The Experience Blog. Great Customer Service. Exceptional Customer Experience.

Customer Experience is About the Little Things

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I buy a lot of things online and I find that customer experience varies greatly between different organizations. Although only recently a customer, I’ve been a big fan of Amazon and Zappos for a long time now purely based on the customer experience of working with these organizations.

Customer Experience Without Human Interaction

I’ve never once talked to anyone on the phone, I’ve never emailed or chatted with a rep online, yet I’m delighted in my customer experience. How? Simple. Shopping with these organizations isn’t a process, it’s an experience. Every point I encounter, is polished. I feel like I matter, and that these organizations know what I want and cater their processes around the needs of the customer.

Even though they’re not spending a million bucks, make them feel like they’re worth a million bucks.

-Flavio Martins

Amazon and Zappos aren’t the cheapest, but I often go with them because I know what to expect, and that’s to have an organization that is organized around meeting my needs as a customer.

Amazon and Zappos Customer Experience Focus

They have my loyalty. When I’m shopping online, I make sure to hit Amazon and see their offerings for what I need.

Service delivery is made up of both the transportation of the goods or services AND the experience. The experience is about making your customer feel good about the purchase, product, service. It’s making sure customers feel like they matter, that the organization cares about them. It’s helping them know that they’ve made the right choice. Sometimes, the Amazon customer experience means sending me to another merchant.

The Amazon customer experience keeps me coming back over and over again.

Exceptional customer experiences focus on the needs of customers:

  • a good deal (value offering).
  • a polished service experience.
  • a feeling of worth (my dollars matter to me, and it should matter to you).
  • human-ness in communication (human-like language).

Transport the customer experience:

  • free delivery
  • next day delivery
  • quick, specific time frame delivery based on what your service is
  • automated, online delivery

Deliver customer experience:

  • lovely packaging (think Amazon, brown box with signature smile)
  • lovely presentation
  • delightful environment
  • free gift wrap
  • free goodies
  • customer loyalty card
  • customer welcome card
  • membership to a community
  • online catalog, shop
  • online training, info, ideas, inspiration
  • follow up phone calls, contact, emails
  • follow up service
  • follow up thank you

Deliver a customer experience that matters to customers

If you aren’t doing these things. You’re missing out on an opportunity to create a customer experience that makes your organization stand out from the competition. You’re not a monopoly. Believe it or not, you’re a commodity. Do a search online for the type of service you provide, how many others are doing it? What are you doing to make it worthwhile to pick you over them? Banner Ads, SEO, or GoogleAds are not customer experience.

Creating an amazing customer experience is a guaranteed way to create customer loyalty and to compete and survive in tough economic times. It is also one of the reasons many of us go in to businesses for ourselves – to create a personal, delightful experience for our customers, and ourselves. Get creative. Make it fun and playful. Start today. It doesn’t have to cost a lot to create and deliver an amazing customer experience.

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  • http://twitter.com/carrieatthill Carrie Keenan

    It is so true that the little things matter most! I recently had a stay at a hotel (where I would normally not stay in due to pricepoint, but this was a work trip). As lovely as the hotel was & for all it’s amenities - the thing I retained was how great the hotel’s social media staff was. They assisted me pre trip, greeted me when I checked in on Foursquare and even left me a handwritten note on my last night. 100% made my stay awesome! Well done Hyatt Chicago

    • http://www.themana.gr/ Flavio Martins

      Isn’t it fabulous! And how much work is it really to do something so simple as that?

      Some companies may say that it’s too labor intensive to do that, but given the gobs of money spend on marketing, is it really? How many advertising dollars would need to be spent to create an ad campaign that would equal the feelings of care that you felt with those simple gestures? That’s the question I pose to organizations.

  • http://www.enmast.com/ Devan Perine

    I love that quote from Flavio! Couldn’t say it better myself. But I really think the personalization is key to great customer service - something like a handwritten note goes a long way (like you said - it’s the little things) When out to dinner the other week, the waitress wrote a really nice personal note thanking us for being great to serve to. I gave her a great tip and it made me excited to go back there again. Great customer service promotes loyalty.

    On the same topic - I think you’ll really like this read: http://www.enmast.com/2012/03/08/transactions-more-personal/

    • http://www.themana.gr/ Flavio Martins

      I get into discussions about personal touch quite a bit and I know that we can’t do it for everyone…sometimes. And that’s fine, it’s a limitation we have, but it shouldn’t keep us from doing anything right?

      Even when I get a receipt that has a smiley face, it already improves the experience for me because it creates that feeling that they really cared about me taking my time to be there. A smiley face, nothing more.

  • http://blog.amsterdamprinting.com/ Slavik V

    That’s a good post, Flavio. I also shop at both sites and found myself doing less comparison shopping when something is available thru Amazon. The focus on customer experience and CONSISTENCY of it with every single purchase is way too easy and it is not worth my time to do more research.

    • http://www.themana.gr/ Flavio Martins

      That’s a great point and goes to show that a smooth experience without customers feeling barriers to the process actually make a difference.

      It’s why the one-click shopping is so critical to Amazon. How easy is it to buy when it’s so simple and fast? I’m just glad that Apple asks me to confirm if I REALLY want to buy something when I click on something on my iPad…otherwise…YIKES! The madness!

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