Shep Hyken's Blog, page 177

5 Top Customer Service Articles For the Week of December 19, 2016

Each week I read a number of customer service articles from various online resources. Here are my top five picks from last week. I have added my comment about each article and would like to hear what you think too.

5 Technologies for Delighting Connected Customers by Vala Afshar

(Next in Tech) Consumers and business buyers expect emerging tech to change their experience with your company.

My Comment: If you’ve been reading this column for any length of time, you’ll recognize Vala Afshar’s name. He’s come out with an article that identifies five technologies that, for some businesses, are “table stakes” if they want to remain competitive in the marketplace and relevant to their customers.

CX Strategies: 48 Experts Reveal the Single Most Effective Way Companies Can Improve the Customer Experience by Angela Stringfellow

(NG Data) To find out what you can do to make a big impact on customer experience within your organization, read on to learn what our experts had to say.

My Comment: NG Data has compiled a list of 48 experts sharing their “single most effective way companies can improve their customer experience.” That’s 48 ideas. There is some “solid gold” advice in this this compilation of experts. I’m sure that anyone can find several ideas that will help take their organization’s CX to the next level.

Making the Case for Investing in Social and Mobile Customer Service by SparkCentral

(SparkCentral) This guide lays out the integral components needed to establish a successful social media customer care strategy and makes a case for providing the right care in the right way.

My Comment; Sparkcentral has released an excellent report (or as they call it, Playbook) about using social media customer service. While many companies think that social media is a marketing tool, Sparkcentral shares this compelling statistic. 67% of consumers used a company’s social media site for servicing, compared to 33% for social marketing. This is a free and instant download (you don’t have to give them an email address or your name). Great information and worth the time to read.

Three Ways AI Can Enhance Customer Experience by Anthony Nicalo

(Chain Store Age) Many technology experts predict that in just a few years, AI will be prevalent in businesses across multiple industries. And retailers, in particular, have much to gain from AI.

My Comment: There are many companies who don’t think that AI is something that’s relevant to them (and their customers), but they may be wrong. This cost of AI is coming down and will eventually be something as normal as the “search box” found on most company’s websites. The three ideas in this article make great sense. Thanks for sharing!

How text marketing can help court and maintain customer loyalty by Alexa Lemzy

(Luxury Daily) While mobile applications are having their heyday, text messaging is quietly waiting for marketers to re-imagine its value. And they surely will, because texting has some undeniable benefits that make it a favorite among consumers.

My Comment: Text messaging (also known as SMS, or Short Message Service) is a popular way for people to communicate. The article reports that “97% of U.S. consumers send a text message at least once a day.”  If a customer is willing to give a company their mobile number for the purpose of staying in touch (through text messaging), they have demonstrated a trust in the relationship. This article has several ideas to consider as you take advantage of this powerful communication tool.

Shep Hyken is a customer service expert, professional speaker and New York Times bestselling business author. For information contact or www.hyken.com . For information on The Customer Focus™ customer service training programs go to www.thecustomerfocus.com . Follow on Twitter: @Hyken

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Guest Blog: Superior Customer Service Requires More Than Just ‘Checking the Boxes’

This week on our Friends on Friday guest blog post my colleague, Jeff Dahms, writes about one of the most important parts of the customer relationship, authenticity.  Being authentic is required by all of us in order to deliver an Amazing customer experience. – Shep Hyken

You’re doing all the right things. You have a program in place to track Voice of the Customer data. You’re capturing, measuring, and evaluating both customer sentiment and employee performance. Your customer-facing staff is vetted and well trained. A superior customer experience is a priority at all levels of your organization.

But when the VOC results come in, there’s still a gap between employee performance and customer satisfaction. What’s going on here?

The missing piece of the puzzle could be authenticity.

A satisfying customer service experience hinges on the interaction between the customer and your business. First impressions happen every day and go a long way. So do the little things like using a customer’s name, making sure they are served promptly and efficiently, maintaining a pleasant attitude and tone, making eye contact, and saying Thank You.

