I paid for a train ticket over the counter yesterday. As I completed the transaction I nearly walked off leaving my Debit card in the PIN machine. As I turned back to the machine to retrieve the card the chap behind the counter said something along the lines of, “That was lucky. We’ve already had three people leave their cards here this morning.”

Three people, this morning, have walked away leaving their card in the machine. Can you imagine arriving for a day in London and realising you’ve left your Debit card somewhere? Pretty stressful huh?

If your customers are suffering – take action

So having already experienced people leaving their cards, would it not be courteous to remind customers to remove their cards after the transaction?

Since Chip & PIN, all organisations have had to invest heavily in installing new equipment to cater to the new technology. However, I can’t help but ask myself if some of this technology either hasn’t been thought through properly, or is not being used properly.

Technology shouldn’t create customer experience issues

If the staff working behind a counter are unable to see the Chip & PIN machine it would be useful for their screen to inform them that the card has not been removed. They can then prompt the customer. Like most ‘simple’ fixes, it becomes less simple to fix once the technology is complete.

If the full customer journey and scenarios are planned and mapped out prior to build, these minor details will be catered for. And if customers are introduced to the project early, to test a prototype, the barriers will be highlight and dealt with before these ‘simple’ issues become costly fixes.

Do you involve customers in your project process early enough?

Related services: Customer Journey Mapping and Usability Evaluation & Testing

One of our major supermarkets does a great pizza, which they make for you whilst you wait. I must say, they do taste good. If you order your pizza at the beginning of your shop, ten minutes later when you’ve picked up your other groceries, it is ready to take away. It has won awards.

I was a little miffed on Friday evening when I had to wait forty minutes for my pizza. Here’s what happened:

On ordering my pizza the young lady informed me that she was on her own so it may not be ready for twenty minutes. Excellent! I’ve been informed about the extra time, and although it is inconvenient I look through the magazine and book department. However, when I return after twenty minutes my pizza is not ready. The poor girl is working through a long list of pizzas, with a queue of people waiting and ordering more.

The employee experience is an important aspect of customer experience

Whilst the pizza backlog grew, two other employees are working at the same counter, but on cooked chickens and Indian/Chinese take away. There are no queues for these offerings, yet the two members of staff have a joke, pack up some chicken, go out back, come back again, pack a couple more chickens, and serve the odd customer. Not once, in the twenty minutes I waited, did I see them look to the poor pizza girl, let alone offer to help out. I got quite angry at this.
When I finally got my pizza I assured the girl that she had done a great job, little good it did her, and paid for my groceries. On leaving I visited the customer services desk to complain and stand up for the girl on the pizza counter. The lady informed me that the other two staff were unable to help out on pizza due to health and safety. On realising how daft this sounded she phoned through to a manager. After a five minute conversation I was informed that the chicken must be closed down before any help can be supplied to the pizza counter. I gave up!

Business process can remove common sense thinking

The help of one member of staff for fifteen minutes would have reduced the backlog and the queue. So the internal process looks to be wrong as employees stick to the process rather than helping their customers.
This can happen with rigid process. Employees do not see things from another point of view because they are blinkered by process. I’m not sure why the Managers didn’t do anything about it. But then I didn’t see any managers. Maybe they were following a process out the back?

Process is good, but it must allow for flexibility to ensure common sense prevails. Especially when good customers experience is at risk. By simply ensuring the process includes some thought provoking questions like:

• Is there a problem here?
• What do I need to do to resolve the problem?
• If this was my company, what would I do differently?

These questions provide the opportunity for all employees to step outside the process to think for themselves.

Does your internal process ensure an excellent experience for your customers?

Related services: Customer Experience Research and Customer Requirements Capture

In recent months I have experienced behaviour from restaurants which I can’t quite fathom. When I receive the bill a service charge has already been added. And not just at my usual 10% rate, which I thought was standard in the UK, but at 12.5% or even 15%.

A tip should reward good customer experience

I am not a skinflint, but I have my own rules for paying a tip. The waiter/waitress has to be a bit special, by doing something nice that makes me enjoy my experience that little bit more. It’s not difficult to wait on me with a smile, to be there when I need a new bottle of wine, to provide a recommendation, or to know where my food is sourced from. And I am happy to pay 10% in cash to the particular waiter or waitress who has made my eating experience a good one.

