on your customers from Facebook which includes:

Demographics
Page Likes
Location & Language
Facebook Usage
Purchase Activity

Great data for a brand but how useful is this generic data for a SOHO or small business looking to increase customer retention. After all, aren’t all 34 year old women who like to bike, who buy Lululemon, who work in sales and who log onto their FB page once a day, all the same? And does it really matter? Yes, according to the National Business Research Institute. The NBRI pointed to research conducted by Frederick Reichheld and W. Earl Sasser that revealed that when a company retains just five percent more of its customers, profits increase by 25 percent to 125 percent!. And they found that the key to improving customer satisfaction comes from simply listening to the actual voice of the customer.

The NBRI wrote: “The only way to know the changes your company needs to make is to listen to the voices of your customers. Incorporating customer research into your marketing efforts is a wise investment that will result in a significant ROI.”

THE VOICE OF THE CUSTOMER IMPACTS THE BOTTOM LINE

The impact on the bottom line is tangible to any size business. Where it costs 4-10X more to acquire a new customer than retain a new one and where satisfied customers make 56% more visits.

“Research is the only universal best practice. The only way to know the changes your company needs to make is to listen to the voices of your customers. Incorporating customer research into your marketing efforts is a wise investment that will result in a significant ROI.” according “The Fallacy of Universal Best Practices.”

Your customers have a voice and most* are happy to tell what you want to know if you give them the chance. Use multiple channels to hear what your customers are saying, what they like (what they don’t) and what they want. Try implementing customer feedback as much as possible, through the WiFi you provide (Turnstyle Solutions, via email (Constant Contact or MailChimp) or through your mobile app. Add a CRM that captures every interaction you have with a customer, online and in your place of business. And, as simple as it sounds, ask them. Pick up the phone and randomly call your clients (especially those that left a poor review) learn who they are and listen to what they have to say.

Or you can listen to the group-speak voice of a generic group of 34 year old women who like to bike, who work out and who log onto their FB page once a day.

THE 6 KEYS TO IMPROVING THE CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE

Michael Carver and Gary Cagnon, Professors of Marketing at Central Michigan University, have identified keys to improving customer satisfaction programs. The key activities they identify include:

· A customer-focused culture
· Executive support, persistence, and intensity
· A set of customer listening tools
· Linking performance measures
· Identifying improvement opportunities
· Evaluating and rewarding customer value and satisfaction (CVS)

But none of this will work unless you add the critical 7th key:

7. LISTEN!!

#itsallaboutthecustomersvoice

AS YOU BUILD YOUR COMPANY, ARE YOU SPENDING TOO MUCH EFFORT CHASING THE WOW?

July 5, 2018

6.4.18. I am re-posting this article from LinkedIn. I actually sent this to a entrepreneur who had contacted me to help them turn an opportunity into a profitable venture. In defining the best path forward, this team was so focused on the WOW they were losing site of the fundamentals. It is in understanding the customer experience and using this knowledge to build fundamentals that will determine long-term success. Unfortunately, too many startups spend precious resources chasing the latest buzz, or the WOW. Unlike a pair of shoes, they might not have anything to show for it.

WHEN IT COMES TO MARKETING TRENDS, DOES THE SHOE FIT?

“You need something exciting, something I haven’t seen before, because I am always looking for the next new product that will WOW me…at least until the next latest and greatest comes along.”

These words came from an experienced restaurateur who has been in this industry for more than four decades, with an amazing knack for promotion and marketing. To be honest, I was taken aback- not at his observation that what we were building wasn’t exciting or WOW enough, but why this was part of our discussion. Our mission is to turn new customers into repeats and repeat customers into advocates. We offer no new shiny toys, no exciting bells or whistles, only the delivery of demonstrably effective results for our customers. Restaurants, actually all businesses need to track trends, to know what is the ‘latest and greatest’ in product, culture, social media and operations. But isn’t the challenge in understanding the customer experience is to know when to adopt the trends, the WOW, and when to not to?

Of the many hats business owners wear, marketing in today’s world has to one of the most challenging. One restaurant executive told me that it used to be as simple as putting an ad in the paper. Today, owners and operators are told daily that they need to be blogging, pinning, tweeting, snapchatting and posting. One PR guru I follow wrote that one of her greatest challenges is dealing with the angst her clients feel every time a new social media platform appears (one of those ‘latest and greatest’). They fear that missing out will hurt their bottom line.

