Risk & Business Magazine F.A. Peabody Insurance Spring 2017

CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE allows you to build unique and memorable moments. However, an ‘Experience’ is still too big, too macro. We need to break down what an Experience is. A brand experience is the sum of ‘Experiential Interactions’ your Customers have, that leave an impression. Therefore, the focus needs to be on ‘Experiential Interactions’. ‘Experiential Interactions’ are all the micro moments during a Customer’s interaction with the employees of the organization. EXPERIENTIAL INTERACTIONS’ ARE UNIQUE MEMORABLE MOMENTS ‘EXPERIENTIAL INTERACTIONS’ ‘Experiential Interactions’ should not add cost or complexity to your organization. ‘Experiential Interactions’ are what we call low-hanging fruit. When a company considers implementing ‘Experiential Interactions’, they should meet the following criteria: 1. Low or no cost — As you will see, nearly every example costs nothing but coaching your employees to pay attention. 2. Simple to execute consistently — Everyone’s job is hard enough; we don’t want to complicate or add any complexity to a person’s workload. 3. Has zero impact on productivity — ‘Experiential Interactions’ should not add ten seconds to a phone call, appointment, or checkout. 4. Creates an immediate WOW for the Customer — More importantly, it is a pleasant surprise to the Customer that they rarely will get elsewhere. EXPERIENTIAL AUDIT If ‘Experiential Interactions’ are unique memorable moments, how can you determine if you are in fact creating ‘Experiential Interactions’? An ‘Experiential Interaction’ must meet two or more of the following criteria: • Unique • Positive • Engaging • Memorable TURNING A TRANSACTION INTO AN INTERACTION The most common interactions we have with our clients, multiple times a day, are answering phones, checking people in and out, sending and responding to emails, meetings, and conference calls. Besides the last two, meetings and conference calls, the majority of the other interactions are typically less than three minutes. The most difficult interactions to add experiential actions would be the ones that are the shortest. LOW HANGING FRUIT Flight Attendant – Out of the hundreds and hundreds of times I have boarded planes, there have only been a few times that I handed the gate agent my boarding pass and they have said, “Welcome, Mr. DiJulius.” Why can’t that happen every time? The passenger name pops up on the their screen. Also, on the major airlines, when flight attendants are coming down the aisle asking for your drink selection, why can’t they address you by name? They have the seating chart. Checking someone in – In professional service firms and corporate offices, someone who has an appointment scheduled should never have to give their name to the receptionist. The receptionist should be prepared with who has appointments and at what time. Email – Email has the ability to turn off the politeness gene in human beings. You should never respond with just an answer (five words or fewer). Use the Customer’s name every time. Open with something personal when dealing with an existing client. Close with a nice line, e.g., “It was a pleasure,” “Looking forward to working with you,” or “Let me know if there is anything else I can do.” Invoice – You might think this is a tough one to add experiential actions to, but there are some easy things that can be done. In the email that the invoice is attached to or a note on the invoice, personalize it. If nothing else, we know what city they are based in. You can write, “Hope spring has arrived in Denver.” On your invoices, you can have a message or a quote of the month. Make your invoice stand out. If you want to be really special, when they pay, send them an email saying, “Hi Alice, I received your payment and wanted to thank you for always paying on time and being such a pleasure to work with.” Think of how many invoices that accounts payable person gets per week, not to mention all the inquiries they get asking where their money is. How many people show appreciation to the Accounts Payable person? You can bet your invoice will always take top priority when you treat them like that. IN SUMMARY An ‘Experience’ is an event/occurrence which leaves an impression on someone. The focus needs to be on ‘Experiential Interactions’. ‘Experiential Interactions’ are all the micro moments during your interaction with the brand. ACTION PLAN Review the following most common interactions with your employees and have them help you figure out how they can turn simple transactions into memorable ‘Experiential Interactions’. You will be shocked at what they come up with and commit to. Don’t forget the experiential audit. • Answering phones • Checking people in and out • Sending and responding to emails • Meetings • Conference calls + John R. DiJulius III is the author of The Customer Service Revolution: Overthrow Convention Business, Inspire Employees, and Change the World, (January 2015 Greenleaf Books). He is the president of The DiJulius Group—a Customer Service consulting firm that works with companies like Starbucks, Chick-fi l-A, The Ritz-Carlton, Nestle, PwC, Lexus, and many more. You can email him at john@ thedijuliusgroup.com 11

Risk & Business Magazine F.A. Peabody Insurance Spring 2017 | Page 11