Creating a Wowing Customer Experience
Welcome to the Client Happiness Corner at Upleveling Your Business! I’m Megan, the Client Happiness Coordinator at UYB, and I will be bringing you regular articles to help you get raving fans – easily and consistently.
I’m going to talk with you about things like what not to do if you don’t want to make your clients mad, as well as how to fix it if you accidentally do. I will teach you how to work up to consistently turning your clients into raving fans!
There are three kinds of experiences a customer can have with your company:
- Bad
- Fine
- Excellent
Now, obviously we want to provide our clients with an excellent experience, but too many companies deliver one that is frustrating – or even bad. These are the experiences that cause clients to shout from the hilltops in their loudest voices, telling everyone what caused them to be disgruntled.
A lot of companies deliver fine service – not great, but not bad – that doesn’t inspire much, if any, conversation.
And then, some companies wow their clients, and in return, their clients rave about them!
Elevating your customer experience to the next level can often feel overwhelming, but I’m going to give you a few things that you can start to do today that will help you wow your clients.
Begin with paying attention to details.
Notice your clients’ needs, purchases and personal preferences. Show them that you are paying attention, listening to them, and remembering nuances of your interactions with them.
By doing this, you convey to them that they are important to you – and that they are a priority in your business. When you can do something to get them to say “Wow! How did you remember that about me?!” you can be sure that your customer’s experience is at a level above your competitors.
Bonus points if you can show them how you were paying attention in unique and surprising ways! When blending these things together, your success is guaranteed. Your clients will feel so special that you will have their business for life.
What won’t have your clients feeling special is a lack of attention to detail.
Have you ever hired a company to perform a service or plan an event that just didn’t happen as expected? Things can get frustrating quickly.
To prevent this from happening…please, dear reader, know your craft so well that you anticipate questions and fill in gaps without the client having to supply all the curiosity and effort. Anticipate the details and have a system in place that will allow you to exceed their expectations.
For example, decide in advance whether email, a phone call, or video conference will be the best method for communicating. If you have a lot of details to discuss, perhaps a consultation by phone or Zoom would be best.
Ask the client what their needs are – and then tell the client what to expect of the experience from your service.
*Bonus points – If multiple people or a team are going to be involved in any way with your service, make sure all team members are kept in the loop. Don’t leave your clients wondering about the next step or having to rush to take care of last-minute details.
Wowing opportunities abound from start to finish.
I can’t emphasize this enough: don’t phone it in half-way. Wowing your clients means following through and exceeding their expectations.
One of my favorite ways to do this is by sending things in the mail. This doesn’t need to be expensive. You can send a card for just a couple of dollars! The more important component to this exercise is to loop in some detail that is meaningful to the client.
Upleveling Your Business hosts a weekly Virtual Happy Hour with our clients, and I use that time to do some sleuthing. I ask curious questions and use the information to my gift giving advantage.
We had a client on a referral streak, and I hadn’t had a chance to get to know them yet. I hopped on social media to get a sense of what they cared about. It turns out they are dog parents, so I pulled a cute picture of them with their pup and put it on a travel mug. They loved it!
It’s fun to get creative, but showing your clients that you’re paying attention doesn’t have to be shown with gifts. You can show them you are paying attention through being highly responsive or by making the process of working with you really easy for them. (Or both!)
Is there an area of your business where you could make things easier for your client to onboard and experience your product or service? I know I have worked with businesses and vendors who could have made this process much easier, and they would have gained my loyalty for it.
Make the details your work – not your client’s.
Take the time to notice things about your clients! The way you let your clients know that you made the effort to notice will be unique to you and your business, but it all helps to produce that wow experience with your clientele.