MC: 0:00

Experience Action. Let's stop just talking about customer experience, employee experience and the experience of leaders. Let's turn ideas into action. Your host, Jeannie Walters, is an award-winning customer experience expert, international keynote speaker and founder of Experience Investigators, a strategic consulting firm helping companies increase sales and customer retention through elevated customer experiences. Ready set action. One, two, three four.

Jeannie Walters: 0:31

Customer experience isn't just for customer experience leaders. Any business leader can probably relate to this question.

Listener Question: 0:40

Hi, Jeannie, my name is Joe and I own a small construction business. I've been curious, how can I make it easier for my customers to do business with me?

Jeannie Walters: 0:53

Hey everyone, it's Jeannie Walters. Thank you for joining me on another episode of the Experience Action Podcast. I am really excited to answer this question today because you might be like Joe, you might be somebody who owns a business, who is a small business leader, and you're thinking well, this is great, but what do I actually do to make it easier for our customers? So let's dive in. First of all, directly to Joe and all of you out there who are in the same boat congratulations, congratulations on running a business taking that leap, being the business owner who cares about your customers enough to not only listen to this podcast but go out there and ask the question. Thank you for doing that.

Jeannie Walters: 1:35

Now, when we talk about making it easier to do business with us, what does that really mean? It means that we are trying to take friction away from our customers in the process of working with us. It means we're trying to get ahead of the questions that they have. It means that we're trying to communicate clearly so there are no unexpected surprises around billing or timelines or things like that. Think about yourself as the customer. These are the things that create that angst, that anxiety that causes us to tell our friends, hey, don't use that company, because this is what they put me through. So let's dive into a few ways to make things easier for our customers to do business with us. Number one, I would say, is communication. We need to communicate clearly and proactively. Customers don't want to chase down answers. Sharing a simple timeline or what-to-expect guide when you are first talking to a prospect or customer can really help set the stage and expectations that we are here for you.

Jeannie Walters: 2:46

Most construction projects are not something that people do every day. So if I'm the customer, this might be all new to me. What can we do to help them understand and feel empowered and educated and confident going into the project to begin with? Thinking about how to set those expectations in ways that are both enlightening and empowering and not condescending can really help. You know, a couple of years ago we had a standard update on our HVAC system here at home our heating and air conditioning, and the technician that they sent I think he was very skilled at what he did, but we complained. We complained because he showed up reeking of cigarette smoke and everything he looked at he kind of said, oh, I would have done this differently, this wouldn't have gone here. This is a bad thermostat and that's not really what we were looking for. We were looking for the standard evaluation, maintenance, all of those things. We had used this specific company before, but that technician left such a bad feeling with us that we started shopping around. Now was the maintenance handle and the update handled in the way it was supposed to be? Sure, we got quote unquote what we paid for, but the experience of it is what drove us to start looking around at other options.

Jeannie Walters: 4:12

So those are the types of things that if you're not really articulating to your staff, if you're not making sure that everybody understands what are the standards of how we interact with our customers, what are the standards of how to set expectations about what to expect, then that can really lead you astray. That can lead your customers astray because that is the experience for them. So, as you think about how to prepare your customers for what to expect, think about it in a way of okay, they are spending probably a lot of money, they are investing a lot of time and focus and energy and attention. How can we really respect that and honor that and appreciate that? Well, if we tell them what to expect and then we send a technician out like that who maybe isn't living up to that. That's going to create disconnect. So part of setting those expectations is making sure that everything we're doing inside the organization is being built to uphold those standards and expectations. So it's not necessarily just saying, hey, here's what you should expect and hoping for the best. You have to look inside your organization and make adjustments to make sure that you are operating and delivering in the way that you've promised to your customers as well. But if you can communicate proactively and clearly from the beginning, that's already going to put you ahead of some of your competition.

Jeannie Walters: 5:38

Now, the other thing I'll say here is that when it comes to communication, we want to simplify. We want to simplify paperwork and payments and things that are going to happen. If we are sending quotes back and forth, if we are looking at contracts that are looking like the old yellow pages, we want to make things very simple for our customers. If you're still using lots of hard copy paper, it might be time to start looking at are there digital options here that we can send to our customers? Can they go ahead and sign the contract on their mobile phone? How can we make it as simple and straightforward for them? When it comes to payments, making sure that they understand what are the expectations, what is the timeline, is there a deposit? If so, how does that get applied or not? Making sure we are crystal clear about payment is so important.

