Blog – Page 10 – ZenMango

Who Makes Colorado Beautiful Every Day?

I was at Floyd’s Barbershop for a haircut. My stylist Dawn greeted me and during the haircut I learned that she has worked with the company for 11 years. I asked “What do you like about working here? Dawn: “Every day when I come to work, I get a chance to make people in Denver Colorado BEAUTIFUL.” I was not sure what she meant and wanted to know more, “Make Denver Beautiful?” Dawn: “Yes, every person leaves my chair FEELING CONFIDENT AND BEAUTIFUL.” Wow. I realized how lucky I was to get a haircut from Dawn. She was not just cutting my hair. She had a vision of what I would feel when I left which gave her a clear purpose; something most business service providers do not have. Just like Starbucks offers more than just a coffee, it offers a well-deserved break experience and Disney is not just theme park, it also leaves guests with a lifetime of memories; the same way Dawn at Floyd's is not just a hair stylist. She elevated a haircut from just a service to an experience that touches the heart of every customer every time. The Secret To Getting To A Deeper Customer Connection Often brands focus only on the product or service they offer, and then try to be efficient in delivering it to their customers. In the process they become a utility provider without connecting to any customer feelings. It is risky positioning for brands as a utility provider can be easily replaced by a better product or service, as customers do not have a deep connection with the brand. For brands to achieve the connection, which I felt during haircut from Dawn at Floyd’s, they must identify their purpose as a value-add, to build a lasting connection with their customers. The lasting connection starts with KNOWING their customers, their lives and preferences, and how the brand can make the customers life better. Brands must have a clear picture of what every customer feels when they leave the brand; a feeling that is special and one the customers experience only with that brand. That special feeling creates a long-term connection with the brand that is the first step to repeat visits, increased loyalty and eventual positive buzz, word of mouth. Denver Colorado surely did not need another haircut place, but it surely needs Dawn at Floyd’s to make people in Denver feel beautiful, one person at a time. 3 Steps To Get To A Deeper Customer Connection: Go beyond the product and service Find the role your brand can play in the customer’s life Have clarity on what every customer feels when they leave Let's Talk About How Your Brand Can Get To A Deeper Customer Connection Arjun Sen CEO, ZenMango C: 303-521-1988 E: arjun@zenmango.com Watch Arjun's speaking video at www.arjunsen.com...

How Do You Deliver A Consistent Customer Experience?

Too many brands only celebrate exceptional customer service. That means the rest of the time, service is simply ordinary. Instead, brands should define their standards based on what every customer gets every time and celebrate the percentage of times they deliver that standard. This way they are setting expectations with their customers and the more consistent they become, the more customers will see the consistency as their competitive differentiation. Here are a few areas to consider: Make it easy for team members: Brands today often fall in love with loyalty programs and offer different levels of service to different levels of loyalty customers. This makes it difficult for team members. Why not treat every customer as a super loyal customer thereby creating more loyal customers, and team members can offer consistent service to everyone. Channel consistency: Customers today interact with a brand or access a brand through different media or third parties. The customers do not care how they get to the brand or the product, but they always want to have the same feeling and the same experience. Hence, brands should ensure the same consistent experience over all access modes. Consistency Dimensions: Consistency comes from store to store, employee to employee, and visit to visit, and connects to the benefits customers enjoy. Withdrawing a benefit without communication or consent is a major violation and is considered a breach of trust. Emotional Consistency: This may be the biggest consistency dimension, especially for service businesses with extended human interaction. Customers expect consistency in emotional connections, and if during the last visit there was a heart to heart talk and this time, the team member is quiet, the customer can feel emotionally rejected. Hence emotional consistency is a must. Consistency is one of the top measures that drives customer loyalty. At the same time, a lack of consistency makes customers look for other options, as they no longer feel they can count on the brand. A Story: What Should Every Customer Get Every Time? I was running an offsite Senior Management meeting, when the team came to an agreement that the #1 barrier to business success was service consistency. After that, over the next day the team searched for different paths to get to service consistency but could not agree on one. I had an idea. I gave each executive an index card and asked them to write down the top five service elements that every customer must receive every time. As they were busy writing, I reminded them that there were 11 executives in the room. That means if they were in total alignment, they should have the same 5 service elements and if they were totally non-aligned, they will have a total of 55 different service elements. Once I tallied all the index cards, I realized that there were 31 different service elements mentioned and only 3 elements were mentioned by more than 6 executives. This showed the serious non-alignment of the brand at the Senior Management level and they had not defined what consistent service was. If Senior Management could not define consistent service, how could front-line employees be expected to deliver? To achieve consistent service, everyone in the organization should be clear on what every guest must get every time. Questions for You: Creating your checklist for what every guest must get every time: Is it clear in your organization what the service elements are? Does every team member know what they are? Are your training systems connected to them? Do you have measures connected to them? Do you celebrate best practices? ...

