How Apple, Disney & Co. Delight Customers

In my last article on how to build world-class customer service we arrived at the conclusion that top organizations deliver outstanding customer service and customer experience to become and stay leaders in their industries. We also argued that in the end, it's not really about customer service, it's about customer obsession.

It's about being obsessed to constantly deliver the best customer experience possible, it's about to delight your customers whenever they interact with your organization. It's about value-adding products and services, fair prices, about care, about exceeding expectations, about passion, respect, personalization, attitude, simplicity, staff empowerment, and about a never-ending improvement process.

Simultaneously, however, delivering a world-class customer experience is also about business, hard facts, and figures: On the one hand, if done properly, it increases revenue and decreases costs. And, on the other hand, you need to build your internal business case on facts and figures to get funds for your planned customer experience improvement projects.

You know, most likely also based on various personal experiences, that there still exist (too) many organizations which think that they can "fool“ their customers by only paying lip service to the concept of customer experience. The good news for both customers and truly customer-obsessed companies: Such an approach will not cut it anymore and those companies are already out of the market (they just have not realized it yet).

If you are serious about significantly improving your customer experience, then continue to read and find out how the very best companies are doing it and what delivering a superb customer experience means to them. These companies constantly rank among the most customer-centric ones of any reputable survey and industry benchmark study. (Please note that below brands are selected by myself out of various studies, my own research, and my own working and customer experience. It's not a complete list as such. You certainly know additional ones. See also: American Customer Satisfaction Index studies, Customer Service Hall Of Fame, Forrester Service customer service studies, Consumer Reports, etc.).

The below companies are the ones which have understood the huge untapped potential of delivering customer experience the right way. Get inspired by what they have to say!

L.L. Bean
While doing business today might differ from doing business in 1912, the philosophy of the company has not changed. A lot of people have fancy things to say about Customer Service, but it's just a day-in, day-out, ongoing, never-ending, persevering, compassionate kind of activity. It goes back to L.L.'s Golden Rule of treating customers like human beings.

Ritz Carlton
We are Ladies and Gentlemen serving Ladies and Gentlemen. Our three Steps Of Service: 1) A warm and sincere greeting. Use the guest's name. 2) Anticipation and fulfillment of each guest's needs. 3) Fond farewell. Give a warm good-bye and use the guest's name. Our Service Values: I build strong relationships and create Ritz-Carlton guests for life. I am always responsive to the expressed and unexpressed wishes and needs of our guests. I am empowered to create unique, memorable and personal experiences for our guests. Our Employee Promise: applying the principles of trust, honesty, respect, integrity and commitment, we nurture and maximize talent to the benefit of each individual and the company.

Disney
Our aim should be to always exceed our Guest’s expectations. The front-line is the bottom line: The employees in front of the customer are the ones they see. Look after them, teach them well, support them. Every face to face interaction is a moment of truth. If a customer interacts with 50 Cast Members (= employees) per day there are 50 moments of truth. If there are 49 great moments and 1 bad, which do you think the customer will remember? We need all moments of truth to be great. You have two ears, two eyes and one mouth, use them in that ratio: Listen to your customer, they are trying to tell you something. It is only when they have told you what they want that you can give them the help they need.

Lowe’s
Lowe’s exists to help customers improve and maintain their biggest asset- their home. We do this by meeting the changing needs of our customers by providing inspiration and support whenever and wherever they shop. Whether our customers shop in store, online, by phone, or if we’re meeting them at their home or place of business, Lowe’s is ready to help. We’ve vowed to “Never Stop Improving” so we can satisfy the ever-changing needs of our customers.

Google
Focus on the user and all else will follow: Since the beginning, we’ve focused on providing the best user experience possible. Whether we’re designing a new Internet browser or a new tweak to the look of the homepage, we take great care to ensure that they will ultimately serve you, rather than our own internal goal or bottom line. Our homepage interface is clear and simple, and pages load instantly. Placement in search results is never sold to anyone, and advertising is not only clearly marked as such, it offers relevant content and is not distracting. And when we build new tools and applications, we believe they should work so well you don’t have to consider how they might have been designed differently.

UPS
We focus on building and maintaining long-term customer relationships by treating each customer as if they were our only customer. 'Customer experience' isn't seen as a separate unit or department. It is the rubric under which all other decisions are made. All proposals funnel up to what we call 'customer experience,' and if an idea is bad for customers, it can be killed point-blank. We have to enable our employees to be successful, so they can deliver success to our customers. We have to treat our employees like they're our customers.

Amazon
Our mission is to be Earth’s most customer-centric company, where customers can find and discover anything they might want to buy online. We endeavor to offer our customers the lowest possible prices. Amazon has teams across the world working on behalf of its customers at Fulfillment Centers, which provide fast, reliable shipping directly from Amazon’s retail websites, and Customer Service Centers, which provide 24/7 support. Our leaders start with the customer and work backwards. They work vigorously to earn and keep customer trust. Although leaders pay attention to competitors, they obsess over customers.

Harrods
At Harrods we promise to offer everything the customer wants, and we can't do that without great service. We make no excuses for setting very high standards and high expectations for our employees to deliver exceptional service as our service is one of defining charateristics of our brand. Giving excellent customer service is at the heart of what we do and it's one of the main reasons why customers choose us, and why they keep coming back. There are many different Harrods customers, but only one type of service... outstanding.

USAA
When you join USAA, you're more than just a customer. You belong to one of the leading financial institutions in the country. And as a member, you'll enjoy exclusive discounts, superior support and it's free to join. We're dedicated to providing our members with top-rated service and personalized advice. Through any stage of life, we're here to guide you. We're revolutionizing how our members keep up with their finances. We're honored when we're recognized by the industry's top publications. But we're humbled by what our members say.

