CX Excellence – Credit Union, Crown Plaza Hotel, Kimpton Hotel and Tesco

One of the best ways of explaining how CX works is by giving real life examples of Customer Experience Excellence. We have found genuine customer stories and shared insights into how these bring to life the Six Pillars in our CX framework.

The Six Pillars are based on creating emotional connections with customers and include Personalisation, Integrity, Empathy, Time & Effort, Expectations and Resolution.

Credit Unions give you a hug, while banks give you an interview

credit-union-first
Saragh, received a call last week from John – her Credit Union branch manager. John informed Saragh that a loan payment was overdue and they might have to put a black mark beside her name – effecting her credit score and ability to get future loans or a mortgage. Saragh apologised and told John that she was due to be paid at the end of the month and will be able to pay off the outstanding amount. She also promised to set up a standing order. John very kindly told Saragh not to worry and that all she needs to do is pop a cheque through their letter box or come in on a Saturday as they are open.

Saragh told us that the phone call felt like a chat with a friend and at no point did she ever feel stressed. John has managed Saragh’s account since day one and has built a strong relationship with her. John knows that Saragh can be relied upon to keep her promise. He also knew that Saragh is in her mid-20s and a black mark beside her name could lead to all sorts of trouble when she may need a mortgage or future loan.

Insight:
For the second year in a row The Credit Union were the highest scoring brand in our Customer Experience report. This is due to their remarkable scores in both Empathy and Personalisation. The way John handled the above experience shows us exactly why the Credit Union is excelling in these pillars.

CX isn’t just for big businesses

Chris Portfolio
Chris is an abstract artist with a passion for ‘wowing’ his customers.

Using handmade, curved canvasses and frames he paints to the music his customers request. Much like the image on a tattoo, Chris’ artwork will always have a personal attachment to the customer and he has found himself bonding emotionally with each customer while working with them.

One of Chris’ customers recently lost her brother in a terrible car accident. She asked Chris if he could design a butterfly canvass and if she recorded a song for him to paint to. Chris obliged and ended up visiting a recording studio to watch Denise and her husband record their own version of “Dancing in the Sky”. They took the recording back to Chris’ studio and created a living memory of Denise’s brother in this unique painting.

Over the course of the project, Denise and Chris had four face to face meetings and over 1,000 Facebook messages regarding the project. Chris put several projects on hold to see this one out as it had such importance to Denise and he felt it required his full attention.

A few weeks after completing the painting, Chris received the most wonderful thank you card saying: “You will never know how you helped through the darkest time of my life and now I have a smile and most prized possession in my Kitchen”

On a KPMGNunwood questionnaire on Empathy, respondents talk about staff members showing they care in three different ways:

  • Pays ‘special’ attention to me
  • Goes out of his/her way
  • Gave me something extra that I might not expect but will appreciate

Empathy is a way of addressing other people’s feelings in a way that helps them feel good about themselves – and feel good about you.

Chris is able to tick each of the above boxes in what he does with his customers and his business has boomed because of it.

Insight:
Chris’ profession may allow him to spend more time on each of his customers, but there is still a lesson to be learned for small businesses. SMEs have a significant advantage over larger businesses when it comes to delivering CX Excellence. large businesses have to pass decisions through silos and board members, potentially taking months. Small businesses can be agile and make decisions based on the customers best interest, instantly.

If you would like to learn more about Chris’ work you can visit his page here

Driving the extra mile for a guest

Hotel Concierge
Von works as a Concierge Officer for Crown Plaza Hotel and prides himself in going above and beyond for his customers

Last month, Von was approached by a customer with a question about the nearest petrol station. He was low on fuel and didn’t think he would make it. Read his story below.

“I arrived at the hotel last week with my petrol tank on red due to missing the previous petrol station. As I had an early morning meeting, I had hoped that I would have passed a petrol station on the way to the hotel. After speaking to the concierge, I discovered that the nearest place for fuel was some distance away, and I certainly did not have enough fuel to get there. When I explained my challenge to him, he immediately took control, and organized for a driver to go and get me petrol. When the petrol arrived they dealt with filling my car. This was all done as I was in my room relaxing. Crown Plaza Concierge Von, thank you for going to the extra mile; very much appreciated. I am not sure how many hotels would have helped as much as you did. Thank you.”

