Learn to put together memorable experiences for your customers that will make a lasting impact. These tips can help.
I’m sure you’ve heard this before, but customer service is everything in creating an unforgettable customer experience. It doesn’t matter how great your product is if customers don’t want to work with you.
You’re probably thinking, ‘well duh,’ right? But when was the last time you actually thought about what that means for your business?
Think about it: Every interaction with a person or company can be an incredible experience or a forgettable one.
The first step towards making every customer experience unforgettable and amazing starts with recognizing all of the ways in which your customers are being served by your business.
My team and I were brainstorming about this last week and quite a bit of content made it up on the office whiteboard. Not all of it was worth keeping, but that’s the point of brainstorming.
We thought we would share five of our favorite tips from that strategy session.
LOOK AT YOUR CUSTOMER’S NEEDS AND WANTS
We all know the old adage, “The customer is always right.”
Well we’re here to say that it’s not an empty phrase. You can’t meet their needs and expect future purchases if you don’t understand them!
Do as we did, and gather your team around the office whiteboard for a brainstorming session. Record everything up on the whiteboard at first and edit later. Who knows what you might find?
You may find that they are more than just about service or products. They might be items such as convenience, efficiency, value, trustworthiness, or customer-driven product development. What matters is how you can better meet their customer expectations in each area.
CREATE A PLAN TO MEET THOSE NEEDS AND WANTS
Now that you have some usable content on the board from the previous exercise with your team, it’s time to move on to thinking strategically about your customer’s needs and wants.
It’s time for a plan to meet those needs and wants.
This plan should include a timeline that outlines the different phases of your customer lifecycle and how you will cater to their needs in each phase.
– Before they purchase.
– Once they have purchased from you.
– After they have made contact with someone from customer service to fix an issue or get a question answered.
– Develop and implement customer support policies that meet customer happiness and customer expectations.
– Train staff to provide an unforgettable experience for every interaction with a person or company.
– Create and maintain organizational systems so information about the customer is accessible by all employees throughout their lifecycle with you.
Creating an unforgettable customer experience is all about anticipating the customer’s needs before they know what it is they need or want.
IMPLEMENT THE PLAN
Once the plan is in writing, the real work begins to turn it into a reality. It’s time to implement.
At this point, make sure all staff members understand the plan and are committed to its success. Without a commitment from everyone on your org chart, there will be inconsistencies.
Communicate with your customers on an ongoing basis about how you’re providing exemplary service, from start to finish.
If you’re not sure how to implement the plan, talk to a professional.
TRACK SUCCESS OF THE IMPLEMENTATION
You might have the expression, “You can’t manage what you don’t measure.”
To make sure your plan is successful, you need to know if it’s working.
This means tracking how well the implementation is going compared to what you had planned for.
Without tracking your reality versus what was expected in the planning phase, you won’t know what to adjust and tweak along the way.
ADJUST AS NEEDED BASED ON FEEDBACK FROM CUSTOMERS, EMPLOYEES, OR OTHER STAKEHOLDERS
The key word here is “adjust.” It doesn’t mean that something has failed if there are some hiccups in the process or a customer complaint or two, as is the case in normal business.
Adjusting means that you are paying attention to the feedback and making changes as needed.
The goal is not for everything to be perfect, but rather to fix what needs fixing while keeping a good attitude about it all.
BUILD IT NOW
When you provide your customers with an experience they’ll never forget, it should come as no surprise that customer loyalty will follow.
The key to great customer service is finding out what your customers need and want–and giving it to them.
If you have any questions about how these neuroscience principles can work for you or if you just want some guidance on mapping out a strategy for success, let us know!
One of our business coaches would love to chat with you about how we might be able to help bring together all aspects of marketing and sales into one cohesive plan. We offer complimentary consultations so there’s nothing holding back from getting started now!
