“Every contact we have with a customer influences whether or not they’ll come back. We have to be great every time or we’ll lose them.”
Kevin Stirtz
I’ve long believed that you have to treat every day as a job interview. You have to show up and put your very best foot forward. This absolutely applies when thinking about how you approach your customers. Every interaction and touchpoint is an opportunity to build a relationship that lasts and keeps them coming back for more.
There is a reason that companies like Chick Fil A, Publix, and Apple are so successful. They understand this mantra and even when they don’t get it right (and no company gets it right all the time) they take steps to fix the situation. These companies all have a culture of putting the customer experience first and building what they do around the experience they want to deliver. It works and they make it a priority down to the smallest details.
By the way, customers don’t have to be the people or companies that you sell products and services to. It could be the people that you work for and serve in your organization. As a leader it could be the people on your team… You do want them coming back don’t you?
If you think about every customer experience as a job interview how would it change what you do today?
One of my old bosses had a town hall with front line employees, her words stayed locked with me. “Treat every customer likes its you first, or it’ll be your last” and “when we score 94% customer sat, the 6% are the diamonds”.