Customer Experience: How Do You See Your Customers?

At a time when almost every product and service has become a commodity what is that ensures your customers will be loyal to you and your business?

  • Is it the quality of your product? Sometimes, but not all the time.
  • Is it your price? Sometimes, but not all the time – think $5.00 cups of coffee.
  • Is it convenience? Sometimes, but not all the time – think Magic Kingdom (unless you live in Orlando).

Customer loyalty is built on customer experience. What kind of experience do we provide when someone walks through our doors? What kind of experience do our customers have when we answer the phone or respond to an email or tweet?

Do the experiences we create fascinate or frustrate? Are we thrilled someone has chosen to connect with our organization or has the person we need to respond to interrupted our day?

One of my all-time favorite examples of a company that takes pleasure in serving their customers is Chick Fil A. It’s their pleasure because it’s their pleasure from the CEO to the part-time high school student on the front line. Each employee at Chick Fil A is trained to view each person who walks through the doors as an individual with a unique story.

What type of experience are you creating? Is it one that will keep your customers coming back again and again? Is it one that will turn your customers into evangelists for your business?

Its Never Not Our Department

 

not my job

Image Credit: http://bottomlineideas.wordpress.com/2012/01/25/make-sure-the-left-hand-knows-what-the-right-hand-is-doing/

  • Our desk may not be located in the lobby but its our job to make sure the first impression is amazing.
  • Our desk may not reside in the finance department but its our job to be good stewards of our organizations resources.
  • Our desk may not sit in the HR department but its our job to build teams through strong relationships.
  • Our desk may not be located in the customer service department but every customer or potential customer is our responsibility.
  • Our desk may not be located in the bathroom or the break room but its our job to pick up the paper towel off of the floor and empty our lunch container, aka science experiment gone bad, out of the refrigerator.

Our department and our responsibility is wherever and whenever we find ourselves.

Create A Happy Retail Experience

I see trees of green, red roses too
I see them bloom for me and you
And I think to myself what a wonderful world.

I see skies of blue and clouds of white
The bright blessed day, the dark sacred night
And I think to myself what a wonderful world.

For many of your customers and many of the people in your community this song from Louis Armstrong is probably not something they seem to be humming these days. So, why not take the opportunity and engage in a guerilla marketing tactic I’m calling – “ROTRFL – Rolling On The Retail Floor Laughing”. Make you store a destination for fun, joy, laughter and smiles.

Over the past few months I’ve seen some great examples of simple, fun and engaging tactics used by retailers in the Christian Retail industry. Earlier this year the crew at Lighthouse Christian Supply in Dublin, CA created an event called the Ultimate Chicken Dance Off. They invited customers to get their “Chicken Dance” on IN THE STORE for a chance to win prizes and have some fun. Not only did the grand prize winner sna an iPad but event engaged customers, created buzz but it brought a lot of fun and laughter to the store. They integrated offline and online marketing to create a very interactive experience for their customers. You can visit Lighthouse Christian Supply on Facebook at www.facebook.com/dublinlighthouse and scroll down to their updates in May of this year to see how everything unfolded.

Another fun example that I observed earlier this year was a retailer who invited customers, via their Facebook page, to bring in jokes and receive a discount on their purchase. They promoted the event in store, on their website and through their Facebook page. It cost them very little time and virtually no money to pull off the event.

Here are some ideas to get your creative juices flowing and put you on the road to bringing a smile to your customers face.

Comedy Night – Leverage the rise of Christian comedians like Chonda Pierce, Jeff Allen, Anita Renfroe and others and host a comedy day or night in your store. Play the latest comedy DVD’s and offer special discounts on all of your comedy or family friendly DVD’s. Take this idea to the next level by inviting local Christian comedians to perform in your story on a Friday or Saturday night.

Carnival day – Everyone loves a party and games. Partner with local churches and youth groups to host a carnival in your store. For a list of great carnival game ideas check out http://www.kidspartyfun.com.

Make the staff laugh – Invite your customers to tell you a joke, humorous story or perform a funny act and then give them a small discount on their purchase. Add a little more fun by marking off an area around your cash register area where they can “perform” – set up a camera (video or still) and catch them in the act – then post their performance on your Facebook page to add some viral marketing potential.

Press release Let the local media know about your store spreading joy. Invite them to come out to one of your event and interview you and your customers about how your are helping encourage people in your community.

Pick a month and promote it as “Happy Month At Your Store”. Post jokes and funny stories to your Facebook page during “Happy Month”. Encourage your customers to post their jokes and stories to your page as well and pick a winner each week. Hand out smiley stickers to everyone who comes through your doors.

Happy banners – hang a sign over your front door or right inside your entry way that announces to your customers that they are now entering an “Encouragement or Happy Zone”.

Roadside clowns – Go old school sandwich board marketing by positioning clowns at the road in front of your store holding signs with big smiles on them, directing them to your store. Don’t rule this tactic out too quickly. In my local town of Kernersville, NC we have a gold, cash and antique store who employs a guy named Kenny who dances while holding a sign that points people to the store. In a recent interview the owners of the store said that 1 in 3 people who come into the store do so as a result of seeing Kenny.

Answer the phone with a smile and fun salutation – We have all heard it before but it’s always worth a reminder. People can hear you smiling or frowning on the other end of the line. When you smile and talk your spreading a good mood to the person you are talking too. Try a salutation like, “Thank you for calling (insert your store name) – how can we add some happiness to your day?”

So…how can you use the “punch line” to impact your “bottom line”?

Have you created or been a part of creating an event like this?

Serve Others First

When you approach others with the attitude of how you can help them and serve them FIRST the rewards are outstanding. As a retail manager I reached out to the radio announcers and managers of local Christian and non-Christian radio stations who had an affinity with my retail store. My initial contact was not about selling them something but it was to learn more about their outreach and how my store could support them. Each one I talked too was more than happy to let me know how I could help. Eventually I became part of an advisory board for the largest Christian radio station in Michigan. These relationships led to countless in-store radio remote events and on-air promotion of my stores. In most cases the relationship building started several years before there was any benefit to my retail store. My approach with Christian television and newspaper writers was the same. How could I help them, what could I provide that would add value to what they were hoping to achieve.

We also partnered with a local Youth For Christ chapter and provided them with office space, at no charge, in our retail store. Again, this was a relationship that began from the starting point of how could we, as a retail store; help them achieve their mission of reaching the youth of our community. As time went on, this relationship provided us with the opportunity to be involved in concerts and events that put us in front of thousands of people each year at little to no cost.

Everyday Relationship Management

This practice of deliberate relationship management isn’t about false sincerity, people can spot that a mile away, it’s about connecting with the people who support you and have linked up with you and your business. So, make it a priority to CALL, NOT EMAIL 20 to 50 people in the next five days. After this pick a time at the end or beginning of the year and begin a tradition of connecting with those very important people in your business. Thank them for their support and let them know how much your appreciate them and that you are looking forward to strengthening your relationship with them in the coming year.

As a manager of a couple of different Christian retail stores I took a similar approach as Tom Peters. I focused on pastors, Christian and non Christian radio stations, Para-church ministry’s, newspapers and Christian television stations. I would set aside time each month, one or two days to call and connect with the pastor’s who regularly shopped in my store. I wasn’t calling to sell them anything, just calling to ask them how THEY were doing how were things at their church and if there was anything I could do for them. In addition to calling them I would make it a point to attend seminars, conferences, concerts and other special events at these same pastor’s churches throughout the year, I wanted them to know I supported them and was there for them.