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Right now, people from all over the world are leaving their schedules, their responsibilities, and their diets at home and getting away for much-needed rest. If they show up at your registration desk/exit row/car counter/hostess stand, how are you going to be deliberate about creating a great moment in their Customer Experience? Or will you be too busy to anticipate their needs?

With all this demand (and who can argue that customers can be demanding?), it is easy to forget the importance of creating an excellent Customer Experience.

Here are 5 things to remember during the busy season for your Customer Experience.

1. Great Customer Experience moments don’t always require a huge investment. As Customer Experience Consultants, we hear our clients worry about how much their Customer Experience program improvements will cost. However, every moment doesn’t always have to cost a lot. This example of a high point in a Customer Experience from Southwest Airlines didn’t cost a dime—but it ended up on CNN Primetime, not to mention raising the spirits of the passengers on board.

2. Routine doesn’t have to equal dull.  Some organizations make excuses for their bad experience. They claim their experience is inherently bad so they can’t improve it. However, if you separate the “what” of the experience from the “how” you can improve it. In the example video above, his delivery is not about the “what’”, which in this case is communicating a routine safety demo. This example is about the “how.” By making it entertaining while you deliver the usual safety demo, you surprise your Customers, and except the rare curmudgeon, you make them laugh.

3. Hire people who aren’t a buzz kill. The right people in the right positionskeep the vacation vibe chill. Emotional intelligence (EQ) means you can control your emotions and manage the emotions of others. EQ is a vital skill for customer-facing employees. Hire for both a high IQ and EQ, especially when recruiting for customer-facing positions.

4. A laugh goes a long way to kick off someone’s vacation.  Milton Berle said, “Laughter is an instant vacation.” A good laugh makes the whole day better for everyone. Furthermore, it connects with your customers at an emotional level.Humor is also underused in business. Humor adds a lot to business—as long as you have good judgment. There is a big difference between what is funny in business, and funny business.

5. Happy employees make happy vacationers. Having employees that are engaged and ready to deliver is critical. Employee engagement comes from work cultures where the Employee Experience mimics the goals of your Customer Experience. For example, if you want your guests to feel valued and important, you should ensure that the Employee Experience makes your employees feel the same way. In other words, you can’t have one without the other.

Here’s a bonus tip:

Be deliberate about how to deliver your Customer Experience.

As part of my Customer Experience Consultancy, I travel and stay at hotels a lot. I marvel at how quickly an experience can go poorly at many hotels. Most often it happens because they were not deliberate about planning the moments of the Customer Experience. They chain up the hangers, making me feel like they expected me to steal them and put the shampoo by the sink, even though no one washes their hair in the sink!

However, one hotel never fails to disappoint: The Mandarin Oriental. Why? Honestly, a multitude of reasons, too many to list here. However, a survey question that I received after my stay summarizes it. It said, “How well did we anticipate your needs?

I like the question for two reasons:

1. They think they should anticipate my needs.

2.They measure how well they are doing toward that goal.

Minding the quality of your Customer Experience, especially during the busy times, remains crucial. Why? Because if you fail to provide and excellent Customer Experience because you were busy, you probably won’t be so busy anymore.

Improve the Customer Experience you and your organization are offering by training with Beyond Philosophy. Registration is now open for our new suite of courses.

 

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The Secret To Being happy At Work

Happy Customers: How to Get Them!

Colin Shaw is the founder and CEO of Beyond Philosophy, one of the world’s first organizations devoted to customer experience. Colin is an international author of five best-selling books and an engaging keynote speaker & also recognized as one of the original top 150 Business Influencers by LinkedIn. Beyond Philosophy provides consulting, specialized research & training from their headquarters in Tampa, Florida, USA.

Follow Colin Shaw on Twitter and Periscope @ColinShaw_CX