Customer Experience

Summary

The speaker emphasizes the difference between customer experience and customer service, stating that customer experience is everyone's responsibility, not just a department's. They share examples of creating memorable experiences, such as Ferrari's focus on the sound of their cars or the personal touch offered at their office. The talk highlights how meticulous attention to detail in customer experience can shape a brand. The key message is that customer experience is a process, not magic, and requires dedication, patience, and a willingness to challenge the status quo.

Takeaways

• 😀 Customer experience is different from customer service; customer experience is everyone's responsibility, not just a department.
• 🏢 In a customer experience-focused organization, every employee, regardless of their role, is responsible for contributing to a positive customer experience.
• ☕ The speaker's office culture emphasizes hospitality, where everyone, including the CEO, offers drinks to clients, highlighting the importance of personal care in customer experience.
• 💼 Shifting from customer service to customer experience requires courage and significant organizational change.
• 🎯 Every organization should have a clear promise or brand purpose that defines what they stand for, like Ferrari's association with speed and luxury.
• 🚗 Car brands like Ferrari and BMW focus on details, such as sound design, to enhance customer experience. Every sound and feature is carefully engineered to create an emotional connection.
• 🎶 Ferrari, BMW, and Mercedes-Benz design their car sounds differently, creating unique driving experiences that reflect their brand identities.
• 💡 Customer experience can be engineered and manufactured through careful planning, processes, and attention to detail.
• 🔄 Change is difficult because organizations have 'immune systems' that resist it, but with determination and patience, transformation is possible.
• 🏁 Success in customer experience, like in racing (citing Lewis Hamilton), doesn’t have to be easy, just possible, requiring persistence and a shared vision.

Q & A

What is the main difference between customer service and customer experience as described in the script?

Customer service has a dedicated department responsible for servicing customers, while customer experience involves everyone in the organization being responsible for how customers perceive and experience the business.

How does the speaker's company demonstrate being a customer experience organization?

In the speaker's company, everyone, including the speaker, takes responsibility for customer experience. For instance, it's a rule that whoever meets a visitor first must offer them something to drink, demonstrating that caring for the customer is everyone's job.

What challenge is highlighted about implementing a customer experience organization?

Implementing a customer experience organization is challenging because it requires true courage in decision-making and operational changes, ensuring that every employee takes responsibility for the customer experience.

What is meant by 'brand promise' according to the speaker?

Brand promise refers to the specific commitment or value an organization stands for. It reflects what people think about when they hear the organization's name or interact with its products.

How does Ferrari's brand promise serve as an example in the script?

Ferrari's brand promise is demonstrated through its association with motorsports, speed, Italian craftsmanship, and performance. Everyone at Ferrari is responsible for ensuring these qualities are reflected in the customer experience.

What unique focus does BMW have that contributes to its customer experience?

BMW has an entire phonics department dedicated to designing the sounds in its cars, such as the pinging noise when opening the door or the sound of the indicator. These details contribute to the overall driving experience.

Why does the speaker emphasize obsessing over details in a customer experience business?

The speaker highlights that obsessing over details is crucial because customer experience is about how all components of a product or service come together. Each small aspect, like the sound of an exhaust or a car indicator, plays a role in shaping the customer’s perception.

What does the speaker mean by saying 'customer experience is not magic, it's process'?

The speaker means that delivering a great customer experience doesn't happen by accident. It requires deliberate processes, effort, and a well-trained team, as it is something that can be systematically manufactured.

What is the speaker's perspective on the difficulty of achieving change in an organization?

The speaker notes that change is difficult because organizations have an 'immune system'—the established way things are done—which resists change. However, the speaker believes that while change is hard, it is still possible.

What motivational message does the speaker leave the audience with?

The speaker quotes Lewis Hamilton, saying, 'It doesn't have to be easy; it just has to be possible,' encouraging the audience to believe in the possibility of achieving difficult changes in their organizations.

Outlines

00:00

💼 Customer Experience vs. Customer Service

The speaker explains the distinction between customer experience and customer service, emphasizing that customer service is a department, while customer experience is a responsibility shared by everyone in the organization. Using his own company as an example, the speaker describes a practice where anyone in the office, regardless of their role, is responsible for ensuring a welcoming and positive experience for visitors, even offering them drinks personally. This demonstrates the commitment to customer care across the company, beyond traditional roles. The speaker stresses that embracing this approach requires courage in decision-making and operations.

