Keeping it Human – Building Relationships for a Better Customer Experience

It used to be that bad customer interactions would spread more quickly than good experiences, but millennials and social media have changed the landscape. Research now indicates that customers will share great experiences more often than bad. Companies that create great experiences can tap into brand advocacy and accelerate business performance as happy customers return to make additional purchases.

Last week at Channel Partners Evolution 2018 in Philadelphia, PA, I had the opportunity to share a few insights that we can all put into practice to keep a positive customer experience in focus.

Keeping it Human

Even in a world where everyone is ‘going digital’, I believe the opportunity to differentiate is in the human relationship. Every day, the pressure of short term business objectives can lead us to sacrifice the customer experience, and that chips away at that relationship.

Here are five things we can all do to keep the human connection in focus:

• Identify the moments that matter. Create a customer journey map - a visual end-to-end representation of the interactions your customer encounters from initial awareness right up until they leave you. Use the map to identify vital moments where expectations are low and focus on these opportunities to improve the experience.
• Disrupt expectation. Look at the critical moments you’ve identified and find ways to use technology to make them stress-free or effortless. It's important to lock-in on the customer value you want to create first, and then search for the technology to make it a reality.
• Don’t over-automate. Corporations are increasingly relying on self-service, but it can push customers away if not used or implemented with a human safety net. Highlighting the human touch here can be a big differentiator for channel partners.
• Speak human. We love to geek-out on technology. It’s exciting, and we want everyone to have the newest and best innovations available. But for customers, what really matters is how you’re solving the problems, issues and obstacles they face. Connect with them on a human-level.
• Keep listening and improving. Customer experience is a long game. Care for the relationship now and in the future, and your business performance will continue to improve.

A special thank you to Channel Partners for inviting me to share my insights and experiences on humanizing the technology experience with attendees at #CPEvolution 2018. I hope that all program members and partners find a way to create great experiences for their customers.

It’s about being human first.