The big rethink: Does customer experience need a restart?

Customer experience (CX) has been a hot topic for quite some time now. For good reason. Customers are the heart and soul of every business. Yet, despite everyone talking about CX, are businesses getting it right? What’s the cost of getting it wrong? And, what do lolly bags at kids’ birthday parties have to do with it all?

To answer questions like these, we’ve called upon two legends in the Australian business community. We were delighted to welcome Janine Allis, founder of Boost Juice Bars, and Dan Monheit, behavioural scientist and co-founder of creative agency Hardhat, to this event exploring whether CX needs a reboot.

You can catch the full event on-demand now. Otherwise, read on for some key take-outs for any business looking for ways to improve the customer experience. 

1. Switch CX for CM

Instead of thinking about the experience you’re offering your customers, Dan recommends flipping your focus onto the memories you’re making. Memories are what matter. As Dan said, “The way we remember an experience, not how we felt throughout, is far more likely to determine how we feel. We remember things based on emotional highs and lows, and how the experience ends.”

Think about it. A great holiday can be ruined by a bad flight home. Conversely, a terrible meal can be saved by a delicious dessert. 

Dan used the example of an online video game purchase to illustrate his point. He’d previously purchased NBA2K21 for his son, and recently received an email letting him know about a special pre-order for the new and improved NBA2K22. “It was that perfect mix of right message, right customer, right product, right time. And I punched my credit card details right in.”

2. Turn friction into a ‘forgettably good’ experience

In the process of crafting positive memorable moments, it’s important to iron out any kinks in the experience. Too often, customer interactions are full of friction, which lead to customers remembering you for all the wrong reasons.

Janine discussed the importance of communication in removing friction. By being explicit, upfront, about the journey ahead, customers are less likely to baulk at any hurdles along the way. “Communication is always key. When doing major deals with potential partners, you want to make sure that, by the time they get their documents, there are no surprises. If you don’t communicate clearly enough, the customer will make any surprises out to be ten times worse than the reality. It’s so important to be open and transparent,” she said.

Sometimes, though, there’s the opportunity to create positive friction. “Think about whether something is meant to be remembered, or it’s just meant to get done. Signing a contract shouldn’t have to be memorable – it’s just a necessary step in most business dealings. You want to make it ‘forgettably good’ so the customer can get through the process as quickly and effortlessly as possible,” said Dan.

We love this idea – that businesses should identify experiences that should be so quick, seamless and easy to complete that they are ‘forgettably good’.  

3. Really get to know your customers

When was the last time you spoke to your customers? How well do you know what they really want? Both Janine and Dan agree that, too often, big businesses forget to find out what the customer really wants – and instead make their business decisions based on incorrect assumptions.

“Some business leaders forget that it’s all about the customer. They may have their own biases – something simple, like a love of the colour red – and inject that bias into their marketing. Don’t let your bias decide what the customer wants,” said Janine. 

Dan agreed. “When you become an employee at a business, you cross a line you can never uncross. You stop being a customer. And your ability to see through the eyes of the customer diminishes every day.”

With this in mind, it’s important to remain nimble. Closely follow what’s selling and what’s not, and if something’s clearly not resonating with your customers then change what you’re doing. “The only time you really know if a customer wants something is when they buy it,” said Janine. 

4. Live and breathe a CX-focused culture

From your CEO to your frontline staff, everyone in your business should believe in a customer-first philosophy. At the top, leadership teams need to recognise the long-term value of each customer. This recognition should flow right through to frontline staff, who should be trained and supported to meet customers’ needs – especially when they turn up with a complaint or problem. 

In today’s hyper-competitive world, when customers’ expectations are sky-high, you need to meet these expectations or risk getting left behind. As Dan said, “The last good experience you had anywhere becomes your new lowest expectation of any experience, everywhere.”

What’s your lolly bag moment?

Every weekend across the country, in countless suburban backyards, kids are going to birthday parties. The thing they remember most about these parties? The lolly bag. If the sweet treats inside don’t meet the kids’ expectations, they leave the party with a bad taste in their mouths.

As Dan emphasised, “You need to go for memories. Find one or two points towards the end of the customer journey and make them a 15-out-of-10 experience. It’s your lolly bag moment.”  

Remember, you can catch the full recording of this great event now. Or, if you’re keen to create more ‘forgettably good’ moments in your customer journey, get in touch with Docusign today. We’ve got just the platform to help you do so.