A hero stands out in one area
Our definition of ‘hero’ evolves over time. When we are young, it might be the superhero from a movie, an actor or a sports star (if we are honest, some of us still hold them up as heroes). Over time, our definition evolves as we look at our military, first responders and certainly our frontline healthcare workers. We don’t have to pick out just one hero, we should recognize that we can have heroes for different reasons. One thing a hero should have, is that they should stand out in one area.
Despite years of following and even occasional interactions, I get to meet one of my heroes in Customer Experience this week. Of course, times being what they are, it will not be an in person meeting, but it will be the first time I’ll get to watch Shep Hyken speaking live. It also happens to be at Connext Live! Which is being sponsored by QuestionPro. I’m looking forward to the opportunity to have a Q&A with someone that I respect, takes a practical view of CX and genuinely seems to enjoy the field as assessed by his writing, speaking and even cartooning of the topic. Certainly someone, that I will say, stands out in an area.
Where Can I Get An Autograph
I have a shelf of memorabilia that many sports fans would envy, even if they are not a fan of the same teams I cheer for. I never planned to have such a collection, but over the years I have been lucky enough to meet some of these sports heroes, and even some legends. Where I graduated from high school, I knew two people that ended up at the highest level of their games, in Major League Baseball and the National Football League. I have become friends with others on the business side of sports, which has also afforded me opportunities to meet names and faces many of us know. I have even run into some during daily activities. None of those autographs come from those circumstances, instead they all came from a time and a place where it was appropriate to ask or, in most cases, it was just freely provided to me.
It makes me think about our customers and the customer experience. We want them to be fans of our brands, but too often we make them work hard for that. We are constantly reminding them that we are there: commercials, mailers, email – so much email. It is like we are hounding them for an autograph in public places. Our emails are the paparazzi, invading their quiet moments when they may just want to message a friend. There is almost no getting away from our barrage from our brand.
The Right Time
It is important for our customers to know we are there for them, at the same time “BE THERE” when they show up. What is interesting to me, for all the “rockstar” status my inbox gets from brands, when I show up, it is often like they do not want us there. The “event” we showed up for is out of stock, with no answers when it will be replenished and a dismissive attitude toward our “celebrity status” when I say I got an email telling me to come here to purchase something.
We will not get it right every time, but we should be certain to make our customers feel as much love when we show up for the purchase as we get in between purchases with the bombardment of specials, deals and can’t-miss offers.
If we do that, we’ll be getting our customer autographs, if only on the credit card reader.
Join the next ConneXt Live! that features Shep Hyken for a discussion from a legend in the Customer Experience space. Learn for 20 minutes and meet eight to ten new people that have similar interests in CX as you. If you enjoyed CX Talks, this new format will prove to be even more engaging, interactive and informative. You can register here.
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