English writer Samuel Johnson said, “People need to be reminded more often than they need to be instructed”. So, this week, I encourage you to remind yourself and your colleagues of this:
Customers pay for their experience, not your product or service. They buy with emotion and justify their decision with reason. Customers seek the best emotional value in their experience, not your logically reasonable best price, product, or service. When they complain, they don’t complain about the price. They complain about the value of their experience for the price that you’re asking them to pay. On the flip side, when customers seek the best value in their experience, they will pay, no matter the price.
QUI TAKEAWAY: It’s not about the good service you render. It’s about the GREAT experience your customers remember. Don’t just be good. Be GREAT out there!
In 1976, while I was a 20-year-old student at Santa Clara University, CA, I became a part-time charter associate of Marriott’s Great America Theme Park. After graduating from college two years later, I joined Marriott Hotels and until 2021, I’ve been in full-service and luxury hotels and resorts. There was no such thing as CX, but I was doing more than serving to satisfy guests. I wanted them to have a “better than the average” experience that guests expected. So I served to WOW them. I served to CARE (Communicate. Acknowledge. Respond. Enrich). Big difference.
As a general manager/managing director for 27 of 43 years in hospitality, I planned to retire and be a customer CARE speaker, but, then, everything went south. Unfortunately, I suffered a stroke in April 2021. Overnight, I dropped from Mr. “Let’s be GREAT out there!” to Mr. Invisible. I have slurred speech and a dead right side. I hope to recover soon if my unconscious mind is willing.
Today, I can tell you that growing up and getting older are not the same. Growing up is looking forward to what is to come. Getting older is looking back at what might have been. When I was growing up wrapped up in the busyness of the business, I listened to my mental radio station WII-FM, focusing on “What’s in it for me?” Now, as I am not only getting old but already there, my focus is oh, so different.
Mark Sanborn has said, “You don’t need a title to be a leader”. So, I aspire to be a servant leader who will CARE for others.
COMMUNICATE openly, transparently, interactively, and frequently any information people need and want to know. Listen empathetically to the people’s suggestions, concerns, and complaints. Express compassion and encouragement. APPRECIATE the important roles, responsibilities, and efforts of people. RECOGNIZE, honor, and offer accolades for individual and team achievements, accomplishments, and acts of service. EMPOWER people to make the right decisions.
When I CARE, I hope to empower people to develop themselves. And, in paying it forward, they will be enthused and energized to engage with their colleagues and others.
So, today, my question is “What can I do for you?”
QUI QUOTE: You know you have customer CARE right when your customers don’t tell others what they bought. They tell others who they bought it from. Don’t be just good. Be GREAT out there!
QUI TAKEAWAY: Customers pay for their experience, not your product or service. The customer’s best value in their experience is one that is “just perfect.” Practice does not make perfect. Perfect practice makes perfect … for your customers. Don’t be just good. Be GREAT out there!
On July 4, Americans celebrate Independence Day. In part, the Declaration of Independence proclaimed
That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it … and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.
With that in mind, we, as customers, proclaim our independence from the tyranny of “Profits over People” retailers who care more about revenue dollars, market share, stock prices, bottom-line profits, and even their competitors, than people – us, the customers.
To paraphrase John DiJulius’ battle cry, it’s time for a Customer CARE Revolution! Let’s be revolutionary to express this:
We, as customers, pay for our experience, not a company’s products or services. It’s OUR experience, not theirs. We buy with emotion and justify that decision with reason. We seek the best emotional value in our entire experience, not the minutiae of a company’s logically reasonable best prices, products, or services. And the best emotional value in our experience is in each retailer’s personalized interactions, not their “cash or credit” sales transactions. To earn our loyalty, don’t get inside our heads. Get inside our hearts. Create an emotional connection. Think RELATIONSHIPS or Go Broke. Literally.
We demand that every retailer service mantra to us is:
We are Customer CARE. We don’t just serve to satisfy customers. We WOW them! We CARE.
COMMUNICATE with each customer with a smile, eye contact, and polite interaction. Inform each customer transparently and interactively of the product’s or service’s function, liabilities, and advantages to them.
ACKNOWLEDGE each customer’s presence and value to us and our company.
RESPOND empathetically to each customer’s questions, concerns, and complaints.
ENRICH the experiences of every customer.
When we CARE, each customer feels respected, appreciated, and valued. They are WOWED and happy.
