Within walking distance of my office are several delightful cafes, restaurants, and markets. One day after lunch I stopped by a small store across the plaza to get a drink. As I moved to pay, a remarkable work of art on the counter mesmerized me. It was the most beautiful cookie I had ever seen; a concoction of fresh fruit, golden oatmeal, and a light coating of honey-brown sugar goodness.
“Would you like one?” the clerk asked.
“Yes!” my heart screamed. But with a quick glance at the price, my head mustered just enough willpower. I heard myself sigh, “No, thank you.” And then something unexpected happened.
She responded, “Please have it, no charge. They are lovely cookies and I’m certain you will enjoy it. I want you to try it.”
Wow. Here’s a business that understands the importance of the employee-customer encounter. Those exchanges that can mean the difference between a regular customer and one that never purchases again.
It was a great example of what Human Sigma authors Fleming and Asplund state as HumanSigma Rule 3: “the employee-customer encounter must be measured and managed locally”. The clerk at the store managed it. As a result, the business gained a loyal customer (once I had tasted the cookie, my mind shifted from resolve to rationalization).
Let’s consider the steps to optimize the outcome for these types of experiences.
1. Understand Where Your Encounters Occur
Vitally important, these moments take place far from the high-floor corner office. Instead, they appear where the front- line service employees perform. For many businesses, these employees are among the least experienced and lowest paid in the company. Considered easily replaceable. Yet their impact on a customer’s perception of your business makes them crucial.
In your customer journey map, highlight anyplace someone interacts with a customer. Do what is necessary for these employees understand the significance of what they do. They must believe what they do matters. An employee that feels under-valued will face a difficult time making a customer feel highly esteemed.
2. Communicate the Vision of Successful Outcome
Every week I receive multiple emails asking me for feedback and ratings for a service or product. (Enough that I have feedback fatigue.) I’m sure that in each case someone, somewhere, cares about improving their service and overall score. But I don’t sense they care much about me.
Customer-facing employees don’t need an aggregate number; they need a picture of a job well done. Describe the outcome of a successful customer encounter. Consider the store I mentioned. That vision could be: An efficient transaction with the customer walking out with a smile.
If you can’t describe success, it’ll be very difficult for your employees to achieve it. It will be ad hoc. Describe and repeat it. Every employee should instinctively know when an encounter is successful. Or not.
3. Empower Your Employees to Achieve the Outcome
I once read a definition of stress as the following equation:
S = R - A
Stress equals responsibility minus authority. If you expect your employees to delight customers, you must give them reasonable authority to achieve it. Otherwise, the objective is informational, not influential. Your customers won’t be any happier, but your employees will be more anxious.
Proper authority requires your employees to use discretion for when, and how, to use it. Avoid a cookie-cutter, requires-no-thinking rule, such as giving each customer who complains twice a $10 coupon to the spa. This is important for three reasons:
- It’s necessary for the customer to sense the experience is genuine and specific to her.
- It behooves the employee to understand and empathize with the customer.
- It provides a sense of ownership for the employee in achieving the ideal outcome.
You need to find what your customer-facing employees need to achieve success. How? Ask them. Analyze any past events with a dissatisfied customer and ask, “What would you have needed to make this outcome successful?” Then decide how you will empower your team to achieve success.
Famous for its customer service, Ritz Carlton entrusts every employee, without approval from their general manager, to spend up to $2000 on a guest. What your employees need will be specific to your business. Whatever you choose, it must be meaningful for your customers.
I once watched a valet driver back my car into another, leaving behind a large dent. Beyond supplying their insurance information, the person at the hotel desk offered to waive the valet fee. This was more insulting than generous (I suggested our entire stay should be free, which they accepted). Don’t risk your employees offending your patrons in the name of customer service.
If this scares you, either you do not value the customer-employee encounter, or you have fundamental doubts around the quality of your product or service. If your product is poor, don’t expect to use this to rescue your way from low to high customer satisfaction. Fixing the product or service is your priority. For Ritz Carlton, the use of the $2000 is not common. To provide superior service is their first order of business; they are not expecting to buy their way to the top.
4. Celebrate Successes
What gets recognized gets repeated; what gets celebrated becomes a habit. If an employee takes initiative to create a meaningful customer encounter, it’s imperative you recognize and celebrate it. The postmortem analysis of what went wrong is essential, but can likely wait. Do not delay recognition of the effort to delight the customer.
You Got This!
Start with the question, “Are we committed to creating meaningful customer encounters?” If the answer is yes, identify where such encounters occur and survey the involved employees with two questions:
- How do you recognize a successful customer experience?
- What do you need to make sure it happens regularly?
If you ask the questions, you will communicate a commitment to your team. The answers you receive will give you the direction you need to demonstrate it.
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