De dame aan de telefoon van het energiebedrijf sluit het gesprek af; “Mevrouw, u krijgt straks een email met een vragenformulier. Hierin wordt ook gevraagd om een cijfer te geven. Dit is voor mijn persoonlijke beoordeling. Wat voor cijfer geeft u mij? Tussen de 0 en de 10?” Ik ben licht verbouwereerd, stamel ‘een negen’. Ze vraagt niet door over het waarom van dit cijfer en we hangen op. (dit is niet precies wat er is gezegd, maar zeker wel de strekking)
Is dit nieuw? Dat de call center agent eerst vraagt naar het cijfer? Voor mij was het duidelijk de eerste keer en ik snap er echt niks van. Vanuit CX benoem ik dit als rare praktijken.
Erop terugkijkend herken ik drie gevallen van Gaming, die ik een eigen naam heb gegeven. (Gaming is het beïnvloeden van scores (NPS, CSAT, CES, en ga zo maar door))
Het effect van vragen naar het cijfer en dat dit belangrijk is voor haar persoonlijke beoordeling. Dat noemen we bribery.
Het effect dat ik overvallen wordt door deze vraag en haar persoonlijk niet afval zo aan de telefoon. Dus een relatief hoog cijfer geef, terwijl het gesprek dit echt niet waard was. Dit noemen we het effect van social desirability.
Het eerst melden dat ik een enquête krijg en het me daarna persoonlijk vragen. Dit noemen we ‘framing’ , met als effect dat ik de enquête invul. En ze dus een hogere respons rate krijgen
Wat voor mij het meest frappante is, dat ik een halve dag na het gesprek nog geen enquete heb ontvangen.
Ook vraag ik me af waarom ik eigenlijk nog een enquête moet krijgen. Hebben ze geen speech analytics waarmee ze het cijfer zo uit het gesprek kunnen halen? En wat natuurlijk nog frappanter is, dat de medewerkster wel het cijfer vraagt, maar het niet zelf in het systeem mag zetten. Wat trouwens vaak ook Gaming veroorzaakt, want wat is fijner dan jezelf een hoger cijfer geven. Zeker als het per ongeluk een keertje laag is ?
Het belangrijkste bij het vragen naar klantfeedback is natuurlijk nieuwsgierigheid naar Wat ik als klant heb ervaren. Niet de uitkomst in een cijfer. Dat is waar het mis gaat. Zucht. Diepe zucht.
Nu ben ik benieuwd. Welke vormen van Gaming heb jij de afgelopen weken ervaren? Die helemaal niet om nieuwsgierigheid gingen, maar puur om een zo hoog mogelijk cijfer?
** Nienke Bloem is expert in Customer Experience (CCXP), zowel als lecturer van een twee daagse CX Masterclass ter voorbereiding op je CCXP examen, als Keynote Speaker en co-founder van de customer experience game. Wil je meer blogs lezen? Bezoek haar website of schrijf je in voor haar maandelijkse CX Greetz. **
** Natuurlijk ben ik benieuwd naar jouw reactie en deel vooral deze blog in jouw netwerk! **
https://www.nienkebloem.nl/wp-content/uploads/sites/142/2020/11/Gaming-voor-een-hogere-NPS.jpeg400400Nienke Bloemhttps://cluster.swstatic.nl/wp-content/uploads/sites/142/2021/03/Nienke-Bloem-Logo1.pngNienke Bloem2019-09-09 17:56:392022-01-25 14:34:58Gaming voor een hogere NPS
When I hear the title of this movie, what comes to my mind, is Clint Eastwood on a horse and the great title song with the whistle in it. A real spaghetti western which was taped long before I was even born. But I love the movie, the plot and of course the title. It is the silly season in the Netherlands. Summer holidays, and there is not much news going on, and the good thing is that many people enjoy some well-deserved time off. To recharge, to enjoy quality time with their family and to enjoy themselves basically. I hope you too or maybe you have already returned back to the office. This holiday I decided to rethink my customer experiences in the past. When looking back, what are the THREE customer experiences that I really remember, that stand out? Whether they were good, bad or ugly.
We have so many customer experiences. Actually, we have them every day. Same goes for me. Working on my laptop, browsing the web, doing groceries, having lunch at a restaurant, calling my provider, booking a ticket, I could go on and on and on. But what are the ones that really stand out, positive or negative?! In this blog my summary of the top 3 Good, Bad and Ugly since the moment I became an entrepreneur (January first, 2015) and the emotions that go with it. And I must be honest, I am not the one that is too fond on sharing the bad and ugly ones, because of the great impact I might have with my exposure. But let’s be honest, it is my duty as a customer experience pro and speaker to tell it as it is. So here they are.
The Good
Still my very best customer experience is my flight to Adelaide with Emirates. Of course, I relive it a lot, because I share the magic in my keynote ‘Great customer experiences don’t happen by accident’. But everything about it was perfect. I loved the digital information on the website, the ease of booking, the pre-flight information, the picking up by a limo to bring me to the airport, the stop over and the lounge in Dubai, the upgrade to first class, the service on the plane, the photo they made with a polaroid, the coming home, the survey I filled out and… the way they reacted on the survey. They reacted on the survey. Yes, that is what I am writing. One of the few companies that reacted on a survey I filled out. What a brilliant Customer Experience. I still remember the names of two flight attendants. Miriam and Gigi. That is what happens when customer experiences are great. I loved everything about this experience, it inspired me and it sparked joy. A lot of joy. If you want to read more, see some pictures, read my blog I wrote on it.
