International Customer Service Week is celebrated annually in the first full week of October. To recognise the importance of excellent customer service, we are featuring a customer service themed article each day this week.
Gabrielle, my daughter, was six when I set up the Mystery Shopper business. She loved the idea of being a Mystery Shopper and she used to carry a little book and a pen when we were going shopping. She used to write the name of assistants in shops and what they did or said.
Once, we had a restaurant group who wanted to measure the performance of their branches and I was asked to bring my family with me. We arrived in the restaurant and as Gabrielle loved being a little mystery shopper, I sent her to the toilets to check them out. She was gone a good ten minutes and as I was about to come and see where she was, she reappeared running back from the toilet and said: “Mum, mum, you won’t believe what happened! I was on the toilet and the light went off, so I couldn’t see anything. I was a bit scared and eventually managed to open the door and the light came back on”.
A customer journey comprises experiences of touch points — human, physical, sensory or communication, either in person or virtual
You can imagine the situation: the toilet lights were activated by sensor. The door was tall enough to trigger it, but she wasn’t. The lights went off until she managed to open the door again.
What di this group of restaurants do after this visit? They readjusted all of their toilet sensors so small people could also be picked up by the sensors. They also took it a step further, having had this feedback from a six year old girl. They revisited their ‘young’ customer experience, and suddenly increased custom from families by 40%.
Customer-centric businesses don’t let their customers wander in search of information or help; instead, they provide customer experience excellence. They guide their customers through a carefully planned series of interactions called a customer journey.
What is your customer’s journey?
A customer journey comprises experiences which are, in turn, made up of touch points — human, physical, sensory or communication, either in person or virtual — and which are influenced by factors like price, convenience and location. The implementation of the customer journey is dependent on your knowledge of exactly what your touch points are, and how well those touch points meet customer needs.
You can focus on the customer journey on a smaller scale, by focusing on a product line, division, or customer segment first, then move to another part of the business so you can build the full picture.
Click here to download a Retail Journey Canvas template, on the resources of the book webpage
The Secret Diary of a Mystery Shopper by Claire Boscq-Scott is available to purchase and download from amazon.co.uk.