Insight:
The pillar of ‘Time and Effort’ is often one of the highest-scoring for some of Ireland’s most successful brands. Similarly, it is one that customers attach a particularly high value to. Time is regarded as a precious asset, and one that many people wish to protect at all costs.  Removing unnecessary obstacles, impediments and bureaucracy to enable the customer to achieve their objectives quickly and easily have been shown to increase loyalty.

Exceeding expectations is a proven way to increase loyalty

Bedside frame  kimpton

Mark recently tweeted Kimpton Hotel to thank them for the wonderful experience they gave him and his wife.

Mark landed a role in a new company, having left his previous job due to restructuring. The only downside meant having to commute to Chicago, 2,000 miles away from his home in Los Angeles.

Mark is a member of the Kimpton Hotel Karma club and went online to book a stay at the local hotel with his wife, not too far from his home in California.

After making the initial reservation, he received a letter from a member of staff at the hotel. The letter asked about his reason for staying (business or pleasure) and if he had any requirements from the hotel. Mark wrote back to let the hotel know that he would be visiting with his wife for a weekend getaway. He also shared an image of himself and his wife from the last time they visited their hotel.

Upon arriving, they were told that their room had been upgraded. They were given a beautiful room with a view of the Hollywood hills. And to their delight, the image Mark sent was sitting on their bedside table, framed beside a personalised welcoming note. His wife was almost in tears at the gesture! Having been through a difficult few weeks with all the moving around, she could finally relax and put her worries to the side.

Mark said: “Kimpton never ceases to impress me. From goldfish you can “adopt” during your stay, to yoga mats in the closet and a fitness channel on the television. Nearly every property has a signature amenity and you can bet that I will take advantage of every one.”

Insight:
It is widely accepted that exceeding customer expectations is key to customer satisfaction, delight, and loyalty. Accordingly, it is critical for organisations to try to find out in advance what their customers’ expectations are, because a failure to meet or exceed those expectations could lead to dissatisfaction and defection.

Being a Karma Club member at Kimpton, Mark had his expectations for how his experience would play out. Kimpton didn’t just meet these expectations, they exceeded them.

This experience lead to mark writing a note thanking Kimpton on Twitter, to be seen by a number of his large following.

 

An unexpected delivery

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Upon the recommendation of a colleague I decided to give Tesco online shopping a go. I hadn’t given it much thought before and I felt that maybe it was for people who were doing giant amounts of shopping.

After I registered which was simple enough (I couldn’t find my address, but after a two minute phone call it was easily sorted), I started my first online shopping experience. It was so easy to navigate and for me I loved that you can see a picture of the product so you’re sure that’s what you’re getting. The system really works hard to bring it to your attention if you’ve missed an offer e.g. two for one. I thought that was really nice, and you still see very clearly highlighted all the offers that you would see when in-store. With my feet up and a cup of tea in hand, I did my weekly shop. I just wish I’d done it sooner!

While the experience was a really good one, the biggest highlight for me was the delivery men. They arrived within the delivery slot I’d booked and they carried the two crates of shopping into our home and unpacked the shopping before taking the crates away. While doing that, they were full of enthusiasm, giving us a few tips on how this all works, and their energy and helpfulness really impressed us.

I thought this might have been a once-off but every time since, the delivery men have been exactly the same in terms of energy and helpfulness. The odd time when something goes wrong, they’ve bent over backwards to help me. I’ve never had the same drivers but the type of people have been consistent every time.

Expectations is by far the lowest pillar score in the 2015 and 2016 Ireland Customer Experience Report. In Ireland we are terrible at managing and exceeding expectations. We tend to over promise and under deliver.  Brands leap ahead with messages that don’t quite match the experience, leading to expectations not being met. HR plays an integral role in customer experience excellence. Hiring the right staff is key – after all, they are the ones who interact with your customers the most, which means they have a direct impact on the brand’s customer experience. Tesco’s approach to hiring a certain type of driver allows them to exceed customer expectations. I would never have expected the delivery men to be more than just men who deliver.

Expectations are always changing and can be difficult to excel in. The Tesco delivery men gave me a far better experience than the regular in-store staff! The in-store staff are very good, but that’s the challenge of expectations and perhaps why Irish brands struggle to achieve good results. I would expect the in-store staff to be good as they are trained regularly and it’s therefore difficult to exceed them. With the delivery staff, my expectations were much lower and were far exceeded.

Hats off to Tesco!

We are always looking for examples of CX Excellence. If you have any yourself please send it on to us and we will feature it in our blog.

