Exceed Hopes, Not Just Expectations - By Rick Hendrie

Establish a ‘Learning Relationship’ with your customers? What the heck does that mean? Well, I’ve been pondering that idea for a while, now. I think it means that retail life, as we know it, is over. You know what? I’m glad. I’m sick of sales growth plans that depend on targeting vague demographic profiles comprised of averaged attributes.

I’m tired of anonymous transactions conducted by with no interest in who I am or what value I represent to their business. If establishing a ‘Learning Relationship’ with me means that the business acknowledges my patronage and shows some interest in what I think and feel, then, bring it on.

Quote:
"You can make your own customers more loyal and more profitable to you - one customer at a time - by establishing a 'Learning Relationship' with each of them, starting with your most valuable customers."

One to One Marketing Field book

Establish a ‘Learning Relationship’ with your customers? What the heck does that mean? Well, I’ve been pondering that idea for a while, now. I think it means that retail life, as we know it, is over. You know what? I’m glad. I’m sick of sales growth plans that depend on targeting vague demographic profiles comprised of averaged attributes. I’m tired of anonymous transactions conducted by with no interest in who I am or what value I represent to their business. If establishing a ‘Learning Relationship’ with me means that the business acknowledges my patronage and shows some interest in what I think and feel, then, bring it on.

At one of my seminars recently, I heard a great story. The wife of a friend of mine felt that a small, somewhat inconsequential light in her Lexus was on the blink (sorry, couldn’t resist) and needed service. My friend didn’t think it worth it. The part was valued, at best, a couple of bucks and the light was, well, inconsequential. She insisted. Turns out she had good reason to go. When she arrived a polite, well dressed and well mannered serviceman gave her a friendly hello, got the automobile number and then accessed her entire history. Not, mind you, just the car, but her and her husband’s story, as well. From that moment on, she was addressed by name, offered a cup of fresh brewed Starbucks coffee, a copy of USA Today or access to a phone (calls free of charge), while they fixed the faulty light in a jiffy. All this offered with genuine hospitality, even though she didn’t have an appointment. After paying the $87 service charge to fix the $2 light, she went home and raved to her husband about the experience. What's the moral of the story? Develop a ‘Learning Relationship’ with your customers, exceed their hopes and charge whatever you want.

Who is the champion of the guest in your organization, responsible for developing these 'Customer Learning Relationships? Conventional wisdom suggests that the ’internal officers’ take care of the constituencies most naturally affiliated with them; customers with marketing, vendors with purchasing, financial institutions with finance, and the like. Here’s what I think: most often, none of these internal officers both represent these outside customers and fight their internal territorial battles. There needs to be new paradigm.

Our business reality is simple. The quality of the retail experience you offer and the memory it creates is your value proposition. The corollary of that is the level of personal relationship you achieve with your customer is your competitive advantage. A competitor cannot duplicate the trust and history implicit in a personal relationship. Your experience makes you different. The quality of your relationships protects you from competitive poaching. Why not create positions in your organizations to represent those two key outcomes, to advocate on their behalf?

A Chief Experience Officer transcends a single department, influencing the operations, finance, design, human resources & training and purchasing. Their whole reason for being is to ensure that the business creates a distinctive persona and orchestrates a powerful experience derived from the primal waters of customer and company attitudes and perceptions. They are there to exceed the guest’s hope for a indelible retail memory.

Once the ‘show’ is set, there must be someone responsible to maintain its integrity from the customer perspective and direct the appropriate innovations to keep the show relevant and fresh. I stayed at a Westin resort in Ft. Lauderdale for three days. I go there, in part, because they have the most comfortable beds and bedding on earth. That, however, can be copied. What really made the difference was that every associate I met, I mean everyone, initiated contact with me and said hello. Somebody is paying attention to create that kind of connection.

A Chief Customer Officer throws the gauntlet down to an organization that guest loyalty is the measurement of operational excellence, not just an aspiration. The CCO may have practical responsibility for any one of a number of functions, but they must have the institutional power and internal passion to ensure the guest’s hopes are exceeded, not just their expectations.

Just to show you that this idea isn’t a pie in the sky rant, I just paid over $6.50 for a dozen Krispy Kreme donuts at the drive through. $6.50! Did I care? Nope. I was just delighted to have gotten in line to watch while the hot glazed suckers traveled through the waterfall of sugar on their way to my car. My hope isn’t for a delicious donut, but sublime satisfaction. Someone in that organization is responsible for ensuring that Operations delivers on an experience that made me drive 15 miles and pass at least six Dunkin Donuts. Further, they charged me a fortune, of which, little if any of that revenue goes for conventional advertising. Ka-ching.

Amazon.com has my purchase history and, boy do they have my number. With every purchase, they get smarter about me and suggest more and more relevant potential purchases. Further, they’ve now begun to e-mail with ‘head’s up’ about upcoming new products that I might be interested in buying. I’m hooked, buying books, music, DVD’s for me and toys for grandchildren, all the while welcoming Amazon’s kind reminders. This is in direct contrast to the stupid airlines that send me e-mails about stuff even when I have expressly asked not to receive their messages. Repeatedly. Learning assumes agreement.

Different times require different strategies. Customers expect WOW retail experiences and a personal relationship with their store, on their terms. Old organization charts, based on departmental silos girded for territorial war just won’t cut it. Consider a different way. Commit to exceeding guest hopes. There are companies out there already reaping the benefits of this enlightened approach. It’s ShowTime. Don’t miss the curtain.

Rick Hendrie
Chief Experience Officer
LINK Inc.
617-335-1011
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Date Listed: 2004-11-23

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