A chat with I, Me and Myself about Customer Experience

An acquaintance of mine, Mr. Charles shared his encounter with a customer and here’s a sneak peak into his diary for the day.

Everyone out there is talking about knowing your customer and engaging with them. So, when a customer of mine said she has always loved the products in my shop, I decided to take a plunge in the Customer Experience Ocean and have a little chat with her.

Me: Hello. It’s nice to meet you. So, what’s your nice name and where do you live?
Her: I’m everywhere; me the customer ; myself your greatest and most important factor for success.
Okay, so her answer had left me dumbfounded at the start of the chat but I had to pull myself together and look composed. She was also busy on her smart phone though.
Me: Great that you love the stuff here. So, how come I don’t see you at all at my shop?
Her: Well, that’s because you’re not everywhere! And, I was here last year.
Me: Umm.. I don’t understand what you mean. I’m right here – always here.
Her: Actually, you’re never there where I am.
I had instantly decided in my mind that she’s crazy, I was wasting my time and maybe this Customer Experience enhancement is not my strong suit when suddenly the signboard THE CUSTOMER IS ALWAYS RIGHT caught my eye.

Me: Could you please tell me where I should have been? I had put up 50% sales promotion thrice this year, but you never showed up.
Her: Oh, I missed those – but you let me miss them. I didn’t receive any notification or alert for a sale here even once.
So, that’s what a personal relationship with your customers is. I need to take her number to inform her of any update and I took out that old ledger in my drawer.
Me: My bad, could you enter your number here for updates and alerts?
Her: You know, you should have a website.
Me: Yes, I’ve been thinking about that.
Her: Still thinking? You should also be on the social media – the Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram.
Is this how the new customer is? She talks like it’s her business or if not, she’s my Marketing or Operations Manager!
Me: Yes, that will also be in the pipeline.
Her: We don’t have all the time in the world, you know? The worst mistake you can make in this time is not be able to be found!

She was constantly on her mobile, seemed like she was playing a game but whatever she said she was serious about it!
Her: I should be able to see all the products that are here, all updates about new arrivals, clearance sales, seasonal sales, new store opening, and even competitions to win products on your website, the social media, my mobile, my tablet – everywhere that I am, you should be there too!

So that’s what she meant! I wanted to act like I’m already on it and steered the conversation to a lighter mood.

Me: So, which are the products that you really like here?
Her: That’s something YOU should know. I bought from your store last year a couple of times. Shouldn’t you be knowing my preferences?
Yes, I was right before, she’s crazy alright! Now I’m supposed to remember her from a couple of purchases?
Her: Everyone’s doing it. Analytics, Big Data, e-commerce, predictive suggestions, apps and all that! Shouldn’t you be doing something to get your store out there – where everyone can see it? Make it easy for your customers to know what’s in the store, what’s new and then make it easy for them to buy what they like by showing them similar stuff and then offer to pay right there and then. Or if someone like me wants to see the products online, look at the sales items, be assured they’re available at the store and then come over and try them out. The information, all updates, should be consistent – at the website, your store front, social media and mobile notifications!
Now! That makes a whole lot of sense! I need to step up my game!
Me: Thank you for your suggestions. I’ll certainly work towards customer satisfaction now.
Her: At the same time, you should also know your customers so that you engage with them with a little personalization that they love and enjoy. You can’t really expect me to be happy for a notification about the sale on men’s belts at your store.
YES! YES! YES! I won!
And she kissed her phone. Apparently, she had won some game on her mobile. A little crazy, maybe!
Her: I’ve got to rush now. You should do this too. I’ve just won a 75% off on my favorite shoe store for any shoe that I like! I have just under 20 minutes to avail the offer. They knew I was in the mall and now I’m off to buy some lovely shoes!
Hey, by the way, I wish you were everywhere too. I’d love to buy so many things from your store and tell all my friends about it. You just need to be reachable!
I was literally bowled over. All this time, I thought I was providing exceptional customer service at my store – but that was only to those that came to me. I was never there for them – where they were. I didn’t create any engagements, I didn’t attract any customer s with the new and latest products that I had and I never really created loyalty with offers and real-time offers that would surprise and make my customers triumphant!

It was time – time to turn over a new leaf and take Customer Experience and their unique journeys very seriously. I would love to have that ‘I, me and myself’ customer as a loyal and ardent advocate to my store. I’m all set to plan for a near recent upgrade to my store for the best Customer Experience Store in this mall. All I needed was some pep talk from my egomaniac, crazy and a smart, well-wisher customer!
Do you find your business in somewhat of a similar situation? Please feel free to reach out and we’ll help with an assessment and a roadmap for your customer engagement initiatives.