Make Sure Your Brand has an Outstanding Customer Experience
As one of the most profitable companies in America, I’m not alone in loving Apple products. But for me, it’s the service I experience every time I enter an Apple store that takes my affection for the brand to another level. The teams are knowledgeable about their products, friendly (even when the store is packed), and always ready to assist. They know exactly how to direct me if a question is outside their remit.
Cinnabon cinnamon rolls are simply delicious! But the in-store experience also leaves a positive taste. The store teams are invariably full of smiles and provide a consistent, high-quality service that elevates the brand experience. They truly seem to love their products just as much as the customers, which provides a strong reinforcement for the customer experience.
Pret A Manger has a delicious line-up of breakfast and lunch items, and customers are lined up any time of day. I initially started buying coffee from Pret A Manger for convenience, as they have a store around the corner from my office. But as I visited more frequently, the staff began to greet me personally and prepare my regular order before I had even placed it. Who doesn’t love that! As a result, I’ve found myself taking coffee and breakfast there more often, drawn in by the friendly and attentive staff that takes pride in its service and personalizes the experience.
As successful businesses expand, maintaining a consistently outstanding customer experience becomes a real challenge. The two most important factors are strong leadership and values at the top, and an emphasis on recruiting strong brand-ambassadors.
For those looking for some direction, here are some do’s and don’ts:
Don’t:
-Think that strategies agreed upon in the boardroom will be heard about and practiced by all without a real effort.
-Rely on a paper application. These rarely provide sufficient information about a candidate’s qualities – especially those that reflect how he or she will actively represent the brand to customers.
-De-centralize your recruiting efforts to store-level to such an extent that leadership loses sight of the selection process.
-Assume that store-managers know how (or have the time) to hire and train effectively.
-Become complacent with the exceedingly high turnover rates in retail & hospitality.
-Forget that a clunky application and candidate experience will go unnoticed by your customers. Remember: Candidates are customers too.
Do:
-Set a strong vision for the brand, and then find effective ways to communicate it through the organization.
-Develop brand champions at store-level.
-Focus recruitment efforts on finding out more about candidates in a relatively short hiring cycle.
-Train and up-skill your team members to provide them with the opportunity to become managers.
-Provide the same standard of experience to a candidate as you would to a customer. Remember, candidates are customers too. (You can’t read this enough!)
-Utilize technology that incorporates interactive features – such as video and audio –to experience a candidate’s personality as it will appear to customers.
-Make sure you’re mobile, as candidates are increasingly applying to retail and service jobs via smartphones.
-Take note of hiring metrics and analytics – use the data and identify the qualities of your top performers, and repeat this time and time again to learn from and improve upon hiring decisions.
If you pay attention to these points, you’ll have a great shot at building a consistently outstanding in-store customer experience that could help make 2014 your most successful year yet.