Great service organizations know how to read their customers and respond.  Businesses who lose site or misunderstand who their customers are and what they want, or what matters most to them, are at risk.  It's the little misses that really weigh on me. For example,my husband and I were recently at a well-known home improvement store purchasing bags of mulch, 22 to be exact, and some plants.  As my husband was paying for our purchases, he asked if someone could load the mulch in our car.  The cashier said she would call for someone while my husband went and pulled the car around. As I was leaving, I didn't see the large rolls of plastic to line the back of our car, so I asked the cashier about it.  She scrambled around looking and finally told me that I would need to go to the front of the store to get the plastic.  I think we all know that the distance between lawn and garden and the front of the store isn't exactly close.  At this point, the car had been pulled up for the "someone" to load our car.  "Someone" casually strolled over to our car as I finished loading the last 3 bags of mulch into the car.  Big service misses here, don't you think?

Great service organizations train their employees to notice customer body language, to observe the surroundings for all customer touch points, and how to REACT and RESPOND with informed knowledge. Holding employees accountable for this level of service is what makes the difference. "The secret to world class service is knowing the true customer and aligning all participating resources and people with the value stream that leads to that customer." John Murphy

Customer interactions need to be designed and not left up to chance.  It gives businesses a strategic advantage to focus on figuring out what products and services their customers truly need and in defining the exact characteristics of every customer interaction, from what to say on the phone, to the functionality of the website, or how to best assist in-store shoppers.  This is the level of service understanding that was missing in the home improvement store example.  People like to be wowed, not shocked. 

Businesses have choices. They can continue to let their employees wonder what they should do to improve the customer experience and misstep as they try to coordinate their own activities with other departments. Or, if they want to be a world class service organization, they can guide the team towards a common vision and facilitate their efforts by developing a customer service experience strategy that clearly defines the intended experience. So instead of waiting for the customer to ask for assistance with the 22 bags of mulch, at checkout, this cashier would know to offer the assistance because it is an understood part of this store's service strategy. 

Building your customer service experience strategy doesn't have to be complicated, just start your plan by answering these four basic questions: 

• What should we keep doing?
• What should we do differently?
• What should we start doing that we are not doing now?
• What should we stop doing altogether?

John Murphy, again says it perfectly, "Design and build reliability into your processes and let the outcomes follow. Let your reliability say, "WOW"! 

All of these tactics, once applied, will provide your employees with the tools to enhance the customers experience -  and your customers will always choose you.  If we can help you to manage your customers' expectations, let us know.