Now is the time for our Customer CARE Revolution! Let’s be revolutionary! Let’s have our retailers not just serve to satisfy us. Let’s have them WOW us! Let’s have them CARE for us! And let’s have them be GREAT out there!
The “World’s Best” experience is not as “the world” sees it, but as one customer personally FEELS it.
Customers pay for their experience. And they seek the best value in their experience for the price you are asking them to pay. So, a person living in Detroit, MI who has a five-figure salary feels the best value isn’t a luxury plane to the Alps, but rather a four-hour drive UpNorth to Boyne Mountain. Instead of skiing through mountainous terrain for the week, sipping on Malbec wine from Argentina, and savoring Swiss cheese fondue, he skis up and down, again and again, on Boyne Mountain, every weekend day, gulping beer bottles of Milwaukee Light, and chomps on Wisconsin brats with his friends every weekend night. To him, that’s the World’s Best!
Once you understand the World’s Best experience for each customer, then you need to consistently deliver that experience to every customer with the Rule of Three QUI TAKEAWAYS to deliver the World’s Best customer experience. Why only three? Because nobody can remember Number Four.
Here are the three:
QUI TAKEAWAY: Customer service is what you do for your customers. Customer experience is how your customers feel before, during, and after what you do. Customer experience management is what you do before, during, and after discovering how customers feel about what you did. Customer loyalty is how your customers feel about what you proactively do repeatedly.
QUI TAKEAWAY: Customers pay for their experience, not your product or service. They buy with emotion and justify their decision with reason. Customers seek the best emotional value in their experience, not your logically reasonable best price, product, or service. When they complain, they don’t complain about the price. They complain about the value of their experience for the price that you’re asking them to pay. On the flip side, when customers seek the best value in their experience, they will pay, no matter the price.
QUI TAKEAWAY: The best emotional value in your customers’ experience is in your personalized interactions with them, not their business transactions with you. When it comes to customer loyalty, don’t get inside their heads. Get inside their hearts. Create an emotional connection. Don’t serve to satisfy your customers. Satisfied customers feel that their experience was good, not better, just average. Nobody raves about average. And satisfied customers will not return as soon as they find an experience that is better or a less expensive price.
Serve to WOW them! Serve to CARE.
COMMUNICATE with every customer with a smile, eye contact, and polite interaction. Inform each customer transparently and interactively of the product’s or service’s function, liabilities, and advantages to them.
ACKNOWLEDGE each customer’s presence and value to you and your business.
RESPOND promptly and empathetically to each customer’s questions, concerns, and complaints.
ENRICH the experiences and, ultimately, the lives of every customer.
The more emotional the connections, the more memorable the experiences, and the more loyal your customers are. Your loyal customers will return repeatedly, spend more money, and rave to others on social media.
When you understand the Rule of Three, don’t just think and talk about it. Do it! Don’t just serve to satisfy your customers. CARE for your customers and be GREAT out there! To them, that’s the World’s Best!
The Rule of Three Steps for CX Success: Select for passion. Educate with CARE. Empower for excellence.
Select for passion. Serving customers because you HAVE TO is a job. Serving customers because you WANT TO is a passion. Find that passion. Don’t hire an employee. Soon, employees will see for themselves and tell each other that their “profits over people” bosses care about topline revenue, bottom-line profits, stock price, market share, and even their competitors more than they do the people, their subservient employees. Bosses don’t care much about their employees and their employees could care less about the bosses or customers and will soon leave. Instead, select people for passion. Then …
Educate with CARE. Don’t train your employees. Training is finite (usually one to four days), one way, “I know everything, you know nothing,” instruction. Instead, educate your people interactively, frequently, and continuously with customer CARE, like telephone etiquette, service recovery, and prompt, polite, and personalized interactions. Then …
Empower for excellence. Whatever your title or position, be a servant leader who will CARE for your people.
COMMUNICATE openly, transparently, interactively, frequently, and continuously any information your people need and want to know. Listen empathetically to the people’s concerns, questions, and complaints. Express compassion with your recommendations and encouragement.
APPRECIATE the important roles and responsibilities of your people.
RECOGNIZE and offer accolades for team and individual accomplishments and acts of
service.
ENRICH the experiences and ultimately the lives of your people.
