Creating the Ultimate Customer Experience: When I Was a Kid…

It’s happening. I am becoming one of those people who looks back in time with fondness and wishes we still did things certain ways. I’m not saying I’m not open minded and willing to change with the times. No, I’m not saying that at all. What I am saying is that we are losing sight of some of the things that make for strong business relationships and great customer experiences.

When I was a kid…

If you placed a call to someone and left a message, they called you back, usually the same day. Today, I am lucky if I get a call back at all. We seem to be playing a game of professional hide and seek. The important point here is that business can only be conducted through good communication, productive conversations, and mutual agreement. When we don’t connect, the business process gets stalled and frustration sets in.

When I was a kid…

People made eye contact. They sat in meetings paying attention and looking each other in the eye. Today, we find professionals slouched in their chairs, eyes downcast and focused on whatever electronic device they happen to be “plugged” into. Business is about trust and, as humans, we establish this on a very basic level with our ability to make and maintain eye contact and our use of body language.

When I was a kid…

People cared about their appearance. It was a sign that they respected themselves. I know that corporate casual is in vogue and I am not saying that I need my business meetings to be black tie affairs but at least be clean and neat with an appearance that says you care.

Do you ever wish we did things the way we used to? If you could turn back the clock, what business behaviors would you bring back that seem to be missing today?

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Creating the Ultimate Customer Experience: Why Creativity May Be the Key to Customer Retention

Creativity. Where is it in today’s corporations? Why do we all seem to be so afraid of innovative thinking? Is is fear? Laziness? Disinterest? Too much TV, Internet, or other shallow data pools? Whatever it is, American businesses are losing out.

I was in a retail store the other day when I overheard a customer making an impassioned plea to the sales associate to help her with an “out of stock” situation. The customer was desperate to obtain this item for her son’s birthday. She asked the sales associate if there wasn’t something he could do to help. His response was that the store was out of the item and they weren’t expecting any more until the holiday season. He explained that the economy has slowed down their shipments with corporate controlling inventory levels on a much tighter basis. The customer was frantic and near tears. I could relate. I’ve been there myself. Rather than the sales associate offering to check other stores in the area, he simply terminated the interaction with the  customer by muttering an insincere “sorry” and walking away. The associate missed a prime opportunity to create a customer for life. He could have been so much more creative at solving this problem. What a dumb move!

What are you doing to encourage creative problem solving in your place of business? What should you be doing? As you budget and plan for the upcoming fiscal year, consider some training workshops on creativity and innovative thinking. It may be one of the best things you’ll ever do to foster greater levels of customer retention.

Now let’s get out there and be creative!

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Creating the Ultimate Customer Experience: Competing for Customers – 5 Reason Why It’s a Good Thing

Competition is steep these days, but how does this impact the customer experience? If you have a good idea for a new product or service, it won’t be long before a bunch of competitors will be trying to steal away your market share. But is competition really a bad thing? I spent some time thinking about the impact it’s had on my business and customers over the years are here are five things I’ve come up with that are very positive in nature – and in the long run, have helped me feel better about having to compete.

First, competition makes us take massive action in our businesses. Because competition is a looming threat for all businesses in all industries, it forces us to act quickly to bring new ideas to the market.

Second, competition forces the creation of new products and services. It challenges us to think of ways to improve existing brands in our product/service lines. Without the competition breathing down our necks we may never feel the need to be creative and innovative and many products and services might never make it to market.

Third, competition forces us to take better care of our clients. It impresses upon us the need to keep the customer at the center of our focus every single day. If we’re not taking care of our customers, someone else will.

Fourth, competition keeps us honest and practicing our trades and professions in fair and equitable ways. It gives the customer comparisons so they can make an intelligent choice of which products and services are right for them.

Fifth, competition keeps our sights set on the future – constantly looking for that next idea, next service, next great thing that will improve the lives of our customers and keep them asking for more.

Be good to your customers so your competitors never get the chance to!

Creating the Ultimate Customer Experience: How Much of the Customer Experience is About Choice?

When it comes to the customer experience, I love having choices. Don’t you? It’s one of the things that make for a great experience for me as a consumer. Whether it’s a variety of brands on the shelf, choices within each brand, how I pay the bill, or being given the choice to put my purchase in a paper or plastic sack, I like being the one in control. It makes me feel special and sends a clear signal to me as a consumer that the business I’ve chosen to patronize sees me as an individual. I like that. Think back to the early advertisements of Burger King where the slogan was, “Have it your way.” They understood the importance of giving people choices and were quite successful in luring customers away from the competition with this approach.

But something happened the other day that really disturbed me because it may be a trend that is looming on the horizon. As I was getting ready to make a deposit on some landscaping work I am having done, the owner of the company indicated that he preferred cash. Landscaping is usually a big-ticket expense so I pulled out my credit card to complete the transaction. I know the owner preferred cash, but this is a business transaction and it’s all about me, right? As he was getting ready to swipe the card, he told me there would be an additional charge of 5% for using the card. I couldn’t grab that card out of his hand fast enough!

Another situation I came across last week had to do with some universities in North Carolina that are passing along the credit card fees normally absorbed by the business along to the consumer. If you are a student or supporter of these schools and you use a credit card to make your purchase, you will be charged a fee for the convenience of using that card.

Those who know me, know that I like to take a balanced approach to problem solving. So I looked at this from several different angles. There is no doubt that the use of credit cards increases the cost of products and services in our marketplace and in one sense I like the fact that I am not being asked to subsidize this convenience, but on the other hand I feel like choices are being taken away from me.

There are other ways my landscaper and the Carolina universities could handle this issue. I realize that we’re all looking for ways to streamline and cut costs in this economy. A more positive spin, however, might be to offer a discount if you pay with cash. My fear is that once you provide your customers with choices, taking these away will cause dissatisfaction. Trust me; I’ll be thinking twice about whether or not to use that landscaper again.

So you as look at the choices you offer your customers and how you might go about making changes to these, keep in mind the importance of allowing your customers to “have it their way”. Your ability to attract repeat business may depend on it!

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