Providing customers with a flawless and memorable experience that gives them what they want – and brings them back – is the goal of any company. Those that get “customer experience” right say that the key is to focus on relationships with buyers at so-called “touch points” along the way, from long before until long after a sale takes place.
Companies old and new are paying more attention to customer experience, from business-to-business firms to street-level retailers. At root, all businesses need to focus on “the totality of experiences, positive or negative,” says Mark Healy, a partner at Satov Consultants, a management consultancy in Toronto specializing in corporate, customer and operations strategy.
“All customers have experiences,” Mr. Healy says. These experiences happen pre-purchase, at the time of purchase, in using the product or service and post-purchase. He says this means all interactions between the buyer and the business are important, not just its service or its brand. “Customer experience speaks much more to how customers perceive themselves and their emotions, as part of the process of engaging with a company.”
An examination of three companies suggested by Mr. Healy shows that getting it right is a complex and evolving formula of employee training, added value and attention to detail – with a significant payoff.
Kyu Lee, founder of QUEUE IT Professionals in Markham, Ont.
QUEUE IT Professionals
The IT sector has not traditionally been known for stellar customer service, with its storied converted-garage setting, cost escalations and laissez-faire deadlines. When brothers Kyu and Alex Lee started up QUEUE IT Professionals two decades ago, they set out to change that.
Today the Markham, Ont., company, which provides IT services to business, from on-site support to staffing and outsourcing, strives to deliver extraordinary service experiences to its customers, says CEO Kyu Lee. He says it’s important for companies to understand what their customer experience objective is and deliver it, through each point of interaction with the buyer.
“It’s about managing every single one of those simple things every day and doing it right,” Mr. Lee says. The IT sector has especially gotten away with poor customer service, he says, because its product is complex and difficult to understand, so people feel powerless in dealing with providers.
QUEUE, which has a staff of 40, bases its philosophy on professional, punctual service. Customers receive project proposals with fixed prices and firm time-frames. Staffing is critical, Mr. Lee says. New recruits start with a week of training focused not on technology but on “delivering the customer experience.” Workers in typical IT companies, he explains, “think it’s technology that jumps up and signs their paycheque – it’s not.”
Every business relationship starts with what Mr. Lee calls a dating stage – “it never gets any better,” he says. The key is to maintain this euphoria to the end, and even beyond. Indeed, almost all of the company’s business comes from referrals and repeat customers, he adds, which shows people are looking for honest, professional IT service.
“In today’s modern business world, there are no IT virgins,” Mr. Lee explains. In this context, QUEUE tries to understand and respond to each of its clients over the long term. “It’s about managing expectations.”
In-flight operations on a Porter flight.— Norm Betts/Porter
Porter Airlines Inc.
The company to watch for new thinking about customer experience, Porter Airlines just four years out of the gate is all about service and style. As Canada’s third-largest scheduled carrier, maintaining its “refined” look and feel and providing a special level of service and experience to passengers have been key to its success.
“People now expect this,” says Brad Cicero, the manager of communications and public affairs for Porter. “It’s about delivering a consistent experience.”
