Let me take a minute to define great customer experience. It is never good practice to start designing something using vague terms and criteria. A great customer experience is the experience received by any given customer that will elevate their frame of mind, during any moment of truth, so that they will not only feel better than they did before receiving it but will enthusiastically recount the details of the experience to others for a prolonged period of time. Still vague? It is the experience that will compel any given customer, at any given moment of truth to respond in the most positive way possible to any accepted test, survey or other tool designed to measure customer engagement. So, in the case of, say, the Net Promoter Score, that would be a 10!
It is becoming more and more obvious that our thinking process as human beings is driven by our emotions. This also holds true for the purchasing process. We buy things to solve problems. We are fed up with the same smartphone, we are not satisfied with our car, our car is old and costing too much to maintain, our house is too small for the family, our house does not reflect our status and so on. Some are real problems, others are in the mind of the beholder. After all, this is why the classical approach talks of wants and needs. From the moment we realize we have a problem we need to solve by purchasing something, we enter the purchasing process. We seek options available, we compare, we decide, we purchase, and we then evaluate our purchase decision. Our emotions play a central role every step of the way.
Before further pursuing this line of thought, take a moment to consider another fact supported by recent research: our brain prefers repetition. Our mind rewards us when we perform repeat purchases. We feel more comfortable with repeat purchases. Remember the word “comfortable”.
Back to the purchasing process. Whether we are researching a provider for the first time in the “seek available options” stage or recalling a known provider, the customer experience we receive is a crucial factor affecting our provider selection. Customer experience is not contained or limited to on-site interaction. How easy was it to find information about a company? How simple was it to gather information related to its products or services? Was the website easy to find and navigate? What was the response to online questions? Did the chat work? Have you ever had the unbelievable experience of typing a question into a chat box only to receive an automated message that there is in fact nobody to chat with? This is the result of a badly designed, poorly executed or poorly controlled process. When you called the company, how long did it take for them to answer the phone? Did you have to struggle with a complicated auto attendant only to be told that you had reached the wrong department after pressing, 3, 2, 6, 3 and so on and having your nerves put on edge by the “music” straining to make the wait more pleasant. These are all elements of the customer experience. They can, will make the difference between gaining or losing a customer. They will affect your bottom line one way or another. Why? Because they cause emotional responses in customers. People on hold for six minutes don’t slam the phone down as the result of rational thinking. The same way they don’t smile and think “This is a company I can work with!” and put the phone down feeling good, because they have logically evaluated the pros and cons of the company vs. its competitors. They feel good because the experience, every step of the way, was so much better than they expected. Just meeting customer expectations doesn’t make customers feel good about a company. Surprisingly great experiences do. Customers that feel good working with your company will become loyal. They will fall into the habit of purchasing from you and their brain will strengthen this habit with every repeat. Tip: never take your customers for granted. Work continuously to pleasantly surprise them and show your appreciation. And this is only the first two stages of the purchasing process! Research and evaluation of options. And the elements discussed above are in place before the customer even starts to look at product or service features. They are getting the feel of the company. There goes the word feel again.
So, the customer decides to give you a try and say they need to actually come into your facility. They do this because of the positive experience so far, either during the initial search stage or because they have used you before and have had a positive experience. Here we encounter another very important element in customer engagement: expectation management. The customer already has high expectations. The bar is set that little bit higher. As we have already mentioned, a great customer experience leaves nothing to chance. And it is process driven. Everything about your company contributes to the customer experience. Everything. And as with any form of communication, most of the information is received and interpreted at a subconscious level. We use people known as mystery shoppers to assess the customer experience. These people are (or should be) trained to provide objective, process-based feedback. They will notice elements of the customer experience because they are looking for them. They will generate a report. Most customers soak up said elements up passively, subconsciously. They will generate emotions. These emotions will fuel the decision to buy or not buy. It is crucial that all elements of the customer experience generate positive responses. Make no mistake: everything about your company is sending out messages to your customers. From the subtlest hint to the loudest, in-your-face-and-drown-out-everything-else message. Think how subtle ingredients can make the difference in an exquisitely prepared dish. Unless trained to do so, you may not even realize what the ingredients are. But they generate the desired result: satisfaction and the need to repeat in the future. On the other hand, are the not so subtle elements. What if the exquisitely prepared dish is served on a dirty or chipped plate? Any single element can ruin the experience. Because of the emotions it can generate. Disappointment, revulsion, anger, indignity and so on.
Once the customer has purchased, we enter the last stage which is evaluation. We want the customer to feel that their money was well spent. Not the opposite. Again, it’s not simply about the product or service. It’s complexly about the experience. And it’s been a long journey. From the realization that there is a need to buy something until deciding whether it was the right purchase. People ask me why a long journey? How long does it take to buy a cup of coffee? In terms of the customer experience microcosm, three minutes is an excruciatingly long time. How long for the coffee house to decide what blends to use? Did they get it right? What messages did the customer receive when parking outside? When entering? Was the glass door clean? Did they struggle to push it open with their back because they were carrying their gear? Were they greeted? Was the staff well turned out? Was the place clean? Was the music right? What about the smell? Were the tables too closely packed so they had to choregraph their way to the counter? Was the counter crowded and cluttered? Did the grinder make so much noise that they couldn’t hear the person they were calling on the phone? Was the barista polite? Friendly? Helpful? Was it easy to view the available options? Was the customer made to feel stressed or uncomfortable while trying to decide? Did the POS software hang and delay them? Were they thanked before leaving? And so on. We haven’t even started on the product, its presentation, the temperature, the taste or the price. Customer experience is emotional and made up of almost countless ingredients, all of which need to come together under the right circumstances. One instrument out of tune can ruin the concert, even if the other 99 are playing perfectly. And you are left with a negative image. If you don’t feel good walking out of a company, you will most probably not return. If you do return, you will likely spend as little as possible. It will be a routine purchase. You will certainly not enthusiastically recommend the company to others. Enthusiasm is contagious. Indifference is also contagious. The difference is that the first can increase the propensity to buy, thus increasing your sales and ultimately your profit.