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Lessons from the Election for Customer Experience
Author: Jeannie Walters
October 29, 2008
It’s pretty amazing how proud voters are this year. Record voter turnout is expected, based on tangible evidence (recent increases in voter registration numbers) and less tangible (record number of supporters at political rallies). I was thinking about what this was really about.
An election is special because it allows each of us to have a say. We vote based on our opinions and beliefs, and don’t have to line up with the crowd or even share what we’re doing.
Our psyches need this. We crave feeling part of the process, even if it means the majority wins and we may not be part of that.
Pride in the act of voting alone is inspiring people to share with others via social media like Facebook and Twitter in creative ways. Recently, I saw two great examples thanks to Twitter.
Wayne Sutton, a reporter in North Carolina, shared a video of himself after voting early. “I’m live streaming now [qik] - I just voted and this is how it felt.”
I love how he discussed how it felt instead of what he did. That’s really what we love about it. It’s an act that is emotionally charged and helps us connect with our government and to one another, even if it means we vote differently.
Then there was this photo, posted by Brad Garland, also shared via Flickr and Twitter. Again, it’s about having a say!
So what how does this translate into the customer experience? Those companies that act right now and harness the power of allowing each customer to have a say will win. It’s that simple.
Let your customers have a say! They want to feel connected. They want to help you help them. They want to let their voices be heard. They don’t want to feel like they are shouting in the cavernous lobby of a faceless, soulless corporate building. Help them feel heard. Help them have a say.
Oh, and don’t forget to vote! Have A Say ‘08.
3 Biggest Mistakes Companies Make Regarding Customer Experience
Author: Jeannie Walters
October 20, 2008
I got a huge compliment from my audience at the Chicago Financial Women’s event last week. They asked some great, thoughtful questions after hearing me speak about exceeding customer expectations.
My favorite question was a simple one: “What are the 3 biggest mistakes a company makes regarding customer experience?”
These are the mistakes that popped into my head. There is more to say here, but it’s a start.
1. Focus on only one metric - customer satisfaction.
Satisfaction is a place to start, but it certainly doesn’t tell you the whole story. Customers can be extremely “satisfied” and still not be loyal. Just look at all the satisfied VW customers who traded in for Mini Coopers.
Back in 2005, our CEO Bill Cusick had a few things to say about this topic in his article “Satisfaction Schmatisfaction.” You can find that here.
2. Attract customers with beautiful marketing materials and then deliver customer communications that are sloppy, ugly or just plain useless.
Banks, I’m talking to you! Send me one more piece of crap mail about my e-deposit and I’m coming for you. Spend more money on my experience and less on huge banners telling me about credit cards I won’t get anyway.
Even some of the newly redesigned statements are confusing and convoluted, and totally disregard the customer’s perspective. Case in point: health insurance statements. Thanks for the “Summary of Benefits,” but I’d like to know what you’re covering and how. And please don’t send me something that sounds angry because I missed the footnote on the statement.
Customer communications are a cornerstone to the experience, and yet often they are completely neglected. Don’t let the bean-counters create the invoices or statements for your customers.
Another topic for another day…why bother going through the effort to provide Spanish language marketing materials and then not offering the same courtesy to your customers?? Ay carumba!
3. Fiefdoms and in-fighting which don’t serve the customer.
The customer experience is not one channel, one product or one transaction. The customer experience is built or destroyed with every interaction with your company. When company structures and incentives are created to reward only one area at a time, the customer loses. For example, web sites sometimes seem to make it harder for a customer to find a call center number. This is due to fiefdoms within the company.
The online team doesn’t get “credit” (or worse, commission) if a customer starts online but ends up completing the purchase via a customer service rep. Likewise, the customer service rep is rewarded for spending the least amount of time on the phone with any given customer.
Then there are the front-line employees who are rewarded in a different way and have the same competing agendas.
Make the customer the ultimate winner. Everyone wins if a customer gets what they need when and how they need it - regardless of how your company is set up.
While none of these are easy fixes, they are extremely important. There are ways to set your own organization up where the customer wins. Don’t we know what that means for the organization by now?
