In this blog
piece we will talk about what customer engagement is (and what it is not) and
why you should bother engaging with your customer s at all. At the end of this piece we will give you
some handy hints and tips about engaging effectively with your customers
So what is the
difference between customer service and customer engagement?
Customer service
is;
o
‘A series of activities
designed to increase customer satisfaction..’
o
‘..important within any
organisation in order to generate income and revenue’
o
‘An experience that can change
the perception that a customer has of an organisation’
Good customer
service is what customer should (rightly so) expect during every transaction
and interaction with you (their supplier).
It is the minimum that you should be delivering to your customers. If you disagree with this statement, it is
probably a good idea to stop reading this article now!
Customer
engagement is;
o
‘Long term engagement leading
to loyalty and advocacy’
o
‘..Turning a customer or
potential customer on to a brand or idea
...’
o
‘The different stages a consumer
travels through as they interact with a brand’
So, customer
engagement is what gets remembered and talked about – get it wrong and it will
be talked about for all the wrong reasons.
It is about understanding your customers wants and needs – and ensuring
that you deliver them at each and every touch point along the customer journey
We firmly believe that the
Holy Grail of customer engagement is grounded on a trainagle of belief – which
we have named (appropriately enough) the Customer Engagement Triangle;
The customer
engagement triangle puts – rightly so – happy and engaged customers at the
centre of all of your activities. In
order to maintain this, they have to be supported by well-trained and motivated
staff, technology that enables and does not hinder, and processes that are well
designed with the customer (not the organisation) at the heart.
What does this mean?
Well trained
staff;
It always amazes
me when businesses put their most junior, least well trained member of staff in
their customer services team – this is the first point of contact with your
customers and potential customers – surely you would want you most experienced
member of staff to handle their enquiries?
As a minimum, staff should know about the products and services offered
by the business, should know lead-times and prices and should be able to
negotiate with customers (there is nothing more frustrating than being told ‘ I
will have to ask my supervisor’ and have
access to all information about the business – such as opening times, locations
etc. If your staff can’t currently do
this, then they are NOT well trained!
Processes that
work;
If your staff
are constantly countering customer requests with ‘I am sorry we don’t that’ or
worse ‘I am sorry, we CANT do that’ then this is a good indication that
something within your processes is wrong or broken. As a minimum you should have a mechanism that
is used throughout your organisation where customer feedback (either directly
or through your staff) can be fed into a process improvement stream – this
should pick up issues like ‘our customers are always asking for...’ and this is
your opportunity to deliver it to them (assuming that their requests are
neither immoral nor illegal!)
Technology;
Technology can
often be a barrier to delivering great customer service – but this is only true
when it is;
a. Designed, specified and implemented badly (and generally without any
thought to the customer), or
b. It is being used incorrectly
If it is the
latter, then please see above (Well trained staff).
If it is the
former, then you potentially have a larger problem to deal with. All technology should be an enabler – if
yours is not, then a strategic review is in order – and do not be scared to
declare the technology you are using as ‘unfit for purpose’.
Technology is
great when it works well, at all other times is just taking up space.
It is all about
the Strategy (but, then, we would say that, wouldn’t we?)
Every business
should have a customer focus strategy.
It doesn’t have to be a huge, wordy document (and potentially is could
be part of your business plan or your sales and marketing strategy – we are not
precious about this, but we do recommend that you have one – somewhere)
So, assuming
that you do have a customer focus strategy, when was the last time you looked
at it? (hint: if you cant remember then
chances are that it has been too long)
Who is the
customer champion of your business? Many
businesses have Chief Executive Officers or Chief Financial Officers – what
about having a Chief Customer Officer – someone at board level who will
champion the needs and wants of the customer?
Does your
strategy have meaningful KPI’s – and I really do mean KEY performance
indicators – not just things that are east to measure. What is important to your customer – find out
and measure how you perform against it
Ensure that
everyone in your organisation knows what your customer strategy says and what
it means for them
But, why bother;
Here are some
interesting and scary statistics about why customers stop doing business with
suppliers -
–
68% leave because of how they
have been treated
–
14% leave because they are
dissatisfied with your product or service
–
9% are tempted by a better
offer with your competition
–
5% actively move from supplier
to supplier
–
3% stop using the service
altogether
–
1% die
If a customer
leaves you – you will probably never get them back
So, just to
reiterate, of all the customers who are going to stop doing business with you,
68% of them will do so because of the way in which you have treated them –
something that is directly in your control (not, as is often perceived by
business owners, that they have been tempted away by a better offer from your
competition). Still don’t think that it
is worth bothering about?
Recent research
has shown that the top 5 reasons for a breakdown in a customer /supplier
relationships are;
–
1. Having to repeat the same
information multiple times
–
2. Being trapped in automated
self-service
–
3. Forced to wait too long to
be served
–
4. Agents do not know the
customer history or appreciate their value
–
5. Inability to use the communication channel of
choice
Again, all of
the above reasons for a breakdown in a customer relationship are entirely
within your gift to correct.
Have you ever
been trapped in an automated IVR system (you know, press 1 for service, press 2
for sales....etc)? Well, if you have,
you are not alone. Recent research suggests that an average if 9.5 minutes is
spent trying to reach a human whilst trapped in an automated self-service
function. This is cited as being one of
the most frustrating places to be (other frustrating things include the sound
of an unanswered phone – do you see a pattern developing here?)
