Customer service is only one aspect of the entire customer experience. Customer service needs to be put into context — which means putting customer experience first.
Most customer service starts when a customer calls with a problem. By contrast, customer experience starts with hope — with the reason the customer chooses you in the first place.”
Source: Strategy + Business, May 17, 2021. Link. Here are seven ways to do the proactive work needed to prioritize customer experience first:
- Develop a relationship mindset, not a transactional one
- Proactively learn about your customers’ experiences — and what they want them to be
- Follow the data; follow the money
- Make your customers’ work easier
- Make employees’ work easier, too
- Support customer experience with actual resources, not just lip service
- Close the loop between customer service and customer experience
INSIGHTS: A local convenience store chain trains every employee to greet customers with this welcome statement, “Welcome to <chain name>.” If the employee recognizes the customer the statement is, “Good morning, welcome back to <chain name>.” Both statements are followed by, “Let me know if I can help you find something.” The competitor three blocks away may glance at you sideways and never make a sound. There is only one way I would stop at the competitor. . . $0.10 less per gallon of gas.
How you welcome and treat customers is a great start to positive customer experiences.