What s So Great About the Customer Experience?

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Eric Johns
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1 What s So Great About the Customer Experience? Diary of a Picky Eater By Janet Huetteman TouchPoint Experience 185 Steep Hill Road Weston, CT Tel janet@touchpointexperience.com

Experience 185 Steep Hill Road Weston, CT 06883 Tel

2 Okay, we ve all been to a restaurant, and depending on why we re there (and maybe, who s paying for it), we have certain expectations. If those expectations are met, and we have a positive customer experience, then we might return to eat there again. If, however, at some point in our experience we are unhappy, it may be reason enough to never return. In fact, in extreme cases, we may walk out before we even eat. After all, there are plenty of restaurants to choose from, right? I for one am kind of a picky eater. It doesn t matter what type of restaurant it is casual dining, fine dining or diner if the food s not good, I m not happy. The food, in my case, is what you would call a critical touchpoint. Other people may just want a lot of food, or it could be the ambiance of the place that is most important, or the wine list, or the price, or clean restrooms, etc. The point is, it will differ for almost every customer and it could be situational. So, how do you determine your standard? How do you deliver a great customer experience for everyone? You don t. First of all, you decide who you want to attract, i.e. who are your most profitable customers. Then you decide what it is you want to be to them, i.e. your brand position. What category are you competing in? What do you want to be known for? How will you describe yourself to your target customers? What is your vision for the business? Once you decide this, then you can begin to understand how you will deliver it across all touchpoints, i.e. at every point where the customer touches or connects with your company and/or product/service. 2

If, however, at some point in our experience we are unhappy, it may be reason enough to never return. In fact, in extreme cases, we may walk out before we even eat.

3 Consider yourself a patron in the restaurant example. How many times could you get annoyed? Many! First of all, how did you find out about this place? How was it positioned? Did the ultimate experience meet or exceed your expectations? If exceeded, you ll probably be sure to tell others about it. Oh, boy! That makes you a Customer Advocate! What a great thing for any business to have and lots of them! Unfortunately, if you have a bad experience, you re probably going to tell more people about it (in fact, probably three or four times as many). Yuck! We don t want that to happen. So, let s break the experience down by key touchpoints and use a rational process to make sure it s everything it needs to be. We ll use the Picky Eater as an example. Optimizing the Restaurant Experience: The TouchPoint Map in the first column illustrates the typical touchpoints that will make up the Picky Eater s experience. In the second column, we begin to understand the specific expectations of the Picky Eater at each touchpoint. The third column outlines the potential defects in the restaurant s performance (no surprises here). And finally, we show potential opportunities during the experience to delight the Picky Eater. 3

What a great thing for any business to have and lots of them!

4 Step 1: TouchPoint Map TouchPoints Expectations Defects Opportunities Call & Reserve Phone answered quicly Person friendly on phone Accommodated reservation Didn t answer phone Surly and grumpy Don t take reservation Ask if there is a special table you would like Walk-in & Greeting Parking by door Pleasant entranceway Friendly greeting Seated immediately No place to park No place to wait Nobody to greet Waited too long Offered a complimentary beverage if wait is too long Atmosphere Modern, up-scale décor Comfortable seating Acceptable noise level Clean overall Old and outdated Backbreaking chairs Too loud, bad music Untidy and dirty Comfortable chairs Table Service Table nicely set Waiter attentive Waiter pleasant Gets order correct Not set properly Ignored Surly and grumpy Get the wrong food Fresh flowers on table Immediately attended to Food & Drink Delicious Food Nicely presented on plate Reasonable, great wines Food no good Fly in soup Nothing under $50/ bottle Complimentary nibbles Bill Pay Brings/takes bill when ready Good value for money Accurate bill/no surprises Wait and wait and wait Outrageously priced Overcharged Something is taken off of bill for a given dissatisfaction 4

to greet Waited too long Offered a complimentary beverage if wait is too long Atmosphere Modern, up-scale décor Comfortable seating Acceptable noise level Clean overall Old and outdated Backbreaking

5 Now, certainly this paints a simplistic picture, but the point is any one of these defects could cause the Picky Eater to be a Lost Customer (who tells everyone how bad your restaurant is) rather than a Customer Advocate. Remember, the ultimate goal is to build customer advocacy for your business. Now the trick here is not only to understand customer expectations, but to think outside-the-box in terms of how you will re-define the customer experience, in other words, Wow them! This takes us to Step 2 of our process. Step 2: Brand and Customer Discovery The next step in the process is a Brand and Customer Discovery. By applying qualitative and quantitative methodologies we can determine a customer s conscious and unconscious motivators around buying your product or service. In this case, we might use our discovery process to understand the target customer s hidden desires around food and the dining experience this would lead us to identifying the wow opportunities. Then through quantitative research methods, we would survey target customers around specific variables in the experience, identifying which touchpoints are most critical and how we can measure for potential defects. In other words, it is not enough information for us to act on when a customer says they want to be treated nicely. We need to know what this means in both qualitative and measurable terms. In this way, we can begin to set up specific parameters to gauge our service delivery against. 5

Now the trick here is not only to understand customer expectations, but to think outside-the-box in terms of how you will re-define the customer experience, in other words, Wow them!

6 Step 3: TouchPoint Audit & Gap Analysis Once we understand our customer expectations for each variable and the parameters they have set, we can audit how the company performs against this. By analyzing the people, processes and product that sit behind performance, we can better understand what might be causing defects in the experience. This would lead us to a series of recommendations that will enhance the experience and ultimately increase customer acquisition, retention and penetration all with a view to building customer advocacy. TouchPoint Map SM Customer Discovery SM TouchPoint Audit SM TouchPoint Change Plan SM Step 4: TouchPoint Experience Change Plan When TouchPoint Experience works with companies, part of our deliverable is to build a change plan so that a company can prioritize its actions around enhancing the customer experience. Our intention is not to hand over a series of static recommendations, but to provide your business with a roadmap of how you are going to reach your vision. We apply our proven Model for Successful Change so that your business can over time build customer advocacy through great customer experiences. 6

This would lead us to a series of recommendations that will enhance the experience and ultimately increase customer acquisition, retention and penetration all with a view to building customer

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