Here are some issues which must be taken care of (wherever they apply to our business) to make sure that the customer’s experience of dealing with us is always positive and pleasant:-
We must be watchful about the situations when our customers’ emotions are adversely impacted. We must find out whether they are made to feel angry, helpless, stupid or dumb; whether their interaction with our business leads to some negative feelings. These are the symptoms which indicate that we are not making our customers’ experience with our business a positive one.
If we take care of the customers’ feelings being generated by our business during their experience with our business, if we make them feel good, confident, satisfied, certain and safe, they will have a positive experience with us. They would like to repeat such positive experiences again and again, helping us to sustain our business growth over time.
We must focus on one simple guiding principle that doing business with us should be made as easy as possible for our customers. This can be easily understood by looking at and interacting with our business from a customer’s perspective. We should periodically interact with the business as a customer generally would.
We can send a “mystery” shopper or customer to our business, which acts like a normal customer and tries to experience what a customer goes through while she deals with us. This will help us to understand the needs of the customers and the problems they face while working with us. We must do this to make our business customer friendly and customer centric.
Innovative Idea # 1. Our People Affect Customers’ Experiences:
Our employees are the main contributors to the quality of the customers’ experience. Due to different reasons, our employees may be creating bad experience for the customers. Any such bad experience may lead to lost sales and lost customers.
Here are some possible ways our people may be annoying our customers and what we should do about them:
i. Behavior:
How do our employees speak to the customers or how do they behave with the customers? Our receptionist, security persons, sales representatives, delivery boys, demo persons, drivers, peons, support executives, telemarketing executives or anybody who interacts with the customers personally or on phone affect our customers’ experience.
Their behavior, tone and style of speaking, volume, language etc. either make the customer happy or annoy them. If they treat the customer badly, if they talk or behave rudely with them, if they are not sensitive, patient or cooperative, the customer will not like working with our company.
We should train all such employees so that they are polite and respectful to the customers. Many times, this is related to the employee’s attitude. If efforts to modify the behavior do not succeed, people with bad attitude must be removed from customer facing roles.
Also, to avoid such problems in future, care should be taken while hiring people for such customer facing positions. At every customer interaction point, hire only those people who have the right attitude and who are people friendly.
Regularly monitor their behavior with the customers. (That’s why some companies record phone conversations of employees interacting with the customers.)
ii. Poor Knowledge:
Sometimes, our employees are not fully aware about some of our products or services. When a customer asks for some information or wants some help, they are not able to help due to lack of information or knowledge. Or, they may provide misinformation, which may annoy the customer further.
On other occasions, if the employees don’t know the internal processes, they may unknowingly mislead the customer. E.g. we sell some consumer durable goods and the prospect wants to know how soon and in what manner her on-site service request will be processed.
If the employee does not know the entire process and bluffs about it or over promises, it may backfire later. Our entire customer-facing team must be trained very thoroughly and regularly about all products or services and all our processes which matter to the customers or affect them.
iii. Being Greedy without Adding Value:
At some hotels, restaurants or banquet halls parking attendants or security staff meaningfully salute the customers when they are leaving, in expectation of some tips. Employees of some regular service firms (couriers, newspapers, laundry, milk, grocery etc.) ask for tips and favors from the customers.
At some salons or parlors the attendants expect some tips from the patrons. All customers may not be willing to give such tips. Moreover, there is no standard formula or method of calculating and giving such tips. This puts a customer in very awkward situation.
All these are distasteful because the employees in question are just performing their duties and are adding no apparent exceptional value. Sometimes, the business leaders are simply not aware that such undesirable practices are going on.
We should regularly seek the customer feedback and find out if our employees indulge in any such greedy and disagreeable practices with the customers or are putting the customers in awkward situation. Stop such annoying things immediately and firmly by putting the right controls, checks and policies in place.
Innovative Idea # 2. Our Process Affect Customers’ Experiences:
Sometimes, companies set up so complex processes for executing basic business operations, that the customers find it very difficult and annoying dealing with the business. This causes avoidable stress and harassment to the customer. To identify all such customer-unfriendly practices going on in our company, we must periodically interact with our own company from outside, posing as a dummy, mystery customer. This will give us the first hand insight into the customer’s perspective of our business processes.
Our customer facing processes must be smooth and easily accessible. We must examine each of our processes carefully in which customers interact with our company and correct it to make it a pleasant experience for them. E.g. some service companies (like banks, telecom companies etc.) put computerized interactive voice response systems for customer support. Sometimes, it takes long time to find the right option.
