by Chris Echevarria
The Gold Nugget -The Customer Experience
I read an interesting article this week posted by Colin Thompson in Printing News entitled “Treat Your People like Gold Nuggets in the Printing Industry.” What really struck a chord with me were the two points as to why key employees stay at a job:
- The job is interesting.
- The employee feels they are valued.
Putting my Customer Experience hat on, is it really any different for customers? Don’t our customers want to feel that they are valued and that what we as vendors and partners have is something of interest to them, to make them want to be engaged with us?
We have a local supermarket here in South Florida called Publix where one of their catchy taglines reads, “Let Us Help You. It is Our Pleasure.” Now like most folks, I detest grocery shopping and NO ONE can help me get out of the store fast enough! Last weekend as we approached the ice cream case my husband ascertained that once again this particular Publix was out of his favorite chocolate ice cream. We picked up something else to satisfy the ice cream craving and made our way to the check out. The young cashier asked, as the Publix employees are trained to do, if we found everything ok. This is one of the few times I said no. Instead of a dismayed look of “oh no, I’ve got additional work to do,” this young man’s expression changed to one of genuine concern. After I explained the situation, he jumped into action at such speed that my head was spinning as another of his colleagues stepped up to the register and finished ringing up our order while our cashier ran to the freezer storage area. Just as fast, he returned with a 6-pack of pints shrink-wrapped together.
After thanking our get-the-job-done-with-a-smile cashier Paul, I also let him know that he truly made a difference in our shopping experience. While I suspect Paul is working at Publix to help pay his way through school, he found the opportunity to put into practice what his company asked him to do but did it in such a way as to reinforce the corporate values. Both parties won, and he finished his shift knowing he put into practice his company’s commitment to an exceptional customer experience—which I’m sure gave him a sense of feeling valued. I personally think he was relieved to have a few minutes away from the cash register by having the distraction of going back to the freezer storage (read: helps keep his job interesting).
As you look at your company’s Customer Experience see what it is your key people do that help keep your customers coming back for more gold nuggets. It may surprise you.
Chris Echevarria is a veteran of the offset analog world who has made her way into the digital space. From marketing segment manager, competitive market analyst, product manager and currently as Canon Solutions America’s customer experience manager in Boca Raton, Chris enjoys participating in the changing landscape of the printing industry.
