It was Christmas Eve. I was at the local grocery store trying to pick-up last-minute items before the store closed at 6 PM. The lines were long and there were store employees everywhere, assisting customers. When a self-checkout counter opened, I quickly walked up, scanned my items and inserted my credit card. The screen displayed “Credit Card Error”. I tried again and after three attempts I had a helpless look on my face. One of the store employees noticed my frustration, walked up to me and took charge. She printed the receipt and drew a smiley face on it. Then she handed the receipt to me, smiled and whispered to me, “This one is on us. Our credit card processing is down. Enjoy! And please don’t tell anyone else.” I was not sure what just happened. As I walked out with my groceries, my reaction was, “You cannot do that at a grocery store!” Then I realized how thoughtful the stores action was. With the credit card processing being down they could have easily put signs up for “Cash only” payment. That would have created total confusion among customers as not everyone carries cash. Or they could have closed the store. Instead they understood that being a good neighbor, they needed to be there for their customers on Christmas Eve. Wow! Simply Wow! What You Do When Things Don't Go Right Defines You Technology and processes do not always work as planned. What do you do when things fail? In this case the grocery store clearly understood the business they are in; to be there for last minute shoppers on Christmas Eve. When there was a technology failure, they did not to pass the consequence on to the customers. Instead they stayed true to their reason to exist. What was even more amazing was how they did it. They did not create a chaos in the store and added stress to their customer. They added extra employees to communicate with each customer individually. They made sure every customer left the store happy with what they needed. I feel that the stores’ actions were planned as they seemed to know what to do in case of an emergency. Their plan and action saved Christmas for each customer, one at a time. Putting customer’s first with a smile during a problem shows a brand’s character and true commitment. Those are moments that define a brand and create positive feelings that last forever.   3 Steps To Prepare For The Big Failure: Clearly know what business you're in Identify what all can go wrong Develop action plans in alignment with your brand promise ...

Read More

It was a tough evening one night as my flight back to Denver was delayed more than three hours. I realized I will now get home at 2 a.m. As I was going through all these thoughts, I got the following text message from the airline: “Here We Go! Your flight to Denver is now boarding - Looking forward to seeing you soon.” First I was relieved and then when I read the text one more time I thought...

Read More

I had just got to my car rental at the Dallas Airport and the moment I turned my ignition on, the message said “Service B Exceeded by 5100 mi”. Hmm. That did not sound good. I was not sure if I should drive the car for the next four days. I walked over to the rental car service person and made him aware of the problem. His reaction was “Just press enter and the message will go away!” Amazing, the message did go away. But did the problem go away? For the next four days, every time I started the car, the message was back, and I hurried to press enter to make the message go away. Every time I wondered if I should still drive the car and questioned my judgment in listening to the rental car service person to veto the car manufacturer’s warning. Needless to say, I was relieved to finally return the car after 4 days without knowing the consequence of Service B. The car rental company should have taken care of the problem before renting the car. That should be the customer service standard for the brand. When renting a car, a customer expects a worry-free experience from start to finish. That is true for any customer experience.   The Importance Of Starting An Experience Right Just like a date, any brand experience must start on the right foot. Anything negative cannot simply be ignored, as it does not go away. In this case, pressing enter made the message go away, temporarily, but the problem was still there. In this case when a brand failed to start an experience the right way, it caused the following: I started the experience with unsurety. It was a further negative that the service person was apathetic to my concern about the problem. Being forced to live with the problem for the entire duration of the rental made me worry about the car. Not knowing what Service B was, I was worried about what could go wrong and what else could be wrong about the car. Overall it made me feel negatively about the rental car company.   What Could The Rental Car Company Do Differently: Have a process in place where these problems do not have to happen. If a problem was brought to their attention, solve the problem by offering to change the rental car. Follow-up call or text to make sure everything is okay. ...