Other times, the volume, pace of speaking, the script or the language are not understandable by the customers. Some of these automated systems make it impossible to reach a human being to interact with the customers. These systems are not equipped to handle emergency support requirements of the customers.
For solving their basic concerns, the customers have to spend a lot of time and money going through unnecessarily long phone calls. Such insensitive customer support initiatives are not really supportive and they are more frustrating.
At some showrooms when a customer pays cash, she is given the balance change in the worst possible soiled currency notes. The cash counter persons use such transactions as an opportunity to get rid of the soiled notes. This spoils customer experience.
Some companies’ sales processes are not properly fine-tuned. They have a central call center which cold calls the prospective customers, invites them for demonstrations and fixes appointments for such demonstrations at various company locations. They confirm with the customers and do a lot of follow-up with them to ensure attendance.
This raises the expectations of the customer about the company’s service levels. But when finally the customer reaches the company location for demonstration, the people there are either not equipped or are not as concerned or enthusiastic as the person who invited the customer appeared to be. We should very carefully design and execute such sales processes, by coordinating all departments well. We should not raise the expectations too high if we are not prepared to fulfill them.
Some showrooms have rules for not allowing any kind of bags inside. It is perfectly alright to have the rule, but make sure how the customer is told about this and how her belongings are received, kept and returned in a secured manner.
Many service professionals like doctors, advocates, beauty parlors, restaurants have waiting areas for next customers, but there is no method to ensure proper sequencing of the customers as per their arrival. The attending employees are sometimes rude, indifferent or untrained to handle this.
There must be a transparent process to maintain a list of waiting patrons and as soon as a new one enters, her name must be asked and added to that list at the end. Patrons must be attended as per this list only and no out-of-turn access must be allowed. If there is some special case where somebody is allowed in urgently, the reason for the same must be explained to those who are waiting for their turn next.
Billing errors shakes the customers’ trust in us. Bills must be checked properly and must be easily readable and understandable. They must be free of all types of errors. Not keeping our word, particularly with respect to time, is another experience spoiler.
Companies must ensure that the product or service they promise to the customers must reach them at the promised time. They must not be delayed. If there is an unavoidable delay because of some valid reason, the same must be properly communicated to the customer well in advance.
Showing one quality to the customer and delivering another one destroys customer’s belief in us. Some companies have sample pieces to show to the customers. The order is taken based on this sample article. But, when the final product is delivered to the customer, it is not exactly similar to the sample shown.
It has some variations in size, color, texture or some other feature. If our manufacturing process can’t assure 100% consistency in all aspects, the same must be communicated to the customer beforehand. Our processes should be designed in such a manner that they save customers’ time, effort and money ensuring the right quality and peace of mind.
Innovative Idea # 3. Our Policies Affect Customers’ Experiences:
Our policies may be designed to adversely affect the customers’ experience, and we may be not aware of this.
Here are some examples of such policies:
i. Sales Return Policy:
Many companies make exchanging damaged articles or returning the bought items for changing as difficult as possible for the customers. This harasses the customer. (E.g. a showroom selling formal garments for working executives has a rigid rule of allowing returns or exchanges only between 2 to 4 pm on Wednesdays, when generally all their target customers are at work and if they have to come to the showroom for a return or exchange, they have to take a special leave or permission from the office.
If we wish to target a particular type of customers, we should be aware and sensitive to their lifestyle and their priorities.
While designing return policies and processes, we should think like a customer and see from her perspective.
In case of B2B also, sometimes, the buyer needs to return the goods due to some genuine reasons. Our return policy must be practical enough to safeguard the interests of both, the buyers and our own company. It should not be deaf and blind to the customers’ problems.
ii. Pricing Policy:
Hidden charges are a big reason for customer dissatisfaction. Charging a customer for something which was not told earlier is a bad practice. Before a customer makes the buying decision, we must confirm the final landing cost to her, which should include all the add-on charges which we may not have mentioned in the price list or the product price tag.
Some companies give “Free” holiday packages to customers and then when the customer goes to avail the same, she is charged with some other kind of charges (e.g. compulsory food and beverages or service charges) which more than cover the price of the “Free” package. We should not give such “Free” offers which are not actually free, because in the end, the prospect will be unhappy and will never like to do business with us.
