Improving Client Experience

Improving Client Experience

The old adage “the customer is always right” has been drummed into marketer’s (and customer’s / client’s) minds for as long as most of us reading can remember. But, does that make it right? The truth to this answer is “yes and no”. I apologise for giving such strictly clear foresight on this issue – but our reality is that this line is a tightrope that customers and marketers walk every day of their existence.

Yes, “the customer is always right” because they are paying the money – each service provider (including products too) should be giving the customer what they want – but at the right price of course. But then, there is also the “no” side of this coin – encompassing customers who seek guidance and look towards outside professionals for counsel; or those restaurant patrons who want their double cheese burger without cheese, with chicken patties instead of beef, oh, and could you make the buns wholemeal too. As I said, a tightrope.

Looking broader, the philosophy behind this decades-(maybe centuries)-old saying is increased customer experience. Brands, regardless what they sell, exist as a response to a market need. Market needs change; customer’s change; and as such, brands also need to be responsive to these dynamic forces affecting their daily transactions.

As a service provider, I have to balance costs, ethics, labour-hours, abilities, clients timeframes, external parties timeframes, and so many more things. It’s a challenge, but it is a simplified version of what every business undertakes. But as a service provider, it is also important for me to ensure my client gets the service they engage us for. 

This involves not only the outcomes of the campaign on project, but the entire experience. I am old-school, in that I believe I should engage directly with all my clients. I trust my team, but I also want to be part of the process, and I believe for the client to have a fully positive experience, that I should be too. This is not ego – this is simply paying respect to the client – after all, they are paying for my expertise on some level, not just the collective team expertise. 

Clients enjoy dealing with decision-makers, just as I embrace working with decision-makers within client organisations. They feel, rightly or wrongly, that they are receiving a better package. But, that too is just perception.

Improving the client experience however goes beyond just having a decision-maker involved. The key elements to client experience satisfaction are openness, communication, timeliness, and accountability. 

Openness has many facets. In my viewpoint, it is about both sides being open to discuss new ideas, and not block an idea simply due to personal reasons. It is also about having clients who are open to receiving new ideas, feedback, and suggestions. Too often, clients know exactly what they want, and simply want someone to execute that – but they haven’t had that fresh perspective from outside, playing devil’s advocate, to offer to the table fresh cards. I believe the job of any consultant is to counsel – that is, to approach the problem with different eyes, examine from all angles, present a range of options that will work (and explain why others will not), and for a frank discussion to ensue with the client. This creates positive opportunities. Yes, at the end of the day, the decision is that of the clients – but just as any person standing in the docks of a courtroom, they have been advised by their counsel as to potential outcomes. Guilty or not guilty is up to them.

Openness is also about the willingness to embrace change. To grow, sometimes we have to detract first. To grow, sometimes things need to be adjusted. To grow, sometimes we have to accept new ideas and new people. To grow, we have to be open.

Communication tops my list. Timely, clear, accurate, and transparent communication is important – both to the client and the client’s team. Progress reports, updates, questions, and the like should be transparent – and the best results are when the team is involved. I once had a client, responsible for four sizable business units, who requested that when I update her of certain outcomes, I “cc the world” – this meant, that all team members (from GM to attendant) was included in the communication. A “catch all” email address was created for this purpose; and every update of the particular nature, every single member of the organisation received a notification. This boosted awareness, morale, and made people feel included. 

We are social creatures – whether we agree or not, we crave communication – be it verbal or textual, or even visual. It makes us feel on top of things. The last five (5) years of enhanced social media infiltration into our lives has changed our communication patterns and timelines – we, as individuals, are now “on demand”, and this has to feature in our communication. Waiting two (2) hours for someone to respond to an email is now considered a social faux pas; whereas just ten (10) short years ago, no one would have batted an eyelid at a one (1) day delayed response. We have become a society that is wired 24/7/365, and because of this, our traditional 9-5 workday has morphed loosely into waking-to-sleeping workday.

But the lesson to learn is not responding immediately. It is to set appropriate parameters, adhere to them, and be consistent with them. Clients can be trained, and improving their experience is to train them to understand how best we work and communicate, and when to expect things from us. If we say Tuesday, let it be Tuesday (not Wednesday). If it has to be delayed, manage expectations early – do not leave it till Tuesday night.

Managing expectations can be an easy process. People are reasonable – but they become less so if the communication is not well-structured and open, nor timely. This timeliness is a key feature to the customer experience too.

We often think, “oh, they can wait a little bit” or “it’s only a small delay”; but we forgot that everyone has a boss. Even bosses have bosses (other shareholders, business partners, family-vested interests, or even external parties relying on them delivering outcomes). As such, we are just a cog in a much bigger machine, and when we slow down, it has follow-on effects for others as well.

To help improve customer experience, it is essential that we look at providing realistic timeframes for all tasks. The many outside factors that affect time to undertake a campaign have to be estimated loosely. It is certainly much better to deliver completed results early, than to be overdue. Just remember university – if the assignment was late, it didn’t receive a grade (at least, those were the rules I enforced when lecturing) – the same in business. Sometimes, something late simply means that a project stalls, or worse still, is cancelled altogether.

And if you screw something up, take accountability for your actions. No excuses, just take it on the chin and move on. In fact, there is nothing more irritating than excuses! Mistakes happen – people understand. You are more respected when you accept responsibility for a mistake, than trying to shy away from it. Yes, it may have cost you a project; but it may have saved you your reputation.

The ultimate goal is a positive customer experience that will bring the customer back to your office for further projects. You may be the type who advocates lots of sociable entertainment expenses with clients (I know a Japanese gentleman who has a significant budget for just this); but at the end of the day it is not the entertainment that counts, it is the integrity that you have as a consultant / service provider for getting the job done in a transparent, forthright, and dedicated manner. This will speak volumes more than a nice dinners and chilled beers.

I’d love to hear your thoughts on what you feel could be added to this post on creating an improved customer experience. Do feel free to pen your thoughts, and any examples below in the comments section.

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Image Source:

(1) thepositivitysolution.com 

(2) frankounl.wordpresscom 

(3) inc.com

(4) designbeep.com

(5) amican.com