Ep. 32 How to Create a Winning Customer Experience

How to Create a Winning Customer Experience

Customer experience is the king of business. It will make an average product a superstar or a premium product repulsive. There are clear winners when it comes to customer service and experience that we can all learn from.

Torie Mathis and her cohost Sean discuss customer service all-stars and how simple tweaks to your own employee training can kickstart your customer experience.

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EPISODE TRANSCRIPTION –

(transcription is auto-generated)

SAF 32

[00:00:00] Torie: They are the nicest people ever. And there’s no way that they’re like, okay. So we’re thinking of hiring you. Are you nice? Like,

Hey, Hey, welcome to Smart AF I’m your host. Torie Mathis. We have got a great show for you today. So let’s get started. 

[00:00:22] Sean: One of my biggest pet peeves, whatever we go into any business, establish. Is piss poor customer service. Like it drives me absolutely nuts. And I think the reason is, or why it does is cause it’s should be so damn easy.

Like customer service is one of the easiest things you can do. And yet, so many people fail at it. I guarantee you’ve gone grocery shopping and you’ve gone up to the cashier and they look like, they’re absolutely miserable. They’re like, what are you doing? Coming up here and making me do something.

And then it, like, I think in turn, like, it makes you feel bad or it just changes like chemicals in your brain. You’re like, why are you making me angry? Versus that, that person that’s like, Hey, how are you? You know, find everything you needed. Yeah. Great. I just that’s it. I mean, there’s been, I’ve gone to places where they don’t even look at you, you walk in and there’s not even an acknowledgment that you’re there, you don’t, they, at that point in the transaction, they don’t need to do anything with you other than go like, okay, somebody is in here. Just give me that. Hey, like don’t, don’t tell me, ask me how I’m doing or anything of that kind of stuff.

Like you can, but ultimately just I need to know that I belong here. Otherwise, it’s like, are they close or am I not supposed to be here? Like, it’s just, it goes so, so far. And then you’ve already like now right off the bat, you’ve got this, this mentality shift of this business sucks. It all stems just from customer service.

[00:02:10] Torie: When we talk about sales process all the time and your customer service like these companies, like how is that? That can’t be what they’re training people to do. I haven’t done customer service, like legitimately for another company in a long time. But when I did like during training, like, it was really like, this is what you do when a customer comes in and you can see these businesses that do it really well.

That what the hell are these grocery store people doing that they’re not training their, their people to do this. Do you think that what’s this lab like 

disconnect somewhere? 

[00:02:43] Sean: It’s gotta be that they’re just able to get away with it. Okay. So my routine, when I come back from the museum because it’s an hour commute. 

[00:02:53] Torie: It’s not a good routine guys. 

[00:02:55] Sean: I stopped at Wendy’s and get the four for four. It’s a decent amount of food. It tastes decent and it’s cheap and I can eat it while I’m heading home. Cause that’s ultimately what I want to do is just get home and it’s going to take me an hour to get there.

And I probably started to myself for a couple of hours longer than I should have some starving. So I drive to the drives here every time, just get, get the food and get going home. I have been handed food and drink so many times now from the same place. Nothing, not a word to me. You can’t even see them.

They literally shoved the food into my hand. And that’s it. There’s no, there’s no nothing. I mean, there’s nothing. Frigging drives me nuts. I like 

[00:03:45] Torie: we’re going to change it to what drives, what drives Torie crazy. 

[00:03:52] Sean: I’m not asking for, for a whole lot of anything really, but have a nice day. Here you go.

[00:04:05] Torie: You know, what’s funny is like, I hate small talk. Like I hate the fakeness of phony small talk. Like I always hated it at the same time. Genuine. Like, just be nice, like that friendliness that, Hey, I hope you have a nice day. Like, it makes such a big difference. Like you said, you know, when you walk in somewhere and all this. Maybe I’m not supposed to be here. Look at what, like what’s going on. Like it really does make, 

[00:04:36] Sean: yeah. Like I don’t even want to like pick something up to bring it to the cashier. Cause I feel like, you know, maybe they’re playing on their phone or doing something else and I’m going to inconvenience them too. 