If you would like to explore how your company can activate CX excellence, e-mail Michael Killeen to discuss further.


CX Excellence – Aviva, Feeleys Chipper, Jack Threads and

One of the best ways of explaining how CX works is by giving real life examples of customer experience excellence. We have found genuine customer stories and shared insights into how these bring to life the Six Pillars in our CX framework.

The Six Pillars are based on creating emotional connections with customers and include Personalisation, Integrity, Empathy, Time & Effort, Expectations and Resolution.

An insurance renewal to remember

 

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Renewing car insurance can be extremely frustrating with customers feeling duty bound to shop around to get a better deal. ‘Muireann’, an Aviva customer, had been calling around to compare prices. When she called Aviva to discuss her renewal, the customer service agent blew her away.

The Aviva agent noticed Muireann’s name and began speaking to her in Irish. Thinking it was just a little small talk, she threw out a few Irish phrases but the agent continued talking about her car insurance. She was a little embarrassed at first, not having spoken Irish regularly since school and was worried it wouldn’t be good enough to continue an insurance renewal call ‘As Gaeilge’.  The agent was extremely patient and more than willing to prompt her with any words she didn’t know and eventually they were able to complete the call speaking Irish.

The feeling of joy and pride when she completed the call hit the roof. This was a task that Muireann never expected to enjoy and it left her with a big smile on her face. Muireann has since gone out of her way to talk to friends and family about the experience and is writing to Aviva to thank the amazing customer service agent for the experience he gave her.

Insight: The insurance sector remained at the bottom of the rankings in this year’s CXi report. This sector’s continued focus on acquisition at the peril of retention gives it one of the highest churn rates. Stories like this however, show that Aviva are genuinely investing in the right staff and are focussed on bucking the trend. What a great example of combining Personalisation and Empathy.

Belfast Chipper comes to sick customers aid

 

Feeleys Chippy

We’ve all seen the comments field when ordering food online. Usually it’s to tell the restaurant to add extra ketchup, or to let the delivery person know to phone on arrival as the doorbell is broken. One customer of Belfast fish and chip shop ‘Feeley’s’ had a very unusual request on her online order.

The chipper on the Shaws Road in West Belfast was surprised when an order marked ASAP came in on December 30 – complete with a request to pick up some flu medicine en route and send it along with the food.

In fact it seems the customer wasn’t even hungry. All she wanted was a box of cold and flu medicine and was too sick to go to her local pharmacy to pick it up.

Along with her order, she had added: “Will you please stop in Spar on the way and pick up some cold and flu tablets and I’ll give you the money, only ordering food so I can get the tablets. I’m dying sick xx”

The Feeley’s deliveryman kindly obliged and picked up the medicine.

The customer then commented on Feeley’s Facebook and thanked them for helping her out in her hour of need.

Tablets Feeleys Chippy

This is a remarkable example of a business going above and beyond to exceed their customer’s Expectations.

Insight: Customers have needs and they also have expectations about how these needs will be delivered. Customer satisfaction is the difference between Expectation and actual delivery. Understanding, delivering and, if possible, exceeding expectations is a key skill of great organisations.

How Bob the waiter got a 200,000% tip

 

Restaurant check

“John” was looking forward to celebrating being able to chew again after a root canal treatment by visiting a local restaurant with his wife. Things didn’t turn out quite as they expected!.They had a long wait after arriving and were eventually seated at the bar beside a noisy blender used for crushing ice – not the best start. Their waiter Bob then hurriedly took their drink orders without asking if they wanted food, which they did. Eventually they did get their food orders taken but the sides ended up being brought out before the meal and one of their orders was wrong. Bob the waiter admitted he was in the wrong and apologised.

The rest of their meal arrived shortly after and it was an otherwise pleasant experience… until the bill arrived. The couple noticed that the price for their full meal and drinks came to one cent. Assuming this was another mistake they showed Bob the bill and asked him how much they needed to pay. But Bob told them there was no mistake and instead apologised for the poor experience they received, Delighted, the couple tipped Bob $20.00 and then spent the trip home trying to figure out what % tip they gave him, realising it was 200,000%!

Insight: Discounts are so often used as last-ditch attempts to salvage a terrible experience that we sometimes forget how powerful they can be in turning a poor experience into a great one.

