We’re not a REAL Subway

In my travels I am hyper aware of customer experiences all around me.  I am fascinated by the interactions between human beings and how they can go from positive to negative in the blink of an eye.  Many times it is the attitude of the person proving the service, but other times it is a company policy or process that gets in the way of a positive experience.  Even the best, brightest most cheerfully positive workers cannot overcome the dreaded “its our policy” statement.  They apologize profusely and genuinely understand your pain, but the corporate office has (sometimes inadvertently) put roadblocks in place when it comes to great CX.

On a recent business trip across the great state of Kentucky I found myself in need of two critical items.  One… gas in the rental car.  Two… food in my belly.  On I-71 North there are not many options so I decided to follow the advice of a big blue informational sign that read “Shell/Subway” next exit.  I left the highway, pulled into the station and proceeded to fill my tank.  Upon entering the Shell/Subway facility I could smell the fresh Subway bread and immediately noticed the familiar logo, setup and menu choices.  Standing in line I ordered my sandwich as I have done too many times in other Subway’s and waited for the gentleman in front of me to pay for his order.  It was at that moment that everything changed.  The customer took a SUBWAY branded loyalty card out of his pocket and said “I would like to use my Subway points to pay for my sandwich”.  It was a reasonable request as far as I was concerned.  It takes a little time (and money) to gain enough “points” to pay for a full meal.  He seemed proud to share his dedication and loyalty for this brand, and his reward would be a free lunch.  There is just something amazing about eating for FREE and knowing you EARNED it.  The clerk didn’t even take the card, he simply shot a quick glance at it and explained “We don’t take that card, we aren’t a real Subway” (said with a thick southern Kentucky drawl).  Confused, the customer shot back “What do you mean?! The logo on this card matches the one on your shirt!”.  Without missing a beat the clerk replied as he must have 100 times already that day, “We are owned by a company that allows us to serve Subway products, but we are not really affiliated with Subway and cannot honor their programs or rewards”.  Seeing that he was getting nowhere, the customer (very frustrated at this moment) reluctantly put the card back into his wallet and feeling humiliated and defeated PAID for his meal with cash.

Unfortunately episodes like this are being played out all too often. The very loyalty program that was put in place was the very thing that caused this customer to have a bad experience.  I am not picking on Subway or Shell with this story because I believe both companies care deeply about customer experiences and have programs, training and systems to enhance their CX efforts in a broad way.  However the point remains that no matter how deeply we care about CX we can sometimes put policies or processes in place that make perfect sense to our business, while unintentionally undercutting the experiences we give our customers. No business is immune.  For example, I recently read a book about Starbucks and how far they go to ensure that CX is the in forefront of every employees mind.  The book gave tips, tricks, strategy and was really full of some great wisdom.  However the same exact Shell/Subway discussion played out in front of me last week if you were to replace Shell/Subway with Target/Starbucks.  The clerk exactly quoted “We are not a real Starbucks” to a dismayed women in desperate need of caffeine.  I noticed that this customer put up more of a fight than her Subway counterpart, but I reasoned that “Caffeine beats Meat & Bread anytime”.  No matter how much she rumbled… there was nothing the Barista could do to help her.  Policy is Policy.

Caffeine beats Meat & Bread anytime

Don’t get me wrong, we need policies and procedures to have effective and productive companies, but we should try to strike a balance when it comes to hindering a customers perception.  Journey Mapping is one of the best ways to identify and correct potential pitfalls.  If you have never completed a journey map, I highly recommend you invest the time in this valuable resource.  It allows you and your team to put yourself in the customers shoes and see your business from THEIR point of view.  By mapping each step in the process and understanding what systems, forms, meetings, processes, policies and people your customer has to interface with to BECOME your customer it gives you a new appreciation for what it is like to do business with you.  It can really be an eye opening experience and I have heard on many occasions “wow we really make it hard to do business with us” or “we are good at some of these steps but when it gets to this phase we make it a pain in the #$%”.  Once your journey map is complete you should not tuck it into a drawer, but rather you should paste it on your walls for everyone to see!  Make it a living document that gets reviewed and tested on a regular basis.  When you introduce new systems into your corporate environment, test it via the journey map to validate the results and avoid unintentional pitfalls.

