Know-How Exchange : Advertising/PR

Customer experience includes customer service. To me, the term is the umbrella term for all interaction with your customer. I like it.

When I read your question I thought of my 6 sigma training and total quality management. The textbook definition being a method by which management and employees can become involved in the continuous improvement of the production of goods and services. It is a combination of quality and management tools aimed at increasing business and reducing losses due to wasteful practices.

It would be easy to paraphrase that a bit. In my training I teach that a lost sale (customer, relationship) should be treated as a defect in a factory. With the right customer experience, you assure all actions necessary to provide given needs.

Hope that helps, Carol
Sell Well and Prosper tm

It would be worth the effort to pose the question to your existing customers, particularly those customers that had a recent interaction with your company.

With a few well organized customer focus groups you could obtain their opinions on what it is like to deal with your company. You could also use the groups to understand how their experience with your company differs with other providers in your category.

When trying to understand customer behaviors, attitudes and opinions it is always best to get the information from the customer rather than other sources.

Set up an easy interface for your customers to blog about their experience, then post that. Also use it to create your experience goals. The greatest value is when you receive a below expected experience - use that info to improve.

Hi Evanwiesner,

GREAT QUESTION!

Hope you're having a great day. Another very interesting question as I enjoyed the previous one you asked. I love it when we talk about how we can take better care of the customer for without the customer their is no business.

CUSTOMER CARE CENTERS
Now a days some companies have called their former Customer Service departments Customer Care Centers with the goal of branding the importance of Caring for the customer. I think this is a great idea but often times the philosophy or the strategic plan has not been put into place or instilled in the department. In other words they have the title but no power to deliver an effective message. You see Evan it's like a police department full of badges but no power or supportive tools to back that up.

It sounds like you're looking for a definition and what I would like to challenge you to consider is that the mental frame work you have so far is enough to began the process and develop it over time.

TOM PETERS...design--
may give us a clue in his book "design", innovate, differentiate, communicate. If you turn to Chapter 3 page 70 you'll gain a wealth of insight on the subject of how to apply the concept of experience. Page 72 & 73 he does an extensive in depth definition on the word EXPERIENCE alone. This will force the depth of your definition to take on many angles as the scope of your costomer experience will be different with each question. That's why I believe in just looking forward to the opportunity of expanding the scope of how you ---TAKE CARE--- of the customer by the way you position yourself with your customer.

Jay Abraham a well known Marketing influence today expresses that we should even think about how we see that experience by the way we position our perspective of the customer. Why? Jay feels we should call the Customer CLIENT instead because it shows that the customer is under our protection. Jay Abraham has a great point...I believe Jay expresses this because most companies leave their customers open and exposed to the negative experiences in the relationship transaction.

The Customer Transaction is continous through out your companies experience with the customer. We should be looking for a stronger way to unite ourself with the customer to create ONENESS instead of seperation. That's why it's true regardless of what you call your customer service department whether you call it CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE, CUSTOMER CARE or plain ole CUSTOMER SERVICE nothing will ever beat the SERVANT EXPERIENCE. So let me try to resolve your question here and we can develop the definition from here. Whatever you don't like please don't use but whatever you use please remember where it came from.

Definiton of Customer Experience for Evanwiesner's new company:

Customer Experience, a lively Adventure full of PASSION that happens to fulfill our clients expectations everytime. Because we have the GREATEST influence and impact on our clients.

Well let this get you started and keep me posted with how your business is growing and improving greatly because of this defintion.REMEMBER... our only real problem in life is our failure to be "MORE Creative" than we’ve ever been. If you “Invent” your opportunity YOU WILL most definitely create your future. I'm only an email away from you if you need my help. Is there anything else I can do for you?

Your Servant,

Deremiah, *CPE (Customer Passion Evangelist)

*Caring Promotes Exuberance