Read More

I was back at Floyd’s for a haircut with my favorite stylist Dawn. (Click here to read how she became my favorite stylist). This was my first return visit and I was a little apprehensive if it will be as magical as the first visit.  Dawn greeted me the moment I enter the shop. As we walked to her “hair-cut station” she asked me about my life and the moment the I sat on the chair, she was in business mode. “The last time we did a number 2 on the sides and finger length on top, all blended in. How did your family like your haircut?” I was amazed that she remembered the exact cut I had and that my haircut was dinner table discussion for my family.  I asked her how she remembered all those details. She told me she makes it a point to remember every detail about every client as she is in a “Hairship” with them. “Hairship?” I was amused. I wanted to know more. “Yes, Hairship. It is a Hair Relationship!” She continued to explain “When a client shares with what style they like or about their life, it is sacred and I cannot forget that information, ever.” Wow. She has given a special name the client relationship. This name allowed her to remember every detail and start every haircut where she left off the last time. Customer relationships with brands must be continuous and ongoing and the thread must go on from one visit to the next. Dawn at Floyd’s showed me a simple way brands can take responsibility to own and maintain that continuity in customer relationships from visit to visit. Just give the relationship a special name. The Secret To Connecting To Guests Visit To Visit Customers start their experience with some brands from square one on every visit. They answer the same questions; their name and other personal information, what they like and do not like. This reminds them that the brand does not remember the interactions from past visits. How can they be expected to feel that they are in a relationship, when they see the brand making zero effort to remember them? THE RELATIONSHIP STARTS WHEN A BRAND LISTENS AND TRIES TO REMEMBER. Customers want anything they share to be remembered, especially their names, their stories, their likes and dislikes. Just like in the television series Cheers, a long-term customer relationship starts with “Where everyone knows your name”. When customers have to repeat information, it does not make them feel special. Brands need a process to listen and remember. Dawn at Floyd’s Hairship has a unique way of reminding herself that every customer interaction is special and needs to be continued to the next visit.   Remembering The Following Information Shared By Customers Are A MUST To Build A Relationship: Every personal information detail, especially name Details of their choices and preferences Beyond what they like, what do they not like and would like to avoid ...

Read More

Your brand spends a lot on researching your customers and have created clear profiles of customer segments. You know what the segment members do when they are not visiting you and their choice of media. You know WHO they are and WHAT they do. But do you know: WHY they do what they do? Your guests individually? The answer to both questions is in a big trend that is sweeping the world; Focus on individuality resulting in need for customization. Brands must really learn about their customers, as the desire for individuality is driving the need for personalized products, services, and experiences. A great example of this is Coke’s "Share a Coke" campaign where Coke introduced bottles that had popular millennial first names. Coke then evolved to semi-personal labels beyond first names, like “better half”, then adding last names and finally, names of famous vacation spots. This was Coke’s way of inviting more people individually to the campaign and has evolved to the ultimate customization plan at ShareaCoke.com where you write whatever you want on your bottle of Coke. The same way Amazon’s personalization efforts resulted in custom headlines and product recommendations for each customer; Spotify’s “Discover Weekly” that delivers a curated playlist of tracks a user will like, etc. These are examples of getting to know the customer and delivering on a product that makes the customer feel, “Aww, you really know me." What are you doing to make your customers feel that "Aww" moment?   A Story: Can You Go Wrong With A Bottle Of Wine? J, a friend of mine, just bought a new home. Two weeks after closing, he came back home one evening to find bottle of wine with a note from the real estate agent on the deck. J and his wife really enjoyed working with the real estate agent and were touched that the agent was thoughtful enough to leave them a gift. The real estate agent continued to leave wine, one bottle every month. After the second bottle, my friend was not impressed any more. “We do not drink any alcohol. During our real estate search, we had quite a few meals with the agent. He did not remember the simple fact that we told him over and over, that we do not drink any alcohol. The first bottle, while not something we wanted was accepted as it was meant as a thank you for your business.” The following bottles caused J and his wife to start to question, “If the agent was not paying attention to this, what else did he miss as he helped us buy this home?” The gift of bottles of wine, showed that the agent did not know his customer.   Questions for You: Checklist for your customer learning. Are you: Going beyond research? Learning about individual customers' needs? Using learning to deliver personalized solutions? ...

Read More