 

 

Customer Experience Doesn’t Have To Be HARD

Remember the old adage “Keep it Simple Stupid”?  Using the K.I.S.S. method with Customer Experience applies as well.  In their book “Outside In”, Harley Manning and Kerry Bodine give a tremendous amount of detail around “The power of putting customers at the center of your business.  If you have not read it you should get it today! (http://outsidein.forrester.com).  One of the nuggets of wisdom given in their book is the CX Pyramid.  By following this model and resisting the urge to over complicate things, you can be well on your way to creating amazing customer experiences for your business.

Meets Needs

At the foundation your business must (at the very least) meet the basic needs of your customer.  If you do not, your customer will most likely have a terrible experience and never return.  The likelihood of them sharing their poor experience with friends, co-workers, family and perfect strangers is high.  Ask yourself these questions:

1. WHO are we marketing and selling to?  If your product or service cannot meet the basic needs of these prospects you are wasting time and money.  Sounds simple right?  But the resources and energy spent on marketing to “everyone” is outrageous.  This foundational step will help you focus your efforts by targeting those who you feel REALLY need your help.

2. Did we meet our customers needs?  You should care more about meeting their needs than making a sale.  This goes for everyone in your organization.  Meeting the needs of customers is a very low but important goal.  Simply meeting needs will put you on par with your competition, but lets not get ahead of ourselves.  Exceeding expectations can come later.

Bad Story:  When in charge of my company’s recruiting efforts a third party firm met with me to pitch their services.  They would provide me with qualified pre-screen candidates for our job openings.  Over the period of several weeks I received countless resumes from this firm that were not qualified nor pre-screened.  It wasted my time to do this work myself and after a few meetings to voice my concerns I fired them after no improvement.

Good Story:  I was referred to another firm that met with me and the hiring managers on staff.  After completing a profile for each opening we began receiving resumes that fit our requirements.  We received fewer resumes but they were qualified and fit our culture.

Easy

Once you are confident that you are marketing, selling and meeting the needs of customers you can move on to making it EASY for them to do business with you.  Too many times in business we create systems, processes and policies with OUR needs in mind.  These aren’t necessarily “bad”, because the intent is to be efficient and effective in our work.  However when those items create roadblocks and frustration for customers, we will never rise above the Meets Needs level.  Ask yourself these questions:

1. What processes or policies hinder our customers from doing business with us?  Hint: Answering this question with “its the way we’ve always done it” is not a good response.  Too many times we just keep doing the same old thing even though customers have complained time after time.

2. What options do customers have when making a purchase from our company?  Customers LOVE options.  They may not utilize them all but they appreciate the fact that you are making efforts to make their life easier.

Bad Story: We give employee awards in the style of a “$50 gift card from wherever you’d like”.  One employee requested a large retail store that begins with an S and ends with EARS.  I went online, purchased the “e-card” and had it sent to his email.  A few weeks later this employee told me he had never received it.  Upon calling this company I spoke with seven different people and transferred 4 times.  The end result was them mailing me a REAL card that I then had to deliver to this employee in another state.  Their policy was that they could not mail directly to him since I made the purchase.

Good Story: Amazon is awesome. We purchase most of these rewards via the e-card system on Amazon.com.  We had a few employees who said they never received their cards.  I simply logged into my order history and resent the cards to a different email address.  Done. Easy.

