More About Creating a Positive Personalised Experience

In a recent post,  I suggested you forget about focusing on customer service and aim instead to give your customers a positive personalised experience. Positive because customers wants to enjoy themselves. Personalised because business is a social activity between human beings. Experience because that is what your customers have when they deal with you. There are three parts to this positive personalised experience: the beginning, middle and end. To encourage your customers to return, both the beginning and the end must be strong and the middle must have substance.

The objective at the beginning is to attract the customer into the business and then keep them there. There are seven steps to creating a strong beginning starting with approaching the customer and acknowledging their presence, to greeting them, introducing yourself, welcoming them into your business and engaging them in conversation.

The middle part of the positive personalised experience is where you get down to business. The customer has come to you because they have a problem they want solved. Thus, the objective in the middle is to help the customer solve that problem. Anything short of that will make their time with you seem a waste of time. Last August, a Canadian friend of mine bought a new stove from Home Depot, a leading chain of hardware stores like Bunnings. Recently, a large burner stopped working and since the stove was under warranty, he arranged a service call. After a few phone calls, an appointment was booked. On the day, two men arrived in a van, took a look at the stove and confirmed there was a problem. They said they would report the fault and that someone would be out to fix it in a couple of weeks. If you had been the customer, would you have thought that was a good use of your time?

Delivering a middle with substance means being more than an order-taker. If the customer comes in and asks for a product or service and we give it to them, we are just taking an order. The problem with that is the customers is always right but often wrong. They are always right about the problem they have. They are often wrong about what is the best solution. After all, your customers do not know your business as well as you do. Customer are also often wrong about the problems they could have.  Again, they do not have your depth of experience.

There are six steps to creating a middle with substance.

Step 1

Aim to make the customer successful not just make a sale or complete a transaction. I once went into a furniture store and asked for a particular brand and model of bed. “What’s the concept?” the woman asked. “What are you trying to do?” Sensing I was about to experience something different, I tested her by saying she did not need to know that. She just needed to show me the bed I asked to see. “No,’ she replied. “I do need to know that because if I know what you are trying to achieve I might have a better solution.” And she did!

Step 2

Ask questions before you start showing the customer your products and services. I mystery shopped a costume jewellery store, ostensibly for a gift for my niece. I was shown lots of bracelets before I was asked whether I was looking for a necklace or a bracelet. I was looking for a necklace. A few minutes later, she asked my niece’s favourite colour. That is something else she should have find out at the beginning.

Step 3

Listen to the answers. I was mystery shopping some car dealers. The woman at reception asked me how much I wanted to spend and then went on to tell me about the cars without waiting to hear the answer.

Step 4

Show you are eager to help and have a can-do, will do attitude. Sometimes you may not be able to do what your customers ask. Do not think of reasons why you cannot do it. Think of what you can do for them. Your customers do not want to hear what you cannot do. They want to know what you can do.

Step 5

Show your customer you have the solution to their problem. If you do not have it, tell them where they can get it. Better yet, try to get it for them.

Step 6

Show your customers how to use your product or service so they can get the most value out of it.

A middle with substance leaves the customer thinking they were smart to come to see you because you took the time to understand their problem, find the solution and show them how to get the most from it. That is the kind of thinking that will bring them back.

The objective at the end is to send the customer away feeling like they want to come back. A strong ending leaves a lasting and positive impression. Here are four steps to creating a strong ending.

Step 1

Ask the customer whether they achieved what they came in to achieve. If you could not help them, tell them you are sorry you could not help them this time and ask them to come back so you can help them next time.

Step 2

Thank them for giving you the opportunity to help them.

Step 3

Invite them to come back. This would be a good time to give them a card with your name and contact details on it.

Step 4

Say goodbye. Note: Saying “Have a nice day,” or letting the customer just walk out does not create a lasting positive impression.

If all of this sounds too basic or too simple, go shopping. You will soon discover why getting the basics right is the key to success.

Forget About Customer Service

Forget about trying to deliver great customer service.  No customer wants service. What they want are results and that comes from creating a positive personalised experience.