05:01

💡 Wealth, Values, and Brand Promise

The speaker shifts the focus to the concept of wealth, arguing that it's possible to be wealthy and maintain moral integrity. He dismisses the notion that wealth is inherently evil, advising against demonizing wealth or happiness. He explains that one cannot achieve something they vilify, and encourages a healthier perspective on wealth. The speaker then transitions to the idea of a brand promise, using Ferrari as an example to illustrate how everyone in a company is responsible for maintaining a brand's reputation and the experiences customers associate with it. He highlights how even the smallest details, like the sound of a car, are meticulously designed to enhance the customer experience.

10:04

🔧 Crafting Memorable Customer Experiences

Continuing with the theme of customer experience, the speaker delves into how brands, such as Ferrari and BMW, invest time and effort into perfecting small details—like the sound of a car engine or an indicator—to create a memorable and distinctive product experience. He emphasizes that every aspect of the product is part of the experience, not just its primary function. In an experienced-focused business, attention to detail is crucial. The speaker encourages the audience to be obsessive about the details in their own customer experiences, as it's these subtleties that define a brand.

🚗 Manufacturing Customer Experience: A Process

The speaker concludes by stressing that customer experience is not a magical outcome, but rather a process involving people and intention. He argues that anyone can create an excellent customer experience if they are willing to commit to the process and work as a team. However, this transformation requires patience and resilience, as challenges and resistance will inevitably arise. The speaker notes that change is difficult because organizations, like individuals, have an 'immune system'—a tendency to resist new ways of doing things. He closes by quoting Lewis Hamilton, encouraging the audience to focus on what is possible, even if it is not easy.

Keywords

💡Customer Experience

Customer experience refers to the overall interaction and perception a customer has when engaging with a business. Unlike customer service, which is limited to a department, customer experience encompasses every touchpoint a customer has with the organization. In the script, the speaker emphasizes that in a customer experience organization, every employee, regardless of role, is responsible for contributing to how the customer experiences the business.

💡Customer Service

Customer service is a specific department focused on helping customers with issues or inquiries, often limited to direct interactions. The speaker contrasts this with customer experience, noting that while customer service has a designated department, customer experience is everyone’s responsibility. This difference highlights the speaker’s view that customer experience is a broader and more integrated approach.

💡Brand Promise

A brand promise is the commitment a business makes to its customers regarding the experience they can expect. It defines what the company stands for and what it consistently delivers. In the video, the speaker asks the audience to reflect on their organization's brand promise, emphasizing that it is essential for every employee to embody and deliver on this promise, much like Ferrari, which is synonymous with speed, Italian craftsmanship, and motorsports.

💡Immune System

The 'immune system' in this context refers to the resistance to change within an organization. Just as a biological immune system defends against threats, the organizational immune system resists new ways of doing things. The speaker highlights that when trying to implement change, such as fostering a customer experience culture, the existing 'immune system' will fight back, making transformation challenging.

💡Details

The speaker emphasizes the importance of obsessing over details in creating a memorable customer experience. Attention to small aspects, such as offering a drink to a guest or designing the sound of a car’s exhaust, contributes to the overall experience. This concept of focusing on details is crucial for businesses that want to elevate the customer experience beyond the ordinary.

💡Courage

Courage, in the context of the video, refers to the bravery required by organizations to make decisions that support a customer experience-focused culture. It involves breaking away from traditional models, like limiting customer interactions to a customer service department, and making every employee responsible for the customer’s experience. The speaker explains that building a customer-centric organization requires true courage to challenge the status quo.

💡Manufactured Experience

A manufactured experience refers to the deliberate creation and design of how a customer interacts with a product or service. The speaker uses examples such as Ferrari and BMW, which meticulously craft experiences down to the sound of their engines or car alerts, illustrating that a good customer experience is not accidental but the result of careful planning and attention to detail.