Enjoy

This is my favorite part of the pyramid because life is too short not to enjoy what you are doing.  We have all had experiences with companies that we generally enjoyed the process.  My guess is that it wasn’t on accident.  Of course you may have stumbled upon a one time interaction with a superb employee, but when doing CX you really don’t want to count on ONE employee to deliver outstanding experiences, but rather EVERYONE in your organization doing so.  Finding ways to have fun at work and making it enjoyable for your customers to spend time with your products and services is at the pinnacle for a reason.  It isn’t always easy to do, but when achieved it will transform how your employees feel about their jobs and you will experience an increase in repeat business and referrals.  Ask yourself these questions:

1. What fun things can we do for our customers that would go above and beyond what they expect from us?

2. If I were the customer what would I find enjoyable.

Bad Story:  We have a local fast food restaurant where the workers never make eye contact, smile, welcome you or care that you exist.  They still do a fair amount of business because it meets needs (fills your belly) and it is easy to access (Easy to do business with).  But many of us have stopped going there and driving further out of our way for a better experience.

Good Story:  Chick-fil-a.  No matter which one you attend in any state you will get a smile, a warm welcome and great service.  I have family members who work at a local store who explains “it is engrained” into us from day one.  Not only do they have great food, they give an enjoyable experience that is consistent.

If you’ve been waiting to start a CX effort in your business, wait no more!  Use this simple approach to get you kick started and watch how your employees respond and your business grow!

Customer Experience: Start by listening

As I am entering Day 2 of Microsoft Convergence in Atlanta Georgia, I sit across from Roger Kobel our CEO and sip coffee for breakfast at the Flying Biscuit.  Our conversation dips into Customer Experience and how we might apply it in new ways at KiZAN.  I offer some insights I gained from the Day 1 sessions and summed it up with “Customers really want you to KNOW them… but they also want their privacy”.  His thoughtful look caused me to explain further.  “Its like Amazon.  I really appreciate the fact that they remember previous books or products I have purchased and offer suggestions of other items I may like.  They didn’t send me a survey or ask for personal information, rather they simply “listened” and recommended things they felt could improve my life.”  He smiled, leaned back and said “Its a lot like marriage”.  Now when someone is comparing Customer Experience to Marriage you listen, but when that person is getting ready to celebrate 38 years of bliss YOU LEAN IN.  He continued “When my wife is frustrated by something I did (or didn’t do) and I ask “what’s wrong”, her reply many times is “if you don’t know then I’m not going to tell you!”  Exactly!  Our customers WANT us to listen, to be attentive, to suggest new things and to care.  If you don’t do these things they will become disengaged and many times wont tell YOU why.  They will tell someone, just not you.

“When my wife is frustrated by something I did (or didn’t do) and I ask “what’s wrong”, her reply many times is “if you don’t know then I’m not going to tell you!”

Attending a Microsoft Conference you may guess it is all about Software, but its not.  Don’t get me wrong, there are a ton of great products from Microsoft and other vendors represented but these systems and tools simply help us manage, organize, collaborate and engage.  To steal a quote from the Monday morning keynote “at the end of the day it is still people working with people”.

A great example of a product that helps a company “listen” and act in a meaningful customer engagement way is the Thunderhead.com One system.  In a quick demonstration we were given a real world scenario of a customer booking a trip on a travel site.  This customer was led through many selections, preferences, dates, and destinations.  The final screen before making the purchase, the customer had a question about a third bed that could be rolled into the room for their 5-year old child.  Backing up on this website would have caused re-entering data or an error.  Thankfully a toll free number was present and the customer called. Greeted by a friendly voice on the other end the customer asked about the rollaway bed.  The response? “No problem sir, just give me the dates, location, preferences, etc.” UGH! Having to repeat yourself and give the same information over and over again is very frustrating.

The Thunderhead One way.  If this travel site were using Thunderhead One an anonymous profile would be created and saved with every mouse click, page view and selection.  At the end of the experience the roll away bed question comes up.  The customer calls the toll free number (or engages in an online chat session), and the friendly voice on the other end answers the question in 10 seconds because they have captured your experience to the point you stopped.  A totally different and engaging experience!

Customer Experience is really a people to people initiative.  But software tools like Microsoft CRM with Social Listening, Click Dimensions and Thunderhead One, certainly help you manage this effort in a way that would be impossible otherwise.