These elements make up the basic checklist of Customer Service Do’s and Don’ts. But even if your staff is consistently checking every box on that list, customers can still feel unwelcome, challenged, or dissatisfied with their experience if they sense a lack of authenticity from a representative or from your business as a whole.

It takes more than checking the boxes to win a customer over.

Plainly stated, customers can tell when a business is just going through the motions.

They know, for instance, if the representative they’re speaking with on the phone is just reading from a script or repeating a routine they’ve already performed 100 times that day. The result? They feel unimportant and dehumanized. (This is one reason many customers dislike automated phone systems.)

Customers can tell when your employees are having a bad day. They can tell when an employee is in a rush – to get home, to serve other customers, to hand them off to the next person in line. The result? They feel like an unwelcome nuisance.

They will pick up on all sorts of little cues like tone of voice, body language, and the level of surrounding stress. If any of those things strike them as being off, it doesn’t matter how many times they heard their name used or made eye contact – their experience has already been negatively impacted. Once that happens, it’s hard to erase.

The same applies to digital and text interactions, too. If you’ve ever written a letter to your Senator only to get a form letter in response, you know how frustrating the “copy/paste” effect can be.

Automation has its place. For example, no one expects every “Forgot password?” request to connect them to someone who can personally help them track it down or reset it.

But it’s still worth being aware that canned messages can convey a different message entirely than the one you want to send. We’re only half-listening to you. We can’t give you our full attention. You are not unique – we have plenty of other customers just like you, and you don’t deserve special treatment.

On the other side of that coin, you have everything to gain by going out of your way to make an authentic, personal connection to a customer when given the opportunity to do so. Opportunities might look like:

remembering not just their name but something personal about them;
making small talk while you pull their information up on your computer;
paying them a genuine compliment;
ask them a clarifying question; or
offering (if needed) a sincere apology.

Your standard customer service checklist serves as a Pass/Fail measurement of an experience. Authentic effort and personal gestures are the invisible final box that, once checked, pushes an experience from ‘good enough’ to ‘exceptional!’

So if you are seeing a gap between performance and satisfaction in your customer feedback, it may reflect that customers are expecting a little more from you than the bare minimum effort to keep their business. The good news is, this opens an opportunity for growth and innovation in how you meet customers’ needs and provide an outstanding customer experience.

Jeff Dahms is Vice President of Research & Development at Customer Service Profiles. At CSP, Jeff is responsible for executing all phases of the customer service measurement process, including designing surveys, analyzing data, identifying trends, and helping clients implement changes. This article was originally published here.

For more articles from Shep Hyken and his guest contributors go to customerserviceblog.com.

Read Shep’s latest Forbes Article: Five Ways To Deliver Proactive Customer Service

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Everyone Can Be a Leader – Just Do the Right Thing

When it comes to customer service, everyone can be a leader. You do the right thing, because you know it’s the right thing to do. Others notice and admire you. With that in mind, what I’m about to share isn’t as much about customer service (although it could be) as it is about stepping up with the characteristics and traits that can make you a leader – someone others want to emulate and act like.

About two weeks ago, I was a guest at a customer appreciation event for long-time season ticket holders of the St. Louis Blues hockey organization. It was held at a beautiful venue with granite floors and amazing artwork. And, of course, there was plenty of food and drink. I happen to see my former salesperson, Kevin Parker, who was recently promoted to a management position. Kevin always impressed me. I can see that he has what it takes to be a leader. After a quick conversation, I walked away to get some food. Along the way, I slipped on a wet spot on the floor. Water and fancy granite floors don’t mix well. I didn’t fall. I just lost my balance for a moment.

Two servers were standing near where I slipped. They noticed and smiled at me. I smiled back reassuring that I was okay. What they did next surprised me. They did… nothing. I thought they might grab one of the many napkins on the buffet table and wipe up the wet spot on the floor, but they didn’t. So I walked over to the buffet table to get napkins to do it myself. However, someone else beat me to it. Kevin, my former salesperson, had already grabbed a napkin off another table was wiping up the water off the floor.

Now wiping the floor wasn’t Kevin’s job, but it was the right thing to do, and he did it. That’s why he’s moving up in the organization. He’s a leader because he inherently knows what is right, and he acts on it.

