Nov 28, 2017

It all started off so promising...(when EX sours CX)

Life is busy at the moment. We're undertaking a major house renovation at the same time as building a new house, along with various other exciting projects on the go.

When your plate is that full (let's be honest, a bit too full) then any interactions you have with suppliers, tradie's and Council needs to be a great experience; a seamless interaction, to ensure you don't lose the plot and that projects keep moving at pace.

Throughout this period, I've seen first hand the connection and impact that the employee experience has on the customer experience. Both the good and the bad. We've all experienced those times when clearly the team are happy in their roles and environment, and you, as the customer benefit from that. Then there are those other times when the team member is not in a good space...and unfortunately as the customer you feel this. Repeat business becomes questionable.

One recent example we've been through personally, as a customer, started off so promising. This business held an event over a weekend which attracted a big crowd. The place was jam packed with customers but everything flowed seamlessly. Customers had personalised service, questions were answered, experts were on hand for those hard-to-answer technical questions, and patience was in abundance by the sales team. But it wasn't just the sales team. Everyone at this business seemed to be helping out over this exceptionally busy period. The office team were on the floor alongside the reps, and the warehouse team were also on hand. It was a great example of all-hands-on-deck, everyone pitching in and acting as #OneTeam, and as a result the customer experience was outstanding.

Fast forward a few weeks, post a large order being made and delivery due, and the wheels were badly starting to fall off. One of the office team went on leave and our order 'disappeared'. On her return, she found a frustrated customer, missing items and time pressures. She was clearly upset and aggrieved to find this on her return, and I'm sure it took a significant shine off the break she had just enjoyed. Her unhappiness at the situation was clearly felt.

Being nosey about the employee experience in organisations, I asked some questions. I found out that this employee dreaded going on leave as "everything seems to fall apart". I didn't find out if this was self-inflicted by this individual or simply her frustration at the systems and structures behind the scenes not being geared towards a great employee experience....and subsequently a great customer experience. Either way, her progressive grumpiness at finding out yet another issue had not been dealt with was felt clearly by us. Although not directed at us, as customers we could clearly tell she was very unhappy and not in an "I'm sorry you've had this experience way" but rather a "this place is a nightmare" kind of way.

Unhappy customer, inconsistent customer experience, poor employee experience...no one winning on this one.

So I wonder. I wonder if the business had put more thought into their customer experience journey, how might they have designed that better? And in turn, how would the employee experience have then been better designed? We can't underestimate the power of thoughtfully planning and delivering a great customer experience and the importance of the employee experience in achieving that. This requires not only looking at the systems, structures and processes behind the scenes but also the team and individual capability, fit, focus and purpose.

When done right, it's magic. Everyone benefits. And what starts off so promising, stays true to the course.