Restaurateur Danny Meyer, whose restaurants have consistently beaten the odds in a very rough industry, talks about hospitality in terms of good vs. great. With a ‘good’ experience things may go fine. You may get everything you wanted precisely the way you ordered it. But it’s rare for an employee to make you feel special, like they’re on your side. That’s what Bob did here by recognising that his customer’s weren’t having their expected experience and gave them a powerful dollop of Resolution delivered brilliantly.

Jack Threads & Jill

A customer service agent named Jill worked for an online clothes retailer called ‘Jack Threads’. Jill managed to turn a regular online customer service interaction into a ‘Remark-able’ customer experience and turned the customer into an advocate in the process.

Here is a screen grab of the experience in question

Jack Threads customer service conversation
Insight: Jack Threads empower their staff to resolve issues by making their own decisions. With this freedom Jill was able to resolve her customers issue quickly and hassle free. She was also able to create a personal connection with the customer which isn’t always easy to do, particularly online. Being able to do this is a proven way to create loyal customers who wouldn’t hesitate to sell on your businesses behalf. Adding an authentic personality is a great empowerment strategy and pays off in spades.

 

The aloha bear

 

bear

It’s always nice to see ‘Remark-able’ experience recognised by a happy customer. In this heart-warming story, a service agent, ‘Jessica’, helped the query of an older customer, ‘Sharon’. Sharon called in because her laptop wasn’t working. Having recently suffered two strokes, Sharon explained that she was struggling with writing, and was forced to call in.

Jessica initially explained to Sharon that customers normally send in faulty items for inspection and repairs. Sharon grew teary over the news, explaining that she was dependent on the laptop to communicate with her daughter who lived miles away in Hawaii.

Knowing that red tape shouldn’t stop her from taking care of a customer in need, Jessica quickly exchanged the laptop for her (sending her a new one), and even spent the extra time helping her set up the old passwords and account names, in addition to re-downloading Skype so she could talk with her family.

What really makes this a great story, however, is the follow-up. Out of the blue a few months later, our heroic service agent was called down to reception. To her surprise, waiting there was Sharon, holding a card and a teddy bear with a hula skirt.

Jessica was overjoyed saying: “Sharon told me that what I did meant so much to her and her family that she called our corporate office and told them what I did. Her daughter even sent up a thank you card and bear from Hawaii and Sharon insisted on hand delivering it”.

Insight: The Empathy Pillar is measured by a business’s understanding of their customer’s needs. Delivering on this pillar is key to establishing strong relationships with your customers. In this case the Time & Effort pillar was also employed by removing unnecessary hurdles in doing business with the company.

We are always looking for examples of CX Excellence. If you have any yourself please send it on to us and we will feature it in our blog.

If you would like to explore how your company can activate CX excellence, e-mail Michael Killeen to discuss further.


CX Excellence – Zappos, LUSH, CVS Pharmacy and Credit Union

Five more examples of CX Excellence

When your business offers world-class CX, customers come back for more. But more importantly, they tell others about you. They tell their family. They tell their friends. And – thanks to digital – they tell the world.

Below are real life examples of customer experience excellence, told by the customers themselves.

Zappos

A remarkable gesture from Zappos

Dialogue have been tracking Zappos’ CX Excellence for many years. Here is another classic!

A Zappos customer meant to return shoes she had bought for her mom before she had passed away and naturally didn’t have time. Below is the customers take on how the situation was dealt with by Zappos.

“When I came home, I had an email from Zappos asking about the shoes, since they hadn’t received them. I was just back and not ready to deal with that, so I replied that my mom had died but that I’d send the shoes as soon as I could. They emailed back that they had arranged with UPS to pick up the shoes, so I wouldn’t have to take the time to do it myself. I was so touched. That’s going against corporate policy.

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. 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.”

The world’s top performers in CX score very highly on empathy with their customers, which is something you can’t buy or recreate through advertising. Zappos clearly get this with this amazing gesture of kindness. And have kept a customer for life as a result

 

 

lush example

Sometimes all your customer needs is a cup of tea and a chat

Lush’s workforce are trained to deliver great customer service, the company empowers its employees to go the extra mile for customers.

LUSH gives employees the freedom to make decisions in the spur of the moment, go off script and do what they feel is the right thing for the customer. As a result, empowered employees take pride and ownership of their jobs when they know they can exercise independent judgement.

