With a smile you get ahead

To get to the point: A friendly greeting with a simple smile can already put the foundation for a positive announcement: inside experience. But a customer with a broad smile and with a full satisfaction to say goodbye to business – and that again and again – is a real art, even high -performance sport.

A well thought-out customer experience strategy is the key. It helps to design the Customer Journey in a shop or online shop in such a way that it is not only pleasant, but also profitable – both for customers and for retail.

Nevertheless, many retailers still leave great potential here. In some cases, the customer experience is even – unconsciously – with feet. This can not only result in loss of sales, but ultimately also endanger the existence of a company.

The foundation stone has already been laid

Almost all retailers: inside have a customer experience strategy. Finally, it is consciously taken care that customers can move intuitively through the business or the website inside and are specifically inspired or stimulated for purchase. Communication via newsletter or social media also falls into this area. A functioning Customer Experience strategy increases the feeling of happiness of the customer: inside, which gives them more, they regularly come back and enthusiastically recommend products and services. So far a short master class in terms of customer experience.

Until the Corona pandemic, it was a matter of course for many retailers: to bind to your business or brand through targeted measures. And indeed: the customer experience in many companies worked excellently.

Do you still remember the handwritten thank you cards that put your online orders and put a smile on your face? But after the pandemic and the subsequent energy crisis, other priorities came to the fore – especially survival strategies. In addition, there was an increasing lack of personnel. But a well-functioning customer experience strategy does not necessarily depend on a large workforce. On the contrary: to secure the long -term happiness of the customer: inside is more of a question of quality than quantity.

I was recently able to experience myself where it hooks in an apparently successful flagship store of a shoe label. I bought a few sneakers there some time ago. At that time, shortly before Black Friday, an employee proudly explained to me that her shoes were never on sale – they stand for quality and exclusivity. If a certain model is not in stock, you can order it online for me directly on site. A great service, I thought. Fully satisfied with the quality, I returned two months later to buy a new couple of winter sneakers. But to my surprise there was suddenly a sale. Well, times change. But when I asked about my desired model, the employee told me that it was not in stock and I should simply look online myself.

Both times I was in business with just one other customer, looked after by two employees. So there was no hustle and bustle-but it was an absolute no-go in terms of customer experience. The expectations that were previously aroused were suddenly destroyed.

How on?

Consistency in the quality of the customer experience is essential to tie up to the inside: in the inside. In addition, she is a strong weapon in competition with large e-commerce platforms and retail chains, which, thanks to its financial resources, invest massively in better and more efficient customers: inside experiences. Due to the progress in artificial intelligence, you will further expand your market power. This puts the other market under even more pressure. An excellent customer experience strategy is therefore no longer a freestyle, but becomes a survival strategy.

There are numerous training sessions, tools, guidelines and programs for this. But the true “Magic Maker” of a customer experience strategy is the philosophy of the “happy guest”. As the name suggests, it is about making customers: not only satisfied, but really happy. But before this succeeds, all obstacles from the Customer Journey must first be removed.

The credo is: “Creating a flow to make topic.” This philosophy enables a kind of mindset shift. Employees learn to recognize potential disruptive factors at an early stage and the customer: optimize internal experience – often before the announcement: inside notice that something could go wrong. This ensures that the customer experience is permanently convincing – regardless of who is on duty or what unforeseen challenges.

Successful role models

A company that consistently implements this philosophy and has become the icon of customer experience is coolblue. You already offer extraordinary comfort online, for example by delivering washing machines to the fourth floor, set up and dispose of the old device. Through these all-round carefree solutions, they provide happy customers: inside.

Everything works smoothly in their physical stores: If you urgently need a vacuum cleaner or laptop, you can check online whether a cool blue nearby has the product in stock. You are greeted in a friendly manner on site, pass on your concern at the reception counter, the order is recorded directly, and after a few minutes you hold your product in your hands. In my case there was even a cashback campaign for which the team had prepared the necessary forms directly for me.

There are also pioneers in the fashion industry. An example is Arket. When I bought a new wool sweater there, I told the employee that my previous model was eaten by moths. Your spontaneous reaction? It offered me to simply exchange the damaged sweater for a new one. This unexpected goodwill showed me: Arket not only relies on first -class customer experience – you also know how to go through it consistently, even if the problem is outside of your control.

Such experiences are the fact that the announcement: let it go back again and again, increase their expenses and talk about their positive experiences with enthusiasm. And with a smile you also sit safely in the saddle.