Mondays here at Managed Solutions are dedicated to making your business and our industry better. Happy customers are an essential part of any successful business. There are so many things that can and do go wrong, leaving many businesses struggling to move the needle in the right direction. Recently I interviewed Jeannie Walters of 360Connext (Client) to find out what companies can do to improve customer satisfaction.
Four Key Elements of Improving Customer Experience
There are a few super critical aspects to improving customer satisfaction through better customer experiences. Among the critical take aways:
- You have to be prepared to be honest with yourself.
- The importance of balancing existing and new customer priorities.
- Rewarding more than just sales people.
- Treating EVERYONE well, not just customers and prospects.
Call your Baby Ugly
Jeannie jokingly discussed the concept of being able to “call your baby ugly”, that is being completely honest with yourself when evaluating what your customers experience. Just because someone is nice to customers 50% of the time, doesn’t mean they are necessarily performing well in their job. If you can overcome this issue, you will probably fit what Walters refers to as an “Enlightened Leader”. The good news is, enlightened leaders are people who are ready to take the customer experience to the next level and move that needle in a positive direction.
Customer Acquisition is Not the End all Be All
Have you ever found yourself around a water cooler talking with co-workers and you find yourselves justifying bad company policy by saying “yeah well, we’re a sales organization”. That might have worked in the past but the business climate today can be brutally competitive and just having great customer acquisition methods alone is not enough.
Rewarding More than your Sales Department
Great sales people are great factors in a business, but too often the staff who are there to help customers deal with problems or get access to information after the sale are under-valued. These people can have a huge impact on repeat business, referrals and brand loyalty. Don’t forget to account for great customer experience examples in all positions.
Treating Everyone Well
I once heard marketing referred to as any contact with anyone at your company. This is a brilliant perspective because you never know who you might be talking to, what kind of a day they might be having or how big of an opportunity for something to go terribly wrong if someone is mistreated. The most successful companies treat everyone well – their employees, customers, competitors and just someone walking by on the street. Being a good citizen is just good business.
Listen in to get more insights
You’ve heard some of the highlights but there was a lot more to this conversation. If you truly care about your customers and want to do everything in your power to give them the best possible customer experience – have a listen.
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Jeannie Walters
is the CEO and Founder of 360Connext, the only global customer experience consulting firm specializing in Customer Experience Investigation™, a trademarked process of walking in the customer’s shoes for a truly objective view. Jeannie is a TEDx speaker and a very active writer, contributing regularly to CustomerThink, Business2Community, Social Media Today, and many others. She serves on the editorial team for the Social Media Club, is a charter member of the Customer Experience Professionals Association, and was recently recognized as one of the “Top 50 Most Active Influencers in Customer Experience” by Mindtouch.
