As a business owner, you’re passionate about the product or service you offer—that’s one of the reasons you started a business in the first place. And whatever your industry—whether it’s running a photography studio, or making cutting-edge phone cases—you’ve likely dedicated hundreds (even thousands) of hours engaging with customers, getting your product into their hands in a way that creates a great experience for them. You’ve treated your product as your product, and have perhaps become the only person in the company who can really provide the right level of engagement for your customers. That’s exhausting work—and it doesn’t have to be this way.
The truth is, your business isn’t just about what you make—your business is the product. Everything you do as a leader to sell your product or service affects how your customers feel about their experience, and that includes building a systematized customer experience strategy that doesn’t rely exclusively—or even at all—on you. So what does it take to create a fulfilling customer experience that doesn’t require you every step of the way, one that gives you space to do your most important work while still delighting your customers: A vision, a promise, and the systems to back it up.
A fundamental part of a strong Customer Fulfillment System is envisioning what you want your customer’s ideal experience to feel like. After all, most people tend to make purchases based on their emotions, and then back that decision up with logic. They’re not just buying a product or service—they’re buying familiarity, reassurance, reliability and convenience.
Start by honing in on the essentials of your customer’s ideal experience: How are you reaching out to them? Determine what you offer that your competitors do not, and what specifically brings them back to your business as a repeat customer. And since consistency is key, keep asking yourself, “What can we be doing better?"
Here are some other questions to help shape your vision:
With a vision of your ideal customer experience, you can start the work of drafting your Brand Promise: The foundational statement that defines what you want the connection between your business and your customers to be. Your brand fosters the emotional connection that your customers have with your business—how it makes them feel, what it reminds them of, why they chose (or should choose) your product or service over your competitors’.
Of course, it helps to understand who your ideal customer is and what they’d want out of an experience with your company. That information, along with how you can deliver on it, will drive your Customer Fulfillment System. But even without this, you can create a strong draft just by identifying your company values and weaving them together with your vision. Try putting all your notes on the questions above into words, starting with one of these two phrases:
Like some other business owners, you may believe that customer experience starts within the sales pipeline. But it starts well before that, with your recruiting and hiring process—more specifically, with a values-based hiring process, one that brings people who align with your company culture. Without such a process in place, you could unintentionally build a culture based on the assumption that your employees understand and share your values. To hire the right people, you first need to know who you’re looking for—and that should be someone who both has the skills for the role and shares your company values. By hiring with company culture in mind, you ensure stability among your team, and consistency in their way of representing your values internally and with every customer interaction.
Having interconnected systems in place is the only way to solve challenges and avoid potential issues within your Customer Fulfillment processes. With the right vision and people in place, the next stop is to align this with your delivery systems. Delivery is all about how your product is transported and experienced, but it isn’t just about the physical delivery—it’s also about how your emotional Brand Promise is delivered. It’s about getting the product in your customer’s hands and getting your company a special spot in their heart. Here are the five concepts to include in your end-to-end delivery system:
By breaking down the steps and working on five key delivery components, you’ll further eliminate the stress of feeling like you can’t step away.
Customer service is a vital part of customer experience; the stronger the system, the more likely your team will be able to supply answers and solutions to your customers’ questions and issues. Not only can you meet the Brand Promise you’ve established with your customers—you can exceed it. Create a comprehensive employee training to outline the values of your customer service experience, make sure your entire team is onboard with this vision, and document the systems behind it. Here are some of the key components to include in your approach to customer service.
You know that your business depends on its customers to keep going—but when you’re convinced that you’re the only one capable of providing that ideal customer experience, you’re trapping yourself in the overwhelm of the day-to-day delivery and service tasks. Instead, take charge and systematize how your company’s team can consistently deliver on its Brand Promise—without you. It’s possible, and it’s our promise to show you how we can help.