This reminded me of something that happened in a professional NFL football game earlier that week. Dak Prescott is the rookie quarterback of the Dallas Cowboys who is making a name for himself as one of the top playmakers in the league. He won that game, but on this particular Sunday he missed a throw that caught the attention of millions. On the sidelines, he tossed an empty cup toward the trash can and missed. He then went over and picked up the trash and threw it away.

Now, that may not seem like a big deal, but it is. If you watch many of the players drinking from paper cups, rather than throw them away, they just throw them on the ground for one of the trainers to come by and pick up later. But not Dak Prescott. Some have come to the conclusion that this guy is not just a great athlete on the field, but a great person off the field, with the character and traits of a leader.

ESPN.com senior writer, Arash Markazi, caught Dak’s missed throw to the trashcan and posted it on Twitter with the message:

It may seem small but this video says a lot about Dak Prescott. pic.twitter.com/kzUNRKP5bb

— Arash Markazi (@ArashMarkazi) November 20, 2016

Hundreds of tweets about Dak’s trash include comments like the this:

@dallascowboys Goes to Daks character. Does the right thing even when no one is looking

— CSA Citizen (@Genealogy123) November 21, 2016

@dallascowboys small things say a lot about a person

— Ray Montgomery (@Sofisdad) November 21, 2016

@dallascowboys classiest move I have seen from Dak, and that says a LOT bc he has been all calss 24/7 since he was drafted.

— Big Al (@BigAl_BSTX) November 21, 2016

Picking up trash is a little thing – especially when it’s your own trash. The paper cup just is a metaphor for qualities much larger than picking up trash. Leaders know that little things count. They don’t think about it. They don’t care if anyone is watching. They just do what’s right. That’s what Dak Prescott and Kevin Parker did. They just did what was right. When no one asked them to. When they didn’t know, or even care, if someone was looking. That’s what true leaders do. And, that’s what true customer service leaders do!

Shep Hyken is a customer service expert, keynote speaker and New York Times bestselling business author. For information contact or www.hyken.com. For information on The Customer Focus™ customer service training programs go to www.thecustomerfocus.com. Follow on Twitter: @Hyken

(Copyright © MMXVI, Shep Hyken)

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Amazing Business Radio: Mat Patterson

Mat Patterson on How to Scale and

Grow Your Customer Service

Shep Hyken speaks with Customer Evangelist of Help Scout, Mat Patterson, about the difficulties of maintaining great customer service while your company grows. While the focus is on growing companies, Mat shares some amazing tips for creating and maintaining great customer service that can be applied to any company. As an organization grows, this episode of Amazing Business Radio is more important than ever, as it can provide you with some of the answers you need to know no how to scale your customer service to keep up with the growth of your company.

Mat Patterson worked as a web designer, before switching careers to lead the customer service team at Campaign Monitor, a popular email marketing web application. After building a successful team there, he then moved into the Customer Evangelist role at Help Scout, crafters of exceptional helpdesk and customer service tools.

“No matter how good the customer service team is at providing service, if the rest of the company isn’t on board, they won’t be able to succeed reliably.” – Mat Patterson

 

 What questions will this episode answer?

How can I setup my customer service in my company to succeed no matter the size?
How can we maintain company alignment and great customer service as our company grows?

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5 Top Customer Service Articles For the Week of December 12, 2016

Each week I read a number of customer service articles from various online resources. Here are my top five picks from last week. I have added my comment about each article and would like to hear what you think too.

Is Your Digital Marketing Strategy Ready for an AI Intervention? by Tara Thomas

(Boomtrain) Artificial Intelligence, machine learning, and big data analytics have been around for a while in the B2B world. They help businesses take essential decisions and optimize their strategy and workflows, but how do you know if an artificial intelligence platform can help you build a more engaging, personal connection with customers – and improve your metrics?

My Comment: Personalization is becoming one of the best ways to deliver a better customer experience and artificial intelligence (AI) is playing a big role in helping companies deliver that better experience. This is an excellent article to get you thinking about how AI could potentially be a part of (if it is not already) your marketing strategy.

