Linda Ireland,
Customer Experience for Profit
Feb 11, 2011, 8:29 AM
As an example to illustrate a key point in last week’s post (that customer satisfaction and customer experience are two very different things), I mentioned the department store, Nordstrom. While reflecting back on this post, I realized Nordstroms is also a fine example of how creating the right experience for employees can have a positive impact on your customer experience, which in turn impacts your performance. I was reminded of the famous Nordstrom’s handbook they used to provide new employees. Perhaps “handbook” is a bit of a stretch since it was only seventy-five words on a 5”x8” card, but here’s what it said:
Welcome to Nordstrom
We’re glad to have you with our Company. Our number one goal is to provide outstanding customer service. Set both your personal and professional goals high. We have great confidence in your ability to achieve them.
Nordstrom Rules: Rule #1: Use best judgment in all situations. There will be no additional rules. Please feel free to ask your department manager, store manager, or division general manager any question at any time.
Do you see what they did here? Nordstrom asked its employees to fulfill the most important part of the company’s defined target customer experience – provide outstanding customer service. They demonstrate the employee experience they’re after — one where employees are empowered and expected to use their own judgement. And they clearly communicated with every single employee across the company. Just as the best customer experiences are based on mutual self interest between companies and customers, the best employee experiences are based on mutual self interest between the needs of an organization and it’s employees.
How has the Nordstrom employee experience impacted performance? The company was named yet again to Fortune’s 100 Best Companies to Work For, and income has grown 10 percent in the last 12 months. Pretty impressive considering the tough economic climate of the past few years. How does this fit into our customer experience definition? Nowhere does that mention having happy, engaged, and empowered employees. Your employees are part of those intangible elements that are as difficult to control as they are to define.
It’s your employees’ attitude, tone of voice, and manner that leave an impression on every person who comes into contact with your business from potential customers to sales reps to plant managers. Your employees impact the tangible part of your customer experience as well. The facts they convey, and the quality of products or services they produce are just two examples that affect what happens to your customers. You can see it: it almost seems silly to think they wouldn’t have an impact on your customer experience.
Mattel CEO Bob Eckert said it quite succinctly in an article from Business Management, “People like to be around happy people,” Eckert insists in his office up on the 15th floor. “We spend so much time and energy at work, you really need to enjoy it; if you don’t like your job, go get another. It’s just a waste of a lifetime otherwise.”
Incidentally, Mattel also made the Fortune list of great places to work and its income is up 31 percent in the last 12 months.
I’ve talked about two consumer businesses today but the principle of linked emplpoyee and customer experiences is true for any kind of organization. How do your employees factor into your customer experience? As a business leader how do you go about empowering your employees to provide the customer experience you have defined for your target market?
Read the original article on Customer Experience for Profit. Copyright 2011.
Customer Experience for Profit
Feb 11, 2011, 8:29 AM
As an example to illustrate a key point in last week’s post (that customer satisfaction and customer experience are two very different things), I mentioned the department store, Nordstrom. While reflecting back on this post, I realized Nordstroms is also a fine example of how creating the right experience for employees can have a positive impact on your customer experience, which in turn impacts your performance. I was reminded of the famous Nordstrom’s handbook they used to provide new employees. Perhaps “handbook” is a bit of a stretch since it was only seventy-five words on a 5”x8” card, but here’s what it said:
Welcome to Nordstrom
We’re glad to have you with our Company. Our number one goal is to provide outstanding customer service. Set both your personal and professional goals high. We have great confidence in your ability to achieve them.
Nordstrom Rules: Rule #1: Use best judgment in all situations. There will be no additional rules. Please feel free to ask your department manager, store manager, or division general manager any question at any time.
Do you see what they did here? Nordstrom asked its employees to fulfill the most important part of the company’s defined target customer experience – provide outstanding customer service. They demonstrate the employee experience they’re after — one where employees are empowered and expected to use their own judgement. And they clearly communicated with every single employee across the company. Just as the best customer experiences are based on mutual self interest between companies and customers, the best employee experiences are based on mutual self interest between the needs of an organization and it’s employees.
