Choose the small battles first
The more I talk about Service Design and Customer Experience with clients, collaborators and professionals working in different aspects of a business, the more I realise that a mistake is probably made in the way the benefits of such practices are conveyed:
There is a lot of emphasis on methodologies, the time they should take, the holistic nature of a SD or a CX project, etc. and less time spent talking about the actual outcomes, even the first small wins that show the actual value.
Of course, doing it right is of outmost importance.
The practices of such multidisciplinary methods are not new, but what is now a holistic process was once fragmented, siloed and thus most companies and organisations probably didn’t address the experience they offered as one, externally of internally. Now the conversation (and practice) has shifted and specialists are convincing more and more companies of the holistic, collaborative and iterative manner that brings tangible results if done consistently. This means that company culture has to shift towards a customer-centric approach. Really shift. Not in paper or in company presentations alone.
But this takes will. Convinced leaders. Internal processes that serve the new approach. Did I mention consistency? Thus, it takes TIME.
In this fast-paced environment though, long time is a turn-off for most. “What good will that do to our business if we don’t see results now?” you hear managers and C-level executives say. Who can blame them?
But it’s OK. Because Customer Experience in reality does not urge us to do the whole thing or nothing at all. In fact, you will be surprised how tackling simple actions can make a big difference.
Some days ago, a friend of mine sent me an e-mail she had received back in 2015 before going away for a weekend with her husband. She knows about Dollphin and what we do and she thought about THAT when I prompted her to remember a pleasurable customer experience she had with a business.
The hotel provided a pre-arrival concierge service through a simple e-mail written in a polite yet not stiff tone, letting them know how to get there, tips about the area, what they needed to bring along, extra activities they could participate in and the hotel could organise for them. Right before your stay, when you are in the mood to buy extra for your holiday. They even included a little indirect promotion of the first hotel beach library they had created (and were awarded for), urging them to help it grow by bringing a book themselves.
This was so simple, yet so memorable that it sat in her memory for 4 years and came up as the first thing she could think of when prompted. She also told me she had shared that with many of her friends at the time who actually went on to book their holidays in that hotel.
So, let’s do a little wrap-up:
- pre-arrival e-mail = additional revenue
- can this be measured the way we measure CTR or a direct sale from an e-shop? No. But it can be measured in different ways. Look for those ways in one of our next posts
- was that difficult to organize on behalf of the hotel? No. A diligent employee would come up with that proposal if asked for improvements
- can we leave though the experience of our brand/product/service to the disposition of our employees no matter how good any company is in recruitment and training? Of course not. Businesses must have processes in place that offer an impeccable experience regardless of a person’s good or bad day. That said, they also have to leave room for employee initiative
It’s like a dance in a talent show. As a business, you have to be careful not to step on anyone’s toes but also move gracefully, creatively and better than anyone else, so the judges pick you to be there for the next day as well.
Customers leave bad services in, well, a jiffy. It’s not only that though.
It’s not even acceptable to provide an “OK” service anymore. Customers expect that. What tells your business apart is that extra mile you go. The small unexpected gestures you make to bring a smile to their face (and makes them an advocate for your business). Even the small wins that make a big difference.
This is also part of Customer Experience. Not only the projects that take a long time to complete, are budget intensive and may be difficult to incorporate into a yearly plan without the proper proof that they actually work.
No war has been won once off. Choose — and test — the small changes that will give you the victories you need so you can move on to wider grounds.
If you need any help with choosing your battles, let us know here.
