Posts Tagged ‘customer experience’

Are People Afraid to Buy From You?

Tuesday, August 10th, 2010

My wife and I went to the bank the other day to re-finance our house. (We couldn’t pass up the 1.5% drop from our original interest rate.) But even though the re-fi was my idea, I freaked out a little bit when it came time to sign the papers.

I started wondering…

  • “Did I see all those pretty numbers correctly?”
  • “What new or extra charges is the bank going to stick us with?”
  • “Do I understand all this fine print?”
  •  “Is this too good to be true?”

Joe the mortgage man couldn’t have been nicer or explained everything more clearly. I just got a case of irrational cold feet at the prospect of making an important financial decision. And I’m not the only one this has happened to.

Think about the buying process your customers go through before signing on the dotted line, especially if you sell big-ticket items, or if you’re an online retailer with limited control over the buying process and no opportunity to address customer concerns (or uncomfortable body language) face-to-face.

What emotional roadblocks or fears might be putting the brakes on sales?

Consider reviewing the path your customers take, from initial interest to plunking down their money. What might scare them away at any point along that path? Is there any information you can make clearer? Any way to ease their potential fear of making a bad decision? How can you reassure them they won’t regret this purchase or doing business with you?

Consumers are faced with an overwhelming number of choices when buying everything from soup to cars. Make it easier for them to choose your brand by anticipating their fears and alleviating them whenever possible.

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Are Long Hold Times Hurting Your Reputation?

Monday, May 10th, 2010

In the age of social media, bad news travels faster than ever before. And if you subject your callers to long hold times and a poor phone experience, the bad news may be all about you. Watch our Marketing Minute video for tips on how to keep your valuable callers happy and your good reputation intact.

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To-Do or Not To-Do

Tuesday, April 27th, 2010

I love to-do lists.  They help me get things done efficiently, and I derive great satisfaction from crossing off those tasks.

Sometimes though, I get done only what I’ve written down to do. This isn’t a problem when it comes to household chores, but professionally, if I’m just getting done what needs to get done, I’m not thinking about what I could do above and beyond to make my client’s experience even more special.

Then I see an example of a company going out of its way to create a memorable event and an extraordinary customer experience, like Coca-Cola did in this video, and I can’t wait to rip up my confining to-do list and start thinking bigger picture.

Even when those college kids hear negative press or frightening facts about Coca-Cola, I’m betting they’ll always think back to that cafeteria encounter with the brand and say, “Yeah, but remember that one time…”

Yes, to-do lists are great, but now I ask myself, “Are you simply going to provide the Coke the client paid for, or are you going to overwhelm her with free flowers and a pizza, too?”

What will you choose to do for your customers?

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Be Like Ikea

Monday, February 22nd, 2010

I love Ikea. I’ve been looking at their printed catalog and websites for a while now, but I just had my first Ikea store experience.

Wow.

I didn’t realize how huge it would be. It’s immense, intimidating even, and I had no idea where to start. Then I saw the map. Upstairs to the showroom. Downstairs to the warehouse.

So I jumped on the escalator and headed upstairs to see all the Ikea furniture, textiles and accessories doing what they do best—making good design look effortless. Think of any room in your house, and they have at least 5 examples of each. Home office? You got it. Living room? Naturally. Bathroom? You betcha’. There are even a few “small living” spaces that showcase design solutions for apartments with 250-400 square feet of room.

They’ve done a great job cultivating the customer experience. Arrows on the floor and informative signage keep you from getting lost, and if you forget your tape measure and pencil, don’t worry. Every hundred feet or so, there’s a note station featuring disposable measuring tapes, graph paper, maps of the showroom and pencils, so you can take notes about what you like, figure out if the Ektorp sofa will fit in your living room, pick out an entertainment cabinet to go with it, and find it all easily in the warehouse. There’s even a full service restaurant because you’re going to spend so much time there you will eventually get hungry.

Ikea has planned for your entire shopping adventure and made it easy for you to find a solution that works for your lifestyle within your limitations. How can we be more like Ikea? How can we offer great products and services that give our clients and customers the best solution for their dollar?

Be creative. Ikea has attractive solutions that maximize the functionality of even the smallest spaces. Even if our customers have tiny budgets, we can deliver solutions that maximize their dollar.