[00:04:48] Torie: That’s the word I was thinking inconvenient. Like that’s where like you are inconveniencing them for being. I, that way at certain restaurants, certain you had to go check out of places. Like it’s the weirdest feeling like you really need to lookout. If you’re a business owner, what your employees are doing for this. It is setting the tone for everything and a bad experience, worse than a bad review.

Like nobody wants a bad review. Like that sucks. But just the, like the fact that that person, they may never come back in, they might go tell somebody else that they’re not going to come back in either. 

[00:05:24] Sean: Yeah. That can have a trickle effect on all kinds of aspects of you. 

[00:05:28] Torie: There are these companies that are just so great at it. Like I want to be like, You were talking about Virgin airlines. What were you saying? Like I, Richard, Branson’s huge on customer service, right? So they’ve always been one that, and I said Southwest like I used to always like flying Southwest because they actually had personality. They felt like it was actually a little bit fun and not just so robotic. 

[00:05:55] Sean: Like people, if you don’t structure. You know, the sales process or whatever the case may be. If it’s flight attendants, if you’re like, you make sure you, you, you fit everything you need to do into this little box and don’t go out of it. They turn into robots and it’s not fun. You know, it a lot of times, especially on flights, I mean, they’re high stress already.

They might be scared or. It doesn’t take that much. Like, like, so the story with, with Richard Branson on one of his books that I read, he was saying that the flight attendants would they, they hit inside the cargo compartment. So as passengers were coming onto the planes and they go to put their, their luggage inside their flight attendants laying inside there.

It might not, maybe I’m unique, but I find that shit hilarious. And they would chase the entire vibe of the whole flight. Like I would want to interact with that, that flight attendant as much as possible. I mean, it’s like, you go, you walk by somebody. That’s one of those people. Like, I’m not one of those people, but one of those people that seem to always be smiling.

So people that smile. Yeah. There’s something about them that you always want to be around them because I think they make you feel like, like they want you around them, whether they do or not. I mean, it doesn’t really matter. Cause it’s how it makes you feel. 

[00:07:24] Torie: I don’t like that fake. Fake small talk stuff, but just a little bit of a smile or a welcomingness that nod that, you know, it really made me.

[00:07:37] Sean: Yeah. You know you don’t have to go over the board and ask them how their kids are. Like, nobody. I like, I don’t, I know you don’t care. And I don’t really care to share. Just acknowledge me. I just. Just a little something that makes me feel like this is a business establishment that wants to sell me something. 

[00:07:59] Torie: Well, and that’s like, okay when you call customer service, you’re calling customer service to get help. And sometimes when you call it’s like, they don’t want to help you. It’s like, what is your job? Like, is it just to get people off the phone? 

[00:08:12] Sean: I think it is sometimes. 

[00:08:14] Torie: Really crazy. Okay. So I was saying, go daddy. I used to because lots of our clients had GoDaddy for their hosting or for their domains. And so we would always set everything up for them, you know, we still do.

And, and so I have been calling go daddy for, oh my gosh 13, 14 years and way back when they were a joy, I loved calling them. They were so nice. They would put me on hold. They would help me with whatever I had. Sometimes they would say, Hey, if you still have problems with this, I’ll email you, and then you can email me and, you know, I’ll take care of like super nice, super helpful.

Well in the last, maybe like three years or whatever, I don’t deal with them anymore. Like, you’re the one that if we have to call our, hosting company for a client, you’re the one that generally does it fairly. They’re not very good anymore. Not helpful. Won’t do anything for you. We switched all of our hosting stuff to WP engine and they are fantastic.

Like that is how a company should be. You call them or chat with them. Chat is available. So you don’t even have to call. They just do everything for you. Like it’s their system. They know how to do it. Like just do it. It can’t be that hard to just make these types of things happen and where it feels like, like if I call or you call like they’re actually wanting to help you actually making it better.

Like, it’s crazy that that doesn’t happen with some of these. 

[00:09:38] Sean: Daddy seemed to be like, oh, here’s your problem. This is what you need to do. I called you. To fix it well. 