Creating Moments of Wow Predictions for 2017 and Beyond by TeleTech

(TeleTech) Memorable. Unique. Surprising. Positive. Enjoyable. These are just a few of the ways consumers describe interactions they consider to be “Moments o f Wow” with their favorite brands.

My Comment: Technically, this isn’t an article, but this SlideShare has great information about how to, as the title indicates, create “Moments of Wow.” You’ll find good information, some stats and facts and insights from some of the top customer service and experience experts in the industry.

20 Positive Phrases for Customer Service Success: Part 1 by Conversational

(Conversational) Read through the following 20 examples of positive phrases for customer service success. We bet you’ll notice how much smoother your customer service interactions go when you apply these words!

My Comment: If  you want to know what you can say to make your customers happy, read this article. This is the first half of 20 “power phrases” that all of your employees should be using for both customers and co-workers. Sure, they are common sense – but, unfortunately they are not always so common.

We Asked, Zappos Answered: Tracking Contact Center Metrics, Omni-Channel & Chatbots by Sharpen

(Sharpen) We went one-on-one with Zappos to get a sneak peek into the contact center famous for their customer service.

My Comment: My friends at Sharpen sent me an article that discusses some of the secret sauce behind the success of Zappos. They interviewed Jovahn Begeron and Rob Siefker about how Zappos runs their customer service. And the answers about how Zappos is using – or not using – some of the hot technology (such as chatbots) in the customer service industry is fascinating.

Social media ROI, loyalty and the customer experience by Chris Teso

(Retail Customer Experience) Retail executives have begun to question the role of social media marketing. While marketers know in their gut that social media is important as customers are clearly there and sharing, they often lack the return on investment to prove to executives why the investment is paying dividends.

My Comment: Many people/companies still question the ROI of a social media strategy. Really?!? This is how customers communicate with many of the businesses the choose to do business with. This short article will give those who haven’t embraced this form of communication a few reasons to do so.

Shep Hyken is a customer service expert, professional speaker and New York Times bestselling business author. For information contact or www.hyken.com . For information on The Customer Focus™ customer service training programs go to www.thecustomerfocus.com . Follow on Twitter: @Hyken

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Guest Blog: Why Customer Satisfaction Is a Myth

This week on our Friends on Friday guest blog post my colleague, Stephan Delbos, writes about the importance of doing more than satisfying customers, you must delight them. I agree! There is a big difference between satisfied customers and loyal customers. Satisfactory is a rating. Loyalty is an emotion. – Shep Hyken

Remember the days when “another satisfied customer” was the greatest mark of success for any brand? Well, times have changed, and in an environment where 89% of companies are competing on customer experience rather than price, simply satisfying the customer is no longer enough. The companies that stand out from the competition today individualize the experience of each customer and inspire positive emotions, which lead to loyalty and word-of-mouth marketing.

What Emotions Mean for Customers

What’s your favorite brand and why? The real answer to the second question might surprise you. Recent studies by neuroscientists including Antonio Damasio have shown that emotion rather than logic is the key driver in decision making. According to Damasio, our analysis of a situation is not nearly as important as our emotional attachment to that situation’s outcome. Without the provocation of emotion, we might never make a decision, whether it’s what we want for breakfast or which brand of socks to buy.

When a customer chooses one brand over another, they do so in large part because of how each brand makes them feel. Focusing on the experience each customer has is key for companies looking to differentiate themselves from competition. But satisfaction is only the beginning.

Why Strive for More than Satisfied?

Customers are willing to pay more for positive experiences, but it’s important for brands not to delude themselves into thinking that satisfaction is positive. Satisfaction is basically the absence of negative emotion: if the customer experience delivered what the customer expected and nothing more or less, they are satisfied. That’s better than being disappointed, of course, but it’s not really enough to keep a customer coming back, especially when the competition know they can get a leg up with better experiences rather than lower prices. In this sense, satisfaction is the fulcrum between positive and negative emotions.

