Are you being lazy about your Customer experience?
/Too many companies treat customer experience as an after thought, something they’ll get to one day and pay lip service to in the meantime. Lazy thinking.
Whatever way you look at cause and effect, sooner or later your customer experience will either enrich your business or lose ground to the competition.
I’ve written a lot on the subject of technology and your customer experience and a number of readers have asked for an easily navigable list of articles.
The theory is, as ever, simple …
Understand that your business has an out of box experience. What is your equivalent to opening an Apple box, starting up a Tesla, or taking your first sip of Glenlivet 18? Cos that’s what every single one of your customers will remember. Bring your consumer-self to work everyday and shop your own company —the advice may seem tired, but it’s still the best way to be certain you understand the face your business is presenting.
But you can’t be all things to all people. For this kind of focus, you have to be Investing in the Right Customers , which means saying no to the wrong kind. Find out which Customers really care about the product you provide and focus your work on those that need what you provide or could be converted, but ditch the ones to whom you’re no longer relevant—they’ll be leaving soon anyhow.
If you’re as passionate about your customer as Steve Jobs, adopting an Outside In Design to EVERY change you make, every decision in your business will provide your customers with that same Apple experience.
Eventually.
But first you have to provide your customers with the range of interactions they want. Maybe be serving themselves online 7x24, and getting urgent, empathetic help by phoning your call centre at a convenient hour—perhaps speaking with their special agent each time. Systems generally have to support this convenience from the ground up—what the IT industry calls multi-channel communications is really just customer convenient.
Recognize that the point of delivery to the customer is the culmination of everything your value chain does. If you find a problem in one part of your process, solve it once and for all, and be certain that you’re not just moving the problem some place else. You can’t hide from the customer.
In short, the single biggest question of Innovation is “How do you fit into your customers’ daily routine?”.
Understand that and you’re ready to design a better way that will keep them coming back for more.
Challenge
This week’s challenge is to scan all the articles above and write down:
What’s good about the customer experience you provide.
The top three improvements you must make.
How you’ll know when you've made them.
What this could mean for your bottom line.
Call me during this week's office hours—Friday between 9-noon Eastern on (647) 400 2514—and let me know what you come up with. It’s the best investment of time you’ll make this week.