[00:09:46] Torie: And we’re technical. Like, I could only imagine what they’re doing for like these end users that like that that’s not what they do on a daily basis. Like really? Are they telling these people here you go, figure it out, how to fix it, or, 

[00:10:00] Sean: yeah, I mean the WP engine we, when, when we moved a few of the websites and put SSL certificates on them it kept making it so that the website was showing. Insecure, even though it was secure. And so there’s just little tweaks that need to be done to it which I can do now.

But when we first did it, it’s all new systems. So you’re like, what the heck? It’s, you know, it shouldn’t be good. What’s going on? So contact WP engine or like, yep. There’s a few things that need to be done. I’ll do it not, do you want me to do it? I’ll get it done. You know? And then, and then it was done and everything was golden.

Whereas, you know, the other one would be like, here’s what will fix it or what you need to do. Yeah, fun. So now I spent all this time on the phone waiting and waiting and waiting for you to then tell me what I already knew. I’m like, don’t tell me something I can Google and figure it out and waste. The whole point is that I don’t want to waste my time messing with something that I know for a fact, they can go in and fix real quick. 

[00:11:08] Torie: Well, and that makes a big difference because now I would tell anybody. Don’t use them. Don’t use them. Like, if you don’t want to have to worry about it, you want them to actually help you. Like here’s another company. That’s a lot better. 

[00:11:19] Sean: Well, not that because like, because we do what we do. Like, I would definitely not want to send any of our clients there. Cause then it’s going to come back on us. Right. You know, they’re going to have us do it. And that’s not really what we’re trying to focus on here.

Cause it, it just, it takes some stuff takes a ton of time. If that’s not what you do. All the time on a daily basis. And so, yeah, it’s brutal how some of these companies, just their, their customer services. Is it there? And really, I think from a business owner, they either, they either don’t know what’s happening for whatever reason or they’re, they’re letting them get away with it and not realizing the impact that it has on the overall business.

[00:12:06] Torie: There’s definitely like there’s companies though that have a good grasp on what their employees do, whether it be customer service or their just like repeatable type things. For example, like you go to Aldi, every single one of them are super fast and they’re going to check you out really quick.

You never go in there and have a slow one. Like whatever their training is or whatever their you know, employee directions are like, it is it’s, it’s the same. And there’s a consistency through. Chick-fil-A anytime you go in there, they are the nicest people ever. And there’s no way that they’re like, okay. So we’re thinking of hiring you. Are you nice? Like that doesn’t happen. So I don’t know what it is, but every single one I’ve ever been in, they are the nicest people ever. 

[00:12:51] Sean: As food-wise, nobody compares, not even close. We’re not talking to food. You know, the quality is food or in, or even any like taste or not, not that. The vibe of the whole business, whether you, whether it’s drive through or dine in, take out any of that kind of stuff. There’s no one that touches Chick-fil-A on that customer service aspect. 

[00:13:14] Torie: Which I, and I don’t eat fast food and I very rarely go in there. So it’s not like I have like all this type of every single time I’ve ever been into one. Like they’re always super nice. And so there’s gotta be something in there that. I don’t know if it would be like the overall vibe of the entire company, like maybe the owners or the managers, like maybe they’re making sure, like what makes Virgin different than, you know, blah, blah airline, is it coming from the top?

And like, there’s, there’s gotta be something in there that’s making it that way because it’s a company wide thing. 

[00:13:53] Sean: Yeah. I mean, it’s, it’s companies that put an emphasis on. The customer experience, you know, they’re not just selling you some crap, you know, the it’s, it’s the whole package, you know? It’s right up there with like like apple, you know, so you could just buy the iPhone and it can come in a brown paper bag.

But it doesn’t, I get, it comes in a super fancy box and it’s you get that whole unboxing thing, which has become a thing for multiple products now. But it didn’t use to be that way and it’s, and then they, when they have the apple stores like they designed. The same way. I’m almost like the unboxing and the clean and it gets. 

[00:14:38] Torie: That’s true because even though it’s a complicated product for a lot of people, there are people that are that’s, their job is to just help you out. Explain it, hook it up for you. Like they’re so open and willing to, and that’s the thing with them is that when you first walk in, like the first couple of times I went and I was like, like, this seems like, I don’t know like I wasn’t here. They’re all really nice. It’s not like they’re stuck up geniuses.

