In an incredibly crowded marketplace, what’s the key to digital success?
Consider the difference between a brand you find on Instagram, then browse their site, and a brand that you tell everyone about – a brand makes you feel genuinely better after spending your money with them. This is the difference between thoughtful customer experience and obliviousness.
In our #CXTweetChat on Friday, October 25, 2019, one thing was made abundantly clear: the details matter, and customer service is only one part of a complete customer experience strategy.
I like to think of customer service as a component of customer experience – a very important one. Customer experience also includes other touchpoints with a company including and sometimes starting with sales reps. #cxtweetchat https://t.co/pr56InrSpy
— Jennifer Kling (@JenKling1027) October 25, 2019
The best example may just be your favorite wine shop.
A6, have you walked into a really good wine shop? The music that's playing? The displays? Which wines are displayed where? Yea… that's really good pre-sale CS right there. #CXTweetchat https://t.co/hU8XqAMfrL
— Vincenzo Landino (@vincenzolandino) October 25, 2019
Every detail is thought through. The music guides you subconsciously into nostalgia. The organization of the wines takes you on a tour around the world. The sales rep, walking the aisles looking like anyone else might, has such deep knowledge about the wines that their first question isn’t “What are you looking for,” it’s, “What do you like?”
Can that experience be mimicked online? Can a brand pull on the senses and our favorite experiences to give us an altogether new experience that we come back to again and again?
Some might say Amazon has done just that.
A4c. I recently wrote about Amazon’s customer service tenets for Forbes. It is clear that this company’s culture is to always put the customer first and do everything in its power to create loyal fans. #CXTweetChat https://t.co/66zwW45Tct
— Dan Gingiss – The Experience Maker™ (@dgingiss) October 25, 2019
But they aren’t the only ones. Rising stars (often dubbed digitally native vertical brands, or DNVBs) like Chewy, Yeti, or DryBar have also figured out a way to give customers experiences (and service) that build unprecedented loyalty.
It starts with internal culture, though. Customer service that lends a hand to excellent customer experience is a philosophy, not a fluke.
A3, CS is a philosophy, not a department. Hiring a culture and personality fit is more important than anything else. #CXTweetchat https://t.co/OS8mXuNhef
— Vincenzo Landino (@vincenzolandino) October 25, 2019
And, if CX is a philosophy, not a random outcome or a grassroots initiative within the organization, that means that there’s one department outside of customer service, or marketing, or even sales that needs to be involved: Human Resources.
Hiring well, and hiring those who have customer service in their DNA, is how a brand lives out the philosophy of a high bar of customer experience.
Very important. People either have this skill or they don't. You can't really teach it. #CXTweetChat https://t.co/svw8Lgdh7S
— Dan Gingiss – The Experience Maker™ (@dgingiss) October 25, 2019
Whether that’s hiring folks from the hospitality industry, former teachers or nurses, or even former cosmetologists, like Vincenzo Landino himself, the ability to read between the lines of what people want and what they need is a crucial skill that can rarely be taught by a business.
As a licensed former cosmetologist, I understand the people side of #CX. They're doing it right. #cxtweetchat
— Vincenzo Landino (@vincenzolandino) October 25, 2019
After all, customer service doesn’t end when the clock strikes 5.
Social media channels are some of the biggest, and more immediate, customer service channels –– and brands need to be nearly always on. There’s a real cost benefit/loss to negative responses, tone deaf responses, or even no response at all.
And customers seeing others post about no follow up on social breaks down trust and costs new sales. #cxtweetchat https://t.co/lKgCE7RL8A
— Jennifer Kling (@JenKling1027) October 25, 2019
This need for always-on customer service is challenging, and presents the opportunity for robot-enhanced service.
#cxtweetchat in a world where there's more and more automated services, an actual human contact customer service experience can be a highly-differentiated, make-or-break tipping point…
— Timo Elliott (@timoelliott) October 25, 2019
Employees can’t be expected to be always-on, which represents a lack of service and experience for the internal team, one that would surely be shown to customers during interactions later.
Want to have great customer experience and service? Start with your employees –– or perhaps even how you engage with the gig economy.
