The Gap Between Intended Service and Actual Experience
Every business has an intended customer experience. The phone should be answered quickly. The offer should be explained clearly. The staff member should make the right recommendation. The process should feel simple. The customer should leave confident. On paper, it all makes sense. The problem is that customers do not experience the version on paper. […]
A Difficult Customer Can Be the Best Stress Test You Get
Most businesses look good when the customer is easy. The request is simple. The answer is obvious. The process works exactly as expected. Nobody is frustrated. Nobody is asking for anything unusual. Under those conditions, almost any service system can appear healthy. That is why difficult customers are useful. They put pressure on the parts […]
You Can Beat Your Competitors and Still Be Running the Wrong Business
Beating your competitors feels like proof that you are doing something right. Better service score. Faster response time. Higher customer satisfaction. More five-star reviews. It looks good on a dashboard. But there is a problem. You can win the comparison and still lose sight of what your business is supposed to be. A low-cost operator […]
The Best Salespeople Don’t Sound Like Salespeople
You can usually tell when someone has gone into “sales mode”. Their tone changes. The questions become more polished. The enthusiasm gets turned up. Every answer somehow becomes “a great choice”. And the customer notices. That is the problem. Most people do not mind being sold to. They mind feeling handled. There is a difference. […]
The Most Valuable Customer Feedback Often Comes at the Exit
Most businesses ask for feedback when everything is still fine. After a purchase. After a service interaction. After a support call. Useful, yes. But some of the most valuable feedback comes at a very different moment. When the customer is leaving. That is when the reasons become real. Not hypothetical. Not based on whether they […]
A Physical Store Needs to Give Customers Something Online Cannot
A physical store has one big disadvantage. It requires effort. The customer has to leave the house. Drive there. Find parking. Walk in. Look around. Possibly wait. Compare that with buying online. A few taps. No travel. No queue. No awkward interaction. So if a customer is going to make the effort to visit a […]
The Problem With Trying Too Hard to Delight Customers
“Delighting the customer” sounds like a good goal. It sounds generous. Ambitious. Customer-focused. But it can also lead businesses to improve things the customer never wanted changed. That is where the trouble starts. There is a difference between creating value and creating a surprise. Businesses often confuse the two. They assume faster is always better. […]
Your Most Loyal Customers Are Often the Easiest to Neglect
Businesses usually pay the most attention to customers who are difficult to win. The new lead. The first-time buyer. The customer comparing three competitors. The person who might leave a bad review. These customers create urgency. Loyal customers often do the opposite. They know the process. They understand the product. They forgive small mistakes. They […]
Your Sales Team May Be Having Great Conversations and Losing Sales
A customer walks into the showroom. The salesperson is friendly. They answer every question. They explain the product clearly. The customer seems interested. Everyone walks away feeling like the conversation went well. Then nothing happens. No appointment. No follow-up. No customer details. No next meeting. No sale. This is one of the easiest problems to […]
A Business Can Be Over-Monitored and Still Poorly Understood
Some businesses measure everything. Customer satisfaction. Wait times. Conversion rates. Complaints. Staff performance. Repeat visits. Average transaction value. There are dashboards, reports, surveys and weekly meetings to discuss all of it. And yet, when something starts going wrong, nobody really knows why. That is the strange thing about measurement. It can create the feeling of […]
Growth Can Look Very Different From the Customer’s Side of the Counter
From behind the counter, the café probably looked busier than ever. Delivery drivers coming and going. More orders appearing on the screen. Coffee machines running constantly. New revenue coming from customers who were not even in the building. It looked like growth. From our side of the counter, it looked very different. Our cycling group […]
Customers Don’t Want More Service. They Want Less Friction
There is a strange assumption in business that better customer service always means adding more human interaction. More staff. More conversations. More check-ins. More opportunities to “delight” the customer. But sometimes, the best thing you can do is simply get out of their way. Think about filling up your car. Years ago, you would pull […]