The Bad
This was a difficult one to pick, because I had so many bad experiences. But for the worst of them all, we have to go back three years, when I ordered a book through Amazon. That was not the issue, but the issue was that I needed it fast. So, I chose for express delivery and I would receive it in two days. I received a text message indicating at what time the package would arrive. Of course, I waited at home. You probably guess what happened. No package. So, I called and they couldn’t trace the package. From that moment I entered Purgatory, the place close to hell. Yes, that rimes to DHL, which is the company I am talking about. They promised to deliver the book three times, never came at the moment they promised, their social service on Twitter was messy, to say the least. They even explained to me their whole process in direct messages (like I care, just deliver the book) and after four days the package arrived. I had spent over three hours on the phone, no chat, but Twitter, and the crazy thing was, once I finally had the book, I still received texts to tell me when the book would be delivered. I still fume when I think about it, kind of shocked. I have learned their internal processes, their internal business lines and many people that hide behind all of the above. Brrr. The book I ordered was good though: “Must win battles” by J. Killing, Thomas Malnight and Tracey Key.
The Ugly
Well, this is where it gets really messy. The first time in my life that I had to go to court when it comes to my own customer experience. I watch customer rights programs always with an ambiguous feeling. First of all, a feisty powerful feeling that I admire the consumers that bring their issues to these programs. But secondly a nauseous feeling, one of disgust that businesses don’t help their customers and that these customers have to bring it to a tv studio to get what is rightfully theirs. I just can’t understand businesses, that won’t help customers. PERIOD. But they do exist. Listen to my story and NO, I didn’t go on national tv with it. In 2015 I bought a car at Avi Automakelaardij, and I loved the car in an instant. But after a month I had the first issues and my local car mechanic found out that the mileage had been reversed. I contacted the car broker I bought the car from, right away. Because in Dutch law it is the obligation of the car trader to check the mileage and as a consumer, I could annul the sale, which I did. He didn’t want to help me in any way. My car got more failures, even had a motor issue in the end (no driving any more). Still the car dealer didn’t help out. So, I had to get to court to get my right. It was an awful phase in my life (what was I doing in court?!) and I still cannot believe the business owner went as far as to court, instead of helping me out. Yes, he lost the case, had to pay all costs. But no sorry, no excuse. Thinking back of it, I still feel sadness, anger and most of all the frustration of the process.
What is incredible and good to bear in mind? That is that both the Bad and the Ugly happened in 2016. THREE years ago. I even wrote about them in a blog. As I have written them down now, they are what comes to mind. They are the memory of the customer experience. It is not at all factual, but colored with emotions. Like what happens in CX. What feels good, can feel even better after months or years. And what felt awful, bad or ugly, could still feel frustrating now. While writing this, I went to have a look at Plutchik’s wheel of emotion. I learned about this for the first time in the course Learn-to-Customer-Journey-Map-in-One-Day by Conexperience and I have used it a lot since. Because it helps to color in emotions even more. In this wheel, you find many emotions. Not just the happy or sad ones, but all their varieties. Good to use while journey mapping, but also for the next step in this blog.
What I would like you to do is think of your Good, Bad and Ugly customer experiences and find the two emotions per experience. For the wheel, click here. Take ten minutes, write down the Good, Bad and Ugly, as well as your emotions. This is good for you and your own business. What kind of emotions did you experience? Do you know that you might be giving these experiences to your customers and the emotions that come with them? And most important, how did you deal with your emotions? Know your customers have to deal with their emotions too and might lash out on contact center agents or store employees. A good exercise of emotions to walk in your own shoes as a customer and to get out of the traditional business context. Of course, feel free to share your stories and experiences with me in the comments. Let’s learn and grow together. And for now, I am whistling the soundtrack of the Good, the Bad and they Ugly for you. Happy and hopeful greetz from the Netherlands.
** Nienke Bloem is an expert in Customer Experience (CCXP), both as Keynote Speaker, teacher of the 2 day CX Masterclass to prepare you for the CCXP exam and she is co-founder of the customer experience game. Do you want to read her blogs or learn more about her? Visit her website or subscribe to her monthly CX Greetz. **
** Feel free to comment on this blog and share it in your community! **
https://www.nienkebloem.nl/wp-content/uploads/sites/142/2020/11/The-good-the-bad-and-the-ugly.jpeg400400Nienke Bloemhttps://cluster.swstatic.nl/wp-content/uploads/sites/142/2021/03/Nienke-Bloem-Logo1.pngNienke Bloem2019-08-06 14:56:232022-01-25 14:34:58The good, the bad and the ugly
Mijn nieuwe bank zou worden geleverd. Ruim zeven weken later dan gepland. Er was iets met stoffen (of het ontbreken ervan), leveringsissues en gedoe in de fabriek in Italië. Helemaal netjes ging de communicatie niet, máár er was goed nieuws. De bank was in Nederland en stond bij het transportbedrijf.
Ik werd gebeld door een vriendelijke dame, die vroeg wanneer het schikte om de bank te bezorgen. Nu had ik op de dag dat de aflevermannen in Utrecht zouden zijn, al een lunchafspraak staan. Dus ja, ze konden komen tussen 11.30 en 12.00 uur, maar ik moest écht om 12.30 uur weg. Vriendelijk vertelde ze mij: “Ik sta ervoor in dat de mannen op tijd zijn. Dat beloof ik u.” Hmmm, hele klare taal. Maar toch: zou dit goed gaan? Een dag van tevoren zou ik een e-mail ontvangen, met daarin de bevestiging en het moment van levertijd. “En als u die e-mail ontvangt, maakt u zich dan geen zorgen. Want er zal worden vermeld dat we leveren tussen 11 en 12 uur. Dat betekent voor u dat we er rond 11.30 uur zijn. Echt, ik beloof het u gewoon nog een keer.”
Tuurlijk. Niet helemaal gerustgesteld had ik ondertussen tegen mijn lunchafspraak gezegd dat ik waarschijnlijk iets verlaat zou zijn. Want ja, je weet het natuurlijk nooit met verkeer, bezorgers en afspraken. De e-mail arriveerde in mijn mailbox met exact de zin over de tijden erin, zoals de aardige mevrouw had aangekondigd. Ook gaven ze me in diezelfde e-mail een tip: als ik met pin wilde betalen, moest ik even checken wat mijn daglimiet was, want daar ging het nog weleens mis. De suggestie was om hierover even contact op te nemen met mijn bank, aangezien dit eenvoudig was aan te passen. Ha! Dát is meedenken met mij als klant. Want ik had inderdaad geen idee wat mijn daglimiet was. Ik logde in bij mijn bank en binnen een poep en een zucht was mijn daglimiet geschikt voor de transactie morgen.