“We recently had a customer who had just lost their job and visited LUSH to be cheered up. Our team approached her, sat her down in the store and offered her tea. We then started looking for products that would uplift the customer’s spirit, while listening to her story.” – LUSH team

Lush may be one of the bigger brands in the UK and Ireland, but they started off as a single shop and had to work their way to the top. And without CX in their philosophy they would be nowhere near where they are now.

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CVS Samaritans save the day

Customers are time poor and increasingly are looking for instant gratification. Removing unnecessary obstacles, impediments and bureaucracy to enable the customer to achieve their objectives quickly and easily have been shown to increase loyalty. CVS pharmacy has been running a ‘good Samaritan’ programme for over 30 years! Here is a customer’s take on an unexpected experience with them.

“On Friday night around 5:30 I got a flat tire on a very busy Washington DC area highway. I know I should know how to change a flat tire, but I have roadside assistance through my insurance and warranty so I never worried about it. I called my husband who works on the other side of town and he said he’d try to come over instead of having to use roadside assistance, which would probably take even longer.

I waited for about 5 minutes when a CVS Good Samaritan van pulled up. The gentleman, Ernie introduced himself and got right down to business to put on my spare. He even apologized for being tied up with another driver farther back. He told me I could call my husband and tell him not to worry. 5 minutes later my tire was fixed and I was on my way. CVS only asks that you fill out a postage paid comment card. Because of this service I will definitely be shopping at CVS more often. Thanks to CVS and to Ernie, who helped me out of a jam on Southbound 395.”

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Target employee gives interview advice

KPMG Nunwood say that “Empathy is the art of letting the customer know that you can genuinely understand what it is like to be in their shoes.” We couldn’t find a better example of this than a target Employee helping a nervous customer prepare for a job interview.

“In Target at Triangle Town Center. A kid came in looking for a clip-on tie for a job interview this afternoon. The store only had regular ties, so this awesome Target team member took the time to help the nervous teen put on his new tie, tuck in his shirt and then showed him how to give a proper handshake and tackle a few tough interview questions! As the kid exited the store, a bunch of supportive Target team members cheered him on! THIS is true Customer Experience – Right on the mark, Target!!”

South america example

An Irish financial institution that treats you like a family member.

Consumers crave a more personalised experience from their bank. Banks are fixated about advanced capabilities in e-mail and digital personalisation today. While they have buckets of customer data, they continue to struggle to stitch basic customer data together. First you have to know your customer before you can customise something for them. Making life simple for customers should be a priority for all banks. Forget about in-house cafes, free Wi-Fi and nappy changing berths.  Banks need to get engaged and treat their customers like a member of their family.

Below is a father’s take on co-signing a loan with his daughter in their local Credit Union. Proving why they are Ireland’s leading financial institution and overall brand in Ireland’s 2015 Customer Experience report

 “I was asked to co-sign a loan on behalf of my daughter who was taking a trip of a life time across South America. Upon arriving at Ranelagh Credit Union, I was greeted by the Manager. ‘’You must be Saragh’s father. She just called me to tell me she is running 3 minutes late. Would you like a coffee and I’ll get you started on the papers ‘’. When Saragh arrived, the paperwork was completed in minutes. Before I left, another member of staff greeted Saragh like a friend and handed her a list of great attractions she had visited on a similar trip before. It felt like I had walked into a family gathering. Everyone was excited for her and seemed to genuinely care about her safety.”

Dialogue is delivering Ireland’s first Customer Experience Masterclass in Trinity college on the 7th September.

Our readers can avail of a €20 discount by entering the discount code EARLY16 on the CX Masterclass page.

We would love to see you there


CX Excellence – Visa, Freestyle Libre, Boots, Zara and KFC

5 more examples of best in class CX

A smart approach to Time & Effort

smart ring

Visa have been given exclusivity for payment during the Olympics in Rio at official venues. They’re using this opportunity to introduce their newest payment method ‘The Payment Ring’ by giving one to each athlete to use during their stay. They simply need to wave their hand over a wireless card reader and it will make the transaction.

If this receives a positive reception, the Smart ring idea should definitely catch on.

The Visa payment ring could be the game changer as a new quick payment method, allowing customers to make purchases without even taking out their wallet.

Removing unnecessary obstacles to enable the customer to achieve their objectives quickly and easily has been proven to increase loyalty. Time & Effort must form a crucial part of any brands CX strategy, as focus on this key pillar has been proven to increase customer loyalty.

