How to win on the customer experience battleground Where businesses are won and lost
Customer experience.
Everyone’s…
talking about it... “Customer experience is the next competitive battleground. It’s where business is going to be won or lost” – Tom Knighton “You’ve got to start with the customer experience and then work back to the technology” – Steve Jobs “It’s our job every day to make every important aspect of the customer experience a little bit better ” – Tom Knighton
writing about it... Customer Experience' Is Today's Business Benchmark – Forbes Understanding Customer Experience – Harvard Business Review 50 Important Customer Experience Stats for Business Leaders’ – Huffington Post
acting upon it...
acting upon it...
acting upon it...
It could almost feel like a fad
It could almost feel like a fad
It could almost feel like a fad
It could almost feel like a fad
Or some kind of white noise
It isn’t… It’s a fact of business today. And it’s sadly here to stay.
It isn’t… It’s a fact of business today. And it’s sadly happily here to stay.
So what is customer experience you say?
So what is customer experience you say? …don’t worry
So what is customer experience you say? it’s not a silly question
Is it simply this? Customer service experience
Is it simply this? Customer service experience Nope.
Or this?
Or this?
‌ getting warmer
“Customer experience is the sum total of how customers engage with your company and brand, not just in a snapshot in time, but throughout the entire arc of being a customer.�
It’s...
It’s... every interaction your customer has with your products, services and brand
and you want every interaction to be magical.
You can find it in… • • • • • • •
a store purchase email contact website browsing or buying customer support call postage and delivery using the product or service peripheral advertising you see
You can find it in… • • • • • • • •
a store purchase email contact website browsing or buying customer support call postage and delivery using the product or service peripheral advertising you see and any other interaction you can think of!
As you can see… it’s in a lot of things And perfecting the experience of every interaction is what it’s all about.
5 stars. Every time.
“It's about knowing your customers so completely that you can create and deliver personalized experiences that will entice them to not only remain loyal to you, but also to evangelise to others about you.�
The truth is‌ If you run a business then you already have a customer experience.
Do you know what your customer experience is?
You may think it’s this
But it may really be this‌
“Eighty percent of CEOs believe they offer a superior customer experience; only 8 percent of their customers agree.�
Do you know all their touch points?
Their customer journey?
The ecosystem they operate in?
Not…exactly...sure?
This is the first step to losing the customer experience battle.
“To not know is to not care.” Bram Stoker, Dracula
Ignoring your customer experience is like killing your business slowly...
Ignoring your customer experience is like killing your business slowly... one interaction at a time.
When things go wrong, the first instinct is to look internally. To dive in and do a complete business overhaul.
Get rid of Greg. Buy some new laptops. Stick up more posters combining quotes with rock climbers. Have stand up ‘cut the fat’ meetings. Do the to build team rapport.
Get rid of Greg. Buy some new laptops. Stick up more posters combining quotes with rock climbers. Have stand up ‘cut the fat’ meetings. Do the rack to build team rapport.
Get rid of Greg. Buy some new laptops. Stick up more posters combining quotes with rock climbers. Have stand up ‘cut the fat’ meetings. Do the track to build team rapport.
Get rid of Greg. Buy some new laptops. Stick up more posters combining quotes with rock climbers. Have stand up ‘cut the fat’ meetings. Do the track to build team rapport.
Get rid of Greg. Buy some new laptops. Stick up more posters combining quotes with rock climbers. Have stand up ‘cut the fat’ meetings. Do the Kokoda track to build team rapport.
STOP.
Have you checked your customer experience first? This will give you a pretty good idea of where you need to start.
“The customer’s perception is your business’s reality”
This is the metric that matters.
This is where you start winning… and here’s what it takes…
1. Map out your customer’s journey. So it aligns with the sales journey Attraction > Awareness > Discovery > Consideration > Purchase > Product use And ask ‘What is their context?’
1. Map out your customer’s journey. So it aligns with the sales journey Attraction > Awareness > Discovery > Consideration > Purchase > Product use ‘What are their fears?’
1. Map out your customer’s journey. So it aligns with the sales journey Attraction > Awareness > Discovery > Consideration > Purchase > Product use ‘What do they want?’
2. Get across all your customer touch points. From the online experience to your retail front, sales, service, support, advertising messages or any combination. Seek out each one and understand what they are.
3. Then examine each for the customer experience. Ask yourself. Do you have...
A great product? If you don’t love it, then who will?
A great product? If you don’t love it, then who will?
A strong brand? That conveys your values, aspirations and direction?
A strong brand? That conveys your values, aspirations and direction?
A happy team that get it? The face to face advocates of your products, services and brand
A happy team that gets it? Your team are the face to face advocates of your products, services and brand.
A kickarse website? That looks great, is easy to navigate and let’s customers do what they want to do.
A kickarse website? That looks great, is easy to navigate and lets customers do what they want to do.
