1-888-353-5012A Challenge: Is your customer experience exceeding expectations? Over time, it’s easy for our benchmarks to slip. What better time for an audit than now? For this exercise you can and should participate, but we highly recommend you gather a few unbiased people you trust and involve them. The task? Walk in the shoes of your customer and experience your business from the moment of walking through the door to departure. Heighten your senses, be observant, and take copious notes. Were you greeted quickly? How was the temperature? How did you feel? What did you smell? What did you see? How did the staff make you feel? What was missing and when was it missing?
When you’re done, collaborate and compare notes, discuss your observations, and determine what you’ll change and implement. This is an INVALUABLE exercise. Refer to the points below to help keep you on track and focused on maximizing the WOW.
1. Surprise, DELIGHT & Anticipate Needs
Just “good” doesn’t cut it. What can you do/provide that is unique, unexpected, or they cannot get at your competitor? How can you anticipate their needs? Warm chocolate chip cookies in your waiting area? Inspirational messages on the bathroom mirror (“You look beautiful today!”), games or activities for kids?
2. Elicit PLEASURABLE Emotions & Feelings
Nostalgia, Humor/Laughter, Safety, Curiosity, Joy, Gratitude, Serenity, Hope, Amusement, Inspiration, Well-being, Belonging. How can you focus on and trigger these emotions and feelings?
3. Express GRATITUDE
Your customers have a variety of alternative choices available to them. Show your appreciation for their patronage and thank them at EVERY opportunity, during their visit but also in email/other customer communications. (Remember, you already have an automated email which thanks members as part of your Member Appreciation Survey!)
4. EMPOWER Your Team
Your team is the face of your business. When hiring, look for the intangible, soft skills that create connection between people: awareness, empathy, emotional intelligence, emotional control, problem solving, communication skills and social awareness. And then train, train, train. And importantly, give them parameters and EMPOWER them to make decisions that will surprise and delight/impact the customer experience ON THE SPOT.
5. USE Customer Feedback & Address Negative Reviews/Mistakes
USING feedback is not the same as just listening to it. Review Member Survey and Google Reviews regularly, lose your ego, and leverage the feedback you receive to build a better business. When warranted, respond, thank them, and share what you’re doing as a result (your Coach can help you set up templated responses to make this easy!). Do this promptly, respectfully, humbly, and turn an upset customer into a raving fan.
6. Use MARKETING to Strengthen Relationships
This is the heart and soul of your marketing in Royalty Rewards® – it allows you to retain the customers that already know and like you – this is where the money is. It costs relatively little to get a happy customer to return repeatedly, so use your marketing to focus on building a relationship and a personal connection.
7. Under Promise, OVER DELIVER and Be Consistent
It is an old phrase but a useful one. You are not JUST providing meals or repairing cars or selling clothes. You are solving problems, providing nourishment, safety, confidence – exceeding customers’ expectations makes all the difference. Friendships are built on trust and the same goes for your relationship with customers.