What’s it like when you walk into a business, and they remember you?
They may greet you by name or use another reference to show they remember you, even if they don’t remember your name.
For example, you are entering a hotel, and they welcome you with your name or say something like, “Lovely to have you stay with us again, welcome back”.
Or if you are getting your hair cut and the hairdresser remembers the conversation from your last appointment and asks you how your holiday was or how is your child now after being in hospital?
How does it feel when people do that?
When it happens to me I feel acknowledged and appreciated.
We know from research that, that drives loyalty. You want to go back to these businesses.
I remember, surveying someone who had a regular café that visited daily. They told me about a new cafe opening closer than the cafe this person would normally travel to, and they said, “I would feel awful if I went to this new cafe, even though it is a lot closer and more convenient. The guys are so friendly, they know me, they greet me by name and my coffee’s ready before I even open my mouth to place my order. It has me feel valued.
If they saw me at the new cafe, I would just feel awful. I would feel like I’m having an affair or something, feel like I have betrayed them.
Even when you go into a supermarket who are dealing with hundreds and hundreds of customers per day, the frontline staff can make the experience more personalised rather than simply a transaction, they are a big driver of customer loyalty not just to a brand but a specific supermarket.
I used to work for a major chain of supermarkets, when I started the program there was one lady who the supermarket highlighted to me saying they would like to let her go, because her scan rate was lower than other employees.
I took the time to observe her and to my surprise I noticed she had the biggest line of customers waiting to be served BUT that those customers had chosen to stand in her line, they could have easily gone to other lines that were moving quicker BUT they chose her.
When we did the research of the customers, something we do before any project so we get the customers voice, she was the number one person spoken about and for many the reason why they chose that supermarket over others. They chose because of the feeling she created for each of those customers.
Whilst serving them she chatted to them, knew then by name, asked how their day was going, referred to the last time she had served them and remembered the conversation all the while scanning their purchases and at the end of the transaction she held eye-contact and told them she was looking forward to speaking with them again next time they were in the store.
The difference was that she created a personalised feeling rather than a transactional one.
The supermarket only had a scan rate as a measure of productivity nor had they taken the time to observe her, or do any customer research, they had no idea the value this lady was creating for their business and for their customers.
Customer experience and generating customer loyalty is all about delivering a positive feeling
What feeling are you selling?
It’s important to have your aces in the right places and back up the feeling you are selling with your product or professional service. Some people have a natural ability to remember faces and names, other people use a system. We know a lot of hairdressers and stylists make notes after a client’s appointment and they check those notes before the clients next appointment.
I remember staying in a five-star hotel in Brisbane for the first time. I drove the car in, the concierge met me on the driveway and when I walked up to the reception counter, they said, Hello, you must be Mr Cherry, welcome. We know you haven’t stayed here before, and went on to explain the features of the hotel, my room etc.
I thought, how do they know who I am? And then I noticed that the concierge had a little microphone, on finding out my name had passed it on to reception before I got to the desk. A very clever system.
A very clever system.
What’s the intention? What system can you put in place to achieve the intention?
Some of the restaurants I’ve worked with, we have looked at scripting, what works and what does not work.
We don’t want to script exactly how to greet because it comes across as weird when you greet everyone exactly the same way.
For example, for a while we were greeting, we added to customers we did not recognise, “have you been here before?” Even though we thought this was a good idea, we found it upset some loyal customers. Loyal customers responded with – I was here yesterday or I come here every week with the expectation that the restaurant host should know who they were.
We realised it was the wrong technique, even though the intention was good, so we changed it to when was the last time you were here,which opened up a series of conversations.
If they said it was their first visit, then the staff would know to explain the system to them as we walked them to the table, how to order, where the bar is, where the bathrooms are etc.
If it was not their first visit, then they would be welcomed back. If they said yesterday, they would be acknowledged as a loyal customer and the conversation would validate their loyalty by saying, so you must know the menu, but we do have some specials today…
This system worked really well and fulfilled on the intention. Ever since then when we do the customer research, we’ve never had a negative comment regarding the way people are greeted or welcomed into the restaurant.
What’s your intention? What system can you put in place to achieve the intention?
I’d love to hear from you, what experiences have you had that’s made it stand out to you. What do you do in your business to make sure that people feel welcome and acknowledged?
Need more information? Have a look through my previous Blogs, located on The Loyalty Zone website or contact me, I look forward to hearing from you.
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Warm Regards,
Craig Cherry