Find out more Here

 

Diabetes, without the blood
freestyle Libre

Empathy is about responding deeply to each customer’s immediate circumstances. Freestyle Libre have shown this by changing the way diabetics check their glucose levels. The current daily routine involves taking a blood reading at set times during the day. With this new piece of tech, diabetics can now get on demand glucose readings and view trends in their blood levels.

Freestyle Libre are saving parents a large struggle by making blood level reads simple for their kids.

All that is required is a single pin prick attached to a reader on the users arm once every 14 days, and they will have on demand access to their glucose levels.

This product is definitely made by diabetics, for diabetics as it takes a new empathetic approach to a daily routine in the life of someone with this disease.

When businesses speak about building ‘brand loyalty’ and ‘brand relationships’, it is empathy that remains a key factor to making these objectives achievable.

Find out more here

Boots personalised experience shows why they are on top

Boots-blog

Boots introduced a new app called the ‘Sales Assist’ which is the first of its kind in the retail sector. Its sole purpose is to make their customers purchasing as easy as possible. The app gives customers access to its 2,500+ stores inventories, allowing them to make recommendations and check product availability. And if what they want isn’t currently available, they can order it and pick it up at their nearest boots retailer. One of the apps key features is its ability to learn about its user through their purchase and viewing history. With the data, the app can personalise all recommendations and offers to the user’s preferences.

Boots’ app makes it easier for customers to get hold of the products they need, so this is another example of ‘Time & Effort’ Excellence. It also offers very relevant product recommendations depending on customers’ interest so that’s another key pillar; ‘Personalisation’ addressed. Boots featured in the top 10 of Ireland’s 2015 CX table and are showing no signs of slowing down their sector topping CX.

Find out more here

Zara disrupting the retail sector with self service

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Zara are looking to change the checkout process in the retail world. Will it be a success or a failure?

On the one hand, introducing a self-checkout system in their stores allows their staff to focus on more important things like customer facing jobs and stock taking. But on the other, it takes the friendly face out of making a purchase and could be a negative factor in shop choice for the non tech savvy, or for someone who would rather a human make their transaction for them.

It’s no secret that there is an issue with line times at Zara shops. This could be due to their laid back staff or their lack of tills. Zara are leading the curve to solve this issue and it shouldn’t be long before we see other retail brands follow suit.

It’s up for debate on how self-service in the retail space will be viewed, but there is no argument to the time and effort benefits for both Zara and its customers. Lines will move faster from lack of human error and customer focus on shop floors will rightly become priority.

Find out more here

KFC prevent the low battery panic

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A few weeks ago we talked about Chick fill A’s ‘Phone Coops. Well, KFC in India have taken a different approach to phones by giving their customers a portable charger. The ‘Watt A Box’ has the power to charge two phones to full and doesn’t cost any extra to the meal deals. If the idea catches on we can definitely see it spreading to chain’s across the world just like it did with the phone coops.

The ‘Watt A Box’ is a great amplifier for KFC and because it can be taken out of the box and recharged for personal use and means that customers will be using it even after they leave the building. KFC have stepped into their customers shoes with this, understanding that mobile phones are an important part of their customer’s lives. The ‘Watt A Box’ isn’t just a nice addition to a value meal but something that can allow customers to take their time and enjoy their meal without panicking about a low battery.

 

Find out more here

 

If you would like to explore how your company can activate CX excellence e-mail Michael Killeen to discuss further.

Or call Michael directly at +353 1 6622277 


CX Excellence – British Airways, City Bin, Home Depot And Costco

Each day, businesses go out of their way to give their customers a great experience and Dialogue want to give recognition to those doing it brilliantly.

Turning a bad experience into a remarkable one

ba pilot
Stepping out of your comfort zone to resolve an issue can be a refreshing improvement on an otherwise poor experience for your customers. When a British Airways pilot actually addressed his passengers from outside the safety of his cockpit to inform them of a lengthy delay, there was a much warmer response than usual from those affected. This showed that he cared about his passengers and that he was willing to take responsibility for something out of his control.

Find out more here

 

How City Bin differentiate themselves in a crowded market

CityBin_PP_PURPOSE
The City Bin Co. have become more than just a waste management company in recent years, with the stated mission of being,“the global service leader” in their industry and the stated purpose, “to provide excellent Customer Experiences.” City Bin have made it their mission to ‘wow’ their customers by going the extra mile. To drive its strong customer satisfaction and loyalty, City Bin have Introduced what they call “game changers,” by using customer insights to define and offer services that differentiate them in the market. And when you are in a market, crowded with clones of each other, the only thing that separates you from the others, is the experiences you give your customers.

