We often think of “Customer Delight,” wondering how to define it and believing our company naturally delights customers regularly. We know we fall short, and we don't like to admit it.
An interesting experience happened recently with two companies I've done business with for a few years.
Until recently, each company's products had served my needs well.
Both companies provide top of the line software products via subscription.
As my business priorities have evolved, I have utilized the software less and less. I decided to cancel my subscriptions before the annual renewals.
I followed each company's directions for canceling their services in my account dashboards. Both processes were customer-friendly and straightforward.
It was clear that each had thought through their processes.
While I don't believe that either company had set out to create Customer Delight during a cancellation event, it was the net result that one of them produced.
What happened next, as both companies responded to my cancellation requests, surprised me. One was efficient, and one amazed me with their personalized communication and then delighted me with their process.
One Standard Customer Response
The first company responded with a canned email that said they enjoyed having me as a customer. It was a “we're sorry to see you go” message. The email outlined what would happen next and when my account would cease to exist. It contained simple instructions if I wanted to save any of my data.
At first glance, it appears they are following best practices for making it painless for a customer to cancel service. I was able to cancel my account with ease.
I'm glad it was easy, but their process didn't produce Customer Delight.
What may be easy, is probably not your best practice…
One Surprising Customer Outcome = Delight
Company Two responded entirely differently. I received an email from the owner within half an hour. He said they were sad to see me go and that he would help me cancel my account.
He asked me a few questions about why I was leaving, how their product was not meeting my needs, and if I was using any competing products.
Intrigued, I responded to his email. I explained why I was no longer going to be using the product and included a couple of points on how my needs had changed. I also provided the name of the product that I planned to use in its place.
Within a few minutes, I received a second email indicating that they did not want to lose me as a customer.
He valued the information that I had sent concerning why I was leaving, and what the competitive product was going to do in its place.
Included in the note were some great suggestions on how their product might still meet my needs.
The owner then offered to continue my subscription at a lifetime 50% discount. He also indicated that he was interested in learning more. He wanted to know how I used the two products together if I decided to stay a customer and whether or not one really could replace the other.
A few weeks later, he emailed again to ask how my use of both products was going.
Customer Delight? You bet.
To Bot or Not to Bot
You might be asking if Company Two's responses were automated. Also, were the emails really from the owner?
Maybe, maybe not. I donโt care.
Either way, Company's Two's result is sound customer engagement, and in my case, customer retention.
The key to automating customer facing processes is to design them so that you (yes you!) will enjoy them. Doing so ensures your customers won't have to endure them.
The net result is that Company Two kept its customer.
Price Wasn't the Valuable Factor
Price wasn't the factor that tipped me back to remaining a customer. The lower price for the life of the product is a nice bonus that resulted from my willingness to engage.
The essential factor was that I was delighted by the efficient, engaging process employed to learn about their customers, even when facing the prospect of saying goodbye.
From a revenue perspective, I'm a less valuable customer. If you're a bean counter (or an investor…), that's where you focus first.
The bigger picture is that for a learning organization, I'm a far more valuable customer. They learned about how one customer uses their product, and they discovered how a competing product is perceived and utilized through the eyes of one of their customers.
Our conversation revealed why one customer might want to leave.
Now I'm in the process of determining how I might better use Company Two's and their competitor's products side-by-side. They do serve slightly different purposes, and I'm seeing the potential of using both more effectively.
All thanks to a process designed simultaneously to ease the goodbye process and to engage me in conversation.
Five Profitable Customer Delight Insights
The online process of both companies made the steps of discontinuing their service easy.
The personal interaction of Company Two, however, made it difficult to leave. Not because they resisted my departure; on the contrary, they were just as willing to close my account.
The difference is they were curious and asked for more information so that they could learn about their product, how I used it, and why I had decided to stop using it.
Here are five insights I learned about customer service from my interactions with these two companies.
1) Automate For Results. Automated systems make it easy to manage and scale your business. Absent personal interactions with existing customers, you are likely to lose a customer just like the first company. Add in those personal interactions – even if partially or fully automated – you are far more likely to retain the business, engage and delight your customers, and learn through your processes. Automate what you want to accomplish, not just an efficient function.
2) Leverage Processes For Learning. Engaging your customers and asking questions can provide a wealth of information to you and your team. Customer behavior information is invaluable when scaling your company. This is true for the buying process and all points where you have an opportunity to interact. Unless you're asking customers directly, you're never going to understand their behavior. Your default is relying on assumptions, and we all know what happens when we ASS-U-ME.
3) Build Relationships. I expected both companies to expedite the process of canceling their service. What I didn't expect, was that one company would open up a line of communication. They learned more about my decision, plus were willing to make an offer to retain me as a customer, and perhaps learn more. Company Two was willing to take a hit their bottom line but wound up richer for their efforts.
4) Value Buy Decisions And Cancel Decisions. Company One designed their process for efficiency and put forth no effort to find out why customers decide to cancel their service. As a result, they are losing out on valuable opportunities to learn more about their customers. In contrast, Company Two assigns a high value to learning and keeps a customer. Their approach increases the likelihood that we will have a long-term relationship. Your most profitable sell is assisting a current customer, not gaining new customers.
5) Market To Prospects And Engage Customers. We tend to pay great attention to marketing and selling to new clients. Once they are in our orbit, we give them scant attention. When we focus all of our effort on new clients, we miss out on a wealth of information. For instance, from existing clients we can learn: how they use our products, why they make decisions, what they value, when they are looking for solutions, and where they might not be delighted with us. Focusing exclusively on the front end is the most expensive route to scaling our company.
Be Your Customer to Delight Your Customer
Take a few moments today and compare the amount of time you invest in finding new customers and retaining existing customers. Have you thought through your processes at each stage of your customers' journey?
Are there clear systems and processes defined at every stage of your customer?
Are there established scripts to guide phone conversations?
I'll bet there's a significant disparity, with most of your company's resources and thinking focused on the front end.
Become your customer. Take yourself through your processes of marketing, sales, onboarding, up-selling, regular services, and off-boarding.
Have your leadership team, really all of your employees, do the same.
Every place where your company interacts with a customer, you have an opportunity to guide their journey.
Own Your Customer Delight
Evaluating how your company delights customers is not a task to delegate to Sales or Customer Service. If you're an owner, you must be the customer too.
Take notes and document your experiences. Discuss what you learn during your team meetings. Seek ideas for improvement across your organization.
Are your operations designed for efficiency or results?
Are you delighted at each stage?
I bet you'll be surprised at what you find. Most likely you're going to find opportunities for improvement to the delight of your customers.
Go. Delight your customers!
Note: This article was also published on LinkedIn and Medium
Photo Sources:
Beach at Sunset: Mohamed Nohassi via Unsplash: https://bit.ly/2VDj1tF; Sticky Note Process: Daria Nepriakhina via Unsplash: https://bit.ly/2DmDV9h; Typing on Laptop: Burst via Unsplash https://bit.ly/2VNTQVr; Robot: Alex Knight via Unsplash: https://bit.ly/2VFwtNJ; Coffee Beans: Marco Verch via Flickr: https://bit.ly/2VCOc8H. Original: https://bit.ly/2VFoe4f and license: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0; Switchboard Operator: Noelene D via Flickr: https://bit.ly/2VCMuEj
