• I would post a motivational quote to help me keep going even when I didn’ t want to take another call. In fact, I still do this; I have a quote by Kobe Bryan on a shelf in my office..
• Going for a brief walk outside is the best way to disconnect for a moment. Leaders of companies must acknowledge that the extra break won’ t be a cost, it will be an investment. The break will help your team members be physically and mentally prepared to deliver amazing service to every customer, every time.
2. FORESIGHT
The second skill your team members must have is foresight. This skill is vital because you want to ensure that your employees have the foresight to anticipate customers’ needs and to assist their peers and colleagues when they are inundated with too many tasks.
At Baro, one of my restaurants, one of our core values is foresight. We want our team members to have the awareness to act on customer needs by offering suggestions before they are asked – this helps create an experience customers have never had before. In my business, an example of this could be a waitress recognizing that the family of four who has a toddler with them will need a high chair. Our guests shouldn’ t have to ask for this; we should anticipate this to create an effortless experience for our guests.
When it comes to employees, do your team members have the foresight to recognize that Sally, your office manager, who just received three phone calls at once and has a FedEx employee waiting for a package to be signed for, needs help? Without her having to ask?
Team members with foresight not only earn higher customer loyalty by delivering a better experience but they create comradery with their peers. If this comradery is created they are more likely to work together to deliver a seamless customer experience which also increases customer loyalty. 3. EMPATHY The third customer service skill was first introduced to me when I worked at 1-800-GOT-JUNK?’ s corporate office. Their core values are Passion, Integrity,
Professionalism and Empathy, or PIPE for short.
Do your team members show genuine empathy for your customers? If your customer happens to mention that there was a death in their family or they have upcoming surgery, will your team members acknowledge what has been mentioned and show empathy?
HOW CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE EARNED WARBY PARKER FREE PR
Often, your customers share information with you that calls for empathy. You can use that to build a stronger relationship. Take this Warby Parker story as an example.
A customer of Warby Parker in Atlanta showed up to pick up her glasses and after the employee asked her how her day was going, she responded with:“ Not well. I had my car stolen yesterday … I’ m here to pick up the glasses that I ordered.”
Side note: I’ m wearing glasses from Warby Parker as I write this – I love them and their company – they are actually the company I’ m learning from the most from right now.
The Warby Parker employee could have simply said:
“ Oh, I’ m sorry to hear that. Here are your glasses …”
But it’ s what they did next that’ s separates them from their competition and is something I’ m preaching within my businesses and to my clients … they are creating customer microexperiences. A customer micro-experience is a subtle, affordable and memorable gesture you do for your customers that resonates with them for years.
The Warby Parker team sent this handwritten card to the customer shortly after:“ Hey Tess, We were so sorry to hear about your car. Since you probably won’ t be the designated driver anytime soon, here’ s a round on us! Love, your friends at Warby Parker. PS. Your Durand frames look amazing!” The customer had mentioned in passing that she felt like she needed a beer. Within the envelope was a gift certificate to a local microbrewery so the customer could get that beer.
This Warby Parker employee listened, showed empathy and took action on what she had heard to create a memorable experience.
Now, not any employee could do something like this. Only truly empathetic people could do this genuinely. I don’ t know the Warby Parker customer personally but I’ d bet that this customer will never buy prescription sunglasses from another company again in her life, which is true customer loyalty.
Oh, not to mention, this customer experience earned Warby Parker free PR in Forbes, Business Insider and Mashable. As the saying goes, customer experience is marketing!
Michel Falcon
Michel Falcon is an entrepreneur, advisor, and international keynote speaker who leverages customer and employee engagement strategies to grow businesses. As an entrepreneur, Michel has grown a hospitality company with over hundred employees and tens of millions in yearly revenue. Companies like McDonald’ s, Verizon Wireless, Alfa Romeo, Lexus, Illumina, Electronic Arts, and BlueCross BlueShield have called on Michel to work with them on their strategy or speak at their company events. Michel has traveled throughout the world, visiting Canada, USA, Israel, Austria, Australia, Germany, Nigeria, and others to speak at conferences ranging in size from 25 to 1,200 audience members. His thought leadership has been included in Entrepreneur, Inc, Time, Forbes, Digiday, and Yahoo Small Business Advisors.
michelfalcon. com
11