Posts in Customer experience

Why customers visit and don’t buy

If you have ever been to a new place and your stomach started to crumble. You know now it’s time to eat, so if you are like most people, you will check if there are nearby restaurants where you can have some food.

When you don’t know any of the restaurants, you find yourself inclined to enter the one with the most crowd and dismiss the ones that don’t have many customers. You don’t think, and you just find yourself checking the menu of that crowded restaurant.

Read More

How Saudi Airlines Crew Turned a Bad Customer Experience into a Positive One

You can spend a lot of time designing a perfectly curated customer experience for your customers, but sometimes, things don’t go as planned.

At some point, you will screw up, and your customers will be mad at you. It’s not a matter of if, but a matter of when.

The question is: Are you prepared for when that happens?

One time I was flying back from Riyadh to Dubai on Saudi Airlines, and the lady sitting next to me ordered coffee. I guess that’s a pretty common request to have on the plane.

What was not common, though, was her finding a fly in her coffee.

Ughh.

Read More

How Zara’s Refund Policy Gets More Customers to Buy

My favorite clothing brand is Zara. I guess many people share the same love. I love their products, the style, quality, and that it’s not too expensive. It’s so easy to look trendy with outfits you buy from Zara when you have a good stylist or have a sense of fashion.

But those are not the only reasons many people or I love to buy from Zara and continue to buy even when we are unsure if we really want to buy that one shirt.

Read More

This will help you set the right systems and automation

Sometimes we put things off because we need the right systems in place, the right tools, the right systems, the right automation, and having things be just “right.”

As a fellow perfectionist, it’s not something that I am proud of, it’s just part of me for now. I think I have to get those “right” things first and out out of the way.

I think: I will do this when …, and I will… when.

And so happens when creating a new product, service, or even setting up a new structure in your team.

The best way for the systems to properly work is when the base is right.

The base is never right from the first time.

Read More

How bad customer experience increases customer service calls

If your customers have a bad experience with your brand, they will call customer service. And if your customer service can’t help, say goodbye to having repeat customers. 

Here’s an example:

Let’s say you applied for a specific service.

There is a waiting period for you to get it approved and processed.

They come back to you via your preferred method of communication, email, to let you know that there are some missing documents or information to process your application.

You proactively update all the information and send it back.

Then you wait.

Nothing happens.

You start wondering, Did they see my update? What happens now?

You exercise your patience.

Until one day, you have had it.

And so you recheck your email to see any sign to communicate back with them.

The email they sent you is a “No-Reply” email so when you try to reply and ask about the progress, the email delivery fails.

You notice that there is a note that tells you, “If you require assistance, please contact X.”

Then you find no mention to X’s email or any contact information.

You get frustrated.

Then, you pick up the phone and call customer service.

Read More

What does customer experience mean?

I was chatting with my friend’s mom when she asked me, “what do you do?”

And then I was, hmmm… That would take some time to explain.

“I am a management consultant. I work in customer experience,” I said.

She looked at me with a perplexed look that tells me what does that even mean.

I guess so many people don’t know what does customer experience really means. Is it customer service? Marketing? Sales? Strategy? Operations? Wait… Designer?

And no, it’s none of the above, and yet we do touch upon all of the above.

Wait, what?

Read More

Is Customer Experience the same as Customer Service?

I am often asked if Customer Experience is the same as Customer Service when I tell people what I do. 

The short answer is: No. They are not the same. 

Customer service is only one aspect of the customer experience. It’s one interaction with the customer. Customer experience, however, is everything the customer goes through when interacting with a brand. 

Read More

7 Reasons to conduct usability testing

In one of my previous posts, 6 Dimensions to measure usability, I explained what is usability and why it’s important to measure. 

But… 

More often than not, the budget wouldn’t allow it or the project timeline is just too tight. 

Usability testing then is put in a second priority. Worse, it could be forgotten.

… and so, I have decided to share with you 7 reasons you should conduct usability testing.

Read More