“Customer
comes first” is what the CEO of this retail
organization told me recently.Of course, that has been true since eons but I
believe now looking to their customer facing team for new notions, leadership
and competitive advantage.
Customer service is now seen as the heart of a business. It’s that point where your team interacts with customers every day. It’s where the customers touch points are across functions. Here, prospective customers ask questions, people who are about to be customers clear up last minute hesitations, and existing customers get support.
Customer Advocacy=Consistent Experience
Create an amazing service experience that gets customers to
not only come back, but to also share that experience with their friends,
colleagues and family members. That is the best form of marketing there is.
But beyond the actual customer experience, the interaction
and engagement that happens before the sale – which is part of marketing –
needs to be considered as part of the experience. Smart companies have figured
this out. It’s about engagement, interaction and relationship building… before
the customer ever decides to spend any money with you.
Marketing from the inside out
that is, perfecting the customer experience for your
advocates to boast about — is the most effective marketing you will ever do.
Once you’ve done that, and the experience is so immaculate and hypnotic that
your customers become your most vocal and loyal brand ambassadors, you can then
go about doing external marketing to invite strangers into the experience.