With 2013 less than a month old, I realize it’s a bit early to come out with the “best” awards. But when I saw this story about LEGO’s interaction with one of its young customers, I was willing to go out on a limb.
What I love about this story is how it illustrates that the best customer experiences can’t be scripted. So much depends on the people and personalities who are delivering the experience – and the leeway they’re given to make a positive, memorable impression.
As you read about this LEGO customer experience (see the link at the bottom of this post), think about your own business and ask yourself:
- Are you filling your front-line roles with people who have the right attitude and the intrinsic motivation for making customers feel special? Are you trying to train new hires to be happy and personable, or are you hiring happy and personable people?
- Would your business’ approach to performance measurement have encouraged – or inhibited – the type of behavior demonstrated by this LEGO employee? Do you gauge employee performance largely by how many widgets people produce, or do you also consider how many raving fans they create?
- Do you give your front-line staff some latitude to exercise judgment and make independent decisions, particularly when faced with unusual customer circumstances? How rigid are the procedures and scripts that govern their role? How do you respond when someone on the front-line makes a poor judgment?
Might LEGO products be more fun and creative than whatever you’re selling? Perhaps, but that doesn’t mean the lessons from LEGO are any less pertinent to your company.
The fact of the matter is, LEGO has long understood the building blocks of customer loyalty, and we can all learn something from them.
Enjoy the full story at The Huffington Post.
Let me highlight the line, “the best customer experience cant be scripted.” I know that customer service representatives are following scripted guidelines on how to handle calls. However, putting some personal touch for customer engagement wouldn’t hurt so much. This is where empathy and rapport fill in and if you were able to do this correctly, I’m sure your customer will remember you not only because you solve their problem but because of your character.
Great article! Thanks for sharing your thoughts.