When a customer walks away from interacting with your brand, you want them to think about the following four areas and how you made them feel.
- Service
- Efficiency
- Quality
- Reliability
So, let’s break those down…
Service: Did they receive the level of service promised? Notice I didn’t say that they expected. These days people’s expectations are low because they have been disappointed repeatedly. But did your brand promise a magical experience and fall short? You need to know this immediately. It is the most critical question to ask. It should be at the end of every transaction. Not a paper survey to fill out. After the payment piece of the transaction, you need to ask that question immediately before the thank you and inviting them back. Because once you allow them to walk out of that store, they are telling everyone they know whatever they feel, good, bad or indifferent. And if they feel like it was a bad experience, they are 64% more likely to even go to social media to tell the world. Those final moments are your last chance to turn around a less-than-expected experience and reinforce a positive one. Please take advantage of it. It may be the last chance you get to do so.
Efficiency: People want to feel that you understand they are busy and value their time. In the rush of life, we all feel like we are being pulled in a thousand directions, but that customer has honoured you with the gift of their time; yes, it is a gift, and you need to show respect for that gift. Have you analyzed your flow to ensure you can assess the customer’s needs quickly? You need to get them in and out as soon as possible without making them feel rushed or like they are unlistened to. Is your team trained to ask the right questions to quickly get to the core reasons for their visit? Is your team knowledgeable about your product line so they can answer the questions professionally? Are your team pleasant and creating an experience the customer will want to come back to time and time again to experience? Once you can answer yes to all these areas, efficiency will be a box you can safely tick, but remember that it is ever-evolving and needs to be revisited often.
Quality: It goes without saying you have to provide the quality of product expected or lose the customer forever. But quality is in many areas. Did they get the quality of care to create a magical customer experience? That area is critical to loyalty. You have to deliver above and beyond every time, not just sometimes. Does your entire team understand that?
Reliability: This one requires you to follow up with that customer. If a customer gets your product home and after the second use, it breaks, tears or in some fashion is no longer useable for their needs, it is worse than if something goes wrong while they are still in store. You may need to be made aware there is a problem, so you must follow up. It costs so much more to acquire new customers; please continue to interact and care for and nurture the ones you. You will enforce feelings of goodwill, and that relationship will last, and that customer will be back for more.
I hope this helps, and if you want to discuss ways to insert all of these practices into your company, I am here to help you build a magical customer experience.