Posts Tagged ‘Customer Experience’
Can your customers recite your brand messages?
Yesterday I overheard some friends having a conversation about shoe shopping, and Zappos came up. All but one were familiar with the online shoe store, and those who were familiar are avid fans.
The Zappos Zealots, as I’m calling them, made specific points about the advantage of buying shoes from the online shoe store. She spoke of the wide selection, good pricing, free return shipping, and regularly having her standard shipping upgraded to overnight.
She did such a great job selling the brand, you would have thought she worked for Zappos herself.
This got me thinking – how well can your customers speak to your brand benefits?
To help get them there ask yourself the following:
- What makes your company better?
- This is probably the toughest question to answer. Unless you offer truly unique benefits, you are better off asking how you do it better than your competitors.
- Are your benefits ones that matter most to the customer?
- Or do you have benefits that you can make matter to your customer? Perdue did this by promoting the yellow hue of their chicken means it’s a better tasting chicken.
- Are your benefits communicated in a clear, concise manner?
- They need to be simple and straightforward, so your Zealots can speak on your behalf
- Are your benefits communicated consistently in all customer contacts?
- Are your benefits communicated through your actions?
- Zappos wants to be known for its service and thus upgrades shipping for customers.
No matter what business you are in, you have the opportunity to create evangelists for your business. You just need to give them the right message and experience and they’ll take care of the rest as they share with others.
Is your customer experience your worst advertisement?
Sports Authority recently announced it is putting its advertising account up for review to find partners to “help define our brand and bring it to life with our customers”.
My first thought (and I wasn’t the only one, based on the comments left on the article) was that a more aggressive effort might only bring more people to discover a horrible shopping experience.
Many businesses are again focusing on topline revenue growth after making all the cuts they can. However, before investing in sales and marketing, are you sure you are providing the best possible product or customer experience?
Some examples of good advertising hurting a poor product:
- McDonald’s heavily invested in advertising to drive people to try the McDLT, which generated lackluster sales because it wasn’t a good hamburger.
- Kinko’s (now FedEx Office) advertising creates an expectation of generating great things with their printing capabilities, but the actual experience left you wanting for more, opening the door for Office Depot, OfficeMax and Staples to steal share. Even with new FedEx branding, the customer experience hasn’t changed.
The average grocery store trip is 10 minutes longer than it was just two years ago, indicating consumers are spending more time making buying decisions. With this in mind, make sure your company or product not only meets their expectations, but exceeds it whenever possible.
What are you doing to ensure you are providing the best customer experience?
Are Your Employees The Best People To Sell Your Product?
Stereotypical Employee Photo
A recent WSJ article noted that 10% of Microsoft employees (about 10,000 people) use iPhones to access their email, an interesting statistic when many smart phones that run on a Microsoft platform are available.
Closer to home, after canceling Comcast cable for AT&T U-verse, Comcast sent a rep out to pick up my equipment. In conversation, he revealed that he uses Direct TV at home, instead of Comcast, because Comcast did not offer discounts to employees and DirectTV was more affordable.
Both stories got me thinking: While your employees can certainly sell your product without using it, imagine how much more effective they can be if they actually use your product as well.
What can you do to ensure your employees become advocates for your products/services?
- Make Employees Customers. Even if you have to subsidize the product, make sure your employees use your product over a competitor’s. Car dealers have “dealer” cars so their sales people can speak intimately about the products they are selling based on their own experiences.
- Educate. Let your employees know everything about your product (good and bad). Don’t let them find out about any functions or problems from a customer. When the latter occurs, it can cause unnecessary conversations among the employees about the quality of your product.
- Transparency. Communicate with your employees regularly about your services. If you are making changes, tell them why. It will help them better communicate with consumers.
- Let Them Compare. You want your employees loyal to your products, so encourage them (and even subsidize) using a competitive product/service. This will allow them to see how your product is different and will help in emphasizing your product strengths from a personal experience.
- Ask for Feedback. When your employees are using your products/services, you now have a in-house focus group to gain learnings on how to improve your offerings. Asking for their feedback, and acting on it, will foster loyalty among employees and ultimately create a better product.
No matter how good your product or service, your employees are integral to selling the product and connecting with the consumer. Give them every opportunity to get to know your products and services better, and your efforts will pay off in so many ways.
Apple Continues To Get It Right
While the debate continues regarding the impact of the iPad, Apple does many things right.
Today when I was purchasing a new case for my iPhone, the sales person noticed my company name on my credit card. She asked me about the business and if I was interested in joining their business loyalty program where I could earn benefits, discounts, etc.
This simple act made me appreciate that she was focused on my needs as a customer, and not just focused on the sale.
We do this all the time in our personal lives. You may notice a tree growing too close to a neighbor’s house and offer to recommend an arborist. Your friend’s car may leak antifreeze on your driveway and so you recommend a mechanic. The benefit to you? Helping a friend. Keeping a strong relationship.
