What a Short Stay in Hospital Taught Me about Customer Experience

C3Centricity Podcasts

My seven learnings about excellence in customer experience: 1. Introduce yourself In business, we often forget to introduce people in meetings and when we do, we don't explain their responsibilities. Perhaps if we did this, there would be far fewer people in meetings, as only those with a real reason to be there would attend! Direct contacts with customers, whether by phone, email, chat, social media or in person, deserve the same detailed introduction. This moves the connection from a somewhat cold, professional exchange, to something far more friendly and personal, if not actually personalised. 2. Confirm that you know me Most businesses could benefit from confirming who their customers are. Whether by careful targeting for marketing purposes or by reviewing notes of previous interactions with customer services, a company needs to immediately recognise a (returning) customer Personalisation has become essential in all engagements between companies and their customers. In fact, this is one of the most important uses of Big Data, both now and for the foreseeable future. 3. Ask if I am happy/comfortable Do you encourage critique of your ideas from your colleagues? It takes a strong and confident person to constantly put themselves up for criticism. Too many people look (only) for positive support when asking for opinions, rather than a truly constructive assessment. And what about your customers? Do you encourage them to share complaints and ideas? Why not? It's much better to know what's wrong and put it right quickly than to continue in blissful ignorance until your customers leave. 4. Ask if you can do more Business can no longer afford to merely satisfy their customers, they need to delight them. Do you ask both yourself and your customers what more you can do for them? If you do, you might just find a new product or service concept that answers their desires and get ahead of the competition. 5. Don't stop before the end Entrepreneurship is very popular today for both individuals and even within large corporations. However so many entrepreneurs try an idea and when it doesn't immediately work, they give it up for a different one. Today's world is one of constant change, so don't forget to be flexible and adapt to the changing circumstances of the market or your brand. But don't give up either. Just because one part of the plan didn't work doesn't warrant throwing out the whole thing. 6. Don't wait until it's urgent So many adjustments in business involve making significant changes, whether cultural or process-wise. Therefore when introducing large changes within your organisation, break them down into more "humanly" manageable steps. Want to make a radical change in one of your processes? Then it is often more effective to start by modifying the beginning and the end of the process. The middle steps then adapt automatically as new needs are identified. For example, in updating your innovation process, start with better identifying the target customers and their needs. Then look how the launch will be rolled out and monitored. You will then realise that brainstorming in a vacuum or testing multiple concepts just before launch is no longer effective. These parts of the process will then be adapted to the new demands. 7. It all starts and ends with the customer Take a look at your website, your communications, your plans; do they all start and end with the customer? Do you publish content your customers want to read, or just what you want to tell them? Does your contact information include every possible way a customer can connect with you or just a static form and drop-down menu? Are your communications relevant and emotionally validating for your customers? Do your plans mention the customer as often as the brand? Do they also show images of customers and include extensive knowledge and understanding about them?