How has the Nordstrom employee experience impacted performance? The company was named yet again to Fortune’s 100 Best Companies to Work For, and income has grown 10 percent in the last 12 months. Pretty impressive considering the tough economic climate of the past few years. How does this fit into our customer experience definition? Nowhere does that mention having happy, engaged, and empowered employees. Your employees are part of those intangible elements that are as difficult to control as they are to define.
It’s your employees’ attitude, tone of voice, and manner that leave an impression on every person who comes into contact with your business from potential customers to sales reps to plant managers. Your employees impact the tangible part of your customer experience as well. The facts they convey, and the quality of products or services they produce are just two examples that affect what happens to your customers. You can see it: it almost seems silly to think they wouldn’t have an impact on your customer experience.
Mattel CEO Bob Eckert said it quite succinctly in an article from Business Management, “People like to be around happy people,” Eckert insists in his office up on the 15th floor. “We spend so much time and energy at work, you really need to enjoy it; if you don’t like your job, go get another. It’s just a waste of a lifetime otherwise.”
Incidentally, Mattel also made the Fortune list of great places to work and its income is up 31 percent in the last 12 months.
I’ve talked about two consumer businesses today but the principle of linked emplpoyee and customer experiences is true for any kind of organization. How do your employees factor into your customer experience? As a business leader how do you go about empowering your employees to provide the customer experience you have defined for your target market?
Read the original article on Customer Experience for Profit. Copyright 2011.
6 Tips for Crafting a Winning Business Plan Forbes.com – March 201
15 Steps to Starting a Business BizHUMM – April 2016
The Essential Guide to Writing a Business Plan - Entrepreneur Magazine – November 2015
Pitch Perfect -The Business Journal of Phoenix – May 31, 2013
How to evaluate and enter foreign markets successfully San Francisco Business Times – January 24, 2013
Tips for Calculating Your Gross Margin- Inc.com – October 2010 If it feels like ages since you took Accounting 101, here’s a detailed refresher on how understanding gross margins can help you make the right business decisions.
How to Write an Executive Summary- Inc.com – September 2010 When you’re trying to sell an idea to a potential investor, you’ll need to craft the pitch-perfect executive summary. Here’s how to write a summary that will get your business plan read, and your foot in the door.
Funding Your Startup: Are You A Zero Or A One? - The Business Insider – August 2010 Startup funding is a binary event. When I say that funding is a binary event, I mean that there are only two possible outcomes: either you succeed in getting funding, or you don’t. You win or you lose – there is no second place. All or nothing.
Top 10 Mistakes Entrepreneurs Make When Writing a Business Plan- Inc.com – November 2009 Writing a business plan is often a crucial first step to getting your startup off the ground. A good plan can help you raise money, recruit members of your management team, set your marketing strategy and, perhaps best of all, refine your thinking. A plan riddled with errors? That can sink you. Here are 10 mistakes that entrepreneurs frequently make when crafting their business plans.
The Startup Entrepreneur’s Guide To Risk Management- The Business Insider – June 2009 Only 44% of small businesses stick around four years or more. One big reason so many go away: Poor risk management. Risk Management is the art and science of thinking about what could go wrong, and what should be done to mitigate those risks in a cost-effective manner.
What Kills Startups? VC Experts – June 2009 Companies flatline when the cash runs out and total current liabilities (i.e., bills due now) exceed total liquid assets. Risk management is all about identifying and mitigating the uncertainties – especially the company killers – that surround cash flows. And risk management is an essential part of any entrepreneur’s business plan.
Prepare for Your Company’s Future Lowe’s For Pros – June 2009 The Upside of a Downturn.
Entrepreneurs see opportunities in housing downturn The Tucson Citizen – December 12, 2006
Market shifts could spur investment in Ariz. firms The Arizona Republic – December 10, 2006 While Arizona ranks in the top half of states, the amount of capital pales in comparison to that received in areas such as California’s Silicon Valley, Boston, the Research Triangle in North Carolina and Austin, Texas. Ultimately, any discussion about investment activity and a lack thereof comes back to investors’ perceived love affair with real estate.
Why Business Plans Don’t Get Funded About.com – July 2003 Your business plan is very often the first impression potential investors get about your venture. But even if you have a great product, team, and customers, it could also be the last impression the investor gets if you make any of these avoidable mistakes.