Customer satisfaction means nothing without an emotional connection. And customers who are emotionally engaged are at least three times more likely to recommend a brand, and three times more likely to make a future purchase with them. Here’s a closer look at the numbers:

86% of consumers will immediately quit doing business with a company because of a bad customer experience
78% of consumers have bailed on a transaction or not made an intended purchase because of a poor service experience
73% of dissatisfied customers cite incompetent, rude, and “rushed” service as the #1 reason for leaving a brand

Customer Experience = Customer Emotion

We hold brands we love in high esteem because they make us feel good. All the positive feelings you associate with the brand, whether it’s how comfortable the mattress is or how great Bach sounds through your new speakers — those are emotional connections. Now think of a brand you’ve had a negative experience with, either because of a faulty product or poor service. That’s also an emotional connection.

When a customer is delighted by an experience with a brand, whether it’s because of help at point of sale or responsive and personalized customer service on Twitter, they make a positive association with that brand. In the long-term, the brands that provoke positive emotions in customers more often will enjoy more loyalty and also benefit from word-of-mouth marketing.

How to Connect to Customers

How can brands inspire more positive emotions in customers? It requires a shift in thinking about customer service and what it should do. The old way of whack-a-mole-style service, where each inquiry was to be dealt with as speedily as possible, is over. Here’s how brands can really connect with customers:

Shift dominant KPIs from efficiency to empathy
Give agents the freedom to connect with customers individually
Utilize data to individualize customers
Route customers to the best agent

The world’s savviest brands have already put these ideas into practice. They’re the ones you hear about when customer service stories go viral. Service that’s responsive, results-driven and tailored to each customer is the goal. Outstanding service inspires positive emotions.

Inspiring interactions blur the boundary between service and marketing and help brands stand out for being human, available, and a lot of fun. That keeps customers coming back for repeat experiences. Customers who are satisfied are yours for the moment; customers who are delighted are yours for life.

Editor and Content Manager at Brand Embassy, Stephan Delbos has more than a decade of experience in business journalism. He is inspired to bring emotional connections and real experience back into customer service.

For more articles from Shep Hyken and his guest contributors go to customerserviceblog.com.

Read Shep’s latest Forbes Article: How Effective Is Net Promoter Score (NPS)?

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Create Your Customer Service Mantra

Most companies have a tagline, a phrase or sentence that describes what they are about. Sometimes that doubles as a brand promise. Along those lines, I want you to come up with a customer service promise. For some companies, their tagline is their customer service promise. For example, Zappos.com’s tagline is Powered by Service. Three words that exhibit a commitment to the customer. If you’ve been following my work, you know I’m a big fan of The Ritz-Carlton hotel chain’s nine-word promise – or motto as they call it. It’s not quite as public as a tagline, but it is just as powerful. “We are Ladies and Gentlemen serving Ladies and Gentlemen.”  And, then there is one of my new favorites, which comes from the Symbiosis Company in Nashville, TN, which is Kiss our client till their lips bleed!

Now obviously Symbiosis doesn’t really want to make their clients’ lips bleed, but if you read it, you get it. They are obviously passionate about their clients. And, that love they show their clients is in the form of delivering amazing customer service, keeping promises to customers and more.

All of these statements are short and easily remembered. I actually refer to them as mantras. One definition of a mantra is a statement or slogan that is repeated. A quick Google search showed some synonyms such as slogan, motto, maxim, catchphrase, buzzword and many others.

So, here is your assignment. There are two parts. First, if you don’t already have a customer service promise, come up with one. Or at least let this day start the process of coming up with one. This is important, so don’t rush it. It could take weeks to come up with just the right customer service promise. And, for those that already have one, you’re a big step ahead.

Second, print it out and have every employee sign and commit to it. Even if you’ve done this before, let this day be a ritual you do every year to renew the commitment. Ideally you’ll have a large poster – in some cases a HUGE poster – where everyone signs their name.

When it comes to your customer service promise and vision, every member of your organization must be in alignment. Everyone must understand it, and ideally if it’s short, it should be memorized. It must be part of your culture, and everyone must be trained to not only understand what it means and how it impacts the customer, but also how to deliver and live up to the standards needed to deliver on the promise.

