Creating your customer experience

Every time you send an e-mail, make a telephone call, exchange information or meet your customer you create a footprint, an impression, about your business.  This leaves a history or set of experiences which condition each following interaction.  Like or not, this colours every engagement – so is the impression you leave the one you intended?

A lot of companies spent time, money & resources on creating products, brands or even a brand image, yet sometime less thought is given to how that product, brand or service is delivered and received by the customer.  The experience the customer receives should be in line with the image you need to portray.  Recently we worked with a global travel brand – the experiences their guests receive when on holiday is outstanding, and we wanted to re-create that experience for their corporate customers – everything from dress code, cars, branding, technology and meeting structures.  Their customers now start to receive a reflection of their phenomenal guest experience – this enhances the whole corporate brand.  The same is true in the food industry where we have worked with some big well-known brands – bringing their corporate personality (and therefore point of difference) to life in front of customers – the results have been very positive.

OK – so what so you need to consider when you think about your customer experience?  At the basic level it is 3 key elements

1.      See.  Everything they see, the people, the e-mail style and sign-off, the presentation (or lack of, when we get this right!), etc needs to reflect the customer experience you need to create.  What happens before, during and after each interaction with a customer should be defined, and consistent enough to drive the experience – this is not about corporate clones, there has to room for personality -it’s about a consistent persona.

2.     Touch.  The greeting, the handshake or hug, the materials you use, these elements can be touch and therefore can create an experience or emotion.  Everything you hand out, given out or move, is touched.  Does that touch inspire?

3.     Feel. Each interaction has a feeling and generates a feeling.  What should you FEEL, before during and after.  Every engagement has to enhance the feeling, rather than detract from it.

If you want to spend some time thinking about your Customer Experience, or how to create it, then get in touch.