The Connection Magazine The Connection Magazine | Page 11

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 micro-experiences. 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
hand-written 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 one 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
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