A Good Customer Experience Suggests Evidence of Good Leadership
When’s the last time you had a standout customer experience?
Can you say you’ve had a personable on-line shopping experience recently?
How confident are you that your team’s service is what you’d want it to be, consistently?
Read on to find ideas for improving interactions in your workplace — whether customer service or inner-office. Two recent experiences I had with the same company suggests they have a customer-oriented culture and emotional intelligence leadership.
I drink tea, historically lots of it, morning, noon and night. About 4 years ago I started drinking decaffeinated tea as the caffeine was causing problems with my system (not sleep thankfully). I did taste-test comparisons, I researched what methodology they used to decaffeinate the tea and of course considered cost and availability. My favourite became Brew Tea Co — an English company founded in 2012 by @Aideen and @Phil.
Customer Experience
Being a loyal customer, I have a regular subscription where my loose tea arrives automatically. Last month I adjusted my delivery to arrive sooner, unfortunately the transaction wasn’t possible, “said it couldn’t be processed with my card details.” I hadn’t changed the card so didn’t know what the problem was. I emailed them and got a prompt and empathetic reply from “Team Awesome.” Yup, that’s their email name. Sets the bar high, predisposes recipients potentially to that experience and can be risky.
Emotional Intelligence and Leadership
My various interactions with this company were consistently personable, that indicates that there is something in the culture or ‘organizational system’ creating the consistency.
1. Immediate Empathy to My Problem. The first line was an apology, saying they were sorry. At this point we had no idea if the issue was of their making or mine. Right off the bat they said sorry I was having a problem and asked how they could help.
2. Prompt, Positive, Passionate. I figured out that problem was caused by my bank suspecting fraud, nothing to do with Brew Team Co at all. I proceed to do the online transaction and they reached out to me and confirmed it had gone through this time. They followed me through the transaction because, yes, they wanted my business and knew I wanted their tea.
3. Knowing When Enough is Enough. Part of having good customer service is to know when it’s enough and when it’s too much. I have a regular subscription for tea delivery and they rarely email me, which is a good thing. They know people are deluged with stuff and they keep it to what is necessary.
4. Pre-Emptive Communication. My last interaction with them was an email offering me a discount on my next order as they had had a processing problem on their end and hadn’t gotten the recent orders out within the timeframe indicated (24 hours). I had no idea there was a delay, I would not have noticed a one-day delivery lag, and I’m a regular subscriber. They proactively communicated a potential delay and offered me a discount knowing I’m a somewhat guaranteed customer.
Leadership Lessons
Leadership is not a role or a position — everyone in any position can be a leader. The front-line staff of any organization need to be leaders:
* They need to lead themselves. An example, when a customer complains, is frustrated, maybe yells, a customer service rep needs to remain calm, listen, empathize with the customer. This takes a lot of self-management, to not take the criticism personally, to not get defensive, to engage in a way that diffuses the situation.
* They need to lead the customer experience as they are the “experts” in the product or service and in the process the company uses and ideally the most knowledgeable about what their customers need.
The definition of ‘experience’ is an event or occurrence which leaves an impression on someone. Impressions happen when we are touched by something or someone; they are made by influencing emotions. To create experiences for customers or colleagues in the workplace, employees need to be aware and able to manage emotions.
Brew Tea Co has made an impression on me — I trust them, I feel valued, like they care about having my business, and I enjoy their product immensely.
How confident are you about managing emotions?
Do you want to improve the ‘experiences’ your organization creates?
Book a complimentary coaching session with me here to explore your leadership, and how to help your people create great interpersonal experiences.
Originally published at https://directions-coaching.com on September 23, 2021.