Shep Hyken is a customer service expert, keynote speaker and New York Times bestselling business author. For information contact or www.hyken.com. For information on The Customer Focus™ customer service training programs go to www.thecustomerfocus.com. Follow on Twitter: @Hyken

(Copyright © MMXVI, Shep Hyken)

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Amazing Business Radio: Noah Fleming

Noah Fleming on The Customer Loyalty Loop

Shep Hyken speaks with consultant, speaker and bestselling author, Noah Fleming, about customer loyalty and his new book, “The Customer Loyalty Loop: The Science Behind Creating Great Experiences and Lasting Impressions.”

Not only do they review the four steps of the customer experience, but they also provide tips to make every step a success and how that leads to customer loyalty. We all know that keeping our customers is a key to success, so tune in to this episode of Amazing Business Radio and be well on your way to acquiring more loyal customers!

Noah Fleming is the person you talk to when you want to discover the goldmine of profits hiding inside your business, and then add them straight to the bottom line. He helps his clients cultivate enduring customer loyalty to create perpetual business growth. When not speaking, writing, mentoring and pulling hidden profits out of seemingly thin air for businesses … Noah likes to cook for and spend time with his wife, Heather, and two daughters, Avalon & Ella.

 

 

“Go back to the fundamentals (of customer service) and get those things right.” – Noah Fleming

 

 What questions will this episode answer?

What are the steps of the customer journey?
How do I get loyal customers?
Why is customer loyalty so important, and how can I gain loyal customers?

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5 Top Customer Service Articles For the Week of December 5, 2016

Each week I read a number of customer service articles from various online resources. Here are my top five picks from last week. I have added my comment about each article and would like to hear what you think too.

Beyond the Wow Factor: Why Customer Experience Management Is Not About Exceeding Expectations by Paul Greenberg & Thomas Wieberneit

(ZDNet) Thomas Wieberneit takes on customer experience management and the differences between delighting the customer all the time (not) and making sure things work for that customer (yes).

My Comment: This excellent article makes the argument that managing the customer’s experience may not always be about exceeding their expectations. The author shares some interesting ideas and uses some excellent examples to make his point. That said, given the opportunity to exceed the customer’s expectations, do it. It just may not need to be your main objective.

Customer Loyalty Still Requires A Personal Touch by Richard D’Ambrosio

(Travel Market Report) The lodging industry’s efforts to “own the customer” with direct deals are worrying some travel agents, who are concerned that special offers will shift their clients’ loyalties. But a recent panel of loyalty experts said it’s personal interaction and attention that ultimately win the hearts and minds of consumers.

My Comment: With all of the technology that is enhancing customer service and CX, a major driver of customer loyalty, we still can’t ignore the personal touch. This article reminds us of that and shares some ideas to consider when delivering that “more personal” interaction that will help get the customer to come back again (and again).

3 Vital Trends For Your Mobile Experience by Colin Shaw

(Beyond Philosophy) How much time did you spend on your mobile today? Are you reading this article on it right now? When you misplace it or forget it at home, be honest: Do you feel naked without your phone?

My Comment: The customers’ mobile phones are increasingly more important to business as they reach out for support and make purchases over their mobile devices. This is especially important in retail as mobile sales on Black Friday exceeded one billion dollars. Colin Shaw, the author of “The Intuitive Customer” shares three important trends to consider for your mobile strategy.

CMOs Can Take Responsibility For Customer Experience by Staff Writers

(Which-50) With organisations facing new pressure to attract and retain customers through excellent customer experience, a senior executive must step up and take primary responsibility for an organisation’s customer experience. That someone may be the CMO, according to a Constellation Research report, authored by principal analyst Natalie Petouhoff.

My Comment: It is said that customer service and customer experience (CX) are the new ways to market to the customer. Therefore, it makes sense that the Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) would oversee these important areas. The staff writers at Which-50 have put together a great article featuring some ideas from Dr. Natalie Petouhoff, Constellation Research report that make the case for the CMO to be more involved in CX.

