Jose Herrera, CEO & cofounder, Hire Horatio CX
Humans crave positive, shared interactions. In a podcast interview, Barbara Fredrickson, director of the Positive Emotions and Psychophysiology Lab at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill said, “It turns out that the parts of social interaction that really fuel us are ones when we co-experience positive emotions, and that shows up not only in a shared feeling but also in synchrony that emerges between people.” This synchronicity of happiness and delight is not only present in interpersonal relationships but also in meaningful customer interactions as well.
“Delighting customers” has almost become a cliche in the customer experience (CX) world, but behind this phrase is a powerful idea and very real reality: Creating an amusing and memorable experience can not only lead to better engagement but repeat interactions as well. Bringing in a daily dose of delight can seem like a heady notion if not approached with clear and concise methods.
Here are a few strategies that will help you authentically and effectively engage customers in a highly-enjoyable manner.
1. Empower your team to come up with creative solutions.
In CX, historically, many providers wanted agents to “stick to a script.” While this may lead to predictable results, this somewhat antiquated style of CX is stifling and does not help agents or your clients achieve the full potential of what could be an amazing client interaction. Rather than stifle agents, today’s cutting-edge CX teams believe in encouraging creativity.
A fine example of empowering customer service teams to use outside-of-the-box thinking comes from Ritz Carlton Hotels. Ritz-Carlton is so passionate about creative customer service that they give their individual employees an allotment of up to $2,000 per day to delight their guests with their service. This unique structure motivates agents to come up with innovative and unique solutions for individual issues. It also solidifies the “gold standard” treatment in their customers’ minds, as every solution is tailor-made for specific guest issues. This has proven to not only be highly effective for Ritz-Carlton, but they have had lasting success through the years because of this wonderful level of care. While a $2,000 daily budget to spend on problem-solving might not be feasible for all brands, the idea of having no “one size fits all” solution and encouraging creativity is crucial in fostering delightful customer experiences.
2. Personalize and curate the CX journey.
According to a 2021 McKinsey & Company report, 71% of consumers expect personalization, and 76% of consumers get frustrated when they don’t have it. These numbers are proof that one way to delight customers, which is much different from merely satisfying customers, is by recognizing them as individuals. Aim to have all messaging use a first name (rather than none at all).
Beyond this, CX agents—both AI and humans—should ask a number of pointed questions at the beginning of an interaction to get to know their customers. These answers should not fall into space. Rather, the customer’s responses should be recorded and used to come up with unique solutions or additional questions that show they understand said customers’ issues on a deeper and personal level.
3. Be true to your word.
Delighting customers can only really occur when a customer is at ease and trusts the person with whom they are speaking to. Not surprisingly, on average, customers are seven times more likely to buy from a brand they trust. Keeping your word and being specific about promises is important to your customer. If you promise to follow up with an email, be timely and prompt in doing so. Building trust is the first step to any level of comfort and, thereby, joyful customer interactions.
As the Harvard Business Review puts it, CX is “the sum-totality of how customers engage with your company and brand, not just in a snapshot in time, but throughout the entire arc of being a customer.” With this in mind, delighting customers on a regular basis and having a congenial foundation for your customer experience journey is a worthy north star for any CX team, big or small. It can lead not only to customer enjoyment but brand loyalty as well.
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