Vrijdagochtend, 11.00 uur. De telefoon gaat. Een voor mij onbekend 06-nummer. Een naar voorgevoel bekruipt me. Zouden ze toch te laat zijn? “Hallo mevrouw, hier uw bezorger. We rijden nu uit Woerden weg. En zijn dus ruim op tijd in Utrecht, zodat u naar uw lunchafspraak kan om 12.30 uur.”
Sprakeloos. Met een grote glimlach. Niet alleen had de planmevrouw mijn wensen in het systeem gezet, de bezorgers hadden het ook gelezen en er rekening meegehouden. Chapeau TS Meubeltransport. De bezorgers bleken tevens perfecte monteurs. De bank staat, ze namen alle verpakkingszooi mee en ik was ruim op tijd bij mijn lunch. Het kan dus wél!
Dit blog werd geschreven voor CustomerFirst en gepubliceerd op 5 juni 2019
“Nienke, zullen we het gewoon een keer niet over Coolblue hebben? Zijn er geen andere gave voorbeelden als het gaat over customer experience?” Een opmerking uit een recente Customer Experience Masterclass.
Het zou kunnen dat er Coolblue-moeheid is in de wereld van de klantbeleving. En ja, dat snap ik. Altijd maar die merkbelofte, dat ‘Alles voor een glimlach’. Altijd maar die Pieter Zwart, eindbaas to the max. Bijna irritant. Maar ik moet eerlijk zijn: ze zijn ook goed. Niet een beetje, maar in de categorie ‘Goed, Beter’ zijn zij de allerBeste.
Een voorbeeld uit de praktijk en zo zijn er waarschijnlijk vele. Mijn laptop crashte. Goed waardeloos, want weg levenslijn met de wereld. Er moest dus gelijk een vervanger komen. Maar welke? Voor sommigen is het uitzoeken van een nieuwe een genot. Maar ik ben meer van de categorie ‘harde vloek, shit, alles straks opnieuw installeren’ en ‘o o o wat ben ik blij dat ik alles in de cloud heb staan’. Want zo slim ben ik dan weer wel.
Dus wie bel je dan? Juist, Coolblue. Ik had even gekeken op de website, maar had toch een hulplijn nodig. Binnen no-time werd de telefoon beantwoord door Aron. In slechts een paar vragen leidde hij mij tot de juiste selectie. Een HDMI-aansluiting (echt, ze maken nog laptops zonder, hoe is het mogelijk?!), minimaal twee USBaansluitingen, een grafische kaart en een 13 inch-scherm. Dat was het en ik wilde het apparaat snel hebben. “Hoe snel?”, vroeg Aron. Hij stelde zijn vraag om 18.45 uur ’s avonds. Mijn laptop kon ik de volgende ochtend om 8.30 uur ophalen bij het postkantoor op de hoek. En zo geschiedde: ik typ deze column op mijn vanmorgen opgehaalde, nog glimmende laptop.
Ik ben verre van Coolblue-moe. Ik ben fan en wel om vijf redenen. Allereerst blinken ze uit in Vriendelijkheid; de tone of voice is alsof ik een goede vriend aan de telefoon heb. Nummer twee is Betrouwbaarheid – ik weet dat als ik iets aan ze vraag, dat ze er voor me zijn. De derde reden is Slimheid. Aron wist precies de juiste vragen te stellen. Dan komt Snelheid; hoe goed heb je je proces op orde, zodat je binnen 14 uur de laptop ter plaatse hebt? Helden. En als allerlaatste, nummero vijf: de Leukheid. Coolblue is een tof bedrijf met toffe mensen. Die glimlach hebben ze bij mij altijd te pakken.
Dus ja, misschien is het voorbeeld uitgekauwd. Wordt het tijd voor een nieuwe CX-ster aan het firmament. Daarom daag ik jullie allemaal uit om mij als klant net zo blij te maken als Coolblue dat elke keer doet. Eitje toch?
Dit blog werd geschreven voor CustomerFirst en gepubliceerd op 8 mei 2019
… why you are getting it all wrong when it comes to the visual revolution
We are in the age of the visual revolution. Sorry? What? Yes, visuals are the bomb. Not just a little bit, but all over the place. Where Instagram is growing like crazy, YouTube is the second largest search engine and even LinkedIn is growing when it comes to images and video.
A real big chance for everybody. Not only telling how good your products and services are, but also showing it with images. Because images speak louder than words; right?
Let’s dive a little deeper where it tends to get ugly when it comes to visuals.
Let’s go on a cruise
This April I went on a cruise. In 2016 we cruised with Carnival Cruises, which was a big eye opener and fun and brilliant customer experience (on which I blogged). So in 2019 we wanted to push it a little, go on a longer cruise and see more islands. We changed to Celebrity Cruises, because their ships were newer, the destinations fitted and the whole look and feel of the website, matched with what I was longing for.
This is where it all went wrong. Please take a look on their website: I am curious what you see and what impression you get? Well I got the impression of modern luxury (which is also what they promise, as one of the guest relations officers told me) and the website shows guests like me.
The Stereotype Exercise
Now, let’s do a small exercise that I learned at Disney Institute. The Stereotype exercise. When you think of cruising and the typical customer. What things come to mind? Before I type any further, you could pick up pen and paper, but you can also keep reading. I will join you in your mind.
When I stereotype cruising and their guests, I think of an older population, a little grey-haired to be honest. Pensioners, who love jewelry and play bridge. They are grandparents, children moved out of the home. Who want to experience luxury and comfort and want to dine with captain Stubing (little joke).