Switched on support? Where customers can call, not wait in queues, talk to a friendly, helpful support agents that know their name.
Switched on support? Where customers can talk, not wait in queues and speak to friendly, helpful support agents that know their name.
NO for one or many of these? Then the next step is to check your‌
4. Itty bitty micro interactions
How many microinteractions do you have at every touch point?
For example: customer support Do your customers speak to the right agent always?
For example: customer support Have their issues resolved quickly and easily?
For example: customer support Do your agents have the answers right in front of them?
For example: customer support Do they have access to software that makes collaboration and quality control easy?
For example: customer support And does this call point to any wider systemic issues?
You know you’re losing winning when your customers…
• can’t can connect straight through • speak to the wrong right agent • they are clueless well prepared, arrogant friendly, useless helpful • Solve your problem slowly, interminably quickly and easily • You want to head butt a wall kiss the support agent when you hang up
• can’t can connect straight through • speak to the wrong right agent • they are clueless well prepared, arrogant friendly, useless helpful • Solve your problem slowly, interminably quickly and easily • You want to head butt a wall kiss the support agent when you hang up
• can’t can connect straight through • speak to the wrong right agent • speak to agents who are are clueless well prepared, arrogant friendly, useless helpful
• can’t can connect straight through • speak to the wrong right agent • speak to agents who are are clueless well prepared, arrogant friendly, useless helpful • have their problem solved slowly, interminably quickly and easily • You want to head butt a wall kiss the support agent when you hang up
• can’t can connect straight through • speak to the wrong right agent • speak to agents who are are clueless well prepared, arrogant friendly, useless helpful • have their problem solved slowly, interminably quickly and easily • want to head butt a wall kiss the support agent when they hang up
Then you can start to ask how to make it faster, better...
Then ask how can I make it faster, better...and invisible!
The best kind of customer interaction is one that is felt deeply and yet not noticed at all.
5. Look where it’s worked elsewhere You don’t have to reinvent the wheel.
Zappos, the online shoe retailer, is a great example. What did they do to lead the charge in customer experience?
they built a powerful website
integrating shopping, paying and delivery into one seamless experience
offered free shipping To make it easier for customers to say yes.
made overnight deliveries while all the other retailers were sleeping
offered a 365 day return policy building good faith and trust in not only the product but the brand.
gave more phone support While other companies were shutting their call centres down
“We also want to create an emotional connection with our customers. Our contact center does a really good job of that and the numbers tell a story of greater engagement and loyalty when they interact with … our employees.” – Tony Hsieh, Zappos.com CEO
hired employees that reflected their core values When a candidate is picked up for job interviews at Zappos, if the candidate is rude to the shuttle bus driver, they won’t be hired.
trained them properly so they performed at their best “All new hires, regardless of rank, are made to work in the 24-hour call centre — and they’re offered thousands of dollars to quit before the training process is finished.”
focused on culture first, and let everything else follow “If we get the culture right, most of the other stuff — like delivering great customer service — will just happen on its own,”
As you can see, everything that Zappos did was driven by a strong company culture. This is the fuel you need to power winning.
So here’s your ‘to-do’ list of what it requires…
great leadership Taking a round table approach.
solid hiring practices Knowing what you’re looking for – not clones but people who share the same values.
continuous ongoing training That is fun, engaging, inspiring, that staff can do online, at home, at any time.
cloud-based software & systems Ø that lets you track, analyse, automate, and streamline processes, Ø that removes manual handling and integrates with all your other touch points, so customer information can be shared and always stays up to date.
a love of data Dig deep into customers’ wants, behaviours and interactions at every touch point. Use this to build strong user profiles that let you offer what they want and know when something’s wrong.
feedback to grow Ø Net Promoter Scores Ø In-store surveys Ø Email surveys/questionnaires Ø Website experience ratings
personalise everything Right message > right place > right time Every time
benchmark everything “If you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it.”
And the result of all of this is‌
stronger brand preference better revenue returns improved customer loyalty lower costs less churn happy employees that won’t leave
stronger brand preference better revenue returns improved customer loyalty lower costs less churn happy employees that won’t leave
stronger brand preference better revenue returns improved customer loyalty lower costs less churn happy employees that won’t leave
stronger brand preference better revenue returns improved customer loyalty lower costs less churn happy employees that won’t leave
stronger brand preference better revenue returns improved customer loyalty lower costs less churn happy employees that won’t leave
the ultimate customer experience.
“Companies with the highest customer experience typically grow at more than double the rate of their competitors�
Now that is what we call winning.
Noojee Contact Solutions Noojee designs and builds high performance call centre software shaped perfectly to your business. Our cloud-based software makes it simple to manage a high performing contact centre that maximises customer service, while making outbound sales and appointment setting easier.
1300 666 533 sales@noojee.com.au noojee.com.au