The products sold at standard Maximum Retail Prices are sold at a higher price at some locations like cinema halls, parks etc. without any apparent reason. For some high value products also, some companies charge different prices from different customers. Sometimes some new customers are given higher discount, just to bring them into the fold. Such discriminatory pricing, when found out by the affected customers, leaves them hurt.
Sometimes, in case of some high value products, the company significantly reduces the prices on a specific day. The customers who bought just a few days earlier to that are not given any benefit of the price reduction. This gives rise to the feeling of being cheated among the customers.
The company should find some solution such that the customers who bought within some period prior to the price reduction must be satisfactorily reimbursed. They may be given some additional warranty or some free schemes or something of value to offset the feeling of being deprived of the discount offer.
Some dining places announce “Unlimited” meals at some “All inclusive” fixed rate and when the customers enter and settle on the table and start to eat, they are offered some items which are not included in the “Unlimited” menu and will be charged extra if ordered. This becomes embarrassing and awkward for the customers who believed that everything was unlimited and was included in the fixed rate charged.
We should either include the charges of such optional items by pricing the meals appropriately or inform the customers upfront, before they settle down for a meal. We should not give unpleasant surprises to the customers at a later stage. In short, we must ensure that no hidden charges are levied on the customers. We should be transparent in pricing.
iii. Warranty and After-Sales Service Policy:
How a customer is treated when she needs our support when our product or service gives problems to her, determines her future loyalty towards our brand. Warranty and after sales service are sensitive issues which impact customer experience definitely.
Some companies set confusing warranty terms and conditions to minimize the cost of supporting the customer after sales. They hide a lot of things from the customer about some hidden terms and conditions in warranty at the time of selling to the customer.
But, when the customer comes back with some problem, expecting a reasonable cover through the warranty, she is shown the terms and conditions which finally result into some extra charge to the customer. Such companies try to give minimum benefit of the warranty to the customers.
These practices are unfair and drive the customers away from us. They will not continue to remain our customers. We must be fair and very transparent in setting the warranty terms and must execute them to the satisfaction of the customer. If certain things are not covered in the warranty, it should be clearly communicated before the sale. Unpleasant surprises lead to lost customers.
With some companies, getting after-sales service becomes a headache for the customers. These companies’ service centers are not equipped with the right manpower, equipment, technology, spare parts or training to ensure the satisfactory level of after-sales service to the customers. This results into delays in response or service, negligence, carelessness etc.
Sometimes, the company policies fix exorbitant charges for repairs or replacement of spare parts. Some automobile companies are notorious for this.
All this affects the customer experience adversely and results into customer switching to other brands due to poor performance of our after-sales service setup. E.g. today there are a large number of mobile phone brands available in the market, but very few have good and enough number of service centers. The lack of servicing facility spoils the customer experience badly. Such experience forces them to choose another more service-friendly brand even if that brand is expensive.
Innovative Idea # 4. Our Visual Elements Affect Customers’ Experiences:
In some companies, customers interact with them through some forms, documents etc. The design of this printed material also affects the quality of the customers’ experience.
Many banks have deposit slips and other forms which are very confusing and very badly designed. Sometimes, these forms don’t have enough space for writing the required information there. This happens only because nobody from the decision makers have actually filled up that slip or form themselves, so they really don’t know what inconvenience their customer faces.
On the other hand, some of the important instructions printed on some documents are almost unreadable. Either the ink and paper contrast is improper or the font size is too small. Check instructions behind some banks’ credit card statements, insurance or mutual fund forms. It is impossible to read whatever is written there. How can the customer be expected to understand something when she can’t even read it?
The same applies to the bills etc. that we give to the customers. Bills issued by some superstores contain all short forms of words, small fonts, disappearing ink and strange scheme adjustments. It takes time for a customer to make sense of such a bill.
Some advertisements published by companies are very badly designed and the important information is not clearly readable due to wrong font size or color schemes.
The fonts, colors etc. on our web site also may have similar irritating designs.
The signs in the stores or malls also must be thoughtfully designed. Some companies fall prey to highly creative designs which customers don’t understand and face a lot of inconvenience because of the uselessness of such designs.
All printed material, web sites or signs must be properly designed to keep the suitability and convenience of the customer in mind. Many of these mistakes can be easily found out only if someone from the company tries to use that material just like a customer does.