Our experience in 2016 was really different. Carnival is known for their fun and they attract a young crowd. That is also what their website shows when it comes to visuals. Now let’s switch back to Celebrity. When I glance at their visuals on the website or their Instagram, I see people like me. Young, okay, this is debatable ?, but between 40 and 55. Young, right?! A young crowd who enjoys life, who likes to explore and have new adventures. This is what they market, this is what they sell on their website.
Different expectations
So imagine entering the boarding area in Fort Lauderdale, where the first impression was… An old peoples home. The stereotype we just imagined. Yes, we saw canes, walking racks and wheelchairs. That is not any issue, but I booked this holiday with a different expectation. Praise the lord there were younger people aboard, but they were scarce. And that was a real pity for my daughter of twenty, who I brought along. Yes, we had a great holiday, but thinking back of the Carnival Cruise and the fun we had with most of the guests; I wish we booked with them.
During the cruise, we shared tables with many people and for example had a chat with a couple (in their 70s) who were on their tenth cruise with Celebrity. Yes, they admitted Celebrity is known for a little older crowd. That is what they liked and why they came back. Again and again. And we had many more chats like that.
Disappointment
The fourth day of the cruise, I decided to have a conversation with guest relations. Because it somehow itched that the cruise was marketed in a way, which wasn’t delivered. I explained my disappointment and the lady behind the desk spoke these words “Yes, we have an older population on board. If you would have liked a younger cruise, you should have booked Royal Caribbean.” What?! Really?!
While I am writing this, I feel the same emotions again. Those of frustration and disappointment. You sell me a cruise with a certain expectation, I book online, I have to let you know who I travel with (a twenty-year-old), you give no advice and then a little twat behind the desk tells me this. My oh my.
Where did it go wrong from an organizational customer experience point of view?
Honor your clients
I think the marketeers of Celebrity Cruises are all pretty young and hip. Chances are they hire other hip website builders, travelers and influencers to create visuals and tell stories. Probably the board wants to rejuvenate their passengers. Marketing most certainly works with personas, but I don’t think the older traveler is in there. They aim for young, as shows their website and Instagram.
Now comes the truth and nothing but the truth. Be happy with your clients. Give them the credits they deserve. Because these older guests are filling your pockets. Make sure you show reality in your visuals. Not just polishing it up with models and stock photo’s you use now. Show your real customers in your visuals. Give them the place they deserve on your website, Instagram and Facebook.
Because what happened with me, is not an N=1 (just one traveler) situation. We had a conversation with over ten other young guests, and they had the same experience as we had. They were also not coming back on Celebrity. At least not in the next twenty years ?, as at that age we fit their age group in a better way.
My dear marketeers, when you show pictures that are too far from the truth, you are the reason why customers get disappointed. Guest relations can’t fix it down the line. They can only fix it with some extra’s, but you are two steps behind.
Be real
Does this only happen in the travel industry? NO. This is the hard truth in many areas of visual marketing. For example, have a look at websites of golf courses. The pictures are beautiful. The sun is rising. Greens look so green. Bunkers are all raked meticulously. And the most surprising thing; almost never do you see any people golfing. It could be a very young and slim couple, but most often these golf courses are photographed at moments of total ‘nobodyness’.
Reality is different. Most golf courses host many flights of golfers. There are PEOPLE on a golf course. Not models, but people like me, my mom and dad. Normal people.
Of course, you want to look your best on a website. You want to show things on a sunny day. Literally and metaphorically. But don’t overdo it. Make sure it looks great, but also real. Because if you don’t: reality will hit and create disappointment down the line.
So, my plea is: do the reality check. Take a look at your website and other social channels where you use visuals like YouTube, Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest. Are you telling the truth, or should you take it down a notch? Me and my fellow customers would appreciate the real story. Thank you.
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… or should I say, Employee Experience? Yes, I have been wondering what the title of this blog should be and I chose the one on Customer Experience. Just because I had to choose. If you think after reading this blog, it should be the other way around. Let me know!
The 22ndof January 2019. A big day: I was going to visit Zappos. I was excited, because I had heard so much about the company, I follow them on Instagram (@ZapposCulture) and of course read the book “Delivering Happiness”. This day I was going to see it myself. Would it be a big hit or would it be a disappointment? I had no idea, so the excitement was real.
The first impression of the building was a little bit of a downer. The building isn’t a beauty of a building, it used to be the city hall of Las Vegas. It is a building like any other and they have tried to make it look happy, with some pictures, but I am honest, the building and the square didn’t deliver any happiness to me.
A little side step: I arrived in Las Vegas two days before and I had plenty time to stroll around the city. If you ever visited the city or have seen some pictures, you know that especially the strip is kind of a crazy place. A miniature Eiffel tower, Venetian gondola’s; everything for entertainment. My hotel was on the strip and I brought some crackers and as I am trying to eat healthy, I was looking for an avocado to spread on my cracker. As I walked the strip for more than two hours, there was not avocado to be found. Yes, I could gamble, drink, eat, buy souvenirs, but no avocado there.
Let’s go back to the Zappos experience. When you enter the building, you are pleasantly surprised. The colored Lego wall, the merchandise, the wall with the company’s story; the whole atmosphere is breathing the FUN Zappos feeling. Want to have an impression?
Megan was my tour guide and we started with the history of the company. A company pride movie, some examples of wow employee experiences, like the “snowman prank” and the CEO living in a trailer. It was a set up of the real tour, where they gave me the Zappos experience. We couldn’t visit the customer service department, but I saw HR, the way the company is set up, their fitness studio (in the former prison), their restaurant and their Aquarium resting area. Really!
When we passed the square during our tour. I saw at the main square a drawing of an Avocado, saying “AvocaDO”. I giggled and told Megan, that Las Vegas was more of an AvocaNO city. I shared my experience of the hunt for an avocado and we laughed together.
As my tour ended, I had two interviews with leaders of the company. To learn more about Customer Experience strategies, about listening to customers, about how it is to work in the company. As I was starting my first interview, Megan entered the room with a little bag with two avocado’s. “For you”, as she presented them with a big smile. How about that? Putting the magic around one of their values: “Deliver WOW through service”. Easy does it with a big result. Zappos does deliver WOW.