 

Your Momma knows TCX

Mom’s… we all have one.  I am sure you can remember some of the funny (or weird) things she said to you growing up.  You roll your eyes, talk back or mumble something under your breath then shuffle off to do the “thing” she told you to do.  First though, you may need to pick yourself off the floor or rub your head due to the knot left from the shoe you just caught for the eye roll.

The funny (or scary) thing is as you grow older you catch yourself repeating some of those same phrases.  Usually to your own children “don’t make me stop this car!”.  But sometimes with your friends “close the door…  were you born in a barn?”, or your co-workers “Don’t pick your nose”… I have weird co-workers.

What I have realized is that there is wisdom in those eye rolling catch phrases when applied to the Total Customer Experience.  I have listed some in this blog entry and would love to hear how “Your Momma knows TCX”.

“If you don’t have anything nice to say don’t say anything at all”

So very true, but sometimes very difficult to perform.  How many times do we go to work and say the worst things to our co-workers?  Too many I’m afraid.  In my opinion this is equal to someone coming to work highly contagious with the FLU.  When someone has a high fever, stomach issues and basically looking like a zombie the last thing we want is them coughing and sneezing all over the office. When people have a case of the “bad attitudes” they should stay home too.  By spreading the negative comments about work, customers, co-workers, politicians, and reality stars they can create a VERY sick environment.  Bad attitudes spread like wildfire and before you know it you find yourself on the phone with a customer, treating them poorly and cannot figure out why.  Stay away from negative people as if they had the flu.  If YOU are the one having a bad day, week, month, learn from Momma.  Say nice things or don’t say anything at all.

“I don’t care who started it, I said STOP”

Remember this one?  For me it was typically used when my older brother and I would fight in the backseat of our Chevy Nova.  Once the fists started flying and my Mom said STOP, we would launch into the blame game.  “He started it!”

This happens in business with customers and co-workers.  Mostly because we are humans and at times frustration happens and the fight is on!  Maybe not fist flying, but words.  A customer gets less than adequate service and chooses to call your company to rant.  You are having a bad day because someone “gave you the Flu” and you are in no mood to hear the complaints from this guy on the phone.  Before defending yourself from the blame you are certainly going to receive, just do what Momma said.. STOP.  Blaming each other never made her happy. Neither did negative words or more fists.  Just stop, no blame.  THEN you can listen and resolve the issue.

My brother and I would be goofing around again in 10 minutes.  She knew we just needed to stop.

“Don’t use that tone with me”

The tone thing was a big deal with my Mom.  Even if I did what I was told but answered in a negative tone, it was wrong.  She had a way of hearing that tone.  So do your customers.  They interact with your company at various times looking for a kind, helpful person to give them assistance.  If you “do your job” with a negative tone (either verbally or with body language) they will pick up on it.  Be aware of how you are presenting yourself. Stand up straight, smile, be cheerful… it makes all the difference.

“Someday your face will freeze like that”

To be honest I had a real fear of this one for two reasons.  One, I was weird kid that made some pretty dumb faces and two I had a big brother that would slap me on the back to see if he could make it stick.

If your face would stick, what would it look like? Sad? Happy? Angry? If you had to guess, which one do you think your customers want?

Smiling is an important skill to master in TCX, even over the phone.  It is said that customers can hear you smiling.  Pay attention to your face.  Treat it like the last face you will ever make because your brother is waiting to make it stick.

There are many other “jewels” your Momma has drilled into your brain.  Apply them to your TCX approach and make her proud.  Make her so proud that you win an award for your TCX efforts. Heck I am sure she may even hang that award on her refrigerator.

Maybe the Grass IS Greener!

I love stories about how a business reacts to a negative situation.  Whether the response is a train wreck or an epic saga of heroism, lessons can be learned.  My story is that of frustration, confusion and train wreckiness. (Yes that is a word).

