“Customer Experience? Don’t you mean customer service?” is a question that I am often asked. The answer is a clear “Yes…and No.”
Yes. Customer service is an extremely important component of the customer experience. No. They aren’t the same thing.
Customer Experience means much more than “servicing” the customer. It’s more than saying “Welcome to …” as they enter your establishment or “Did you find everything you were looking for?” to your customers at the checkout counter.
It’s about creating an experience for the customer which positively engages them emotionally during all of their interactions with the organization.
Colin Shaw and John Ivens, in their 2002 book, Building Great Customer Experiences, state “The customer experience is a blend of a company’s physical performance and the emotions evoked, intuitively measured against customer expectations across all moments of contact.”
The “experience” begins when customers set expectations as a result of your marketing, advertising, or their discussions with existing or former customers about their experiences.
The customer experience continues through all of the customers’ interactions with the organization as they utilize your services or purchase your products. This is where the practice of good customer service techniques come into play.
It ends when the customer reconciles their expectations with the reality of their encounter and then set new expectations for the future based on the “experience.”
Organizations that create an environment that positively engages their customers emotionally think from the Outside-In. Their entire operation is designed with the thought “What is best for the customer?” instead of what is most expedient for the organization, or Inside-Out.
What are the benefits of creating great customer experiences?
- Increased Revenue
- Reduced Expenses
- Competitive Advantage
Is your organization thinking Outside-In, or are you focused Inside-Out? Do you know what your customers are experiencing?
Robert Highbaugh Consulting
