Tag Archive of: deklantcentraal

20 Good Customer Intentions for 2020

Okay, it's the end of January when you read this column. Only I'm writing it now that we've just started the year. And traditionally, we all think of our good intentions for this new year ahead.

I wouldn't be a CX expert if I didn't link those good intentions to customers. That's why I'm giving you a nice overview of 20 Good Customer Intentions. Hopefully, in your organization they are perfectly normal already. Let's check that out.

  1. We don't use small print for things we can't really explain.
  2. We don't do 'no-reply e-mail addresses'. Because it's strange that we as an organization are allowed to talk to a customer, but that the customer is not allowed to say anything in return.
  3. Our surveys are clear and concise and look great.
  4. If a customer fills out a survey, we actually do something with it. We improve our service and provide feedback on what we have done.
  5. We respond to reviews left by the customer.
  6. We like our customers and they experience this in all our customer contacts.
  7. If we promise to call a customer back, then we will.
  8. Of course the customer never has to repeat his or her story, we use our CRM system in such a way that all colleagues know what has been discussed.
  9. If our customer experiences digital problems, we offer an alternative.
  10. We thank the customer, because he has been a customer for many years. If our new customers get a nice offer, then our valued customers get that offer too, of course.
  11. We do not hide our phone number on our website.
  12. Our management regularly works at the 'front end', in order for them to enjoy our customers too.
  13. We might send our customers a card this year. For their birthday, or just because we like to do so.
  14. We will never put a client call on hold for long, not even if we are the tax authorities.
  15. We don't use any annoying waiting music.
  16. If something goes wrong, we apologize sincerely and solve it.
  17. We never blame another organization if something goes wrong, but take the lead ourselves.
  18. Our letters are written in clear understandable language.
  19. We never ask for nines and tens for our services, but we are sincerely curious about every customer experience.
  20. Of course, our contact centre is also open in the evenings and/or weekends, if our customer needs it.

Are there any points in this list that you don't do for customers yet? Then decide to do it differently as of today. Let's get to work. Happy 2020!

 

This blog was written for CustomerFirst and published on 29 January 2020

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Customer centricity is everybody’s responsibility

What do you think? A yes or a no? I'm curious. But before I share my opinion, we’ll go for an experiment.

Suppose. You wake up and you are happy. You jump fresh and energized out of your bed. Because you are looking forward to this new day. Full of passion you go to work. You walk into the kitchen of McDonalds, greet your colleagues and start working (after washing your hands; of course!) First order is that of a BigMac. What do you do?

  1. 1. You have done this so many times that you no longer have to look at the picture of this hamburger. But you know exactly what the structure is. Sandwich, sauce, lettuce, tomato, pickle, two hamburgers, a slice of cheese and even more sauce (for the real experts, I hope I'm right). So, you build the hamburger as it should be, put it in the box and there you go: this burger is ready to be eaten.

Or

  1. Today you are going to think outside the box. You have heard your manager talking about autonomy and you are going to make this hamburger even better. A little more sauce, little less meat. Because yes, you consider the environment. Maybe three slices of tomato are a good idea. Just put your passion in it and you're done. Hamburger in the box and there you go: this burger is ready to be eaten.

What do you do: 1 or 2? I hope you chose for scenario 1, because that is exactly what the customer expects. Hopefully the hamburger will be handed over to the customer with a big smile in order to create a great customer experience.

Because that is what customer centricity is all about. About the product or service the customer expects and receives in a certain degree of consistency. That requires frameworks. What should that consistency be for your company? Is this a certain speed, quality, tone-of-voice, or structure of the hamburger? And yes, of course you can give that little extra in terms of service or a small gift. But the basics is that hamburger, that product.

So, no. Customer centricity is not everybody’s responsibility. The foundation of customer centricity lies with those people who design it. That can be the customer experience team. Or marketing for example, or the customer contact center. They set up frameworks that employees can and will have to stick to. And if you know how to give that little bit extra as an employee... That smile. That service. That real contact with your customer. Then you made it: you are really customer centric. If so, you can be very proud of that.

 

This blog was written for CustomerFirst and published on 16 October 2019

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It IS possible

My new couch would be delivered. Over seven weeks later than planned. There was something about fabrics (or lack thereof), delivery issues and hassle at the factory in Italy. The communication did not go very well, but there was good news. The bank was in the Netherlands and was at the transport company.

I got a call from a friendly lady, who asked when it was convenient to deliver the couch. Now I already had a lunch appointment on the day the delivery guys would be in Utrecht. So yes, they could come between 11.30 and 12.00 hours, but I really had to leave at 12.30 hours. Kindly she told me: "I guarantee that the men will be on time. I promise you that." Hmmm, very clear. But still, would this go well? A day in advance I would receive an e-mail with the confirmation and the time of delivery. "And if you receive that e-mail, don't worry. Because it will say that we deliver between 11 and 12 hours. For you, that means we'll be there around 11:30. Really, I promise you just one more time."

Sure. In the meantime, I hadn't completely reassured my lunch appointment that I'd probably be a little late. Yeah, well, you never know with traffic, delivery guys and appointments. The e-mail arrived in my mailbox with exactly the sentence about the times in it, as the nice lady had announced. They also gave me a tip in that same e-mail: if I wanted to pay with pin, I had to check what my daily limit was, because things sometimes went wrong there. The suggestion was to contact my bank about this, as this was easy to adjust. Ha! That's thinking along with me as a customer. Because indeed, I had no idea what my daily limit was. I logged into my bank and within a poop and a sigh my daily limit was suitable for the transaction tomorrow.

Friday morning, 11:00. The phone's ringing. A 06 number unknown to me. A bad hunch creeps up on me. Wouldn't they be late? "Hello, madam. Here's your delivery boy. We're leaving Woerden now. And we'll be in Utrecht in good time, so you can go to your lunch appointment at 12:30."

Speechless. With a big smile. Not only had the plan lady put my wishes into the system, the deliverers had also read them and taken them into account. Chapeau TS Furniture Transport. The deliverers also turned out to be perfect mechanics. The couch is standing, they took all the packing and I was well on time for my lunch. So it is possible!

 

This blog was written for CustomerFirst and published on 5 June 2019

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