Aug 11, 2010
How personal is personal enough for your customer experience?
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Over on his Customer Excellence blog, Eric Jacques sparked a discussion about the benefits of a consistent vs a personal experience. I tossed in a comment there, and thought it would be fun to continue the conversation here.
Is a “personal” experience always better?
Instinctively, you might think ‘of course.’ Yet the question reminds me of a leader I met a while ago.
The scene: I was the keynote for a leader meeting, where I was asked to talk about the performance payoff for customer experience. Well into the conversation, someone in back raised his hand:
“What do you do if your customers don’t want a customer experience?”
The group chuckled. But I was curious. “Say more.” I asked.
“I’m the regional VP of sales for a national packaging company. We deliver a GREAT customer experience! We tour the operations where the packaging will be used. Do custom design. We offer to inventory the packaging, and deliver in small batches over time.”
Frustrated, he continued: “Now, more and more often, customers are turning away from us. They’re putting their business out to reverse auctions on the web. They don’t want a customer experience!”
Of course this leader’s customers did want an experience. They wanted an experience that was consistently IMpersonal, fast and price driven.
The painful (perhaps) but necessary (always) choice
His company was left with a choice: shift the experience offered to match the what their customers had come to value, OR continue offering a highly personalized experience to a new set of customers that would value (and pay for) it. Continuing to invest in delivering a highly personalized experience to his current customers would be a leak of both revenue and profit from his company. By the end of the conversation, no one was chuckling.
While personal intuitively seems always better, to truly know we must understand what needs we’re solving for which customers. And perhaps it makes my point too well, but I’ll bet this Virgin Mobile ad evokes a reaction from you:
So! How personal is the right personal for your customers?
Interesting post. It is difficult sometimes to adjust when the customers change their preferences, especially when it seems they don’t want what we thought they wanted – the personal touch. However, the customers want what the customers want and sometimes tough decisions need to be made, give them what they want, or go after new customers. It necessitates an honest look at the status quo, upcoming customer demographic projections, and the ability to change with the desires of the customer, if you choose to do so.
As for the video, that was perfect. While I’m always encouraging my clients to add the personal touch wherever and whenever possible, I do think this takes it a wee too far. (Pun intended)
Hi Linda,
Thanks for the mention and, especially, for continuing the conversation.
Many companies simply don’t design their customer experience. It ends up simply happening organically based on whatever their corporate culture is.
What’s really important for us is to give businesses the tools and the ideas to design the experience that fits their business goals and their customer-base.
We also have to help them think about the implications of their decisions (and indecision) when it comes to customer experience.
Great post! And, yes, the video did elicit a reaction. I’m just not sure that it’s the one that Virgin would want. Humour is a fickle thing…
Cheers!
Eric
@ericjacques
Kristina,
You’re oh-so-right about how difficult this decision can be. The decision itself, certainly, but even the simple recognition that a company (or product or brand) has arrived at this kind of decision point. The company which the leader in my story represented were likely smart people not yet aware of or willing to see it.
All in all – whether we’re talking the degree of “personal” in the customer experience or some other factor(s), I’m finding this conversation a helpful reminder that it’s our role as business leaders to anticipate how customer needs evolve over time.
And the ‘wee’ pun? Clever, clever woman. Thanks for stopping by. LCI
Linda – I like your twist on the consistent vs. personal spectrum. The challenge that many organizations seem to be facing is that their customers want BOTH – the benefits of a flexible customer-focused supplier and the low price of a one-size-fits-all approach.
In many cases it comes down to navigating the multiple buying influences and decision-makers at the customer. It’s not as simple as “buyers want price and users want service” but it’s often true that various parts of the customer organization have differing definitions of value and goals that conflict.
Ultimately, I agree that a decision has to be made about what type of company you want to be and which customers best fit that approach. Thanks for a good thought-starter!
Eric J –
You’re so very right that many organizations don’t proactively define an ideal, or target customer experience. Often in conversations, just after leaders begin thinking about the need to do so for the first time, they realize they already have a customer experience – yet it is not one they planned or perhaps even want.
Your comments are a good reminder that any customer experience is a result of proactive defined actions – or those that simply “occur” in the void of inattention. I bet we’d agree on which option will drive a better experience for customers and performance for an organization! LCI
Eric E – (2 Erics today!)
I appreciate you bringing up the sorting of which customer needs are common to ALL target customers for a company, and which are not.
Trying to be everything to all customers is certainly a dangerous path (as the leader in my story was in the middle of discovering). So whether we’re talking about a whole company with many products or a single service, the ‘sorting’ is an important challenge.
Glad you jumped into the conversation. LCI
Linda,
I’m still laughing at the video. Hilarious that he leaves a penny too.
One thing that comes to mind reading this thread, and your comments above about making a painful choice… the customer sorting factor in all of this (read:customer segmentation!) Determining who your PROFITABLE customers are and what they prefer, and then rising to the challenge of consistently delivering makes perfect sense, but changing a product/service offering based on the changing preference of a non-profitable customer seems like a wasted (expensive) effort.