So, a nice story, and Zappos puts its money where its mouth is. So you have a first impression. But what did I learn and what can you learn from this shoe selling company? I decided to give you a list of ideas. You can pick yourself, what is applicable. What resonates with you. And I am honest. The longer I write, the more comes to mind. So be prepared, somewhere this year, I will publish blog number two about this topic ?
Choose your values: Zappos has their ten core values and they are everywhere. Where of course their most known value is “Deliver Wow through Service”. The other nine are just as important for the employees.
Hire the right employees: “It is easier to get into Harvard, than to work at Zappos” Zappos receives thousands of job applications every half year. They only want the right people to work for them. The ones that fit the company, the ones that are motivated.
Take time for onboarding: new employees get a four-week onboarding and training, where they work for three weeks in the contact center. Yes, everybody. Whether you start working in IT or in Accountancy: you will start in the contact center, so you know your customers and what their lifes are about.
Test if new employees get it: once a new employee has done his onboarding, at Zappos that is the moment they have to go for THE test. This test is crucial, because if you don’t score 90%, you don’t pass and are asked to leave. The test is about culture and values, computer systems and how to behave on the phone.
Make new employees choose: when employees have finished their onboarding, they get the offer of a month’s salary to leave the company. Yes, you read this right. If you stay, you don’t get it. They only want people that really want to work for Zappos.
10 hour rule in the holiday season. Everybody has to help the contact center for ten hours. Everybody. EVERYBODY. Sorry to that bold, but this is magic. It is already magic when colleagues from IT would listen in some companies, Zappos takes it to the next level.
Honor employees and the years they work for you: every five years you work at Zappos, you get a plate with your name on it in a certain color. First five years is blue, five to ten is red, etcetera. These nameplates hang at the desks, so you can see who works there and for how long they are with Zappos.
Serendipitous Collisions: the Zappos building has ten floors and on one floor, there are drinks, on the other floor there are snacks. So people have to move to get a drink or something to eat. By doing so, they will meet people from other departments, and they hang out together.
Create business money. Zappos has their own monetary system; Zollars. Yes, where dollars and Zappos meet. You can earn Zollars in several ways and spend them in their own Zappos way.
Zappos Merchandise: not only can you buy Zappos merchandise as visitor, they also have their own little Zappos store for employees, varying from a t-shirt to a bicycle. Zappos branded of course: here you can spend your earned Zollars.
Co-working Bonus program: employees can grant colleagues a bonus of 50 Zollars for doing nice things for each other, or if they helped out customers in a brilliant way.
Department of Celebration: in case there is something to celebrate, from birthday to wedding. At Zappos they have a catalogue where you can order everything you need to celebrate. For example, you can order balloons with a card and they are delivered to the desk of the person who is celebrating.
Bring fun in the IVR: when you call Zappos you get the choice to either press one to talk to a representant or two to hear the joke of the day. My goodness, I love this one.
Organize fitness: at Zappos they have their own fitness studio (in the former prison, so funny) and they have also yoga and boxing classes. You earn points that you can spend in a special Zfit store.
Tech Support: in the cafeteria Zappos has a special desk for technical help. You can bring your laptop there and they make sure you are on your way as soon as possible.
Bring values in yearly reviews: as an employee you are asked how you score on the core values and also peers will rate you. You can pick the core values that fit you best, because you don’t have to score all ten.
Stimulate change: at Zappos they have investors that help employees who have ideas in an investor board. So these investors help employees with money to grow their ideas.
Help employees as entrepreneurs: at Zappos they have a class called ‘48 Hour Founders’. People can pitch (like in Sharktank) to a group and when your idea is picked, you work it out with colleagues and a business coach. In 48 hours you will grow your idea forward and pitch to the Investor Board.
Teambuilding: every month employees get a budget of 50 dollars to go out and have fun. Plan it yourself and create a team and a family feeling. You can also save it a couple of months, to do something more elaborate.
Family time: every quarter of a year a family movie night is organized for employees and their families. So, the focus is not only on the employees, but their families are engaged too.
Measure because than you know: HR measures every quarter of a year how employees are feeling and to learn what they can do better. The insights are shared with everybody by company email. And a follow up by HR on the actions is always done.
Shadowing: if an employee is curious about another role in the company, they can shadow a colleague in that role for two days, to learn what the job is about. During my tour, a colleague of the Customer Service department shadowed Megan to learn about being a tour guide.
Continuous focus on customer interaction: everyone at Zappos understands that every interaction counts. That means that the focus is almost mindfully at the customer in that moment. No average call handling times or other internal metrics that can harm the connection.
Quality assurance: Zappos has a dedicated team that listens to live calls to learn and give advice and suggestions to agents. The focus is on learning, improving and customer happiness.
Values and the floors: where they have ten floors and ten values. They dedicated one value to every floor. This is visible and just a touch of connection.
Focus on making it effortless: the managers or leads are focused on making living the core values as effortless as possible. Employees should be able to deliver on these as easy as possible.
Create photo opportunities on your premises: as we are in the Instagram Era and people love taking pictures. Help them and create beautiful spots for photos. I love this place at Zappos where they have painted unicorn wings.
This is my special gift, just for YOU! I decided to create an e-zine about the biggest learnings. Know that Zappos focuses on Employee Experience to grow Customer Experience. Interesting! Download this visually attractive e-zine and pick yourself: what learnings are most applicable for your organization? What resonates with you? I am very curious which lessons inspire you most. Please feel free to send me an email with your insights!
