The Underrated Link Between The Experience Of Our Customer And The Experience Of Our Employee
Written by Carolene Méli, Experience Strategist | 5 min Read
We can all easily recall both an incredible experience we have had recently with a brand and one that has left much to be desired. One that we will remember fondly forever and one that we are trying our best to forget. But let’s take a minute to reflect on what influenced this outcome? The list is most likely quite long, but guaranteed that one key influencing factor on it will be the staff we interacted with.
When we think about creating exceptional experiences for our customers, often we think very operationally and logistically. But how often do we take the time to actually imagine how we want our customers and our team to journey through our brand and how we want them to feel whilst doing so. We may think that the customer experience and the employee experience are two completely different elements of our business, but a great experience will only materialise if the two are seamlessly and expertly intertwined.
The journey of our customer
No matter what our main product or service is, our customer will embark on some kind of journey when they interact with us and buy from us. On such a journey there is of course the pinnacle, the apex, the main event. What we have put our heart and soul into creating. Why we started our business or accepted that job to begin with. If we have put the work in logistically, getting our customer to their end goal should be a breeze right?
Maybe yes. But we don’t just want a mere transaction here. We want to create an experience that will allow them to fall in love with our brand and remain a loyal customer. We want to create as many opportunities as possible for defining moments in and around the main event. Moments that will stay with them and help them positively associate with our brand for a long time to come. Enter our employees.
The experience we offer our employees
More often than not, it is our employees who interact most with our customers, not us. They are the ones driving the experience. They are the ones bringing our vision to life. They are the variable that will make or break the experience and, as a collective, they will drive our sales and brand recognition.
So what are we doing as their leaders to create an exceptional experience for them each and every day knowing that ultimately how they show up for us in the workplace will be a direct reflection on how they show up for our customers? Here are two effective ways in which we can begin to improve the employee experience within our business.
Quick but inspiring onboarding - The roles in which we feel inspired, excited and can’t wait to get started with straight after onboarding are the roles we perform best in, contribute the most to and have an overall positive experience with. Onboarding doesn’t have to be intricate or lasting weeks upon weeks, but it does have to skilfully and creatively invite our new recruits into our overall vision. They need to feel like they are part of something great from the very first minute and if we are able to achieve that, they will naturally exude that passion and uphold that inspiring vision of ours when interacting with our customers.
Creating constant ideas:feedback loops - It is pretty common practice for business owners and managers to make operational decisions without any insight from their staff. Usually this reflects ego, with the business owner or manager believing that their expertise and intelligence far outweighs that of their staff. Of course that will always be true to some extent, but our employees are the ones that are interacting with our customers more than anyone else so their insights prove incredibly valuable.
Yes, we may be present day to day witnessing the comings and goings but they are the ones with fingerprints at almost every touchpoint. So we can start by asking them questions, learning from their observations, holding regular ideas sessions, trying some out and involving them in some of our decision making. Not only will this improve our company culture, but we will become far more in touch with our customers and their needs as a result.
Turning each customer’s experience into an exceptional and memorable journey is a tall ask. It is not easy or always possible. But you know what is possible? Creating an exceptional employee experience for our teams.
Our employees are the gateway to our customers and have the ability to positively influence them in so many ways. But if our teams do not feel like they are developing their skills and expertise, that their ideas and opinions are valuable, that they are contributing to the overall vision of the brand, then we will never be able to create an incredible experience for our customers.
Just remember: great customer experiences start with great employee experiences. So let’s strive to place more value on how we are showing up for our teams and the positive environment we are creating for them to thrive in our business. Doing so will ultimately lead to the biggest driver of our success - how our customers experience our brand.
Bio
Carolene Méli is an Experience Strategist working with businesses that want to create exceptional experiences for their employees and their guests. She consults 1:1, hosts group workshops and mentors up and coming young leaders within the businesses she works with.
She is a full-time traveller having spent the last 10 years on tour with Cirque du Soleil and is the host of The Experience Creators YouTube series where she interviews incredible experience creators from around the world.
Visit Carolene.méli.com