Innovative Idea # 5. Our Facilities/Customer Utility Areas Affect Customers’ Experiences:
The physical facilities in our company where the customer visits must be properly designed, keeping the customer convenience in mind. Many times, such customer facilities are poorly designed in terms of layout, space requirement, lighting, passage, temperature etc.
Some examples are here:
i. Washrooms are neglected by most of the companies. Some companies give minimum attention and importance to such facilities. This spoils customer’s experience.
ii. Some companies don’t have the washrooms available for the customers at all. This could be one of the constraints the company may be facing while sharing its office among many other tenants or owners in a cooperative building.
iii. Washrooms are a basic need for employees or customers. If washrooms are made available, they must be kept clean and properly usable.
iv. In some garment showrooms, changing rooms are cramped, insufficient, stuffed with lot of other articles and lack basic amenities.
v. At some places where the customers have to wait for their turn, waiting areas have seats which are highly uncomfortable and small. The lighting is poor. The place is noisy, hot and untidy. The staff is rude, tired, bored and insensitive. It seems that the business leaders wanted to ensure that waiting must become a punishment for the customers. Such experiences must be avoided.
vi. Business places, where customers spend a lot of time (e.g. theatres, malls, restaurants, hotels etc.) must ensure proper parking facilities for the customers’ vehicles. In many cases, parking is a big hassle or it is not available at all. This can become one big reason for the customers’ dissatisfaction.
Innovative Idea # 6. Our Overselling Affects Customers’ Experiences:
In their zeal to extract more from the existing customers, companies go all out to sell everything that they think these customers should or would buy. Their salespeople are trained to enthusiastically try to sell to these customers. Too much of selling efforts puts off a customer completely.
Some banks appoint Relationship Managers (RMs) to take care of their premium customers. These RMs rarely “take care”, but they actually act as front ends to sell different products to these customers e.g. Credit Cards, Loans, Insurance Policies, Deposits and Mutual Fund Schemes etc. They help the salespersons from the bank’s various divisions to reach these premium customers.
Once these products are sold, the RM is neither available nor equipped to solve queries or problems about the new products sold. He simply directs the customers to contact the respective divisions. In the corporate jungle of various divisions, the customer gets lost. If the banks use RMs only to sell new products and not to support them, the customer relationship suffers, undoing the whole purpose of the Relationship Management initiative.
Gently introducing some relevant products to customers is one thing, but being pushy is bad. One reputed restaurant chain has a dubious practice of waiters suggesting “Today’s special” items to the patrons. These special items are invariably not included in the menu, so their rates are hidden from the customers and they are almost always kept at a higher side. The customer realizes this only at the end, when the bill arrives. In fact, “Today’s special” should actually be kept at par or at a lower rate because it is planned for in advance and the ingredients are sourced comparatively cheaper in bulk.
The waiters at the same restaurant are trained to always “convince” the customers who are in groups to order more quantity of food items, which finally remains unused and is wasted, but the customers are charged for the same. Such cheating practices result into bitter taste and customers don’t come back to such places because of the bad experiences.
Many companies come out with “Buy one get one free” offer. The customer realizes very quickly that, in fact, the products sold under such schemes are worth half the listed price only, so the company is forcefully selling two items to them when they actually wanted to buy only one. Such tactics are easily found out and leave die customers unhappy.
A company introduces “diet” biscuits for working executives who can consume it as a snack while commuting or travel. The size of the pack was much more than a diet conscious person would prefer to consume in one serving. And once the pack is opened, it is very messy to keep the remaining biscuits back.
Moreover, once the pack is opened, the biscuits get soft and spoiled also. The company must have kept this consumer insight about its preferred size in mind while introducing the diet biscuit. Yes, the per unit sale quantity may reduce, but overall sales will increase. The focus should not be only on how much we are selling at a time, but how often we are able to sell with the right size.
On the other hand, some companies share the data of their customers with their other group companies or business partners, without the prior consent of the customers. Such incidents, when found out, are mostly disliked by the customers because they infringe their privacy and it is a breach of trust on the part of the company.
Through overselling, we may succeed in selling a refrigerator to an Eskimo who really may not need it, but the Eskimo will always hate us for that sale and will never do any business with us. The focus of the company and the sales team must not be always to make a quick buck, but to build long term relationships with the customers, so that the customers want to buy our products or services only whenever they need them. We should remember that customers don’t buy because we are selling. They buy because and when they need the product or service we are selling.