Earlier this year I quit my local coffee shop. The coffee was great, it was near home and easy to get a park nearby.
But…
I got sick of seeing the owner publicly berate staff in front of me. And, understandably, the staff were pretty miserable so they weren’t all that friendly.
So, I decided I didn’t want to part with my hard earned there anymore.
We all know how great it feels when we speak on the phone or face to face with genuinely happy people providing a service or a product. It’s contagious, right?
Your first step in creating a great customer experience starts within the organisation’s walls. Whether you have one staff member or 1000, your customers want to know that you care for your people.
As a starting point for the “people” side of customer service internally, remember your four “C”s:
Connection: Know your team members genuinely and with interest. Seek to understand what drives their motivation at work. When your team feel included and listened to, greater contentment at work will be reflected in better quality engagement with customers.
Communication: Clear accountabilities, both positive and constructive feedback delivered appropriately as well as regular updates and input drives greater engagement within your team too. Your customers will benefit when the communication vehicles are clear and utilised regularly internally.
Care: Create a culture of care internally, where leaders and teams look out for each other. When care and connection are high, trust will grow and manifest in employees becoming more attentive and connected to customers – more able to “stand in their shoes.”
Culture: The combination of character + experience + positive leadership + great communication builds awesome culture….simply a must-have for successful businesses in 2019 and beyond.
Once the internal employee engagement paving stones are in place, a more specific customer experience pathway can then be established. First things first…
Lexie Wilkins, Culture and Employee-Engagement Expert and Director, Lexie Wilkins Consulting