Like they’re actually helpful geniuses.

[00:15:08] Sean: To help you because it looks convenient. 

[00:15:11] Torie: It’s very, it’s very sterile in there. Do you know what I mean? Like it’s a little bit super modern and like it could come off a little bit harsh. So to have that position with the fact that they are actually nice and helpful was actually refreshing. Like they’re, they’re actually their customer services.

Fantastic. So there’s gotta be some way that you can like wrap that around, like whatever, you know, your business is to ensure that you have these policies in place, this training in place. And really, I think it has to come from, like, if you’re a dickhead, your customers or your employees are going to be probably the same way. Like you have to lead from the top there, make sure that you’re setting that example for people to. 

[00:15:57] Sean: And I’m in it, whether it’s a, you know, you are the business, there is no employees, or you have employees. It’s, it’s one of those things that you’ve got to be aware of, whether it’s you with the bad attitude or you’ve got employees with bad attitudes.

It’s, I mean, really it’s coming down to being aware of it and making sure that. Don’t let the customer feel like you’re having a bad day and you know that you don’t want them as a client or customer or whatever the case may be. And that makes it so that they feel appreciated, that, you know, they’re, they’re buying from you.

[00:16:42] Torie: Always, when you have those really good times or those really bad times, you can always like note and plan, like. No, if. I walk into this building or walk into this store and nobody acknowledges that is an instant, you know, isolating feeling like how can I work that into my business? How can I work that into my process? How can I make that welcoming? You know, if you really did like, you know, the funny type personality stuff like that.

Where in my business, can I actually do that funny stuff? Like I think that, that just, that may help make that, like you said, like with apple more of just like buying something it’s like that experience and that brand. And I think if you can make your business like that, like that could be an everlasting brand because you have that experience built into it rather than just 

[00:17:31] Sean: Mozillians Walmart, Walmart, or jug antics stores, tons of people.

And yet every single one of them has a Walmart greeter. 

[00:17:40] Torie: Do they all have that? Right. 

[00:17:41] Sean: You go inside. I can’t tell you that, but I know they have it. I mean, there’s, there’s somebody at the entrance is there. Yeah. And just, just, you know, they, all their job is to just acknowledge everyone that walks through the door.

I mean, I think that’s fantastic. I, because I think the store is so big, like. Do a whole lot of small talking registers or anything, and they have self-checkout and stuff in the stores. So, but there’s the potential for you to not interact with anybody in there. And some people want that we would want that, but at the same time, I’m perfectly okay with walking by somebody who says hi, thanks for coming.

That’s. I mean, that’s it, it just completely changes the whole vibe. You might have somebody that was going to shoplift in there, but somebody is like, Hey, thanks for coming. They’re like, oh, maybe I won’t steal it from this guy. It’s, it’s a mentality thing. I, I really think that customer service is such a bigger aspect of, of every business that people don’t give enough credit.

And it, I, I would buy something from somebody much more likely and more often and more expensive. If that customer experience was better, we’ve had multiple financial advisors and people going into like the ultimate deciding factor is like, how much do we like this person? Like, get their dicks. And we don’t really like what they’re saying, but their product and whatever that is, they’re trying to sell us.

Seems like the greatest thing in the world. But I got on to deal with this guy. Like, no, they don’t with. I mean, it goes across the board. So many levels. So it’s super important. 

[00:19:32] Torie: Well, people like to refer family, friends to people. They like, like, it feels good to be like, yes, you should go there. They’re great.

Or, you know, use them. They’re so nice. Definitely how you’re going to grow your business with customer service. Probably even beyond having a quality product. Like I think it’s pretty close. They’re going hand in hand. 

[00:19:54] Sean: Okay. See somebody calls wanting a quote or something, you know, you give them the code, do all the stuff, normal business stuff like that.

All right. Have a good day at the end of the conversation. I mean, that’s all we’re talking about. I mean, nothing crazy. Just common courtesy type stuff that, yeah. That’ll make them feel. Like you want them there and that hopefully, that’s what you want is you want those customers and clients and people making purchases from you, customer service doesn’t screw it up.