When you select for passion, educate with CARE, and CARE for your people, your people will feel respected, appreciated, and valued. With your support and encouragement, inspire and empower them to develop themselves and engage customers. When you create a GREAT experience for your people, they will do the same for your customers, and you will earn the loyalty of both. The experiences and lives of everyone, your people and your customers, you and your business, will be enriched.
QUI TAKEAWAY: Don’t hire employees and train them on good customer service. Instead, select people for passion and educate them with customer CARE. Don’t let them be just good. Empower them to be GREAT out there!
Mission statements don’t enthuse people to engage and WOW customers. Passion statements do. In the spirit of paying it forward, I offer you this
OUR PASSION STATEMENT
First, we will be best for our customers. Then we will be first among our competitors.
Let’s not serve to satisfy our customers. Satisfied customers feel that their experience is good, not better, just average. Nobody raves about average. And satisfied customers will not return when they find something better or less expensive.
Instead, let’s serve to WOW our customers! Let’s serve to CARE.
COMMUNICATE with every customer with a smile, eye contact, and polite interaction. Inform each customer transparently and interactively of the product’s or service’s function, liabilities, and advantages to them.
ACKNOWLEDGE each customer’s presence and value to us and our business.
RESPOND promptly and empathetically to each customer’s questions, concerns, and complaints.
ENRICH the experiences and, ultimately, the lives of every customer.
When we CARE, our customers are WOWED and happy, intent on returning repeatedly, spending more money, and raving about us to others on social media.
Let’s not be just good to satisfy our customers. Let’s WOW them! Let’s CARE for them. And let’s be GREAT out there!
Corporate executives and CX influencers have traditionally advocated their business jargon, and their employees and customers have subserviently understood and followed them. For example, business leaders have defined contact centers when customers “contact” them to ask a question or have a problem with a product or service. The leaders then analyze their agents’ FCR metrics for First Contact Resolution.
Concurrently, business leaders and CX influencers dub customer service representatives as the frontline. But frontline? Really? They may logically say that customer service is the frontline because they are front and center with customers. However, as customers, we emotionally feel we are doing battle with the customer service frontline.
Well, no more. As customers, NOW is the time for our customer CARE Revolution!
We pay for our experience, not your product or service. And we pay for our entire experience, not yours. It’s ALL about us, NEVER about you. We seek the best emotional value in our entire experience, not the minutiae of your logically reasonable best prices, products, or services of yours. For instance, when we have a problem or complaint, the best emotional value for us is not a first-contact response with contact center agents. The best value in our experience is in the agents’ personalized interactions, not their business transactions.
While business leaders are happy because their customers are satisfied with the purchase of their product or service, that’s not good enough for us. Satisfied customers feel that their experience is good, not better, just average. Nobody raves about average. And satisfied customers will not return as soon as they find a better experience or a less expensive price.
Accordingly, contact centers and businesses must do better.
Doctors and nurses don’t serve their ailing patients. They care. So shouldn’t customer service be customer care? Even better, as customers, we deem contact center and customer service representatives to be the customer CARE team. Their service mantra should be:
“We CARE for each customer:
COMMUNICATE with polite interaction. We inform each customer with transparency of the product’s or service’s function, liabilities, and advantages. Listen to understand the customer’s questions.
ACKNOWLEDGE each customer’s presence and value.
RESPOND empathetically to each customer’s concerns, and complaints.
ENRICH the experiences and lives of every customer.
When we CARE, each customer has an emotional connection. The more emotional the connections, the more memorable the moments, and the more loyal our customers are. Our loyal customers are WOWED and happy, intent on returning, and raving to others on social media.”
So, as customers, let’s be revolutionary in improving our customer experience with Customer CARE. NOW is our time! Let’s be loud and proud! Let’s be revolutionary! And let’s have our experience be GREAT out there!
Your brand is not a result of your marketing actions. Your brand is the result of customers’ perceptions of your customer service actions.
On social media, customers are talking about you whether you like it or not know it or not. World-class or no class. And if they’re not talking world-class or no class, they’re simply not talking about it all. So, when it comes to your customers and customer service, don’t be just good. Be GREAT out there!
"People need to be reminded more often than they need to be instructed."
Samuel Johnson
This blog, along with my Facebook, Instagram and Twitter pages, offer practical tips, insight and inspiration to serve as reminders on how to improve your personal delivery of customer service.
BILL QUISENG | Deliver the World's Best Customer Experience 