Category Archives: Customer Experience

June 19, 2024 · 11:00 am

The Rule of Three Steps for CX Success: Select for passion. Educate with CARE. Empower for excellence.

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!

#customerservice #customerexperience #employeeexperience #employeeengagement #custserv #custexp #cx. 

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June 12, 2024 · 11:00 am

OUR PASSION STATEMENT: First, we will be best for our customers. Then, we will be first among our competitors.  

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!

#customerservice #customerexperience #customerloyalty #custserv #custexp #cx

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May 29, 2024 · 11:00 am

NOW is the time for our Customer CARE Revolution!

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!  

#customerservice #customerexperience #custserv #custexp #cx

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May 13, 2024 · 11:00 am

QUI QUOTE: Your brand is not a result of your marketing actions. Your brand is the result of customers’ perceptions of your customer service actions. 

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!

#customerservice #customerexperience #custserv #custexp #cx #marketing 

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May 8, 2024 · 11:00 am

QUI TAKEAWAY: When all alternatives don’t work, don’t fire the customer. Simply ask the customer to resign.

The customer is not always right. But the customer is ALWAYS YOUR customer. Listen intently, respond empathetically, apologize, and do whatever it takes to resolve the problem, even if it means having to go with your customer to your competitor.

Contrary to popular customer service mantras, when all alternatives don’t work, DON’T fire the customer. Simply ask him to resign. “I’m sorry but I’m not able to resolve your problems. Could I recommend Company X for your experience? I could contact them if you like.” Both the customer and your competitor are happy. The customer will remember you and might be loyal to you. The competitor is happy because you recommended them. They may refer you later when they cannot resolve another customer’s complaint. A Mutual Admiration Society of sorts.

#customerservice #customerexperience #customerloyalty #custserv #custexp #cx

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April 17, 2024 · 11:00 am

Instead of giving incentives to your customers who fill out your surveys, offer rewards and recognition to your people who deliver service so GREAT customers rave about them on your surveys and social media.  

QUI QUOTE: Instead of giving incentives to your customers who fill out your surveys, offer rewards and recognition to your people who deliver service so GREAT customers rave about them on your surveys and social media.  

Customers pay for their experience, not your product or service. And it’s THEIR experience, not yours. Customers seek the best emotional value in their experience. And their best emotional value is in your people’s personalized interactions, not your “cash or credit” business transactions. So, when customers rave about your people, then you should do the same. When you recognize and reward your people, they will feel respected, appreciated, and valued. When you create a GREAT experience for your people, they will do the same for your customers, and everyone’s lives will be enriched, financially and emotionally. Soon, you will earn the loyalty of both. A win-win-win situation: Your customers, your people, and you.

#customerservice #customerexperience #customerloyalty #employeeexperience #custserv #custexp #cx #ex

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April 3, 2024 · 11:00 am

Keep saying, “That’s not my job,” and soon, you’ll wish it was because you won’t have one.  

QUI QUOTE: Keep saying, “That’s not my job,” and soon, you’ll wish it was because you won’t have one.  

Be the customer. When you hear “That’s not my job,” you’d retort, “Well, it looks like you work here. Why isn’t it your job and why don’t you find the right person?” 

Be your employer. When you hear, “That’s not my job,” several times from the same person to another customer, you’d think, “We should replace that someone who feels it’s not their job with someone who feels it is.

Be you. To the customer, you’re not a representative of the company. You are the company. So own it. Be the CEO of the moment. Take it professionally. Take it personally. Take it responsibly. Just don’t take it at home.  

The customer is not always right. But the customer is always YOUR customer. So do whatever it takes to make the customer FEEL right.

#customerservice #customerexperience #custserv #custexp #cx

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March 27, 2024 · 11:00 am

The QUI Rule a.k.a. The GREAT Rule: Serve to WOW customers. Serve to CARE.

You’ve heard of The Golden Rule: Treat people as you want to be treated.

Dr. Tony Alessandra has shared with everyone about The Platinum Rule: Treat people as they want to be treated.

Today I offer The QUI Rule also known as the GREAT Rule: Treat customers a little better than they want to be treated.

You are happy because customers leave satisfied with your product or service. But that’s not good enough. 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.

So don’t serve to satisfy customers. Don’t treat customers as you expect to be treated. And don’t treat them as they want to be treated. Instead, treat them a little better than they want to be treated. 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.

And Be Magnificently Boring to CARE! Consistently CARE for your customers so repetitively that you feel it is boring, but to every customer, at that moment, you are Magnificent! Customers have an emotional connection with you. The more emotional the connections, the more memorable the experiences, and the more loyal the customers are. Loyal customers will return repeatedly, spend more money, and rave about you to others on social media. Consistency builds trust. Trust builds relationships. Relationships build loyalty. Loyalty builds your business. CARE Magnificently!

The QUI RULE also known as The GREAT Rule: Treat customers a little better than they want to be treated. Serve to WOW them. Serve to CARE.

Don’t satisfy your customers and be just good. CARE for your customers and be GREAT out there!

What do you think? Whether you agree or agree to disagree, discuss or not, I’m sure that we can interact with each other without being disagreeable. So, I invite you to share your questions and comments.