And it’s not just the owners who are feeling overwhelmed; consumers are being constantly bombarded by irrelevant marketing messages. How many emails do I need to get in my inbox simply because I bought a pair of socks? And do you really think I am going to download an app for every store, website or restaurant I visit?

When It Comes to the Chasing the WOW Factor, Do You Really Need Those Shoes?

3 STEPS THAT TURN EMPLOYEES INTO CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE SUPERHEROES

May 9, 2018

Stop and think of the best customer experience you have had recently- the over-the-top experience that stayed with you.

What do you remember about the experience? Was it the excellent food, the new item you bought or a delivery that went smoothly?

The data tells the story:

70% of buying experiences are based solely on how the customer feels they are being treated
73% become loyal to a company based on a friendly staff and great service

and my favorite:

80% of companies believe they deliver superior customer service…but only 8% of customers said they agree.

It (almost) always comes down to a person. An employee that uses their super powers to provide a memorable customer experience. That intangible feeling that leaves us with a desire for more.

What makes some employees super heroes? Some have the golden touch, but a stand out customer-centric, do-whatever-it-takes attitude doesn’t happen in a vacuum: it comes from companies that train, respect, trust and empower their employees.

Empowered employees are those employees who never utter those detested words “I will have to call a manager” or “please hold while I find someone who can help you” or “I am so sorry for your inconvenience” which is often the prelude to a migraine- mine! Employees who are allowed to make decisions even if that means making mistakes. As the CEO of Bonobos states:”Empowered to take care of customers in the moment.”

THE POWER OF TIME

I was online at a store, waiting to pay for a skirt. There was only one cashier and the person she was helping was arguing over a return. I asked another clerk if they could open a 2nd register, to be told that only the manager could authorize it and she, of course, was on a break. I put down my item as did 4 people behind me.

Empower to take care of customers in the moment: Imagine if this store had empowered their staff to check out their customers on their cell phone or a tablet. She could have walked over to the line and checked out those of us with 1-2 items, while we were waiting. Shorter lines for people with more items, 5 more purchases and 5 happy customers.

Every business can turn their team into customer experience super heroes. It takes a little imagination, a lot of determination and 3 simple steps:

3 STEPS TO EMPOWER YOUR HIDDEN SUPERHEROES:

HOW TO GET YOUR MESSAGE HEARD IN A CROWDED WORLD

April 13, 2018

I was recently approached by a service company looking to develop messaging that would get heard. The company was growing but not enough to compete in their heavily crowded, competitive market.

After digging in, it became clear that their new customer acquisition was flat and they were too dependent on a few customers. The company had two challenges: to create a new story that highlighted it’s uniqueness and to discover a way to separate itself from its competitors.

A major challenge but one any company will relate to.

The first step was to review their services and team. It is hard for all of us to look into our weaknesses and vulnerabilities and it is no different with companies. What were the strengths and where were the weaknesses?

We started by speaking with all the stakeholders: owners, sales team, office staff and customer service reps. It is not uncommon for those with varying roles in the company to have different perspectives but in this case, there was a unanimity in their response. They talked about the technical tools that streamline their operations, the quality of the products they use and the training they provide their service personnel.

All excellent attributes but in this service game, nothing that differentiates them from their competitors.

Then we went to their customers and the conversation changed.

5 GUARANTEED WAYS TO LOSE MY BUSINESS

February 27, 2018

LOSING THE CUSTOMER IN CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE

I believe that to succeed, you need to become your customer to experience your customer’s experience.

“It’s All About The Customer.” This simple but often overlooked mantra IS what will define your start-ups success. From the first word in your business plan, put yourself and your team in your customers shoes; learn who they are, respect their time, their privacy and especially their intelligence.

And please, if you sell socks online, remember that, well, they are socks. Why do I keep talking about socks? I recently bought a pair online and began to receive a relentless number of unwanted emails that went like this:

Welcome to our community. (I bought a pair of socks!)
We haven’t heard from you. (because I bought a pair of socks)
We miss you.
What can we do to bring you back?

And my favorite:

Breaking up is hard to do. (Ok- You can have the socks back)

Customer experience. We all have our pet peeves and I will share my top 5, but these examples are meant to demonstrate that somewhere along the way, these companies forgot to remember their customer.