REFLECTION
Creating Memorable Moments For Our Customers !
By Fawzia Ali-Kimanthi
Over a recent weekend I attended a beautiful wedding for a family friend . The church wedding was on time and lasted only one and a half hours . When I asked , I was told the church is very strict on start time and end time to ensure all couples get a good service .
After the wedding we headed out to the reception area to prepare for the bride and groom . The venue was an upmarket hotel . When we got to the beautiful lobby area where the reception was taking place , we met three front office attendants . They were talking animatedly to each other for about two minutes while we stood there . Eventually we made eye contact and they quickly came to attend to us and show us to the right room . My first impression as a result was a little dented .
After we had a quick view of the room and provided guidance on a few changes for a perfect finish , we went to check on the honeymoon suite in the hotel wing . The experience was like night and day . The lady at the counter stood to receive us with a smile . She confirmed that the room was ready and asked someone to show us the suite . It was beautiful and perfect . We asked if they could add a few flowers and she was more than accommodating . I was delighted . The experience created a good memory , and I made a mental note to return with my family for the much needed RnR in the future . She had converted a dissatisfied customer to a promoter without even knowing it . We exchanged contacts and just like that a connection was made that would eventually build into a longterm relationship .
Amazon CEO is famously quoted as saying , ‘ the most important single thing is to focus obsessively on the customer . Our goal is to be earth ’ s most customer-centric company .’ And he is right . The only person who makes a decision every day and brings money to our business is our customer . We exist for our customer . Customer obsessed companies never stop thinking about how they can better understand their customers . And this is where it begins .
Customer obsessed companies make strategic decisions based on customer
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The only person who makes a decision every day and brings money to our business is our customer . We exist for our customer . Customer obsessed companies never stop thinking about how they can better understand their customers . They make strategic decisions based on customer data , feedback and a good understanding of their persona . data , feedback and a good understanding of their persona . We own a small air bnb business upcountry and we have been keen to understand the customer we serve . By getting customer feedback and looking at the profile of the customer , we have established that we serve three profiles of customers - a business traveler looking for a short stay and does not want to stay in hotel ; a family-oriented person who wants a weekend away from the city ; young group of friends who want to enjoy the weekend together . All our customers appreciate open spaces where they can sit under the sun or kids can run around , they are conscious of price , prefer a self-catering facility and want a cozy place that is a home away from home .
The example above demonstrates the first step on the journey to being customer obsessed , which is to understand their customer , their needs , aspirations , now and in the future , their motivations , their feedback especially if they have used our services . We should leverage data from all touch points to gather as much information as possible and then distill insights that will guide our role in serving our customer better .
In the organization where I work , we used a consultant to help us review what our customers were happy about and what they were not happy about . From the findings we were then able to come up with a nine-pillar customer obsession program to deliberately focus on creating delightful experiences and reducing the pain points . This program focused on what was most important to customers in order of priority and emphasis was on improving and delivering delightful moments .
This takes us to the second step . Creating
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