#customerservice #customerexperience #customerloyalty #custserv #custexp #cx

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March 20, 2024 · 11:00 am

Whatever your title or position, be a servant leader to all generations, especially Gen N.

A veteran of over 40 years in hospitality leadership, I was, until several years ago, a customer service/customer experience speaker. Unfortunately, I suffered a stroke in April 2021. So, I have slightly slurred speech and a dead right side. Since my stroke, I’ve gone from Mr. “Let’s be GREAT out there!” as GM/Managing Director to Mr. Invisible, sequestered alone with my wife in my San Diego apartment. Today, I want to tell you my real-life customer experience story.

On Friday, I was at the downtown CVS Pharmacy sitting in my wheelchair, waiting for my prescription. Meanwhile, a young lady looked at me and motioned if she could go ahead. When I answered yes, she asked the pharmacy clerk for her prescription. When asked by the clerk for her name and age, the young lady responded with her name and birthdate ending in 08. Since I could not easily calculate her age (because of my memory lapses due to my stroke or early onset dementia), I asked her how old she was. She quizzically looked at me, did not respond but looked at the pharmacy clerk. The clerk said that I was asking several people about their age (I did). The young lady didn’t say anything to her nor did she say anything or smile to me. She simply walked away with her prescription. With that, the pharmacy clerk looked at me and shrugged.  

I envision that young lady, who I now recognize is only 16 years old, is now a part of the Gen N generation. You may think Gen N is the Now Generation who wants an experience that is quick, easy, and NOW. But, I perceive Gen N as Generation Nobody. Anyone older than Gen N is a Nobody to them. Listening with their earplugs and watching on their cellphones with their friends or young social media influencers, Gen N is oblivious to any older generation around them. In this case, I really did feel that I was a nobody to the young lady.  

Now that I am older and wiser, especially given this incident, I advocate this: 

QUI QUOTE: Whatever your title or position, be a servant leader who will CARE for people first. 

COMMUNICATE with each person with a smile, eye contact, and polite interaction. Inform each person transparently and interactively.,

ACKNOWLEDGE each person’s presence and value to you as a human being with emotions and feelings.

RESPOND promptly and empathetically to each person’s statements, questions, concerns, and complaints.

ENRICH the experiences and, ultimately, the lives of every person.

Instead of asking your people, “What can you do for me and my business?”, through your words and actions, ask them two questions:

“How are you feeling?”

“How can I help?”

When you ask, listen intently, respond empathetically, and act promptly to take appropriate corrective action, your people will feel respected, appreciated, and valued.  You will inspire and empower them to develop themselves and engage others. Soon, everyone’s experiences and, ultimately, their lives, will be enriched.

What do you think? Whether you agree or disagree, discuss or not, I’m sure that we, yes, you and me, can interact with each other without being disagreeable. And for that, I very much appreciate you. I look forward to seeing who you consider is a GREAT servant leader.

#leadership #servantleadership #employeeengagement #employeeexperience #customerservice  #customerexperience #custserv #custexp #cx

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February 21, 2024 · 11:41 am

Welcome to CX 102: Advanced CX.

Welcome to CX 102 or Advanced CX. This course is a prerequisite for business professionals in the B2C or hospitality industry. It’s an elective for the B2B or the online/digital industry.

English writer Samuel Johnson said, “People need to be reminded more often than they need to be instructed.” With that in mind, today’s lesson will be a future reminder for you. So let’s get started.

Customer loyalty is not one BIG WOW to a customer. It’s one little wow delivered consistently to every customer. And when you consistently deliver a little wow, you transform an average, satisfactory customer experience into a positively WOW Experience.

So, be Magnificently Boring! Consistently deliver a low-cost, no-cost “a little better than the average experience that customers expect” product or customer service so repetitively that you feel it is boring, but to the customer, at that moment, you are Magnificent! Your customers will return repeatedly, spend more money, and rave about you to others on social media. Consistency builds trust. Trust builds loyalty. Loyalty builds your business. Deliver consistency Magnificently!

Second, but as importantly, be Magnificently Boring to CARE for your customers. Remember this sentence from our first class: 

Customers seek the best emotional value in their entire experience.

Now you know why customers don’t seek B2B or B2C businesses. They engage in businesses that are H2H. Human to Human. One to One. Heart to Heart. The value to your customers is in their personalized interactions, not your “cash or credit” business transactions. So, to earn customer loyalty, don’t get inside their heads. Get inside their hearts. Create an emotional connection. Be Magnificently Boring 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.

Consistently CARE for your customers so repetitively that you feel it is boring, but to every customer, at that moment, you are Magnificent! Your customers will feel respected, appreciated, and valued. They have an emotional connection with you. The more emotional the connections, the more memorable the experiences, and the more loyal the customers are. When it comes to customers and customer service, don’t just serve to satisfy your customers. Serve to WOW them. Serve to be Magnificently Boring to CARE for them. Don’t just be good. Be GREAT out there!

Does anyone have any questions? Whether you agree or agree to disagree, discuss or not, I’m sure that we can interact with each other without being disagreeable. So, I invite you to share your questions and comments.

#customerservice #customerexperience #customerloyalty #custserv #custexp #cx

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