Personal experience:  I like my lawn to be healthy, green and weed free.  I am sure there is more to it, but in my world this is what I want.  There are many options out there and after ruling out the “do it yourself method” I decided to contact a leader in the industry.  I liked the reviews online and the website was very informative.  I called the toll free number and was immediately connected to an informed, energetic sales person.  I had lots of questions and he provided quick answers.  He also asked me very good questions and quickly we came up with a plan for my lawn.  He explained the payment plan, how many treatments would take place, and recommended a schedule.  I agreed and with a few mouse clicks he had it all setup!

So to this point Marketing and Sales have done their job with exceptional skill. As my service was delivered it went without a hitch.  The product was doing the job and the TruGreen folks providing the service were professional and executed the plan perfectly.

When YOU are the customer YOU have the control to fire your service provider or give them more grace. Don’t kid yourself… YOUR customers have this power too.

I know what you are thinking… where is this “train wreck you promised?!”  People love the train wrecks.

In my experience everything was going smoothly until I was billed.  For my convenience I setup Auto Pay which removed money directly from my account to pay for my TruGreen service.  The first time my account was hit for an unexpected double payment. I then asked to be removed from Auto Pay only to be hit with Auto Pay again.  Calls to customer service were left to long hold times, then connection to someone who couldn’t help me.  This was enough for me to cancel my service.  Unfair?  Maybe.  Would you have been more patient or given TruGreen longer to correct these issues? Probably.  But I am the customer and I can react rationally or irrationally. YOU have the POWER to fire your service providers or give them more grace. Don’t kid yourself… YOUR customers have this power too.

How TruGreen Avoided the Train Wreck (and what YOU can learn)

Since I didn’t feel that I was getting an acceptable level of service, I posted my story on the TruGreen Facebook page. Its still out there for all to read… check it out!  Within moments I had a response!  I was encouraged to contact a real live person directly, which I did.  Brittany answer my call and was VERY apologetic.  She didn’t offer excuses and didn’t push me to “stick with them” with pushy sales talk.  She was genuinely sorry and simply wanted to help solve my problem.  She cancelled my service and even provided a refund for my last treatment.  When I explained that I wasn’t asking for a refund she insisted with “its the least we can do”.  Wow.

She listened, she responded quickly, she solved my problem and “wowed me”.

Although I didn’t have an ideal customer experience with TruGreen, I greatly appreciate how they took care of me in the end.  Current and future customers of TruGreen should take my experience and use it to boost their confidence in a company who cares about their TCX.

Lessons for those wanting to create Powerful TCX (Total Customer Experience)

1. Your business will NEVER be perfect, nor will you ALWAYS get it right.  When you don’t.. have a plan to react in a positive way.
2. LISTEN to your customers on Social Media.  They are talking about you… can you hear them?
3. Respond immediately.  A quick response is what they want the most.
4. Empower your team to TAKE ACTION!
5. Give your customer more than they expected. WOW them.

Social Selling is a Bad Idea

I love buying stuff but I hate to be SOLD.  My guess is you feel very much the same.  Don’t get me wrong, good sales people exist and can be quite helpful but not when they are more focused on selling me than helping me.  Can I get an AMEN!?

Social is huge right now and people who are in the Sales Profession are smart to take advantage of this very connected world we live in.  However using social sites such as LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook to “sell” simply doesn’t work.  It actually gives you, your product and your company a negative mental image for your prospects and causes them to ignore you or worse unfriend you.

So can you use Social in your sales plan?  Absolutely!  But please don’t waste time selling.  Instead use your valuable time doing what Vanilla Ice instructed us to do in his song Ice Ice Baby… Alright Stop, Collaborate and Listen! (Look it up.  Its after Yo VIP lets kick it and before Light up a stage and wax a chump like a candle).

1. Stop – If you have been trying to sell socially using standard sells techniques please just stop.

2. Collaborate – Every Social site is about collaboration.  Instead of selling you should be trying to educate and help those you are connected to.  Your buyers are looking for solutions to their problems.  The more you can directly answer their questions, provide links to helpful sites, blogs, and other content the more they will listen and trust you.  You are on Social to build relationships and build trust… not sell.