Jeannie Walters: 6:31

We also want to make sure that we are accessible to them. Now, in an environment like this, where a customer might have never gone through this process before, we want to make sure that we also assure them we're here for your questions and we can be available to you. So what are the best ways to reach people? As customers, we probably all had the experience where we meet a salesperson or somebody the first person that we meet we really have a great relationship with them, and then we can never find them again because all we have is the 800 number. We're trying to get through and we're getting, you know, the runaround from a company. We want to make sure that they understand who is accessible for what and why, and what works best for them. Is it okay to text? Is it okay to email? Go ahead and find out the preferences of how your customers like to communicate as well, and then we also want to anticipate questions.

Jeannie Walters: 7:26

Now, in any process like this, there will be times where things happen. There will also be times where maybe we've provided all of that upfront. You know here's what to expect, but then throughout the process, they forget they've never been through this before. So, instead of just assuming that they understand, actually look for where are those questions that we get, no matter what. When we get those questions, what can we do to be proactive about it? This is about the time when customers start asking are we on track? Are we on track for budget and timeline? Well, if we know that about, you know, two weeks in is when we start getting that question. Go ahead and send a proactive communication a week and a half in and say, you know what, J"ust giving you a quick update everything is on track, we are looking good for our timeline and our budget. The more that we can do that by anticipating their questions, we're actually reducing their anxiety. When we can reduce anxiety, that helps them feel empowered, reassured, more confident in the partnership that they have with you. Make it feel like a collaboration that you are looking out for them. And then, finally, we want to respect their time and space. We want to respect how they want to communicate. We want to just really go into this, respecting that they are taking a risk with something like this. Anytime you sign up for a big project like construction or maybe renovations in your home or repairs, that means that you are really trying to make improvements in the space that you live in, in the space that you work in. Maybe you're building a new headquarters for your company. That's a big risk. We want to respect that they are taking a chance and that they have selected us.

Jeannie Walters: 9:18

One of my favorite clients was a small construction company who specialized in things like hospitals and churches and schools, and they started ritualizing some of the big milestones, because it takes a long time. People get antsy, people forget. So one of the things they did was when they put the first big beam down, they would invite the key stakeholders who had given the project the go-ahead to come in and sign the beam before they started building on top of it. It was a really special event because it marked the moment of hey, we're doing this. This is really exciting and you all are a part of it. It's a great way to show respect. They had other milestones too.

Jeannie Walters: 10:00

Getting to certain points, they would make sure that they would communicate in a certain way to make sure that everybody who had basically stuck their neck out and said, yes, we want to do this, they were being acknowledged and appreciated in really powerful ways. So think about how can you do that, how can you look for ways to appreciate and acknowledge the very people who have taken a chance. It's a risk for them. Let them know that you not only understand that you celebrate that this is a collaboration and a partnership. So I hope that gives you a few ideas, Joe, and everybody else who's listening.

Jeannie Walters: 10:37

But really this comes back down to what we always say about customer experience here at Experience Investigators. Our CXI Navigator Framework really takes the approach that we have to view this within our organizations as a mindset, a strategy and a discipline. So if you can really make sure that you are understanding your customers, you are helping everybody in your organization understand how important it is to show up a certain way for your customers to really deliver on the expectations that you've promised. Then that will lead to better strategy around being proactive. The more proactive you can be in your communication, that will eliminate some service costs. That means that fewer repairs, fewer angry customers, all of those things and really the discipline is about making sure that you're doing this again and again in the same ways so that by the end of one project, you can count on oh, we're going to get so many referrals from this. They're going to be so happy and give us a great review, whatever it is that you know will happen, because you are consistent in how you deliver.

Jeannie Walters: 11:44

So this was a great question. For anybody listening, don't forget we have a lot of free resources for you at Experience Investigators, including our CXI Compass, which helps you identify where do we need to invest our time and attention, where should we put our effort around customer experience. So I hope this is helpful. We love your questions. Don't forget you can always leave me a message at askjeannievip and I will hopefully answer your question in an upcoming episode of the Experience Action Podcast. Until then, thanks for everything you're doing and let's continue to collaborate for the benefit of our customers. See you next time. To learn more about our strategic approach to experience, check out free resources at experienceinvestigatorscom, where you can sign up for our newsletter, our Year of CX program and more, and please follow me, Jeannie Walters, on LinkedIn.