What is Customer Experience

For the past 2.5 years I have been gainfully employed as the SVP of Sales for Market Force Information, a firm that provides customer intelligence solutions to business-to-consumer companies, giving them the business intelligence they need to delight their customers. We enable our clients to SEE their business through their customer's eyes; to ACT with confidence and make the right decisions to GROW the bottom line.

So how do we do all of this? Well, we evaluate the customer experience from two viewpoints: first, the customer's perceptions and second, the operational realities that create those perceptions. (Remember these two because we are going to return to them shortly.) Finally, we identify actions required at the store level to improve customer loyalty and financial performance.

Okay, so let's talk customer perception. Not too long ago I was visiting our local GameStop, which is located in that small shopping complex just off of Roswell Rd. by Atlanta Ballet and Public's. You know the one - the one right between Papa John's and Starbucks. I was with my 12 year old daughter (Ellie) and she was looking at the "SIMS" line of games, but unfortunately at the ones that were age inappropriate. Brian, the store manager, helped me to convince Ellie that the games she was looking at were in fact not appropriate and confirmed that no other parent was buying those games for their 12 old daughters, or sons. He aligned with me and was my partner in helping me to keep my daughter aligned with the right level of games for her age. What do you think my perception of Brian and GameStop are as a result of that experience?

Another example: I walked into my favorite Panera Restaurant this morning at 6:30 a.m. to purchase a cup of coffee and a pastry. Pretty early in the morning, but I was met with the biggest smiles and hello's that you could ever imagine. Now I go in there on a fairly regular basis and I can tell you that this morning was no different than the first morning I walked into that restaurant over two years ago. They simply choose to be extraordinarily friendly and as a result I always find myself walking out of there with an equally huge smile on my face. What's that customer experience feel like?

You see, I've become very aware of what happens when I walk into a store, a restaurant, even my Doctor's practice. Let me give you an example of a retail store where my experience is often driven by one single individual. Joesph A. Banks on the corner of Weicua and Peachtree is a pretty typical men's retail clothing outlet where bargains and discounts are often the order of the day. I don't purchase a lot of things there, but I really like this one chap who always treats me like an individual, who always takes the time to chat and catch-up on family and how things are going with business. Yes, he is there is make a sale and he can always depend upon me to purchase from him, exclusively. I walk out of the store if he is not working at the time I visit. Two years ago during the Christmas season I purchased a leather jacket for my son Joseph. The jacket was $700 marked down to $450. I also purchased a couple of casual suits for myself, but when I went to check out I discovered the bill was significantly less than I had anticipated. Why? Because my favorite retailer (let's call him Andy) had slipped in an extra 50% off coupon on the leather jacket. Did he have to do that to close the sale? Was I even expecting him to do it? No, but in exchange for being a "loyal" customer (another term we need to examine)Andy took the hit on the sale. Guess where I still go today for my casual suits, and who I still exclusively deal with when I go into the store? An exceptional customer experience is what Andy strives to provide to every one of his customers, and believe me when I say that there are a cadre of customers who only deal with Andy when they visit that store.

So customer experience is both personal and emotional. It's that feeling you get in the bottom of your stomach when you know that you are being treated exactly as you want and expect to be treated when you frequent an establishment. It's the person in Starbucks who knows what you typically order when you walk in the door. It's the bartender who knows your favorite drink. It's that guy at the Marriott Courtyard in Louisville, Colorado who always remembers your name and always has the room you like to stay in reserved for you!

Notice I haven't mentioned any unpleasant experiences. Why? Because we all have them and they are just simply too easy to focus on. I would rather you focus on the outstanding experiences and think about how you nurture those experiences. Do you fill out the web survey and tell the company that you had a great experience? I do, every chance I get. I look for names and try to write them down so I can specifically call out an individuals extra care. We live in an "Experience Economy", but we often fail to appreciate the extra attention and care it takes to make an experience exceptional. Interestingly, we are equally reluctant to take the time to articulate unpleasant experiences as well, as least not to the stakeholders that care most about understanding what happened. Instead, we post to Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, Linkedin, etc. We tell our friends and business associates, but we don't complain to the landlords.

So at Market Force we help the landlords understand what is happening inside of their retail stores, their restaurants, their banks, their petrol stations and their motion picture theaters - we evaluate the customer experience from the perspective of the custoemr and then we examine the operational realities that created those perceptions; for example: were the toliets clean? Were the staff smiling and helpful? Was the popcorn hot? Was I offered a receipt? Did the young woman walk me to the asile that contained the product I had just inquired about? How long did I wait in the queue? Was my food hot when it arrived? How long did it take for a server to appear to take my order? Was my favorite ice cream in stock? Was the water clean when I went to clean the windscreen on my car? Operational realities!

So why am I rambling on about customer experience? Because it's important that we don't dismiss postive expereinces as being unimportant. You are loyal to certain businesses because of the experiences you enjoy when you visit those establishments. Why do people stay with the same Doctor for years? In fact, the reason that I go to Holy Spirit Catholic Church instead of the Catholic Church that I first attended when I arrived in Atlanta is down to the fact that my family and I find the "experience" at Holy Spirit more satisfying. It's not a spiritual thing, but the sense of community and belonging at Holy Spirit is powerful, and that is the experience that makes it more comfortable for us. And that sense of loyalty we feel towards Holy Spirit is something we share with every new Catholic we meet who is moving to our community. The same goes for you because loyalty drives word of mouth as well as return business. That is why it is such a powerful driver in business today. As Jeffrey Gitomer said in his book, "Customer Satisfaction is Worthless, Customer Loyalty is Priceless!"