So when I sit at a cramped table, eating average quality food that I could have made at home, and have difficulty in attracting the attention of the waiting staff (or receive too much attention), I don’t feel inclined to leave a tip. But wait. This already expensive meal, of average quality, has a 15% service charge automatically added to the bill.

The credit card machine provides no obvious option to remove the service charge from my bill payment. The only way to do this is to request it, making the process more confrontational for customers. I’m sure leaving a tip used to be a discreet affair!

In true British style I decide not to make a fuss. But I muse on it for days. Who decided to change the rules? Who has suddenly decided that us Brits are always happy to pay a tip? Who decided that this tip was to be 15%?

My answer? I won’t visit this restaurant again and I’ll warn my friends of it.

Delivering beyond customer expectations must become a priority business objective

I believe this is a case where internal process and business objectives have become the main focus without considering the customer. Yes, the business needs to make more money, and yes the waiting staff would like tips. But surely you are more likely to build loyal customers by focusing on the experience and the food? And surely the customer should have the choice to leave a tip to waiting staff that have waited particularly well?

There are reports that take-away food is becoming more popular as customers “Trade down”, by wishing to spend less with the economic uncertainty that looms. So a restaurant that automatically increases its pricing by adding a 15% service charge is not going to entice customers.

It is also important for restaurateurs to ensure their customers know what will happen to the tips they leave. It is disheartening to think that my tip is being used to top up salary. So it is comforting to see that the law is being updated. However, the choice must remain with the customer.

Understanding customer needs, meeting their expectations, and giving them the choice to tip is far more likely to encourage repeat visits. So companies must balance the business and customer objectives to ensure a sustainable and successful service.

Have you pushed forward your business goals without considering your customers’ goals?

Related services: Customer Profiling, Customer Experience Research, and Customer Requirements Capture

We’ve all been there, in an electrical retail store buying a TV, DVD player, Hi Fi, or similar. Just when you’ve found the right product, in stock, at the right price, the pleasant sales person starts twitching and suddenly transforms into the Werewolf of insurance. Run for the hills.

Customer goals vs business goals

All you want to do is pay for the TV, have someone load it into your car, and away you go. So you have to wait for the Werewolf to take a breather in his well rehearsed drivel while the knot in your stomach gets tighter. When you get the opportunity to jump in with a quick, ‘No, it’s ok, I’ll take the risk’, he continues as if his newly enlarged pointed ears can’t process customer objections. It can get to a point where you would actually prefer not to buy the product and go elsewhere. What a shame.

Staff incentives move focus away from customer needs

Let’s look at this from the Werewolf’s perspective. They are well trained in the different products available, and they are also well trained and experienced in asking the right questions to understand the customer’s needs before making recommendations. The retailer will put a lot of effort into the retail customer experience to ensure customers return and, ultimately, choose this store to part with their cash. On top of all of this, the sales person is then told that at least 10% of their retail sales must come from selling insurance. Suddenly, all the previous training, and all the marketing that the retailer puts into ‘customer experience’, might as well be thrown to the wolves.

The issue here is that the customer receives a very good retail experience up to the point of selecting a product. The customer expectation at this point is to pay and have their new TV loaded into their car. At the point of choosing the TV, and being told that it is in stock, most people (if they are like me) are looking forward to getting home as quickly as possible to set the TV up in time for the football. This nice and happy thought is then rudely interrupted by the previously pleasant sales person, who now has large fangs, forcing an extended warranty down your throat.

I don’t mind being asked if I want to extend the warranty, and to be told that it can be extended any time in the first year, but when I inform him that I do not want an extended warranty (doesn’t my household insurance cover most of this anyway?) I expect the matter to be closed, and to return to my vision of my living room as a surround sound cinema complex!

Retailers are not listening

What’s worse is that this has been going on since I worked in a large electrical retailer, and that was 15 years ago, and people would have this same conversation then. What is the point of all the training and retail customer experience activity to only let the whole thing down at the end of the sales process? From a retailer’s perspective they will often still get the sale, so the lesson is not learnt and we all have to put up with this because it is the norm. Well, I’ve spoken to a couple of people recently who have decided to walk away as soon as the Werewolf refuses to listen to the objection to extended warranty. If we all did this do you think they might finally listen? Come on Mr Retailer, let us buy our goods and enjoy them, or I might have to resort to browsing in your store and buying online.

