Customer Engagement Starts (and Maybe Ends) with the Basics
WHY THESE STORIES?
In 2016, within the confines of corporate halls, there is a reasonable preoccupation with customer engagement, which I define as the “ongoing interactions between company and customer, offered by the company, chosen by the customer.” The reason for this preoccupation is that customers are more demanding than ever, are less trusting of the brands and the representation of the brands by the brands, and have much greater choice than ever before. Thus, businesses have to account for not just what the customer wants but what the customer expects from them in order to retain—achieve “ongoing interactions” leading to transactions—that customer.
But each individual customer has a set of expectations that aren’t by any means simple. They are driven by specific expectations of the brand, sure, but they are also driven by expectations shaped by the category that the brand resides in and of expectations owing to the customer’s life circumstances. Meaning, in both instances, not by the brand itself.
The other factor is that while we talk all day about “loving the customer” and “delighting the customer all the time,” the customer isn’t thinking that way. The bulk of customer interactions with a brand are utilitarian “get ’er done” interactions.
So what does that mean? In the case of my Dell experience, I had a laptop I wanted to order, and I realized that according to the expectations set by Dell itself, I could get it shipped to fit my needs if I paid a premium—and I did so gladly. After I had paid the several thousand dollars and the premium shipping costs, I found there was a four-day disparity between what I was told was likely and the actual projected delivery date. The most utilitarian of functions, shipping and delivery, damaged my relationship with Dell because they couldn’t meet the expectations that they had set for me.
In the other case, the Hudson Hotel, with all its chic, contemporary coolness, couldn’t meet my most basic, utilitarian expectations of a hotel: that it provide me with an adequate place to sleep and a reasonable place to conduct personal/business activities.
Both are examples of failed expectations related to what most of us do with the companies we’re involved with.
How important is meeting the basics? Listen to Brent Leary, managing principal of CRM Essentials and a preeminent thought leader in CRM:
“Companies like Amazon know how much it makes customers happy when the product they ordered is sitting on their front porch when they expect it, which is why they’re always looking for ways to improve distribution and logistics. No matter how great the product is, the overall customer experience can be undermined by missing this important expectation—leaving the door open for competitors who are more than glad to meet it.”
If a company or a category sets baseline expectations—such as the date is the date, or a room meets the standards of any hotel room—then meeting those baseline standards is far more important than doing anything extraordinary. The first and foremost principle of good customer engagement is this: A company needs to keep the ordinary, ordinary.
Since most customer-company relationships are utilitarian, the simple stuff customers expect—on-time delivery and seamless logistics, reasonable prices, questions answered in a timely fashion, merchandise being of the quality described, warranties as stated, frictionless communications—should happen with alacrity. A #FAIL with any of that is far worse than a delightful experience is good. When you ensure that the ordinary stays ordinary and basic expectations are met, you’ll have a customer who will stand by you and maybe even love you a little—not the way they love their friends or a significant other. But a little.
Don’t do that, and hey—what are you thinking about Dell and the Hudson Hotel now that I’ve told you what I’ve told you? You may still do business with them, but maybe not. And that’s not good for either of them, is it?
Paul Greenberg is the managing principal of The 56 Group, a customer strategy company. He is also the author of CRM at the Speed of Light, which is in nine languages and is currently in its fourth edition. He is the author of the upcoming Commonwealth of Self Interest, to be published later in 2016.