The daily doom-and-gloom surrounding the cost-of-living crisis is daunting not only from a customer perspective but from a commercial perspective too. This is why it is a critical time to focus on delivering an exceptional customer experience (CX).
As consumers are feeling the pinch, and becoming less likely to spend their money, businesses have to evolve and be innovative in their approach to win that customer over, get that sale and influence the customer to return. So… how do you do that?
How to deliver a great customer experience
Indeed, product price, quality, availability etc. all play a key part in the customer's decision-making process. But as a member of staff, when those things aren’t in your direct control, what can you do? The answer is behaviours.
Behaviours are powerful in all aspects and should be prioritised in any organisation's CX strategy. The behaviours that staff display will always directly impact the customer experience, and their propensity to purchase and return.
And it’s important to highlight the damage which can be caused when poor behaviours are exhibited when considering the customer's lifetime value (i.e., the potential £100’s or £1,000’s your business has lost in repeat business), and the likelihood of customers sharing their bad experiences online and with their friends and family (customers are more likely to talk about a bad experience with your brand than a good one — and they tell almost 3X as many people when it happens!).
What are the key behaviours that impact most on the customer experience?
1. Friendly
Instantly likeable, due to their facial expressions, voice tonality, body language and humour.
2. Enthusiastic
Loves life, really enjoys their job and lives the brand.
3. Professional
Well presented, articulate, respectful and knowledgeable.
4. Interested
Asking questions and listening to responses, which weren’t necessarily directly about the initial enquiry.
5. Attentive
Didn’t unduly keep me waiting, totally focused on me as a person, and made me feel like their only customer.
6. Helpful
Genuinely interested in providing a solution, not just trying to sell me something.
At Performance in People (PiP), we have developed an objective way of measuring the key behaviours that impact the customer experience; The Behavioural Measurement Score® (BMS®). BMS® is a proven and established method to improve CX – it has won multiple awards and is used by some of the UK’s biggest brands in the auto, retail, hospitality and housing building sectors.
If you’d like to know more, please contact us at enquiries@performanceinpeople.co.uk