40 Customer Retention Statistics You Need to Know by Chris Boeckelman

(GetFeedback) Here are 40 stats on customer retention that reinforce the growing need for customer experience management.

My Comment: Not only are there some great stats and facts around customer retention and customer service, but the author follows these stats with some specific “how-to’s” on how to reduce customer churn and boost retention.

Shep Hyken is a customer service expert, professional speaker and New York Times bestselling business author. For information contact or www.hyken.com . For information on The Customer Focus™ customer service training programs go to www.thecustomerfocus.com . Follow on Twitter: @Hyken

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Guest Blog: How to Manage Customer Emotions

This week on our Friends on Friday guest blog post my colleagues, Thomas A. Stewart and Patricia O’Connell, write about how to manage customer emotions and ensure that employees know how to be empathetic. Customers are smarter than ever and we must know how to create a positive experience. – Shep Hyken  

When you check into a hotel on a business trip–at the end of a day of meetings or a less than relaxing flight–how do you feel? If you’re like us, you’re tired. And if you’re like us, the last thing you want is a complicated check-in process handled by an aggressively cheerful person. You want a smooth passage so you can get upstairs, throw your bag on the bed, and exhale.

But if we’re going to Yankee Stadium, it’s a different ballgame. We’re exhilarated, energetic, ready to roar. Do we want a soothing, solicitous ticket-taker? Fuhgeddaboudit.

Every customer goes into a service environment, from barbershop to bank office, with emotions that color his or her expectations. Understanding the link between emotions and expectations can help you design a better experience—one that is more likely to delight customers and to strengthen your business.

Design is the key word here. You can’t improve your ability to manage customer emotions just by telling employees to be sensitive. You want empathetic employees, sure; but you want to support them with a service design that anticipates the emotions customers carry with them and helps employees deal with them. If you know your customers’ likely emotions, you can recognize critical customer interactions more clearly, know better whom to hire and how to train them and even design specific ways of ensuring that your customers’ emotions help forge a bond between the two of you.

It is useful to look at customers’ emotions in several dimensions. How much emotion is the customer likely to have? A customer calling an insurance company after an auto accident is going to be more keyed up than the same customer calling to add a new vehicle to a policy. Do you want to alter the intensity? If so, how would you do it? You’d have a different approach for a customer calling a complaint line than you would for a potential customer calling for information.

Is the customer in a hurry? Does the customer feel a strong commitment to you and your brand? Can you use emotion to take a generic offering and brand it? Buying a cup of coffee in America was a low-commitment deal until Starbucks’ Howard Schultz designed a café vaguely modeled on what he had seen in Italy and suffused the whole experience with a different pace and, consequently, more – and new – emotions and expectations. Is the customer a free agent (“I hear you have the best steak in town”) or a captive (“Is this the line for the DMV?)? Is he spending his own money or is she in town on business?

Misunderstanding the customer’s purpose and mindset can be as grave a faux pas as wearing a business suit to a barbecue. Of course you can’t always predict people’s emotions, instantly gauge the intensity, or divine their purpose. That makes it all the more important to design for the emotions you’re most likely to encounter, or that you want to create, change, or reinforce–while building flexibility into the system. And where you can always be clear is in managing customers’ expectations, which you do well before they even come to you. You design your service to meet those expectations and that will give you a head start in managing their emotions, because one feeling you don’t want them to have is disappointment.

HOW TO MAP CUSTOMER’S EMOTIONS

INTENSITY

COOL  ↔  WARM

COMMITMENT/IDENTIFICATION

LOW  ↔  HIGH

PURPOSE

 BUSINESS  ↔  PLEASURE

I N T I M A C Y

LOW-TOUCH  ↔  HI-TOUCH

CHOICE

NONE  ↔  LOTS

Thomas A. Stewart and Patricia O’Connell are the authors of Woo, Wow, and Win: Service Design, Strategy, and the Art of Customer Delight, published on November 29, 2016 by HarperBusiness, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers.

For more articles from Shep Hyken and his guest contributors go to customerserviceblog.com.

Read Shep’s latest Forbes Article: The Alternative Black Friday Movement

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