Positive because the customer wants to enjoy themselves and feel valued while they do business with you. There are enough things that happen during a day to make us feel miserable. We do not need to go shopping to feel like that! Positive also because the customer gets results because you give them the assistance, and perhaps even the solution, they need. After all, that is why they came to you.

Personalised because business is a social activity between human beings. None of us wants to feel like a number or an object. Do not think about providing a service, making a sale or transacting with a customer. Think about being with a friend or a member of your family. Would you treat them in a robotic manner or with indifference? Remember, we do business with people we like. Do your team members behave in likable way?

Experience because that is what your customers have when they deal with you. They do not just make an enquiry, complete a purchase or acquire a product. They have an experience. If it is poor, they will not come back. If it is good, they might. If it is great, they will. Do you manage your customer’s experience to maximise the chances they will return or do you leave it to chance?

To understand how to deliver a positive personalised experience, it is useful to divide the customer experience into three parts: The beginning, middle and end. I know this sounds simple but, hey, business may be tough but it is not complicated!  

As any musician will tell you, to be successful you need a strong beginning and a strong end. The middle should be less intense otherwise the customer will feel they are getting the hard sell. Nevertheless, the middle has to have substance to it or the customer will have wasted their time.

The objective at the beginning is to attract the customer to the business and keep them there. It is the opportunity to build a relationship between yourself and another human being. Here are seven steps to creating a strong beginning.

Step 1

If you are not already near the customer, a strong beginning starts by approaching the customer. I recently watched saw a salesperson call out a greeting to a customer from the other end of the store and then walked even further away, leaving the customer to “browse.”

Step 2

Acknowledge the customer. I stood for several minutes in front of a sales assistant the other day and watched him put price stickers on CDs. He even looked up at me once and then returned to what he obviously thought was his real job.

Step 3

Make eye contact eye and smile.  The smile needs to be warm and genuine, not lukewarm and false. Look like you are pleased to see your customer. After all, you should be. They are paying your wages and producing your profits.

Step 4

Say, “Good morning (afternoon, evening),” “Hello,” or “Hi” in a firm voice with some enthusiasm so once again it looks like you are pleased to meet the customer. Please note, a strong greeting does NOT come from saying: “Are you right?” “Please hold.” “How ya goin?”

Step 5

Warmly welcome the customer into your place of business. After all, is that not how you want them to feel? The best way to welcome somebody is to use the word, as in: “Welcome to our store.”

Step 6

Personalise the greeting by introducing yourself (even if you are wearing a name tag), asking for the customer’s name. Then use it throughout the time you are with them. Always treat the customer with respect. Do not assume everybody wants to be called by their first name. When in doubt, err on the side of formality. Note: “mate,’ ‘doll,’ ‘buddy,’ ‘pal,’ and ‘bro’ are not people’s names.

Step 7

Show a personal interest in your customer. This is done by engaging the customer in small talk before getting down to business. This is a useful step because it breaks the ice and gets the customer accustomed to talking to you. The key to doing this successfully is to have an interesting opening line. Try to say something a little more imaginative than: “How’s your day going?”

These seven simple but often overlooked steps will create the impact needed to (a) establish rapport with your customer, (b) win their confidence, (c) set you apart from your competitors, and (d) make your business somewhere they would like to come to again.

Imagine a team member walking up to you, making eye contact, smiling and saying enthusiastically: “Hello. Welcome to Acme Consolidated. My name is Peter. May I ask your name? … It’s nice to meet you Mr Robinson. Isn’t it great to see the sun shining after all that rain? I was beginning to think I would need to grow webbed feet. I see you’ve been shopping for clothes. What did you buy?” Would you think that was a strong beginning to a having personalised positive experience? Would you already be thinking, this place is different?

Next month we will look at what you have to do to create a middle with substance and an ending with impact. Meanwhile, here is a tip for helping your team members understand how important these steps are. Turn the seven steps into a five point rating scale where 1 is very poor, 3 is average and 5 is very good and ask them to use this scale to rate how well the places they shop do each of these seven steps. After they present the results for a given business, ask them whether they would want to go back there again.

Until next time, good luck creating a positive personalised experience for your customers.