Be helpful. Ikea paints arrows on the floor and provides measuring tapes, pencils and maps. We can provide advice, tips and insights that our customers can benefit from.

Be flexible. Ikea’s Ektorp Sofa is a standard 3 seat sofa with a removable cover, so when you’re tired of the Byvik multicolor flora print, you can switch to the Blekinge white. And when that gets dirty, you can put it in the wash and slip on the Klinto Blue print. We can bend our return policy, make a special order, or schedule an after-hours appointment.

Their strategy works. Ikea has enjoyed steady growth over the last ten years and now has more than 300 stores in more than 35 countries and annual sales of more than 21.5 billion Euros.

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The Importance of Packaging to the Brand Experience

Tuesday, August 25th, 2009

When you think about shopping at your favorite retailer, what things move you about the experience? Is it the way the staff treats you? The products they sell? What about the way your purchases are packaged?

In writing a new On Hold Marketing script for a client who specializes in retail packaging, appropriately named Packaging Specialties, it struck me that packaging is an essential component of the brand’s value and an intrinsic part of a shopper’s experience.

Take Tiffany & Co. for example. It doesn’t matter what’s in that light aqua colored box tied with the white satin-faced ribbon. You know instantly that it came from Tiffany & Co. and that it will be special. But what if their packaging was a plain white cotton-filled box? There’s no magic in that presentation.

Think now about the purchases you’ve made recently. Have you purchased groceries? Clothing? Jewlery?

Your groceries were probably packaged in a generic two-handled plastic bag printed with the store’s logo and/or slogan, just like every other big-box store. There’s no magic in that generic plastic bag.

My favorite neighborhood grocer offers paper bags, and I don’t even recall if the bags feature the store’s logo.  ButI love those paper bags because they remind me of grocery shopping with my mom in the days before plastic became the popular, if not the only, option. Those simple brown bags reinforce the notion that Churchill’s is a simple neighborhood grocer– a place where you might not be able to get exotic spices, but where the cashier knows your name and remembers that you like apples. 

When you’re planning your packaging program, think about the nature of your business and the types of products you sell. Focus on how you want your customers to feel.

For luxe clothing boutiques, structured boxes, coordinating tissue and shiny Euro-totes with ribbon handles fit the packaging bill. Natural fiber bags printed with soy inks perfect for organic beauty stores.

These days, if you can think of it, someone can put your logo on it, so be thoughtful. Choose packaging that will make an impact and help your customers remember why they choose your store.

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Company Differentiates Itself from Major Retailer by Detailing Customer Experience

Wednesday, June 17th, 2009

You probably know the latest round of Best Buy commercials by now — the Best Buy employees are telling the stories of how they’ve interacted with customers to make their dreams come true.  The latest commercial in the series kicks it up a notch and takes Wal-Mart to task.

The employee is telling a story about a customer who calls in asking very specific questions about televisions. The employee asks the customer where they are calling from, and the customer replies Wal-Mart. See the whole spot here. (It starts at about the 14-second mark.)

Major ouch for Wal-Mart. Not only are they being portrayed as not being experts in electronics, but also as shoddy at customer service.

The sad fact for Wal-Mart is it’s true. I had the same experience when I went shopping for a new flat screen LCD television. I priced models at Target and Wal-Mart. Target was too expensive, and I couldn’t find anyone to answer my questions. At Wal-Mart, the prices were great, but I had questions. When I tried to ask the sales associate on the floor, not only did he initially brush me off, but when he finally got around to talking to me, it turned out that I knew more about the televisions than he did!

So I, like the customer in the commercial, went to Best Buy. I didn’t know about their price-match promise, and truthfully, it wouldn’t have mattered. The sales person (yes, I had to wait for a bit to speak with one, it was a busy day in the store) was attentive, answered all my questions, and actually talked me out of buying the more expensive set I was considering because their store brand had all the same features, and was manufactured by the same company, it just didn’t have the big name attached to it.

Score one for Best Buy.

I don’t know why I didn’t go there first… probably because I was fixated on Wal-Mart’s low prices. But I’m proof that people are willing to pay a little more for personal attention and great advice. And that’s a lesson we can all use when running our businesses. Counsel your customers/clients. Provide them with great information and honest feedback. This brings more value to their experience than you know, and it will be worth more to you in the long run with a satisfied, loyal customer who may one day turn in to your biggest cheerleader.

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