Find out more here

 

Controversial game changer?


It may sound unsettling that brands could be listening in on your private conversations, but as technology advances and brands are able to utilize the information they are mining, companies like Home Depot in the USA won’t just be sending you an email about the products they know you want; they will actually be able to put what you are looking for on hold and have it delivered to you with your blessing. Embracing these changes can save consumers a huge amount of time and effort.

Find out more here

 

Don’t pull the wool over your customers eyes


When companies do something out of the ordinary to apologise it really stands out. If Costco sent you an apology for an issue you didn’t even know about how would you react? You would go out of your way to tell the people you know about how your expectation was blown out of the water. It’s acts like these that turn customers into your very own brand ambassadors.

Find out more here

 

The most important pillar for any business serious about CX

The Six Pillars - Personalisation icon
Personalisation is one of the most important pillars any business will need to master if they want to deliver CX excellence. The art of understanding the customer, and the ability to tailor your service around their needs, emotions and preferences, is the key to success. Our partners, KPMG Nunwood have given several examples of best in class personalisation from the UK, including banks and the current league leaders from the 2015 UK Table: ‘Lush’

Find out more here

 

If you would like to explore how your company can deliver CX excellence e-mail Michael Killeen to discuss further.

Or call Michael directly at +353 1 6622277.

Download a copy of the 2015 CEXi Ireland CX report here

 

 


Six Short Examples Of CX Excellence

 

The Six CX Pillars are a must for any business who wish to take Customer Experience Seriously.


In this video, Michael Killeen speaks about the importance of all six CX pillars, along with a short example for each one.

For more info visit: www.dialogue.ie
or email Michael on: mkilleen@dialogue.ie

 


The New Six Pillar Approach To Marketing

Dialogue’s CX planning unit, CEXi.org, launched Ireland’s first Customer Experience (CX) league table to tremendous applause this week.

Ireland has had its say by ranking national brands across six emotional pillars that matter most to Irish Consumers; Personalisation, Integrity, Empathy, Time and Effort, Expectations and Resolution.

Dialogue reengineered its creative offering to help accelerate Client growth across these six pillars. Dialogue staff undertook a series of pillar training workshops to help raise Customer Experience excellence with strategic and tactical communication solutions.

Getting customers to sell on your companies behalf is the ultimate marketing goal. Unfortunately today’s consumers don’t trust marketing messages as they once used to. Dialogue helps clients rebalance their acquisition budgets in favour of retention efforts.  Not only do client’s customers stay longer but the retention work is fast becoming the most effective form of acquisition. By giving them amazing customer experiences across the six pillars they become an invisible sales force for your brand. Dialogue develops unique amplifiers to encourage delighted customers to share these experiences with friends and colleagues.

Download Irelands Customer Experience league table report here


Personalisation & Customer Experience

Personalised communication is one of the six key pillars when it comes to customer experience. The theory is that we use a < personalised field > to populate a letter, DM, email or any other means of communication and the consumer will suddenly feel a hitherto unknown warmth, affection and deep personal bond with the sender.

The fact that you are speaking directly to the person receiving your message is a powerful thing but we’re all a little too sophisticated these days to get excited about a marketing message just because it somehow manages to spell our name correctly.

To really connect with your customers, those personalised communications need to go beyond the cookie cutter of a personalised field in a print run of thousands.

We recently heard of a great example of how personalisation can be used effectively from a colleague of ours. He decided to throw together a personal website – somewhere to collect examples of all his creative work over the years.

Being clueless about coding, he chose Squarespace as means of designing the site. It’s a resource that offers a range of templates, which you can customise and adapt depending on what’s required.

Pootling around with the site one day, he accidentally erased hours of work and reformatted a large section by mistake. He emailed the customer care address at Squarespace and received a prompt reply. The email told him there was a video he could refer to which would answer his query.

When he opened the link (Presuming the link would direct him to a YouTube tutorial) He was surprised, and genuinely impressed, to discover it was actually a video of his own website being redesigned as he had outlined – in other words, He had received a bespoke, idiot-proof guide to resolving his self-inflicted design catastrophe.

This personalised guide impressed him beyond his expectations and has made him a customer for life. Imagine what this level of personalisation could do for your brand?