Every month on the 7th day we post a new edition of “7 on 7,” where Jeff Jacobson will ask 7 questions of one of JJA’s speakers. We are proud to feature Michel Falcon today, he is a Speaker, Author and Consultant who is obsessed with the Customer Experience. Check out his profile by clicking here.
Growing up, I’d visit my grandfather in Lima, Peru and hang out with him in his fish market. His business was B2B and B2C, he sold fish to restaurants and hotels and to customers who wanted to cook for their families. His humble business, which grew to be a very successful company, is where I learned my first lessons in what it takes to build a business around delivering a memorable customer experience.
Sitting on a chair next to his cash register, I was exposed to how businesses grow organically by ensuring that their customers are receiving an effortless experience. Operating a business like this only makes sense, back then and today.
What I learned as a six year old with my grandfather helped me get my first job at 12 years old working at McDonalds. Fast forward nearly two decades, I now help companies do the exact same things my grandfather taught me (with the help of technology, of course).
For large businesses, Amazon, Zappos, TD Bank and Southwest Airlines serve as great case studies.
The thing with customer experience is that you don’t need to be a billion dollar brand to be celebrated. If you do the small things consistently well and are memorable in the eyes of your customers than you can also rub shoulders with the Amazon’s of the world.
If you’re from or have ever visited Vancouver than you most likely have been to Cactus Club Café. Cactus Club is a perfect example of a brand that nearly always delivers on their promises. In fact, their company slogan is, “The House of Yes.” The other day, while at one of their restaurants, the person I was with sent her latte back twice because it was watered down. Rather than simply just apologizing, the manager walked across the street and bought a latte from a coffee shop and returned with it in hand. The gesture was extremely small in terms of monetary investment but the effort was huge! That’s where some companies fail, they lack the effort or desire to be memorable.
You see, customer experience provides us an opportunity to tell a story, both good and bad, and the companies that have teams of customers telling positive stories are the ones that will win. Yes, it’s that simple. Customers have more influence over your organizations success more than ever before.
Who do I think will be the next celebrated companies because of their customer experience? Hopefully, you will look back and say you heard it here first but I’m betting my chips on ZenPayroll (payroll processing), Shyp (shipping) and Silvercar (rental car). All three are perfect examples of companies who are combining customer experience and technology to deliver an amazing product and experience.
Great question. I think a few industries need to step back and reevaluate their experience but I will narrow it down to one. The insurance industry could use a disruption.
There are a few companies trying to do that now such as Oscar (https://www.hioscar.com/) which operates in New York.
I think industries that haven’t genuinely tried to improve their experience are more vulnerable than ever before. People like myself will sniff out an opportunity, partner with some experts in the space and then deliver a better experience. Slowly we will take away your customers and eventually become a greater brand. Uber is a perfect example of this.
Oh, man! I love telling this story because it’s so genuine and it humanized a billion dollar company.
A few years ago, I was flying from Vancouver to Chicago. It was my first experience flying with Westjet and it was flawless from beginning to end.
From the time I booked my ticket on their website to being taken care of by their flight crew to the deboarding process. It was absolutely perfect and I know a flawless experience.
I think we, as consumers, complain too much and don’t acknowledge amazing experiences. With this in mind, I took to my blog and blogged about my experience. After tweeting and sharing my experience, I received a DM from Westjet’s social media team asking for my phone number.
Shortly after receiving the DM my phone rang, keep in mind this was on a Friday at 5pm. On the other line was Gregg Saretsky (CEO, Westjet), after ensuring that it wasn’t a friend playing a prank on me, he said something along the lines of,
I was forwarded your blog post about your first experience with us. Thank you for choosing us and I will ensure that I also reach out to the crew that served you to thank them, too.
After talking about customer experience as a way to operate a business, he mentioned that he would also include my post within his monthly newsletter to his employees.
Even if I flew Westjet every single day for the rest of my life I wouldn’t make a significant impact to their top line revenue. What Gregg Saretsky influenced me to do was tell a story. I estimate that I have shared this story to 1000’s of people while speaking at business conferences.
If done right, customer experience can be a form of marketing and PR.
Millennials want information and connections fast. We have grown up with the internet which allows us to consume information and connect with companies immediately.
I think millennials have had a great influence on how fast company’s need to respond to their customers. Whether it’s via phone, email or social media our expectations is that we require an immediate response to our needs and wants as customers.
We also want to do business via the channel of our choice. Whether we want to engage in conversation via social or live chat, companies need to respect this and ensure all channels of communication are covered. Of course, this isn’t to say that other demographics don’t have similar desires. It’s just that as millennials, we have been trained to have multiple ways to communicate with companies our entire lives.
With this all being said, I always say, “Our expectations as consumers need to be aligned with how we deliver service as professionals.” In other words, if you’re going to personally deliver crap service in your business then you should expect bad service in return. Let’s not be hypocrites.
My high school English teachers would never believe it but I’m almost done writing two books.
I started writing one titled, “From Ordinary to Memorable: How Your Favourite Brands Are Delivering Customer Experience to Own Your Wallet” (working title) which highlights the strategies used by some of the companies we love doing business with.
On a flight from Jacksonville, FL, after keynoting the International Customer Service Association conference, I pivoted and starting putting together another book which doesn’t have a title just yet. The book will examine how companies who combine customer experience and technology will continue to disrupt industries that haven’t innovated in decades. I want everyone to recognize that if you’re asleep at the wheel on how your customers are evolving than you’re in serious trouble.
I’ve had a few discussions with some publishing companies but I’m in no rush. I’ll release my first book when the time is right. I don’t want to publish a book just to say I did. I want it to provide meaning for readers, not just myself.
I don’t make New Year’s resolution. Instead, before the end of the year I reflect and examine what I did well and what I failed at. By doing this, I have better self awareness; I can continue doing what I do best and improve on my failures. I taught myself to welcome and embrace failure.
On a lighter note, I said I wouldn’t eat as much pizza this year. So far, the pizza pie is getting the better of me.
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