💡Transformation

Transformation is the process of evolving from a traditional business model to one focused on customer experience. The speaker stresses that such a shift requires a deep commitment from every team member and may involve overcoming resistance from within the organization. The idea of transformation is essential to the speaker's message, as it requires a rethinking of roles, responsibilities, and culture.

💡Process

Process refers to the systematic approach required to create a consistent and excellent customer experience. The speaker notes that customer experience isn’t magic; it’s something that can be structured and manufactured through clear processes. By focusing on the right processes, businesses can ensure that every interaction is meaningful and contributes to a positive customer perception.

💡Responsibility

Responsibility, in the context of customer experience, extends beyond the customer service team to every individual within the organization. The speaker highlights how even employees in non-customer-facing roles, such as finance, are responsible for the overall customer experience. This collective responsibility ensures that the company delivers a seamless and consistent experience at every touchpoint.

Highlights

Customer service is a department; customer experience is not. Customer experience involves everyone in the organization.

At a customer experience organization, everyone is responsible for how customers experience the business.

The speaker's office in Sandton, known as the 'richest square mile in Africa,' emphasizes customer experience even from reception.

In the speaker's office, whoever greets a visitor must offer them a drink, showing collective responsibility for customer care.

At a customer experience organization, no department, including finance, can say customer care is not their job.

Organizations require courage to implement a true customer experience model because it demands collective responsibility.

The ultimate level of a business is when the entire organization is aligned to deliver on a specific promise to customers.

Demonizing wealth can prevent one from achieving it. This idea is explored in a business and spiritual context.

BMW has an entire department dedicated to designing the sound of car components, demonstrating the importance of details in customer experience.

Details such as the sound of car indicators or park assist chimes are meticulously designed to enhance the customer experience.

Ferrari invests in the unique sound of its exhausts, which is a signature part of the brand's customer experience.

Customer experience is not magic; it is a process that involves people and can be deliberately manufactured.

To create a customer experience culture, a team must be willing to transform and be patient with the journey.

Organizations face resistance to change due to their 'immune system,' which represents the existing way of doing things.

Change doesn't have to be easy, but it must be possible, as emphasized by Lewis Hamilton.

