An article in Supermarket News puts a twist on the “scripted” employee-customer dialogue that leads to customer experience. Don’t give the employees a script, which sounds “insincere,” says writer Simon Uwins. Give the employees examples of what those employees want to hear from the customers—what the responses and reactions should be.
Uwins is a former CMO of fresh&easy and Tesco UK. His example is from the grocery space, but it has great application to any employee-customer interaction:
Uwins writes in “How to deliver an engaging customer experience, “when I was at Tesco, employees always knew that they were expected to come down on the side of the customer. But they weren't clear what this really meant. So we described what we wanted customers to say about the shopping trip in five phrases, including ‘the aisles are clear,’ ‘I don't have to queue,’ and ‘the prices are good,’ and then focused the business on achieving them. This unleashed a wave of energy in the stores, and significantly improved the customer experience.”
Now picture this tactic used over airline counters, in petrol stations, at the chemist, and even in B2B situations. When employees understand what the customer should be saying aloud or in their heads, they understand customer goals and employee goals. It outlines the company’s definition of satisfaction, and describes good customer experience to associates. And as Uwins says, “It allowed them to be themselves.” No script, no insincerity, only motivation to engage the customer as a person and not a target.
But there’s, shall we say, “an unstated” factor—it also defines the words that companies want their satisfied customers—their advocates—to use when speaking about the brand to their friends, family and colleagues.