3. Listen – Another wonderful aspect of Social is the ability to listen to what the market is saying.  Whatever industry you serve I can promise you that there is some sort of breaking news. Your prospects, accounts and contacts are all socially active and posting all sorts of interesting things online.  If you listen carefully there are may conversations you can join and add your opinion and expertise.  What are you competitors saying on Twitter? What are your current customers saying about your company on social that they are not saying to your face? Hmmm.

Using Social to HELP and EDUCATE your market versus trying to SELL them will pay dividends.  Try it for yourself and share your stories with me.

3 ways to improve your Total Customer Experience

The First Step is Admitting You Have a Problem

It’s okay we all know… you can say it.  Your business could be better at customer service.  The reality is that every business could and should be striving to make improvements in this area.  The focus of this blog is to help business owners, leaders and managers with practical tips for how to improve the Total Customer Experience.

The differences between focusing on Customer Service and the Total Customer Experience (TCX) are vast.  However the general understanding is that traditional customer service happens after the purchase has been made and TCX is a holistic journey from marketing to sales to ongoing service.  TCX is not a department or a role within a company, but rather a mindset and a passion that is embraced by everyone in your organization and bound by standards and processes.

When I have spoken to business leaders about TCX they are fairly quick to agree with the concept.  When I ask what they are doing to improve in this area most reply with “we are rolling out a new sales program” or “we have implemented a new sales strategy”.  This (in my opinion) completely misses the mark!  A program that simply teaches some of your employees to “sell more” or “sell better” does little to improve TCX.  In many cases it can actually hurt your overall customer experiences long-term even though you might find short term sales gains.

Why Focus on TCX?

Many very successful companies figured out the power of TCX several years ago.  Brands you may have heard of include Starbucks, Apple, and Southwest Airlines to name a few.  These companies put effort into creating memorable experiences.  They use TCX as a way to separate themselves from their competitors and it has paid off BIG TIME.  We are a VERY connected world in 2015 and experiences (good and bad) are shared in lightning speed.  Never has their been a time in history that a customer makes buying decisions based upon the opinions of complete strangers more than the age we find ourselves in now.  If your business ignores this truth you may face some painful times ahead.  However if you realize that customer experiences begin when the customer has a need and that experience never really ends if you can create loyalty, then you have a chance.

The secret sauce to business success in 2015 is a focus on the Total Customer Experience!

There are many studies that have expounded the fact that a loyal customer is very valuable and worth obtaining.  Over 70% of buying experiences are based on how the customer feels when making the transaction. It is also proven that customers will pay MORE for a product or service to gain better service.

It used to be so much easier.  We had less choices and little access to information.  Now the market is flooded with competition for whatever you sell and information comes to us in waves.  Fair or unfair if a customer gets mistreated by any of your employees at anytime you may be dead to them forever.  The simple truth is customers need you less than you need them!  

3 things you can do today to improve your TCX

1. Determine which departments and employees have some interaction with your prospects and customers. Hint: It is more than your sales team.  Marketing, Sales, Finance, Service Techs, Project Managers, Stock Clerks, Front Desk Workers, etc. ALL have the potential to make a positive or negative impact on TCX.  Identify ALL the ways these areas and people interact with customers and create standards on how you want your company portrayed.
2. Map your TCX process.  If you could carve the path from the first time a prospect heard about your company, product or service, all the way to a loyal customer what would it be? What are the steps?  Where are the hand-offs between departments? Once you have it mapped out review and make improvements.  Is it easy to follow or too complicated? How can you streamline or automate steps to make the customer journey more enjoyable or at least less painful?
3. Insert moments of WOW.  Now you know WHO is interacting with customers and the journey has been mapped out ask what else can we do? There are so many wonderful memories you can create that cost little to nothing but will speak volumes about how much you care about the relationship.  Empower your employees to write hand written notes and mail them to new customers.  Send unexpected small gifts to loyal customers on their anniversary of a first purchase.  Make phone calls to wish them a Happy Birthday.  There is no limit to the creative wow moments you can manufacture.