** Nienke Bloem is an expert in Customer Experience (CCXP), both as Keynote Speaker, teacher of the 2 day CX Masterclass to prepare you for the CCXP exam and she is co-founder of The Customer Experience Game and The Employee Experience Game.**
** Feel free to comment on this blog and share it in your community! **
Don’t want to miss any of my blogs? Then subscribe to my monthly CX Greetz!
https://www.nienkebloem.nl/wp-content/uploads/sites/142/2020/11/The-Avocado-Story.jpeg400400Nienke Bloemhttps://cluster.swstatic.nl/wp-content/uploads/sites/142/2021/03/Nienke-Bloem-Logo1.pngNienke Bloem2019-03-27 12:41:112022-01-25 14:34:59The avocado story and 27 other reasons why Zappos rocks in Customer Experience
Disney – we all know the brand, and I have visited their theme parks several times. Both in Paris as well as in Orlando. But how do they consistently deliver their Disney Magic? This year I decided to invest in myself and learn more and follow one of Disney Insitute’s couses. A separate company, dedicated to spreading Disney’s knowledge through training and advice.
I followed a One-Day course at Anaheim, the Disneyland location. The very first location of all Disney parks, where Walt Disney himself had his vision and where he put it in practice.
The whole day was well organized, starting very early with breakfast at 7:30 AM. From the moment I entered the training room, the Disney touch was there, including plenty of Mickey shaped confetti on the table. There was a workbook for all participants and a refillable Disney water bottle.
This program was focused on how to consistently deliver quality service to your clients, based on your own brand. This is exactly how I envisage my A.C.E. Strategy that I speak and write about:
Authentic experiences from your unique brand perspective, consistently delivered during the customer journey, by Employee Ambassadors who understand and can deliver the service to customers.
It was fabulous to see how Disney puts that into practice and together with 47 other participants, I learned all about this at Disney Institute. Besides the theoretical part, we also went into the park itself (although short) to see and experience the theory ourselves (also known as a Customer Safari).
I have written about ten pages full of insights, quotes and memorable stories. As you are probably not waiting for all of my notes, here are the three major insights I got from the course:
1. Purpose over Task
At Disney everybody is educated by the spirit of Walt Disney and learns about the common purpose of Walt Disney Parks and Resorts: “We create happiness by providing the finest in entertainment for people of all ages, everywhere” in short “Creating Happiness for Others”
It was interesting to learn the origin of this purpose, with a big role of new person to me: Van France, Founder and Professor Emeritus of Disney Universities. What was even more interesting, was that in the Disney Philosophy, every employee has the freedom to create happiness for guests. That means that in a service moment, where the guidelines are clear for a specific task, there is room to make an exception. The employee may decide to follow his/her gut and go for happiness instead. To be “off task” and “on purpose”.
They gave an example about a girl called Alice who visited the park. The Disney employee asked why she was sad, as she had a birthday pin on. So she told them that yes, it was her birthday, but all her friends had to cancel, because of illness and other appointments. But she decided to go to Disney anyway. The employee did all she could to create a special moment in a restaurant, where characters of Alice in Wonderland (see the alignment ?) were present and celebrated with her. Because, in Disney there are always friends and a birthday should always be celebrated.
Should the member of staff do this all the time? No. But was it appropriate at this moment and she had every reason to be “off task” (which was providing service at an attraction) and “on purpose” to go out of her way and arrange a perfect birthday celebration for Alice. Of course, Alice still visits Disney often, made new friends, and is an ambassador forever.
So the lesson here is: What is the purpose of your company and which are situations where your employees go the extra mile? Do you have such brilliant stories within your company; those everlasting customer stories that make you feel proud and cause a smile on everybody’s face?
2. Prioritize Quality Standards
When I am visiting companies, I am always interested in what they want to deliver to their customers. Often, we are creating a customer compass or a customer charter. With three to five (up to seven, but that is exceptional) customer promises or brand values that are specific for the brand and that align all employees towards the same customer experiences.
In Disney they have four Quality Standards, also known as “The Four Keys”. Courtesy, Safety, Show and Efficiency. A very interesting assignment during the course, was to prioritize these four keys. Because, in the way Disney teaches their employees, they need to know what is important to make consistent decisions. So each of these standards is equally important (don’t ever say the fourth is least important… ?), but there is a logical Disney order. And that is
Safety
Courtesy
Show
Efficiency
This sounds so logical to apply a prioritization, but I have never done it this way. So from now on, prioritization will be added as an option to the Nienke Bloem CX toolkit.
3. Seriously organize your service recovery
Things can go wrong. Even at Disney things go wrong, but they make it their task to recover what needs to be recovered. I like the description: “Service Recovery is an event that occurs when the customer’s expectations are not met.”
For Disney it is important to pursue the relationship with the customer, which has great impact on their view of service recovery, or as I see it named in companies’ “Complaints” procedures. At Disney they don’t want to just resolve the issue, but they want to reconciliate the relationship.
Because guests are likely to care just as much – if not more – about how they are treated following the service failure as they care about the outcome of a service recovery itself.
So what Disney has done is to put processes and systems in place on service recovery. Of course they also have the outer loop and are continuously improving their operations and systems, but as they pursue the same consistency in service recovery as in their daily service, they have thought about everything.
On this topic we had a guest speaker who told so many compelling service recovery stories, that really proved that Disney has this under control. And she closed off with the following: “Things can go wrong, they might not be our fault, but they are our problem.”
The ownership of service issues, of things that went wrong, that is where Disney steps up and makes the difference.
My question for you, is how are service recovery processes organized in your company? Do you have the same drive for service recovery and do people take ownership? Is the How(the way) just as important or maybe even more so than the What (the solution)? If you can answer: “Yes!”, hurray for you, as you joined Disney in customer obsession. If you have to answer: “No”, you’ve got work to do!
These were my three major insights and I will take them along and incorporate them in my consulting, writing, presenting and teaching practices. So, you can expect more on Disney and my findings in the common months.
Disney rocks! They want to differentiate themselves from the market. They are a premium brand and strive for consistent delivery of their four quality standards every day. I want to challenge you to go the Disney way. Is there one of these three insights, that spark your imagination and make you ambitious enough to step up the customer experience in your company? Reach out to me or please share in the comments which of the three insights it is for you, so I also learn which appeals the most.