A1 Consider leveraging the gig economy to scale and provide real-time service like on-demand field service with freelance experts #cxtweetchat https://t.co/sNMBGLmSSr
— Volker Hildebrand (@vhil11) October 25, 2019
The fact of the matter is this: consumer expectations and shopping habits are changing.
Millennials, the generation holding the majority of the wallet in the U.S. right now, prefer direct-to-consumer brands (think Chewy, for example) only at a margin of 4% to legacy brands (think Nordstrom for example).
Gen Z, the up-and-coming consumer, prefers DTC brands by a margin of more than 40%.
A7: Get Z prefers DTC brands to legacy brands by 40%+. Millennials only prefer DTC by a margin of 4%. What makes DTC brands stand out is their engagement w/ customers, and Gen Z expects it. Expect new forms of CX like what @OutdoorVoices does / their events #CXTweetChat @SAP_CX https://t.co/uUO0E22BSc
— Tracey Wallace (@TraceWall) October 25, 2019
Those are huge differentials, and means that Gen Z is highly influenced to buy from brands not because of their name –– but because of their experience.
Recently saw a comment from a non-customer of a brand advertising on @instagram about how impressed they were at response time and quality from the brand to every single comment left on the ad. #cxtweetchat
— Z Johnson (@zontziry) October 25, 2019
This means that brands will have to choose to compete on one of two fronts moving forward: a pricing race to the bottom, or a customer experience race to the top.
In fact, you can already see this playing out in airlines.
I think most airlines are competing on one of 2 measures, either cost (race to the bottom) or customer experience (race to the top) and I have usually recieved superior service from @British_Airways #cxtweetchat
— john heald (@JohnHeald72) October 25, 2019
Among those in the TweetChat, the preferred airlines were Southwest, Delta, British Airways, and American Airlines. It was clear that folks who have a preferred airline don’t just love that airline –– but even put up with customer service mistakes because of a long personal history with good experience with the brand.
This is so true, Jenn. I feel this way about @SouthwestAir. I'm oddly able to look past their service failures because I'm loyal to this brand. (Hey, @SouthwestAir – don't get any ideas. I'm kinda tired of those creeping flight delays I've experienced lately!) #CXTweetchat
— LeslieO (@LeslieO) October 25, 2019
This proves something incredibly important: brands, like people, don’t have to be perfect. What matters most is speed to respond, and a deep well of empathy.
The arts matter – and by 2028, emotional intelligence will be the most sought-after job skill. #CXTweetchat
— Jenn VandeZande (@jennvzande) October 25, 2019
After all, your customer wouldn’t be complaining if they didn’t care. They would’ve already moved on to your competitor. Instead, you’ve built an expectation, perhaps one that has been broken with this individual experience, but one that can certainly be mended.
BUT It’s a highly important touchpoint. In particular, research shows that it’s a tipping point. If I have a good customer service experience — even for a complaint! — I’m likely to increase my chances of recommending the product/service to others… #cxtweetchat
— Timo Elliott (@timoelliott) October 25, 2019
Want a few more brands to look at in terms of great examples of customer service and experience? Our #CXTweetChat had them in spades!
Nordstrom:
A4. Nordstrom is known for its customer service. I've heard other brands' return policies referred to as "like Nordstrom's." Similarly, Amazon is known for its CS as a differentiator, and their CS isn't even always involving human 2 human interaction. #cxtweetchat
— Z Johnson (@zontziry) October 25, 2019
DropBox:
A4: I just had a great experience with @Dropbox who followed up via email on a #custserv chat we'd had. The #omnichannel agent clearly continued the discussion in a second channel. #impressed #cxtweetchat
— LeslieO (@LeslieO) October 25, 2019
To wrap up, hire for empathy, build customer service into your internal culture, and bet on the future generation caring more than any other on how they are treated online.
A2c. Remember that people complain because they care. They want a resolution. If they didn’t, they’d already have moved on to your competitor. #CXTweetChat https://t.co/5EoLScJIal
— Dan Gingiss – The Experience Maker™ (@dgingiss) October 25, 2019