Are your staff incentives having a negative impact on your customer experience?

Related services: Customer Experience Research, and Customer Journey Mapping

Within the retail market there is a lot of talk about Multi-Channel, where services are provided via multiple touchpoints. Most commonly, this refers to a website and a shop floor. So it was interesting to see that one of the UKs largest retailers is still experiencing gaps between what it offers in-store, what it promotes online, and what level of understanding its staff has.

This example was experienced as a bit of research I was undertaking to review the online experience of buying an affordable suit. I was testing the website, but as part of the user journey I needed to visit the store to reach my goal. Here’s what happened:

The website promoted a suit, shirt and tie combo for £32, which was exactly what my user profile was looking for but it wasn’t available to buy on-line. My user profile was not fond of shopping, and certainly didn’t want to go all the way to the store only to find they had no stock. So I called my local branch. The polite lady that I spoke to was not aware of such a combo offer, and informed me that their in-store stock was often different to that on the website. So my journey ended there and I hadn’t reached my goal. Well, out of character, I decided to pop into the store to have a look for myself. And guess what? I found a suit for £26, a shirt for £4, and a tie for £3. A suit, shirt and tie combo for £32.

So what has happened here? If your retail website does not allow you to buy the products online, then users will expect them to be available in store, and will also expect that when you mention the online products to the sales assistants then they will know what it is you are referring to. The key mistake made in this is example is that the retailer did not provide sufficient information and training to its in-store staff about the products and promotions currently live on the website. The impact of this is a potential online customer, happy to buy in store, is let down when he crosses channels. The retailer loses out on a sale, and the customer has to begin their journey again and go elsewhere.

Successful companies will need to provide its services across multiple touchpoints (shop floor, web site, call centre, brochure, etc.), but those that will come out on top will review all their touchpoints together as one solution and roll out each channel to provide a consistent experience and enhance the customer journey.

Is your multi-channel experience consistent across all your touchpoints?

Related services: Customer Experience Research, Expert Evaluation, and Customer Journey Mapping

Maybe it’s my fault for shopping after 5 o’clock on a Friday afternoon, but I still expect to be able to complete my transaction and walk away with the goods. To be fair, I was shopping online and I wasn’t purchasing your standard everyday retail items (I was buying downloadable marketing information) but my experience was poor because my expectations weren’t met.

The online buying process went without a hitch and I sat eagerly awaiting the confirmation email that would allow me to download the information. I didn’t have to wait long, but the confirmation email didn’t include the report as an attachment. Nor did it provide a link to download the report. Instead it said “You will receive your data within the next four working hours. Our working hours are 9am to 6pm Monday to Friday.”

My expectations were dashed. I didn’t have the marketing information that I had paid for and wanted to read over the weekend. My experience had quickly moved into the negative, I had parted with the cash, and I still had to wait until Monday to receive the information. They got my order this time, but I’ll look elsewhere next time.

So what went wrong, and what can be done differently? The fact that I did not receive the data for up to four hours was not actually the issue here. The issue lies in the difference between my expectations and my actual experience. If a customer’s actual experience of a service does not meet their expectations, as is the case here, it goes down as a poor customer experience and they may never return. On the flip side, a good customer experience is had when customer expectations are exceeded, but just because a customer has bought from you doesn’t mean that you met their expectations. In this example, the easiest solution would have been for the website to provide clear delivery information throughout the buying process. This would have given me the information to readjust my expectations before I completed the transaction. Alternatively, the company could go out and speak to their target audience in order to find out what their needs and expectations are. They could then use this information to enhance their service to provide a positive customer experience.

The challenge retailers and e-tailers face today is to understand their customers’ expectations and provide a service that exceeds these expectations. In providing such a customer experience for your target audience there is no reason for your customers to go elsewhere, and every reason for them to invite their friends to come and join them.

Do you know what your customers expect when they interact with your products and services? We believe the only way to truly understand customer expectations is to be there with them when they experience your company.