Don’t want to miss any of my blogs? Then subscribe to my monthly CX Greetz!
https://www.nienkebloem.nl/wp-content/uploads/sites/142/2020/11/What-did-I-learn-at-Disney-Institute.jpeg400400Nienke Bloemhttps://cluster.swstatic.nl/wp-content/uploads/sites/142/2021/03/Nienke-Bloem-Logo1.pngNienke Bloem2019-02-18 11:58:232022-01-25 14:34:59What I learned at Disney Institute: my three major insights of graduating the course ‘Disney’s Approach to Quality Service’
“What companies do you want to visit and learn from their CX secrets?”
“Where do you get new material for your speeches and masterclasses?”
Three random questions I got from CX peers and personal friends. Very valid questions, because I am a teacher to others, inspire others, get them to act. But occasionally my material also needs to be refreshed.
The inspiration is out there in daily life. That’s what I often blog about, but I also have to stay ahead. Bring best practices to my business to help others. So that was the WHY behind my CX study trip.
In this YouTube video I explain the Why and How of the trip and give you the insights how you could organize it yourself ?. Because, let me be honest with you, it was pretty easy to organize. Just book time in your agenda, make sure you have the money (not cheap, and I will let you know afterwards if it was worth it) and just DO it.
If you want to follow me with my learnings, subscribe to my Youtube channel or join my monthly CX greetz list. I’ll send you a short informative and fun newsletter once a month to help you grow your CX leadership, subscribe here.
And…. this year I’ll start with an inspirational BANG. I am traveling to the USA to follow a course at the Disney Institute and continue my American CX adventure with a tour at Zappos behind the scenes and two interviews with executives. I am so looking forward to broaden my horizon. To see with my own eyes how these two brilliant examples organize Customer Experience.
https://www.nienkebloem.nl/wp-content/uploads/sites/142/2020/11/The-why-and-how-of-my-CX-study-trip.jpeg400400Nienke Bloemhttps://cluster.swstatic.nl/wp-content/uploads/sites/142/2021/03/Nienke-Bloem-Logo1.pngNienke Bloem2019-01-22 17:48:162022-01-25 14:34:59The Why and How of my Customer Experience study trip
The thing I hear often is that fellow Customer Experience Professionals work hard. They are focused on realizing their customer centric transformation, improving NPS and CES (or other customer metrics, but that is another blog post ?) and engaging the organization. You might also recognize that as you are working hard, it can make you feel alone.
Yes, you are the only person responsible for CX within your company (or together with your team). You are the expert and your non CX-colleagues expect you to inspire them when it comes to customers. So how do you stay inspired? You probably have your own “Go-To-Inspirational-Places” and in this blog I’ll share mine: 25 suggestions to find CX inspirations, stories, news, facts and figures.
CX People to follow on Twitter
I decided to copy their Twitter biography’s. Nice and to the point.
Colin Shaw: Customer Experience Thought Leader | Recognized by LinkedIn as World’s Top Business Influencer | CEO, Beyond Philosophy CX Consultancy | Author | Podcast Host
Rik Vera: International Keynote Speaker. Agitator. Connector. Experimenter. Networkifier (if it wasn’t a word, it is now). Writer.
CX on Youtube, I promise you this will be growing the next years
ShepTV by Shep Hyken. You are welcomed by the Cab Story. A classic when it comes to customer experience. He is the big name in the USA when it comes to customer experience and customer service.
Steven van Belleghem. My Belgian inspirator when it comes to customers the day after tomorrow and the writer of the book When digital becomes human. The channel is about customer centricity in a digital world. Updates on the latest trends in digital marketing, customer service, social media (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram…), conversation management, robotics, etc.
BrandLove by Chantel Botha. I have not met her in person yet, but she is an inspiration on CX from South Africa. Love the video’s on Journey Mapping, so start following her Youtube Channel
CX Podcasts
Rockstar CX by James Dodkins. For me a newcomer in CX, but he really rocks it! Has his own weekly Rockstar CX podcast and with all the big names when it comes to customer experience.
Online Marketing Made Easy. The podcast of Amy Porterfield which I listen weekly. Not really CX, but all about Online Marketing. Over how to use online tools, build lists, motivate yourself as an entrepreneur. An inspirational woman with a voice I love to listen to.
Forrester’s what it means. For me Forrester is together with Temkin Group the place where I go for research information. And Forrester has a brilliant podcast, so start listening NOW. If you want to start anywhere, start with the episode of December 20thwhere they talk on ROI and financial modeling. Very relevant topic!
CX Blogs
Experience Matters. The blog by Bruce Temkin and his colleagues. I love the combination of vision and facts. Go to this blog site and register for their newsletter to stay inspired. Many of their visuals are free to use (but always with a reference, of course!)
My Customer. Brilliant reads, much more often than once a week, on everything related to customers. Journeys, sales, loyalty. The WHOLE deal. Get a broader view and be inspired.
Take their breath away. Where Chip Bell and John Patterson write on how customer service really makes the difference when it comes to customer experience. Read their post of December 11thwhere they suggest you create a great service exit. Spot on.
CX Books with best practices
13. Ritz Carlton and the New Gold Standard by Joseph Michelli, 5 Leadership Principles for Creating a Legendary Customer Experience Courtesy of the Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company. It is a golden oldie, but still very relevant. Go read.
Delivering Happiness by Tony Hsieh. Yes this one is mentioned all the time, but if somehow you missed it. Please read it. And I am visiting Zappos in January, so I need to reread it myself.
The Starbucks Experience by Joseph Michelli, Five principles for turning ordinary into extraordinary and of course the Starbucks story.
Cx Books you have to read
Would you do that to your mother by Jeanne Bliss introduces the Make Mom Proud standard. I love her writing, easy to understand situations and solutions. A very entertaining read.
Customer What? by Ian Golding. I could have mentioned him among the people to follow and twitter and the blogs, but I think his books needs to be mentioned here. Practical and a good guide when it comes to CX.