Singapore Airlines
We fly one of the youngest aircraft fleets in the world to destinations spanning a network spread over six continents, with our Singapore Girl as our internationally-recognisable icon providing the high standards of care and service that customers have come to expect of us. We have made a habit of leading the way, and along the way developed a reputation for being an industry trendsetter. In our lounges, working relationships, in the smallest details of our inflight service, we rise to each and every occasion, to deliver the Singapore Airlines experience to all our customers.

Lexus
Unsurpassed Customer Care we call Omotenashi at Lexus. Omotenashi is the Japanese word for hospitality. It implies an insightful understanding of customer wants and needs. In the spirit of omotenashi, we strive to treat you, our customer, as a guest in our home. Recognizing that each guest has different needs, our goal is to anticipate and personalize each solution to exceed expectations, while recognizing that time is always at a premium.

State Farm
Remarkable describes our culture of serving others. It's about how we interact with our customers and how we interact with each other in support of our customers. Every day we have thousands of opportunities to connect with customers. In each of those interactions, regardless of the method of contact, we aspire to provide consistently remarkable experiences. Our customers tell us that they wish to be treated in a personalized, caring, and simple manner. That's important to us, and it's why we embrace the behaviors that make us Remarkable. All State Farm associates have a stake in joining together to create remarkable experiences for our customers. It's a demonstration of our mission, vision, and values. It's the way we do business. Our goal is to provide an experience that's both simple and caring.

IKEA
We work hard to achieve quality at affordable prices for our customers through optimizing our entire value chain, by building long-term supplier relationships, investing in highly automated production and producing large volumes. We want to create a better everyday for all people impacted by our business. We re-invest a majority of our profits in existing and new IKEA stores, as well as in product development, sustainable solutions and by continuously lowering prices to our customers. Our co-workers are essential for our continued growth. We see every person as a talent with the possibility to develop.

Isetan Mitsukoshi
Our first goal is to become the world’s foremost solution provider in terms of customer satisfaction imbued with our spirit of hospitality to cultivate excellent relationships with our customers. To this end, the quality of our service, merchandise and stores must always be superb. Customer satisfaction is the mirror image of this quality. In order to maintain a reputation for excellence, we must propose new value exceeding customer expectations and inspiring their immeasurable support. What is original and inspiring today may be taken for granted tomorrow. We always anticipate the direction of evolution in the retail and service industry and act decisively earlier than competitors. Our conviction is that customer satisfaction and employee satisfaction are mutually reinforcing as well as our recognition that empathy with customers is a prerequisite for becoming the world’s foremost solution provider.

Trader Joe′s
"Value" is a concept we take very seriously. And by value we mean great everyday prices on all of our products — no sales, no gimmicks, no clubs to join, no special cards to swipe. We wear Hawaiian shirts because we're traders on the culinary seas, searching the world over for cool items to bring home to our customers. And when we return home, we think grocery shopping should be fun, not another chore. So just relax and leave your worries at the door. We'll sail those seven seas, you have some fun with our finds at your neighborhood Trader Joe's.

Nordstrom
For more than 100 years, we at Nordstrom have worked to deliver the best possible shopping experience, helping customers possess style—not just buy fashion. We believe fashion is a business of optimism, and in that spirit we continue to grow and evolve. Free shipping and free returns, mobile shopping and exciting new retail partnerships offer us continued opportunities to serve more customers in more ways with a fresh, relevant shopping experience and inspiring style. Fashion changes. Shopping changes. Our commitment to happy customers doesn't.

Apple
We are at our best when we deliver enriching experiences. What we teall our staff: Approach customers with a personalized, warm welcome: Make sure customers are greeted by a friendly smile, Probe politely to understand the customer’s needs (ask closed and open-ended questions), Present a solution for the customer to take home today, Listen for and resolve any issues or concerns: By truly listening and acknowledging the needs of your customers, you make your business an oasis of encouragement, empowerment, and excitement. End with a fond farewell and an invitation to return: There is a direct correlation between how people feel when they leave your business and how likely they are to return or recommend the experience to someone else.

Often, in customer service and customer excellence initiatives, we can get lost in concepts like customer loyalty, customer satisfaction score, customer satisfaction index, KPIs like time-to-resolution, etc.

TWO SIMPLE RULES:

1) Make sure that you do everything to make your customers really happy!

2) Customers first, then brand, then revenue and profit.

What do you think and what would you like to add? Which are your Customer Experience Champions?

Best regards,

Andreas von der Heydt

Read in my next blog article which the best Customer Experience books are.

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Andreas von der Heydt is the Country Manager of Amazon BuyVIP in Germany. Before that he hold senior management positions at L'Oréal. He′s a leadership expert, executive coach and NLP master. He also founded Consumer Goods Club. Andreas worked and lived in Europe, the U.S. and Asia.

Please click 'Follow' if you would like to hear more from Andreas in the future. Feel free to also connect via his LinkedIn Groups Coaching or Consumer Goods, or via Twitter and Facebook.

Other recent posts by Andreas von der Heydt:
Building World-Class Customer Service
What The Best Brands Will Do In 2014
How Puma Can Compete With Adidas And Nike
A Serious Threat To Apple
What The Fitch Is Going On At Abercrombie
The 17 Qualities and Views of Great Leaders
The Art of Breeding Intrapreneurs
12 Minutes To Create A Mind Changing Presentation
The Most Underestimated Skill of A Great Leader

photo: istock