Creating a Customer Experience Framework

Every company is going to struggle to create and deliver a consistent customer experience. It only gets more complicated when you have a wide range of employees from competent to clueless. To that end, many companies adopt a quality program designed to make sure employees interact with customers a particular way.

One common mistake that companies make is to recognize the difference between creating a "framework" for delivering a common experience and creating a minion of impersonal robots.

Let's take greeting a customer, for example. Let's say your goal is for each customer to be greeted in a friendly, personable, invited way. If possible, you want to build on your brand recognition.

A "framework" for your employees would include certain elements that you'd like them to consistently include when greeting customers:

• A salutation ("Good morning", "Hi", "Welcome to...", "Good afternoon!" et cetera)
• Use customer's name (if it's a familiar customer)
• Inviting question ("What can I get you?" "How can I help you today?")
• Personalization (e.g. Telling a mom with kids "Looks like you've got your hands full today!" or a customer dripping from the rain "It's tough to stay dry on day like today, isn't it?")

The key with providing your employees a "Framework" of behavioral elements is that they can find a way to apply the "Frame" while letting their own personality and style shine through. Each employee can find phrasing and style that is comfortable for them and gives it their own personal twist.

The "robotic minions" style of service delivery is to give your employees a script and ask them to parrot it to every customer no matter who walks in the door and no matter what the circumstance:

"Welcome to Wenger Widgets where our widgets create a wonderful world. My name is Tom. It will be my pleasure to assist you. Could I interest you in our "Winsome Widget" today?"

Yuck! Even the best employees with the most positive of attitudes will tire of such a script - not to mention the customers who must sit and endure it.

To create a consistent customer experience, throw the script away. Provide your employees with a well-constructed framework of behaviors and then help them personalize it.