Customer delight is all about exceeding customer expectations. By definition then, a start has to be understanding what those expectations actually are in the first place and how you measure up against them.
To help them do this, one of the things that we encourage our clients to do is ‘stand in their customer’s shoes’. That means finding out what they are like to do business with and what the experience is actually like. What’s even better is to getting customers to do it themselves and feedback what they think!
Here’s an example of an organisation that is taking a really proactive approach to doing this – It’s The National Trust!
They are inviting children to be tell them how they could make their attractions more exciting for them as young customers and are setting up a new advisory group, made up entirely of children to provide advice on how to get more of the nation’s young people outdoors.
The Trust say the “perfect candidate” will be brimming with enthusiasm and fun, plus have a natural love for the outdoors and fresh air, as well as an adventurous spirit and a wild imagination.
They are looking to sign up 10 children aged between 7 and 12 to the group to advise on how to make properties more fun for younger visitors. The successful council applicants will be announced later in the year and will be offered free year long access to National Trust places for themselves and their family.
The Kids’ Council will meet throughout 2013 and report their findings into the National Trust’s Visitor Experience Director, so their suggestions can be put into practise to help make the outdoors more fun for the nation’s kids.
It’s a great example of creating ‘dialogue’ with customers, rather than creating ‘diatribes’. That means listening rather than simply telling them how good you are and why they should buy from you.
Understanding what customers want (and don’t want) and establishing their expectations is a fundamental ingredient of 3D Characteristic #3: Creating Delighted And Devoted Customers – knowing their expectations makes it easier to exceed them!
‘Creating Dialogue Not Diatribes’ is an ingredient of 3D Characteristic #4: Forget CRM, Think MCR! Maximise Customer Relationships – it’s all about ‘proactively giving the best to, and getting the best from the customers that you want’. The National Trust obviously wants more youngsters as customers and who better to help them do that than the young customers themselves?
What are you doing to create ‘dialogue’ with your customers?
