Business Writing and Client Experience Management
I’m very interested in a business trend called Customer Experience Management (CEM). Evolving in tandem with the new experience economy, the CEM model considers a customer’s relationship with a service or product from the vantage point of user experience. It asks providers to understand how their customers’ lives are enhanced or depleted as a result of consuming their goods or services. This doesn’t require super sleuthing. More often than not, this kind of customer – or client – information is readily available.
That’s because people tend to translate their consumer experiences into stories that they quickly share with others. A great example of this comes by way of a Fast Company article in which some “customer service champions” describe their own “stellar customer experiences.” Here, Chick-fil-A President Dan Cathy depicts his monthly outings to a local junk store where the proprietor understands how much his customers thrill at the hunt for buried treasure. There’s also an anecdote about exceptional book store service relayed by Build-A-Bear Workshop founder Maxine Clark. Referring to something she calls the Cheers factor, Clark says: “People don't have to know your name, but there has to be that connection and recognition of your value as a customer and a person.”
Echoing Clark's perspective is the poignant customer experience story set out in a much-talked-about blog post called I Heart Zappos (flagged by Seth Godin). In it, a woman describes how she bought several pairs of shoes for her ailing mother from online retailer Zappos.com. Some of the shoes didn’t fit and she intended to return them, but couldn’t get around to it. When Zappos learned that the woman’s mom had died, the company sidestepped its corporate policy and arranged for UPS to pick up the unreturned shoes. What happened next, told in the customer’s own words, is what’s most heartening:
This kind of positive customer experience clearly derived from sincere human-to-human exchange. It wasn’t orchestrated or contrived.
With sincere interaction as a lodestar, service professionals can engage in Client Experience Management through written business communications.
For openers, you can offer newsletters, blog posts, articles, e-books and other content that helps clients navigate their business questions and challenges. The objective isn’t to tout your greatness or push your services. Instead, you have to come with a genuine desire to provide relevant and practical information that benefits your clients and prospects. When you close a project or resolve a matter, you can continue to engage CEM by sending a personalized thank you note welcoming your clients’ candid feedback about you, your work and your firm.
That’s because people tend to translate their consumer experiences into stories that they quickly share with others. A great example of this comes by way of a Fast Company article in which some “customer service champions” describe their own “stellar customer experiences.” Here, Chick-fil-A President Dan Cathy depicts his monthly outings to a local junk store where the proprietor understands how much his customers thrill at the hunt for buried treasure. There’s also an anecdote about exceptional book store service relayed by Build-A-Bear Workshop founder Maxine Clark. Referring to something she calls the Cheers factor, Clark says: “People don't have to know your name, but there has to be that connection and recognition of your value as a customer and a person.”
Echoing Clark's perspective is the poignant customer experience story set out in a much-talked-about blog post called I Heart Zappos (flagged by Seth Godin). In it, a woman describes how she bought several pairs of shoes for her ailing mother from online retailer Zappos.com. Some of the shoes didn’t fit and she intended to return them, but couldn’t get around to it. When Zappos learned that the woman’s mom had died, the company sidestepped its corporate policy and arranged for UPS to pick up the unreturned shoes. What happened next, told in the customer’s own words, is what’s most heartening:
“Yesterday, when I came home from town, a florist delivery man was just leaving. It was a beautiful arrangement in a basket with white lilies and roses and carnations. Big and lush and fragrant. I opened the card, and it was from Zappos. I burst into tears. I’m a sucker for kindness, and if that isn’t one of the nicest things I’ve ever had happen to me, I don’t know what is.”
This kind of positive customer experience clearly derived from sincere human-to-human exchange. It wasn’t orchestrated or contrived.
With sincere interaction as a lodestar, service professionals can engage in Client Experience Management through written business communications.
For openers, you can offer newsletters, blog posts, articles, e-books and other content that helps clients navigate their business questions and challenges. The objective isn’t to tout your greatness or push your services. Instead, you have to come with a genuine desire to provide relevant and practical information that benefits your clients and prospects. When you close a project or resolve a matter, you can continue to engage CEM by sending a personalized thank you note welcoming your clients’ candid feedback about you, your work and your firm.