Transcripts

I really struggle when organizations

talk about customer experience and the

difference between customer experience

as customer service is this customer

service has a department customer

experience does

not customer service has a department

customer experience does

not if you're a customer service

organization there is a department whose

role it is to look after servicing

customers and keeping them

happy if you're a customer experience

organization then actually all of us are

responsible to how the customers

experience our business we in our firm

think of ourselves as a customer

experience organization here's one of

the ways we test

this if you come to my head office in

Santa beautiful that's the they call it

the richest square mile in Africa true

story more more GDP per capita in that

little square mile than any other part

of the continent that's the number of

companies that are there listed firms

that are there the largest companies in

the world are literally within two

blocks of my

office my office is right across santon

city which is this beautiful mall right

in the center of santon I'm on the fifth

floor so I overlook all of the mall on

the western side and then on the Eastern

side I've got a full view all the way

through to the airport of all of

Johannesburg glorious sunrises fantastic

sunsets beautiful beautiful space

you come to my office as you walk in at

reception there is a little sign at

reception that reads

hello

family now it's a rule in my office that

if you come and visit us whomever it is

that receives you

first must offer you something to

drink not the receptionist must offer

you something to

drink not the lady that help help us at

the office must offer you something to

drink it's common and frequent where I

will be stood at reception talking to a

client who's leaving as another client

walks in and as they leave I will offer

them a cup of coffee and if they ask for

a cup of coffee I will go make it and I

will bring

it because all of us have the same

responsibility

of caring for and looking after the

customer so Finance can never say that's

not my

job this is why these things are hard to

do and hard to implement because they

require true courage in how we operate

and true courage in how we make

decisions

and then the final level Above This is

the level where the organization exists

to make a particular

promise a particular

promise what does that mean what do you

stand for

Sabrina what does your organization

stand

for when people talk about your

organization what do we think about

Sabrina next

one when people talk about your

oranization what do we think about keep

going I'll tell you where to

stop I'm a I'm a Comm I think you guys

have gotten the

sense keep going I'll tell you when to

stop keep

going great pause

here does anybody in the room recognize

that

logo

yes all right if you don't recognize the

logo usually what happens is the color

of the car tells you what car is it

is yeah it's literally called Ferrari

red

okay um if you don't recognize the logo

that's okay we are all

growing we we all have a

place now I I have a theory in the Bible

there is a part where our Lord and

savior says occupy till I

come I think the instruction there from

from our Lord and savior was go make

money it's it's not my portion as a

Christian to be

poor no no

no no you you can be wealthy and good

it's like those people that say wealthy

people are really miserable no they're

not no I have them as friends they are

not miserable they are very happy and

wealthy people are always sick uh no no

they're in pretty good health their kids

are very well balanced they go to good

schools because often what we do to cop

out of the fact that we've not worked

for the accumulation of wealth or not

taken opportunities that have come up is

we make those that have done it people

who sacrificed their souls there are a

lot of people who have the kind of

wealth we Aspire for who've kept their

souls money is not evil well let me say

it a different way I do this when I talk

to Christian brothers and sisters who

run businesses I say the following you

will never achieve something you

demonize

preach it right

yeah if you demonize wealth you won't

achieve

it you demonize money you won't get it

you demonize happiness you won't get

that too you cannot achieve something

you

demonize so let's talk a bit about brand

promise and then I'll

wrap the Brandon screen is familiar I

imagine to all of you what is

interesting is it's familiar to all of

you and all of you can understand a few

things about the Ferrari brand I show

you Ferrari you think

Motorsports you think

fast you think

Italian you think Thor

bread whose role is it at Ferrari to

make sure that all of those things take

place everybody's

role everybody's

role did you

know that um BMW has an entire phonics

Department listen to this an entire

phonics

Department that is in charge of the

sound of the Bells in the car did you

know that but if you hear the driver BMW

when you open the door and the car is on

it makes a

pinging they sit for months to decide on

the sound and the volume of that little

song when you will leave here next to

your stering wheel there's a little

stick it's called an indicator try it

change your life I swear and if you

flick it down it'll indicate a little

green signal and it's got a flicking

sound break it break it break bre they

sit for months to decide on the sound

and the volume of that flicking

song months

for those of you here whose cars have

park

assist as you near an object the car is

going to tell

you but a little binging binging binging

Bing gets progressively louder and even

the tone of the song

changes months they sit just to decide

on that

sound because they

recognize that the experience of the

product is not just how it drives it's

all of these components

together does that make sense in an

experienced business

therefore how much time are you

obsessing over the

details how much time are you obsessing

over the

details ladies this is the last motor

example I promise

Ferrari has an entire department that

focuses on the sound of the

exhausts see Ferraris are well known

myself I've had the privilege of owning

several particularly

v12s but Ferraris are more well known

for their

V8s and depending on which one you get

the 458 for instance the Italia has a

naturally aspirated engine and between 6

and 8,000 revs that thing will sing

sweeter than St Peter up in

heaven now Ferrari has a V8 Mercedes has

a V8 Jaguar has a V8 BMW has a

V8 yet they all sound

different see uh a Mercedes V8 is a lot

more Bassy very

baritone and it pops at the top of the

Rev it's

a that pop by the way is the turbo

injecting all the C63 boys know what I'm

talking about but my

friend you haven't

lived you haven't lived until you've had

the angels of Ferrari sing to

you I don't care what problems you have

in life

you will forget

them as it pulls it's going

[Music]

to the first

rev never irritates but every single rev

after

that and if you get down

[Laughter]

even if you are

ugly she will marry

you I

promise yet all of these are

manufactured

experiences so you're going to hear me

and hear me

now custom experience is not Magic

it's

process it's

people and it's something you can

manufacture but you've got to desire it

so you've got to want it you've got to

be willing to be a transformed team and

build for

it and not only this but you've got to

be patient with yourself on the journey

there you will try and you will probably

get it wrong for the first time you have

a coworker that will frustrate you the

old world will fight back there's this

beautiful expression I want to leave

with you here today listen to this the

reason change is hard to achieve is

because all of us operate in an

environment that has an immune

system that immune system is how things

are done and anytime you want to change

things the immune system will fight back

so in the words of Lewis

Hamilton it doesn't have to be

easy it just has to be

possible so what's possible for you

all thank you so much