Does Your Customer Experience Need An Overhaul?

As we all recover from this pandemic it’s time to transform your company’s bad habits. It’s unfortunate that many companies have experienced a loss in revenue the last few months. The positive thing is that many companies have had to think outside the box and identify other avenues of revenue and reevaluate how they entice their customers to return. This has been a business saver. Now that businesses have or are starting to open some have reverted back to the lackluster customer service tactics. If you think that customers will return when they have a bad experience you are wrong, especially now that they have also changed how they buy and evaluated what they really need. Although you may be looking at ways to save a buck here and there, don’t make the mistake of doing that at the cost of a customer.

Signs Of Poor Customer Service

• Call center not picking up the phone
• Unsupervised chat lines
• Transferring you to different departments
• Long wait time to be greeted (phone or in person)
• Long hold times
• Employees answering phones not knowledgeable
• Using bad quality or cheaper products to save money
• Making your customer do all the legwork
• Lack of leadership
• Marketing / signage not up to date
• Cleanliness

Do you think your customers will notice?

• Why do we have to use fresh meat? Frozen is cheaper.
• Why do we need to give the same portions? Cutting portions sizes will save money.
• Why don’t we charge more for our product or service? Look how much revenue we could recover.
• Why do we need a greeter at the door? Cutting staff will save money.
• Why don’t we reduce the number of staff on the floor? Big savings.
• Why do we need cashiers? We can use self-serve scanners.
• Why do we need housekeepers to spend more time cleaning rooms? Less hours can save money.

Are any of these bad habits creeping back into your business? If so, reevaluate what’s important- YOUR CUSTOMERS! Treat them right and they will reward you graciously by continuing to do business with you now and in the future.

Customers still prefer fresh food over frozen, portions that align with price, greeters at the door, someone to help when they have a question, sparkling clean / sanitized facilities (now more than ever) and that critical human interaction.

Our lives have changed in the last few months and it’s time we accept the change and think of all the positive things we have learned. Let this path towards better customer experiences and strong revenues revitalize your business. You have come too far to give up on your customers and employees.

Let us at The Hart Experience give you a fresh perspective of what your customer sees or hears when they contact or come into your business. Contact Debbie at 602.717.3271, Debbie@thehartexperience.com , www.thehartexperience.com

PS If you have been in or spoke with a business that you think deserves 5 stars please comment below. Next week’s article / blog will be about WOW customer experiences…