The subtle art of not giving a f#ck by Mark Manson. It has NOTHING to do with CX, but is has EVERYTHING to do with CX. How can you be a happier CX leader, a better person? How to not lose your energy on people or tasks that are not important for you. I laughed and got many Aha’s.
CX Events to visit
International CX Awards. The second edition will be on November 21st in Amsterdam. Register if you want to send in a case and compete against other CX professionals/teams/initiatives or join as a judge. It was a blast in 2018, so be warned for 2019 ?
CXPA Meetings. Brilliant peer sharing of CX professionals all over the world. Be welcome in Amsterdam, the next is on January 17th in Amsterdam and the European Insight Exchange will take place on March 13th and 14th in Dublin.
Customer Experience Event. The yearly event by N3wstrategy. The event is all Dutch and a brilliant day to be inspired and meet your local CX peers. This year on March 21st in Rotterdam.
One CX Course I recommend
CX MasterclassThis two day masterclass is tha bomb! is what our participants say. Delivered in the Netherlands by Jaap Wilms and me (in English) and in Belgium (in Dutch) with Els Dhaeze. We prepare you for the CCXP exam and help you in becoming an even better CX leader. There are four dates in 2019 and the first option of March 7thand 8th has only a few spaces left.
People to follow or connect on Linkedin
(yes, all four are women I love to read from and work with)
Evelien van Damme and Karolien van der Ouderaa: these ladies are active, fun and experts when it comes to Customer Experience. Both senior consultants with Kirkman Company and taking the lead in Customer Experience transformations. Keep an eye on their cactuses.
Kathy van de Laar: as partner of EarlyBirdge she blogs and shares posts of colleagues to bridge the gap between you and your customer. She was the first CCXP in the Netherlands and a fabulous inspiration
Babs Asselbergs: she writes shorts blogs on customer experience, opens your eyes and wants to give you a different perspective. She is co-founder of BlommaBerg and the Customer Expeirence Game and I think she is a consistent contributor on Linkedin.
So now you know how I stay inspired. Next to these sources, I also get a lot of inspiration in daily life. Where I let businesses surprise me with their brilliant and more often awful customer experiences as a customer. My o my, how many lessons can be learned from that?
And…. this year I start with an inspirational BANG. I am traveling to the USA to follow a course at the Disney Institute and continue my American CX adventure with a tour at Zappos behind the scenes and two interviews with executives. I am so looking forward to broaden my horizon. To see with my own eyes how these two brilliant examples organize Customer Experience. So, I have two calls to action for you.
If you want to follow me and my CX escapades: make sure you get my monthly CX Greetz by Nienke Bloem. Just register here.
Share your source, of your own blog/vlog/profile. Where do you get your inspiration? Please share and add your source, so we can all learn and stay inspired to make customer experience work.
https://www.nienkebloem.nl/wp-content/uploads/sites/142/2020/11/25-ways-to-stay-inspired.jpeg400400Nienke Bloemhttps://cluster.swstatic.nl/wp-content/uploads/sites/142/2021/03/Nienke-Bloem-Logo1.pngNienke Bloem2019-01-16 12:42:362022-01-25 14:34:5925 ways to stay inspired as a Customer Experience professional
De ober van het restaurant zet de schaal sushi neer en schenkt me nogmaals zijn brede glimlach. “Wat is jouw favoriete nummer van George Michael?” vraag ik hem. Daar hoeft hij niet lang over na te denken. En hij antwoordt dat hij stiekem een grotere fan van Engelbert Humperdinck is. Maar dat George Michael de favoriet van zijn moeder is en hij daarom deze artiest op zijn naambordje heeft gezet.
In het All Inclusive HardRock hotel in Mexico, waar ik verblijf voor een gave spreekopdracht, draagt al het personeel een naambordje. Iets wat ik vorig jaar in Disney ook zag in het hotel, waar collega’s naast hun naam hun passie hadden staan. Wat varieerde van Russisch, tot honden tot jazzmuziek. In dit hotel in Mexico staat er onder de naam van het personeelslid, de favoriete artiest. Dit past perfect bij het thema van het hotel en het zet heel laagdrempelig de deur open voor een praatje.
Orlyss, zo heet de ober, kwettert vrolijk door over Engelbert Humperdinck, zijn moeder en de link naar George Michael. Als ik heel eerlijk ben, ken ik helemaal geen muziek van zijn grote held Engelbert en dat geef ik dan ook eerlijk toe. Snel schakelt hij door, want je mag de gast niet in verlegenheid brengen, en vraagt naar mijn favoriete muziek. Het is maar goed dat ik niet in dit hotel werk, want ik ben niet fan van één artiest of band. Ik denk nog eens goed na, hij wijst me er met een knipoog op, dat ik wat bozig kijk als ik nadenk en hij barst weer in schaterlachen uit. “Bruce Springsteen” zeg ik snel.
Wat een geschenk deze ober. Natuurlijk heeft hij een goed humeur, weet hij precies hoe hij moet serveren en kent hij het menu uit zijn hoofd. Hij is een Pro. Maar zijn werkgever heeft het hem makkelijk gemaakt om die connectie te maken. Door dat naambordje met zijn favoriete artiest. Het maakt het voor mij zo makkelijk om dat praatje aan te gaan, verbinding te maken en zo een nog leuker verblijf te hebben. Nu ik er nog eens goed over nadenk, weet ik niet of ik anders in gesprek zou zijn gegaan. Gewoon na mijn sushi, dank-je-wel zou hebben gezegd en hem een kleine fooi zou hebben gegeven.
Maar vanavond niet. Orlyss krijgt een vette tip. De tip die ik jou geef en alle bedrijven in Nederland: maak het je personeel makkelijk met dat naambordje en zet het ‘iets’ eronder. Favoriet dier in de dierenwinkel, beauty vlogger in de parfumerie of favoriete auto bij de dealer. Het is een echte gespreksopener. Het werkt bij Disney, HardRock en vast ook bij jou!
Dit blog werd geschreven voor CustomerFirst en gepubliceerd op 28 november 2018