When I meet with clients, I listen to what they need and often recommend services or companies that can help, regardless of whether it benefits my bottom line. I recommend a business coach if I see organizational challenges; CFO consultants if their revenue model is flawed; or an M&A consultant if my client needs a better understanding of what their end-game needs to be.
The same thing should be done with your brand.
What are you doing to take the extra step to help your customers out? Are you a resource that your customers trust because you are looking out for them? How can you train your employees to recognize the opportunity to become that trusted resource?
When the hard drive on my Powerbook was dying, I took it to the Genius Bar at Apple for support. To my surprise, they recommended I take it to someone else who could put in a faster drive and increase my memory at a lower cost. They even gave me a card for the place.
I bet you can guess what my next computer will be.
The Little Things Make A Big Difference
When a company does the little things to make your interaction more enjoyable, it goes a long way.
Over the Christmas break I spent some time in Chattanooga, TN at the Doubletree Hotel.
While Doubletree is best known for its warm chocolate chip cookies, it was some of the other things they did that really made the difference:
- They called a nearby hotel with an indoor pool so my kids could go swimming.
- The clock radio had pre-set stations listed as rock, news, pop and sports, so I didn’t have to navigate unfamiliar stations.
- Even the language they used for the ever-present room signage made me appreciate the experience that much more.
Current economic trends might be preventing you from increasing your marketing spend, but that doesn’t mean you can’t make a positive impact on your customers by making small, positive changes in how you do business.
- I’ve seen home service companies bring the newspaper to the door or clear cobwebs from around the house.
- Publix employees still bring your groceries to your car and they are not allowed to accept tips.
- I’ve received a personal note from my Nordstrom’s sales person.
- Zappo’s typically upgrades shipping to next day air.
In this day of social media – where anyone can make their opinion known to millions – doing the little things to make a positive impact can go far. And often these little things don’t cost you anything.
As you look at 2010, share what you are doing to make a difference with your customers.
Never Contradict Your Brand
As an exercise boot camp instructor, my guilty pleasure is NBC’s The Biggest Loser. I appreciate the no-nonsense approach to weight loss:
- Burn More Calories Than You Consume
- Make Good Food Choices and Eat In Small Portions
So I was surprised to find Jillian Michaels – an extremely tough-minded trainer who thrives on reminding her trainees that there are no shortcuts to weight loss – lending her name to sell fat burning and weight loss supplements.
Doing so not only contradicts her brand; it also contradicts the Biggest Loser brand. Not surprising, as companies often contradict their brands.
For years The Home Depot swore it would never have sale prices because they always offered the lowest price. Even before the economic downturn, they began offering sale prices instead of sticking with brand position as the lowest price provider.
Comcast promotes increased efficiency with the speed of their Internet service. You can hear this promotional message at least 25 times as you sit on hold waiting to talk with a customer service rep.
A former client of mine wanted to be known for operational efficiency, but regularly invoiced their customers incorrectly.
Your brand is the combination of many things:
- The customer experience with every touch point with your company
- Marketing
- Office/retail space
- Packaging
- Customer reviews
- Web Site/Social Media presence
- Invoicing
- On-Hold Time/Messages
- Guarantees/Return Policies
When managing your brand you need to evaluate your entire operation to make sure your message is communicated consistently. Any contradiction can begin to erode your brand without you even knowing.
Recession Continues To Breed New Thinking
In today’s Wall Street Journal, Toys R Us announced they are opening 350 temporary stores in traditional shopping malls and other locations to take advantage of the holiday season. This strategy is borne out of two market changes:
- KB Toys, traditionally a mall-only toy retailer, going out of business
- Sears expanding their toy department to help grab share from the KB Toys deficit
Holiday sales were down 3.4% last year for Toys R Us. Anticipating similar results for the 2009 holiday season, the national toy retailer realized they could not rely on the same approach to reach customers and drive sales.
Toys R Us is leveraging three key areas:
- Inexpensive rents – With retail sales down and retailers going out of business, there is excess capacity in shopping malls.
- Lower pricing – Higher rents were baked into KB Toys’ pricing (so much that they weren’t competitive). Since rents are lower, TRU can keep pricing on par with freestanding stores.
- Convenience – The convenience of a mall location should attract people who are already shopping versus having to go to another location.
Toys R Us stopped looking at their business the same way.
You should to and see where opportunities might exist to change how you do business. There has never been a better time to do it.
Customer Service Doesn't End – Part 2
Last week I wrote about the importance of having your employees positively represent your brand – even if they are on break. I highlighted a negative experience I had at Starbucks with some employees on break who decided to smoke near patrons when an alternative was available.
Yesterday I had an interesting experience with another popular brand, one that provided a nice counterpoint to last week’s topic.
I was at a neighborhood CVS yesterday when I approached the check-out line at the same time as a Best Buy employee (though nowhere near a Best Buy) who immediately let me take the place at the front of the line.
When another register opened, that same person let someone else go ahead to the register.
Those small gestures made me feel good about Best Buy and has me thinking about Best Buy in a positive light.
It’s amazing what a positive experience — even an unrelated one — can have on your brand.
Remember, your employees are always representing your brand.
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