I recently had the opportunity to sit down with a business owner and go over the details of how Chief Marketing Officers (CMOs) can integrate the customer service experience to propel their business forward.    The content is rich, and applies to your life as well.  I’m thrilled to share this with you – take what you learn and apply it in your own life.

 

Listen, Learn & Lead:

Chief Marketing Officers, or CMOs, are beginning to take ownership of customer experience in a company.  In order to make positive change, CMOs have got to be alert to the importance of engaging and listening to your customers.  Whether you are a CMO, CEO or someone else in authority, it is imperative for you to have a process in place for listening to your customers. 

When you listen, you have a powerful opportunity to really learn about your customer.  What are they saying?  What are their needs and desires for today?  This isn’t simply looking at statistics from 12-24 months ago, but addressing the real-time specific needs going on right now. 

Too many businesses struggle because they became stuck in what worked in the past.  As technology and our culture advances, what was successful in the past may be irrelevant today.  When you establish ongoing engagement and opportunities for feedback with your marketplace and customers, you are able to adapt your business to the changes that take place with any growth.  When you listen, you can learn.  And when you learn, you can lead.

This is how change can be powerful – when it’s intelligent change, educated on the needs and interests of your clients. Remember your three L’s:

Listen

Learn

Lead

 

What Role Does Sales Play In The Customer Experience?

It’s critical!  With no customers, clients or guests, you have no business!

Every business, no matter what its size, requires some element of having a customer.  Good, average, big or small companies all have to offer some form of customer experience.  If there is nothing for them to buy into, is it really a business at all?  Business involves exchange of some sort – what someone else wants and what you have to offer. 

Sales is a huge component of this.  Before you even have a customer, they have to know, like and trust you.  This is where your sales strategies come in.  How are you building rapport and trust, plus identifying the needs of your customers?  This is over 50% of the sales process, yet so often businesses jump straight to the last 30% of the process – product knowledge and closing the sale. 

If you base your customer experience on those top ingredients for effective selling – identifying the needs of your customer and establishing trust and rapport, then you not only have customers in the first place, but they keep coming back to you. 

Poor customer experience can lead to inefficiency within teams.  When you focus on a great customer experience where feedback and a two-way relationship is essential, you see greater efficiency, engagement, productivity and profitability.  If you want success in your business, upgrade your customer experience and engagement.  Failure to do this will lead to failure in business.

 

Good Leadership Is The Heartbeat Of Customer Care

In the words of John C. Maxwell, “Everything rises and falls upon leadership.” Poor leadership leads to poor growth, whereas good leadership leads to good growth. Good leadership is at the heart of customer care.

Where companies miss the mark is when they are so focused on the product, systems or marketing that they don’t have the bandwidth in their company to follow through with the full customer experience.  Customer care isn’t dealt with by a small department. The forward-thinking companies that attract new audiences, it is oftentimes based on the fact that customer care is built into their DNA – it’s the fabric of their company.  As they deliver, their customers become their raving fans, spread the word about the business, and become the best marketers they can have for their product. 

I am always impressed by Disney World with their customer care. Their goal is to have every customer – or guest, as they describe them – has an outstanding experience.  They strive to leave them with something that lasts way beyond the exit gate – something they will always remember. 

Can you say the same for your company?  Could you put a strong process in place for this to happen?  Having attended a Disney customer care experience course, I gained valuable insights on how they produced such a strong and robust customer care experience.  Now, this has become a world-class standard to strive for.

 

My Number One Tip For You:

 Customer care has become as much of a baseline as having a website these days.  I work with many companies and groups that realise the importance of distinguishing between the needs and desires of the client. 

Often, we hear that good customer care is all about meeting your clients’ needs.  However, there is a distinctive shift in the marketplace.  Yes, meeting your customers’ needs is important.  However, that only gets you halfway. 

Simply reacting to the known need of a client will help at first, but may lose its lustre.  The why, when and how buyers purchase changes over time.  Busier lives lead to changes in buyer habits.  You have to stay relevant by listening, learning and leading the change that is needed.  This is how you build a strong and successful business.

It is not just about identifying the need, but distinguishing the needs versus the desires.  Put your time, energy and money strategy into learning about the desires your customers may not have even identified as a need yet.  As you help customers to identify their desires and shift them to what they need, you gain greater loyalty for customer who will come back to you again and again. 

How are you building relationships with your customers and CMOs?