Do You Really Know Your Customers?

Your brand spends a lot on researching your customers and have created clear profiles of customer segments. You know what the segment members do when they are not visiting you and their choice of media. You know WHO they are and WHAT they do. But do you know: WHY they do what they do? Your guests individually? The answer to both questions is in a big trend that is sweeping the world; Focus on individuality resulting in need for customization. Brands must really learn about their customers, as the desire for individuality is driving the need for personalized products, services, and experiences. A great example of this is Coke’s "Share a Coke" campaign where Coke introduced bottles that had popular millennial first names. Coke then evolved to semi-personal labels beyond first names, like “better half”, then adding last names and finally, names of famous vacation spots. This was Coke’s way of inviting more people individually to the campaign and has evolved to the ultimate customization plan at ShareaCoke.com where you write whatever you want on your bottle of Coke. The same way Amazon’s personalization efforts resulted in custom headlines and product recommendations for each customer; Spotify’s “Discover Weekly” that delivers a curated playlist of tracks a user will like, etc. These are examples of getting to know the customer and delivering on a product that makes the customer feel, “Aww, you really know me." What are you doing to make your customers feel that "Aww" moment? A Story: Can You Go Wrong With A Bottle Of Wine? J, a friend of mine, just bought a new home. Two weeks after closing, he came back home one evening to find bottle of wine with a note from the real estate agent on the deck. J and his wife really enjoyed working with the real estate agent and were touched that the agent was thoughtful enough to leave them a gift. The real estate agent continued to leave wine, one bottle every month. After the second bottle, my friend was not impressed any more. “We do not drink any alcohol. During our real estate search, we had quite a few meals with the agent. He did not remember the simple fact that we told him over and over, that we do not drink any alcohol. The first bottle, while not something we wanted was accepted as it was meant as a thank you for your business.” The following bottles caused J and his wife to start to question, “If the agent was not paying attention to this, what else did he miss as he helped us buy this home?” The gift of bottles of wine, showed that the agent did not know his customer. Questions for You: Checklist for your customer learning. Are you: Going beyond research? Learning about individual customers' needs? Using learning to deliver personalized solutions? ...

Is Your Loyalty Program Actually Working?

