Painting Outside the Lines of Customer Service
Shep Hyken interviews Adrian Swinscoe. They discuss his new book, Punk CX, and talk about how to apply punk sensibility to the customer service world.
The Interview with Adrian Swinscoe:
- The speed of change is unceasingly fast, but true progress can be impeded by too much to quickly. Many organizations, in fact, make it difficult for their people to deliver good service. The punk movement, inherently, was born out of a desire to disrupt and simplify. That’s what needs to happen with customer service and experience.
- Customers notice small details and these have a huge impact on their overall experience. For example, let’s say a customer is enjoying everything about a restaurant, but when they go to the bathroom, it is horrifically dirty and smelly. That will affect their overall experience and enjoyment of the restaurant; they may wonder if the kitchen is as dirty as the bathroom, for instance. Make sure every detail is customer-ready.
- The customer experience is about more than just metrics, and metrics are not always the best way to measure whether or not the experience is a good one. For instance, it’s difficult, if not impossible, to measure being kind to someone or doing the right thing. But just because these things can’t be measured doesn’t mean they shouldn’t be done. And more often than not, this will have a greater effect upon the customer than anything else.
- Surveys can be helpful, but quite often they are problematic because they’re a selfish venture and don’t truly make the experience better for the customer. The “Six Deadly Sins of Surveys” are making your survey relevant to your company instead of the customer, lengthy surveys, delivering surveys at an inappropriate time, not giving your customers a true voice, not thanking your customers for their time and effort, and surveying your customers too much.
- There is a lack of real meaning in customer service and experience these days. Many representatives merely paint within the lines of customer service, rather than venturing outside the lines to provide truly exceptional customer service. In order to make a difference and provide an amazing customer experience, you must be willing to try new things—paint outside the lines of your CX.
Quotes:
“Unconventional times require unconventional hires.” – Adrian Swinscoe
“CX is about more than metrics. Oftentimes you can’t measure just being nice and doing the right thing, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t do it.” – Adrian Swinscoe
“Listen to your customers. People will say the most amazing things if you let them talk.” – Adrian Swinscoe
“If you want to be an artist, you have to create art. You have to paint outside the lines to make a difference. The same applies to CX. Ask yourself: are you an artist or are you just coloring in?” – Adrian Swinscoe
About:
Adrian Swinscoe is a best-selling author and Forbes contributor who has 20 years of experience growing and developing customer-focused companies. His latest book is entitled Punk CX.
Shep Hyken is a customer service and experience expert, New York Times bestselling author, award-winning keynote speaker, and your host of Amazing Business Radio.
This episode of Amazing Business Radio with Shep Hyken answers the following questions … and more:
- What is punk CX?
- How can I improve my customer service/CX?
- How do I conduct effective customer surveys?
- What will turn customers away from my business?
- How important are metrics to CX?
