Page 59 - Delivering Authentic Customer Experiences

Principle 3 Delivering Authentic Customer Experiences

Keeping it Real

WOW!
During a visit to a fitness club, I saw a woman putting a small child
into a buggy. She had finished a class and had just collected her
infant from the crèche and was getting ready to leave and walk to
her vehicle which was parked in the club’s car park. It had started
raining heavily and although the buggy had a hood, she was only
dressed in her gym kit and wasn’t prepared for the downpour.
Quick as a flash, one of the staff on duty called to her to wait a
minute and grabbed an umbrella from behind the reception desk.
She jogged over to the woman, held the door open for her and
escorted her to her car, covering her with the umbrella until she’d
settled the child in its car seat, put the buggy in the boot and taken
her place in the driver’s seat.

As you can imagine, the customer was very grateful, but this
interaction had been a win- win. The member of staff came back
with a beaming smile, albeit a little wet, clearly happy to have
helped create a magic moment for the customer.

OW!
In contrast, I was on the receiving end of a much more
uncomfortable experience at an independent hairdressing salon.
I’d used the salon several times before and was happy with the
service, cut and price, so had booked there again. I knew the
stylist who usually cut my hair wasn’t in but was desperate for a
quick trim so agreed to see someone else. I arrived five minutes
early for my appointment and sat near the front desk. A young
woman arrived at the desk, didn’t acknowledge me personally,
but called to the stylist to say her next appointment was here.
Finally, the assistant approached and sat me in a chair. By this
time, although I wasn’t in a particular hurry, not surprisingly I was
getting a bit impatient. Perhaps the assistant thought it was

48