How is your dating life going if you… Give out a reward card on your first date and after each date you punch a heart and offer a reward of carnations after 5 punches and roses after 10? For last-minute dates, you offer double points (two punches)? You offer specials such as a free dessert if your date has not gone out with you for 6 months? The only way to describe your dating life would be “NOT good!” Your best friends may even consider an intervention and ask you “Why are you trying to buy love? Why are you being so desperate?” You may be feeling uncomfortable with this discussion itself. But many brands do this exact thing to increase loyalty, as they measure loyalty by squeezing out one extra visit (date) from a customer. What is loyalty? I describe it as being “FAITHFUL, TRULY COMMITTED, DEVOTED, REGULAR, STAUNCH, or ALWAYS THERE” Those words describe a relationship, a feeling of being close, or best friends. Loyalty is not getting an extra date or visit at any cost, instead it is about putting your customers first. Listening to them, getting to know them, and connecting to them in a meaningful way. Just like the dater was thinking of themselves first, the same way most loyalty programs put the brand’s win first, and often do not care about what customers feel. There is a place for a REWARD PROGRAM, where guests visit and aspire to achieve something of value, and not just get products they already would have bought at a discount. Currently most brands do not measure loyalty, and they are not driving loyalty; but often they call their program a loyalty program as it sounds good. The time has come for every brand, small and big to wake up and put their customers first. Click here for a white paper on the True Loyalty™ vision. A Story: Heart Broken On Valentine's Day This year on the morning of Valentine’s day, a Coffee company sent me a “Buy one get one free” (BOGO) offer valid only for this Valentine’s day. I know brands segment their customers and send them offers based on who they are and what they need. Does that mean the Coffee company saw me as a cheapo customer who looks for BOGO offers when taking my Valentine out? Then I read the offer closely and realized that it was only valid after 3 pm. Still, I showed up at 5 pm and ordered a latte and a chai. To my surprise I was charged full price. Now I was ready to fight, but before I could escalate this, the Barista showed me the offer was valid for espresso drinks only. This was not nice, a “double limited offer” that really got me. I left FEELING CHEATED, after buying two drinks at full price on a day I didn’t even want one. Yes Coffee company, you won. You got an extra visit and two extra beverage purchases from me, but trust me, you will not be my valentine ever again. Any Valentine’s day BOGO should be a total NOGO. True Loyalty: Measure: Connection Goal: Customer Win Manifestation: Customers choosing you more often Questions for You: Checklist for your current Loyalty program: How do your customers feel when they: Hear from you? Visit you because of it? A few days after? Are you putting your transaction needs ahead of customer’s wins? How are you conditioning your customers? ...

Gathering Too Much Data On Your Customers?

How would you feel if you found out that your date was tracking where you go, what you do, and was found going through your credit card statements? You may feel that you are being STALKED. Shouldn’t your date simply pay attention to you and get to know you? Many brands do the same thing and buy every data point that is available on their customers and analyze it to better “target their customers.” To build a long-term relationship, brands should be able to say yes to the following three questions: Is the TRUE PURPOSE of data gathering to benefit your customers? When Amazon studies customers' buying patterns and recommends what they would really like, it makes customers feel that the data gathering is “all about them.” The same way when customers share their name and information, and you use it to recognize and reward them, it makes them feel special. Is your data TRULY PREDICTIVE? The behavior data of your customers away from your store may or may not be indicative of their behavior with your brand. Is your data gathered with FULL KNOWLEDGE and TOTAL CONSENT of the customer? These are essential to building and maintaining trust. Only Purpose of Customer Data: To know your customers To know what they want To offer a better experience A Story: Why Would You Send Me A Bra On My Birthday? When my daughter was 13, I went through something that every dad is afraid of experiencing. A lingerie brand sent me an offer for a free bra on my birthday. My daughter opened the envelope and immediately we both were totally embarrassed. How did it happen? I realized that when I took my daughter to the store, she used my credit card to pay. The brand must have harnessed my credit card data to get more information about me and chose to smart-market to me. Then, they invited themselves to my birthday celebration by sending me the gift of a free bra. What did they miss? They should have known that a sizable percentage of teens rely on their dads to drive them to the store and use dad’s credit card. Hence for teen products, the payee and the buyer may not always be the same. They could have done a simple data validity check to find out what names are primarily male names as that would have avoided the big mistake. It has been 12 years and I still have not forgotten the embarrassing moment. 3 Questions About Your Customer Data: Is the TRUE PURPOSE of data gathering to benefit your customers? Is your data TRULY PREDICTIVE? Is your data gathered with FULL KNOWLEDGE and TOTAL CONSENT of the customer? ...