Customer Experience Basics

As a leader, your employees will look to you for guidance for what to do you in certain situations involving customers. They will most likely mimic your behavior. Ensure that, at a minimum, you demonstrate the following Customer Experience Basics.

Communication

While communicating with customers is at the heart of any business, (it’s all about relationship-building, right?) it’s important to make sure you are communicating the proper things.

A good place to start is by training your employees on the basics – things customers will inevitably ask.

• When did you open?
• Are there other locations?
• What are your hours?
• What did this building use to be?
• Are you hiring?
• Is there a pharmacy near here?
• Do you have vegetarian options?
• What is your return policy?
• I have a complaint. Who do I talk to?

From there, build your team’s knowledge of more intricate customer experiences. For instance…

• Are customers aware of the process for placing a special order?
• What about how long alterations typically take?
• If their food order is taking longer than usual, do they know why?

Remember, to a customer in a hurry (or a dissatisfied customer), sometimes there can be nothing more frustrating than an employee that doesn’t know their stuff. When in doubt, instruct your employees to issue a polite, “Let me find someone who has the right information to help you.”

Greet Every Customer

Make sure your employees do this in a genuine way. We’ve all been into stores where the person at the front is like a robot, just going through the motions in their role as “greeter.” So, put the right people at the door, and make sure to rotate your team around the store, so they don’t get bored, stale, or disinterested.

Even if a customer has been greeted by a greeter or hostess at your restaurant or bar, it doesn’t hurt for other team members to say “Hi!” At Ralph Lauren, we were instructed to treat every customer as if they were a guest in our home. Can you imagine walking by a guest in your home and not saying hello? We didn’t think so.