CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE IS KING
Last week, I went into a department store to buy some cosmetics. I had a fairly specific brief and so planned for the excursion to be of the “in and out” variety. After an average but satisfactory foundation purchase I wandered around almost every.single.counter looking for a pale pink transparent lip gloss, no glitter (or shimmer or pearl or anything that might resemble sparkle) and was utterly astonished at how poor the customer service was. One woman didn’t have stock of a tester on counter that I quite liked, so tried to sell me another shade. Perfectly reasonable except this time she had stock but no tester and was extremely put out that I might want to make sure the gloss was what I was after. Another poor girl had trouble conversing with me at all while the final straw was being offered a gloss that “only has a little bit of glitter in it”. Now I understand, better than most, that things don’t always go perfectly on the cosmetics floor. But not only did I leave the store without a lipgloss, I left with the thought ‘no wonder retail is struggling’. It wasn’t as though I was shopping for something I don’t know anything about, I am fairly well versed when it comes to pink lip gloss, but not one single counter provided the kind of experience that I, a customer in this instance, demanded. And this my friends, is the fastest route to negative energy, negative reviews and negative results.
Which brings me to a slightly more upbeat thought, there IS a way to treat your customers like the intelligent people they are and create more positive word-of-mouth than you could ever imagine. And that is by focusing your entire business operation around customer experience.
In the same way that my customer experience above impacts on me, and in turn on my network with whom I share that experience, a fun, happy or exciting interaction with your brand results in trust, which over time breeds loyalty. Loyalty is the aim of the game, because finding a group of customers who actually love your products, season after season, is what success really looks like.
So, where do you start? A good place is with what I call ‘The 3 C’s of Customer Experience’.
Consistency – every single time a customer interacts with your brand the experience needs to be the same.
Connectivity – everything has to work together to create a seamless experience of your brand, across all platforms, advertising mediums, both online and instore.
Context – it’s all about being where your customer is, in the right place at the right time.
Then, how do you do it? Well Consistency is all about training, making sure everyone involved in your business is briefed to perform the same way. Think of McDonalds as an example, there is a very specific service formula that is the same each and every time you go there. So, train your staff to execute the welcome message, the sales process, the service call, whatever they’re in charge of, the way you want it to be done. Set transparent boundaries that allow for personal flair while also establishing an expectation for review.
Connectivity is all about strategy, making sure all your tactics, campaigns, promotions and activities are related back to the same overarching goal. This requires planning which requires time, conscious consideration to ensure that when a customer interacts with your brand online, or on social media, or in your store, or reads an advertisement, the human sensory experiences are all the same; does it look the same, sound the same, feel the same? When everything connects, it’s far easier for your customers to interact with your brand, and ultimately part with their dollars.
Context is all about relevance, making sure that you’re communicating with the right people, at the right time. This means being selective about everything; the social platforms you focus on, the influencers you collaborate with, the advertising channels you work with, the complementary brands you partner with, absolutely every decision needs to ensure that when a customer comes across your brand, the messages you’re delivering actually mean something to her personally.
CRM or Customer Relationship Management is fast morphing into CEM, Customer Experience Management because if you get this right, it can transform your business. Big brands across the world are tapping into the power of personalisation, but it doesn’t have to mean big budgets. Simply making your customers feel welcome and special is a good start, smile (either virtually or in real life), use their name, respond to comments on social media, ask them for feedback, send a simple thank you, acknowledge that you value their presence, and then maybe, just maybe, there might be light at the end of the tunnel for retail.
Love,
Erin x
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