If you think
that the only losers here are the poor, disenfranchised customers, then think
again. There is a real financial
implication too. The cost of poor
customer service to the overall British economy each year is £15.3 Billionand
the average value of each lost customer relationship is £248/year
The biggest
losers are;
-
Financial Services £2.2 Billion
-
Utilities £1.98 Billion
-
Telecoms £1.91 Billion
These figures
are made up of the cost to acquire new business, the cost of putting right poor
customer services, and the cost of repeat work (or meeting failure demand)
Customers as
fans;
You may think
that you want all of your customers to be fans – but do you want all your fans
to be customers and vice versa?
The reasons that
this may not be as appealing as it sounds include;
–
Turning customers into fans
requires time and effort (a lot of time and effort)
–
Some customers will always be
customers and never be fans (but at least they will always be a customer)
–
Fans by their nature are
‘fanatical’ if you upset them they will be very vocal – please them and they
will be equally vocal...
However, that
having been said, if you do decide that you want to convert your customers into
fans, then one of the biggest mistakes that a business can make is trying to
convert them too soon.
Customer
relationships are like friendships and they need to be nurtured and
developed. You wouldn’t move from being
first introduced as a casual acquaintance to getting engaged – would you?
The engagement
journey could look a little bit like this;
Only by moving through these steps can you
start to build a loyal fan base
A good example of when customers become
fans is illustrated below. It follows
the stages of joining a gym – from being a casual user through to being a
convert who will wax lyrical about the benefits of gym membership
Psychographic
studies have shown that;
•
Customers are like friends
As mentioned
before, each customer relationship is like a friendship and therefore needs to
be nurtured and treasured – but the relationship goes deeper than that. You do not choose your friends because of one
of their characteristics (eg because they are tall or have brown hair), you
choose them generally because you share something in common (your love of a
particular activity, or some other shared interest). This is the same with a customer relationship
– if you do not share a common value with your customers, then it is unlikely
that the relationship will be long-lasting and beneficial on either side
•
Share secrets with them
Friends like to
think that they are special, that they have your confidence, and as such you
would tell then things that you perhaps would not tell people who are not
inside your inner circle – customer relationships are exactly the same – tell
your best customers things – about new product launches, about special offers –
before anyone else. This will not only
help to strengthen the relationship, but it will also build loyalty
•
Give them a lagniappe
Everyone loves
an unexpected free gift – particularly when it comes with ‘no strings attached’
Surprise and delight your customers by giving them a free gift (not as part of
any compensation for something that you have done wrong, just because you can)
for example put an extra item in an order that you are sending to your best
customers – along with a little note to explain that you have sent them a free
gift.
•
Give them an opportunity to
tell others how great you are
If you believe
that you offer a great service, and your customers tell you that you offer a
great service, would it not seem a little bit churlish NOT to allow them to
tell others how great your service is?
There are loads of opportunities for customers to be able to wax lyrical
about the service that you offer via social media
•
Give them an opportunity to
tell you how you become even greater
Magic moments or
moments of misery;
Every time you
or someone in your organisation interacts with a customer (regardless of the
channel that was used) you have an opportunity.
It is entirely in your gift as to what you will do with this
opportunity, you could
–
Turn a customer into and
advocate
–
Lose a customer
–
Make someone's day
–
Ruin someone’s day
These are what
are known as moments of truth – where your customer service is interrogated
until it confesses its true beliefs.
These moments can wither be magic moments or moments of complete and
utter misery (for your customer). You
have the power to decide which it will be.
The formula for
ensuring that each moment of truth is a ‘magic’ moment is easy:
–
Unexpectedness + Delight =
Magic
Customer
satisfaction or customer delight;
It is an often
held business fallacy that customers want to be delighted all of the time. In the round, customers want to be satisfied
– and that is all. They want to be able
to transact their business with you in an efficient and painless way
If the truth be
known, you could not afford to delight all of your customers all of the
time. That having been said, you cannot
afford NOT to satisfy all of your customers all of the time. If you do not satisfy your customers, then
one of your competitors will surely do just that.
It costs 6 times
more to acquire a new customer than it does to retain an existing customer
The customer
loyalty and retention paradigm;
In every
customer relationship there are reasons why customers stay with you – just as
there are reasons why customers will look for other suppliers. Do you know why your customers stay with you? Is it because;
–
You are easy to deal with?
–
Fear of change?
–
The like your brand?
–
They are lazy?
–
You are the best in the market?
–
They believe that everyone is
as bad as each other?
Which customers
would you rather have?
Walk your
customer journey;
When was the
last time, if ever, you rang your
customer service number and experienced what it is like to be a customer of
yours? On the whole, I believe that most people would be surprised by what the
customer journey is actually like. The
people responsible for the delivery of customer service will tell you what
their KPI’s are and all of the great things that customers say about them, but
do you really know how variable your service is? Walk in the shoes of you customers and then
you will truly know
–
How easy it is to transact
business with you
–
What the start and finish
points of every journey feel like
–
How intuitive your systems and
processes are
–
How knowledgeable and helpful
your staff are
Determine your
core values;
Business
relationships are a lot like friendships.
Customers choose you and your business because of what you stand
for. You do not choose your friends
because of what they look like, or how tall they are, you are friends with them
because of a shared value or belief – and it is the same with business
relationships.
As with your
personal values and beliefs, business values should be those things that you
really stand for and that;
•
Your business would NEVER
compromise
•
You have a real PASSION about
•
You BELIEVE in absolutely
•
You want people to FEEL about
your business
Customer service
should be one of these values – but if it isn’t, don’t try and fake it – it
will show and everyone will know that you are trying to be something that you
aren’t
Customers will
be attracted to you because of your values
Summary
•
Customers are hard to win, easy
to lose and are savvy about customer service
•
You need to understand them and
their needs and deliver a service that meets their needs
Ignore your
customer at your peril
