Every interaction with a customer, or a potential customer, is an opportunity to secure them as ongoing customers and to have them promote your business by being delighted with their experience.  The initial interaction is crucial.

No matter whether the interaction is physical or virtual, their experience will determine if the person wants to be an ongoing customer or not.  If they are delighted with the interaction, the chances of them becoming a return customer and recommending your business are greatly enhanced.

If the interface is with one of your people, the customer experience is completely in the hands of your Customer facing person.  Their level of capability and personability will ‘make or break’ the customers’ perceptions and the likelihood of them being delighted which usually leads to them being a return customer/advocate.

I was reminded of this in a recent visit to one of our favourite cafes for brunch.  We were greeted by a somewhat nervous but well-presented person.  They showed us to a table, handed us menus, then departed.  We waited but eventually I went to the staff member and let them know we were ready to order.  They said “You order at the counter” which was not how it worked previously.  I said, “We used to have our order taken at the table” and they said “Oh, sorry, I thought I told you to order at the counter” in a ‘sheepish’ manner.  I said, “Oh, ok.  Where do I get water?”  They said “Oh, didn’t I give you any? I’ll bring it over.?”

This demonstrated the following:

• The café had changed its procedures, most likely to reduce ‘wait-staff’.
• I suspect the new procedures were not documented.
• The staff members had not been properly trained on the procedures.
• The café management (owners?) had failed to devise and implement the new procedures from their Customers’ viewpoint.
• There was no clear ‘customer feedback’ process.

Whilst this is a relatively simple example, the same ‘delighting customers’ approach applies no matter the size of the business:

• Devise customer service processes, from their viewpoint, with the involvement of your customer facing staff.
• Document the processes, using ‘flow charts’ where possible.
• Trial the processes and improve them, involving front line staff, and customer feedback.
• Once defined and finalised, train you people on the processes and continually ensure they are being implemented using Customer satisfaction surveys and staff input for feedback
• Continually improve the processes as necessary.

Systemising customer service/satisfaction processes and training staff on them may seem expensive, however losing customers and staff turnover due to having to deal with dissatisfied customers will be a much higher cost to the business.

As a key component of attracting and retaining customers, devise processes from a customer viewpoint, document them, continually refine them, train your staff, implement them, gain customer/staff feedback, adjust your processes accordingly, then endlessly apply this as a “Customer Satisfaction Cycle” system.

I do hope that café’s management (and managers of all size businesses) reads this article and implements the “Customer Satisfaction Cycle” system… we really want to keep going back!

For more Business ideas for success, listen to the “CEO Thinking” podcast using Apple or Spotify.

Philip Belcher MBA, FAICD, FIML is a specialist CEO Leadership, Strategy, and Execution Advisor and Principal of LSE Consulting Pty Ltd.

www.lseconsulting.net.au,

philip@lseconsulting.net.au