Living the Customer Experience

Recently we've seen a growing interest in Corporate and even Personal Branding. An important part of a good branding strategy is 'living the brand' in which the brand and what it stands for is integrated in the company's or individual's culture/day to day activities.

Being successful in Customer Experience requires the same strategy: the company and it's employees need to be 'living the Customer Experience'.

I just heard a story from someone who booked a luxury holiday house in a subtropic resort which clearly illustrates this:

When they arrived at the agency to pick up the keys of the holiday house they rented, they were told they were 5 minutes early as the contract said they would get the key at 4pm, not 3:55. When they argued that 5 minutes couldn't make a difference and that they really wanted to get to the house after their 9 hour flight and 1 hour bus transfer, they were told that the agency has very strict rules (and "all tourists were the same, trying to gain some free extra time"). Astonished by the unfriendly welcome they left their luggage in the agency's luggage room and went for a 20 minute walk only to find themselves queued up behind 15 people or so claiming their keys…When it was finally their turn the agent didn't say a word, handed them their keys, a map and a luxury welcome package for premium customers.

While the house was wonderful and the personalized welcome package was very good in view of the Customer Experience, the first contact had caused 'damage beyond repair' resulting in unhappy customers who were lost for future business.

The story above clearly illustrates that good products, personalized services, etc. can only have their full impact on the Customer Experience if the provider's company culture embraces Customer Centric Thinking and it's employees 'live the Customer Experience'.

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