In 1987 Jan Carlzon wrote a great little book called “Moments of Truth”. Carlzon used this phrase to describe that moment when a company touches a customer and a good or a poor lasting impression could be made.

This book started me thinking about how to create change in the customer experience.

He was right, no matter how you slice it our customer’s experience is inextricably tied to those Moments of Truth or touchpoints.

So, if you want to improve your level of customer satisfaction, you must address those touchpoints.

Following is a simplified approach I use in the XCS methodology, to manage touchpoints:

Step 1- Identify the touchpoints. A typical company can have hundreds of touchpoints, but the good news is that the 80/20 rule also applies to touchpoints. There are methods to identify hidden touchpoints. I can discuss that further is anyone cares to know the details.

Step 2- Identify those touchpoints with highest ability to affect XCS.

Since XCS comes from our ability to transform a transaction into an emotional event, then touchpoints with high XCS potential,would be those with large customer volumes and high level of potential emotion. These will usually be such touchpoints as Customer contact centers, websites, service departments, etc.

Step 3 – Understand the customer’s expectation – It is critical that in our effort to understand the customer’s expectation, we don’t impose our perception on the customer. Believe it or not, we are not usually right in our perception of customer needs. A short survey to your customers can provide the answer.

Step 4- During the same survey, assess the customer satisfaction level of the touchpoint. I use Dissatisfied, Satisfied and Extremely Satisfied, include the reason why they feel the way they do.

Step 5- Now, identify those things that would help to exceed the customer’s expectations. You don’t have to give away the store. The goal is to create positive emotion as a result of receiving more than expected.

Step 6 – Identify the process or policy change necessary to exceed the customer’s expectations and implement it and implement.

Step 7 – Measure:

• improvement in customer satisfaction
• Improvement in repurchase and willingness to recommend.

Some touchpoints are easier to manage than others. For example, the way a customer is greeted at a store is an important touchpoint and can be easily managed. However, a complex touchpoint such as a Customer Contact Center, may be much more difficult to manage. But at least the goal will be clear to all.

Manage your touchpoints to exceed the customer expectation and you will create loyalty.

Have you ever heard the saying – “the customer is always right”? Of course, we all have.

Did you know that it’s at least 5 times less expensive to keep an existing customer than it is to gain a new one? I’m willing to guess most of have heard this or a similar statistic. Inherently, we know these, and a million other similar statements to be true. Then why is it that most companies place so little emphasis on maintaining the loyalty of current customers?

I believe the biggest reasons is: Read more »