Customer Experience Tip #1280

Responding to customers on social media isn’t much different from responding to their phone calls and e-mails … except of course that you’re on stage for all to see. Act accordingly and act promptly.

Customer Experience Tip #1279

Customer experience is based on trust. Be honest and forthright with your customers and don’t hide from them the things they deserve to know. When they find out what you’ve been hiding (as they often do) trust is broken and recovery may be impossible. Without trust, you won’t see that customer return and you’ll never benefit from their referrals.

Customer Experience Tip #1278

Consider each milestone in your customer’s journey and discuss with your team: “How might the customer be feeling during this particular stage?” Doing so can help increase empathy amongst your team and also help to anticipate customer needs in relation to likely emotions/feelings.

Customer Experience Tip #1277

Is Customer Journey Mapping a lot of work? You bet. Is it worth it? Absolutely.

Customer Experience Tip #1276

“Maybe your customer isn’t trying to save money. Perhaps she wants to be heard instead. Or find something better, or unique. Or perhaps customer service, flexibility and speed are more important. It might be that the way you treat your employees, or the side effects you create count for more than the price. The interactions in the moment might be a higher priority. Or it could even be the sense of fairplay and respect you bring (or don’t bring) to the transaction. Price is the last refuge for the businessperson without the imagination, heart and soul to dig a bit deeper.”

–Seth Godin, Bestselling Author

Customer Experience Tip #1275

Listen to your own voicemail greeting and ask yourself: “Do I sound happy, accessible, approachable … kind?”

Customer Experience Tip #1274

When verbally discussing numbers and other details with a client, always follow it up in writing. What you’ll remember and what they’ll remember from the conversation aren’t always the same. This best practice of proactive communication often saves a lot of aggravation and might even save a deal … and even that relationship.

Customer Experience Tip #1273

Ask job candidates, “What have you discovered about the experience we deliver to our customers?” It should matter enough to them that they’ve already done a little digging around to now have a sense of it. If they haven’t, then they’d ideally be at least curious now within this conversation.

Customer Experience Tip #1272

“We Google our guests, something that some people think is creepy or stalker-ish, but I don’t think it is at all. I think it’s what you do with the information that defines the spirit of the endeavor. We try to learn as much about our guests, such that the experience that we give them is truly only for them.”

–Will Guidara, co-owner of New York’s renowned Eleven Madison Park

Customer Experience Tip #1271

When your team members are meeting a client in  a group setting (especially for the first time), you should take a moment to introduce each person. And those members of your team should be trained to always make eye contact, smile, and exchange kind greetings … no matter how seemingly insignificant their role may be perceived to be.