Page 28 - Print 21 Magazine March-April 2019

Business
By now the new year
is nearly a forgotten memory, and all the resolutions we made at the beginning of the year
have most likely been overrun by the busyness of our day to day life. However, one thing that should
not be pushed aside is how are you going with your customers? Are they loving you, putting up with you with a shrug of the shoulders, or sick and tired of dealing with your company? More importantly do you know how they feel?
Now is a good time to review how you are going. Is the customer your number one priority, or is it keeping the business is on an even keel? Are we still in the transactional mode and not the relationship mode? Being proactive about your customer centricity will pay dividends.
According to the American research and advisory firm Gartner, some 89 per cent of businesses surveyed believe customer experience is their main differentiator. They also say improved experience can grow revenue by 5 to 10 per cent, and cost 15 to 20 per cent less over a span
of three years, and say three out of four people have spent more with
a company because of a history of positive experiences.’
So the jury has delivered its verdict or has it? Let’s look at what makes up for good customer experience. Is it being spoken to in a polite and timely manner? Getting the job out on time and within agreed specifications (DIFOT)? The job or item purchased meeting your customer’s needs? Cost was affordable? Having an web2print website that doesn’t crash and is easy to use? In face-to-face purchasing, was the experience uncomplicated, did the customer feel you understood them fully?
I do not think it is any of these.
Although important, these are given in today’s competitive world. It is what you expect as standard service. So what is a better or great customer experience?
It is really about making your customer feel that they have just been treated as an individual, so that they
28 Print21 MARCH/APRIL 2019
feel honoured or special. It is touching their emotional side, not just meeting a need they had. It means that
they would happily recommend or purchase from you again.
In the excellent book, Good to Great by Jim Collins, the difference between good and great is huge. 1,435 good companies examine their performance over 40 years. From them 11 companies become great.
A friend of mine has a saying ‘he is
a good man, however, not great....’
“Customer Culture is defined as what your people do collectively to create a great customer experience” – MarketCulture
It’s not a matter of improving your Net Promotor Score (NPS).
It is all about having all staff understanding and working for the customer. Internal customer culture is a must if you want to become
a great printing company. We all know good graphic arts companies, however how many great companies do we know?
Over the last 18 months I have witnessed some pretty ordinary customer experience when dealing with various printing companies. From being left in the dark about press check times, fending for myself at the printer, chasing up on deliveries, no samples delivered. I could go on, however, I would need a lot more space than I am allocated. It tells me we still have a long way to go in our industry - most of the companies I deal with would believe they offer good customer service, however, as a customer it is not what I have experienced. All are good businesses, however, not one has offered exceptional CX. Some have gone close, however, still just lacking an Apple experience.
The key to improving your customer retention and customer satisfaction is to engage with the customer via identifying and then training your internal staff on customer centric behaviours. This will lead a companywide customer
culture that truly puts the customer
at the front of all decision processes at all times. Staff need to learn, engage, commit. 21
For a free one hour consultation about how you can improve your internal culture please contact Scott Telfer. He is a leading Customer Culture specialist at Customer CX (www.customercx. com.au). Call +61
413 382 528 or email scott@customercx.com. au. Member of CXPA.
Learn, engage, commit
Scott Telfer says the new year brings new opportunities for better customer experience, but being good is not good enough; being great will set you apart.
That saying really imparts the message. Unfortunately there are lot of good businesses, good shops, good online retailers, good schools, but how many great printing businesses are there, great shops, great schools, great governments? Not many.
Lift standards
As companies like Amazon, Nespresso, and Apple lift the bar of customer service, so do Australian companies need to lift their standards. In particular, printing businesses need to do so, and dramatically improve their internal culture.
Good or great: what are your customers experiencing?