Experience never goes out of fashion. We take a look at how a fictional movie CEO improved her customer experience by helping her people.
Improving the customer experience has become a leading catchphrase for 2016. But just what is Customer Experience and how do we improve it?
Here is a poignant example.
THE INTERN - MOVIE
In the movie 'The Intern', Benjamin is a retired/widowed, former Vice President of Sales and Marketing (played by Robert De Niro) who decides to be of value.
He becomes intern to reluctant millennial, Jules Austin, CEO of a Fast 500 internet clothing label, (played by Anne Hathaway).
Jules does something different.
She sits with her customer services team to experience customer feedback.
Connecting with her customer problems to understand the experience.
It goes like this.
A bride who is preparing for a wedding is shipped the wrong items.
Jules considers the lifetime value of the customer, refunding the customer and winning lifetime customer loyalty by going the extra mile.
There is nothing new here.
Great operators already understand the lifetime value,
in doing the right thing by a customer.
But Jules doesn't stop there.
She looks into the order to delivery process for the point of weakness.
Then visits the warehouse which has shipped the wrong items.
Jules gets alongside her personnel and humbles herself and helps them, by showing them how to deliver the standard that she expects to improve customer experience.
Jules solves the supply chain quality issue through education and training and not through punitive, egocentric action.
Culture will beat strategy any day of the week.
And in this case, Jules is creating a culture of customer centricity.
The key trait of servant leadership being applied here is empathy.
Why empathy and helpfulness?
What Jules does, is to inspire her staff to own customer experience.
Which also speaks to what works to build great company culture.
While this lesson is very subtle, it is how companies become legends.
Which brings us to a key point of value.
How do you engage your staff to take ownership?
Look out for my next post SWIM CULTURE.
Glyn MacLean
Channel & Partner Development
Accelerated, Leveraged Business Growth.
www.buildtheaudience.com
SKYPE: glynmaclean
DDI: +61 2 9922 3538
MOBILE: +61 449 951 191
EMAIL: glynm@buildtheaudience.com