3 keys to becoming a customer’s first choice

What does it mean to be customers’ “first choice” and why does it matter?

Customers buy products or services to solve their problems, and they have more choice than ever about where to go and who to buy from. They do all the research on products, prices, online reviews and who is perhaps shortlisted before they even head out the front door. This applies to almost every service, whether it’s buying a sofa, selecting a caregiver or assisted living for aging parents. If you are not on the shortlist yet, you are not in the game.

Customers want to be certain what to buy, how much to pay and who they will trust for the right advice to solve their problems. Being their “first choice” implies that you stand out from the rest and meet all of the above needs.

From our 25 years of worldwide experience implementing customer experience improvement (CX) programs, we hear from customers that first-choice corporations have higher levels of empathy, take a proactive approach to building strong customer relationships, and treat their employees thoroughly. Customers see employees who are inspired and committed to delivering exceptional service that gives an unrivaled competitive advantage.

Here are three suggestions on how they do it and how their CX programs help them manage the process.

1. Listen and learn

The traditional approach to CX is to measure customer satisfaction and sentiment about a product or service. (*3*) (focused on being customers’ first choice) take a different approach. They focus on understanding customer expectations and train their teams to anticipate the kind of experience a customer will expect when that have is unique.

There’s a easy way to explain it: traditional CX programs measure the likelihood that a customer will recommend them. Best Practice CX programs already know that supporters recommend them – as an alternative, they focus their attention on knowledge Why and repeating this experience to attract more and more customers for whom they are the first choice. This in turn creates more followers who promote them on social media, visit more often and spend more. Their CX strategy is all about driving growth.

How do they do it? They tailor CX feedback questions to each customer profile. They understand the details needed to take motion (i.e. what, who, why, and how to improve).

By asking the right questions, customers tell them every thing they need to know to listen, learn and take motion. Team members move from being reactive to being proactive and trying to anticipate customer needs. Customers feel like team members understand every thing they need and really care about finding the right solution for them. They feel heard, it builds trust and makes you higher than the competition… and that is why you are their first choice.

2. Personalization

In Best Practice CX programs, personalization is a key factor. Personalization in the context of your CX program is about how salespeople solve unique customer problems. In your CX survey, you possibly can branch out specific questions for specific product groups to learn more about how the seller introduced key products and accessories. So your CX program is “personalized” in terms of what questions are asked to discover the exact purpose of the visit and understand what was discussed. Your customers will feel that branching questions will probably be completely relevant to them because they may only be about what happened in relation to the products and needs that brought them today.

But here’s the better part: because you know who operated them, when and where, you possibly can then diagnose what worked and what needs improvement. So you “personalize” your skills development plan for your teams.

Here’s an example of why this matters. One of our clients launched a CX program and quickly discovered that some team members were cutting corners when demonstrating their product range, and many weren’t mentioning the right accessories. When comparing average deal value results, they found that team members who did a full demo achieved 64% higher value ($648 per deal compared to $396 for those that didn’t do a full product demo).

It was the personalization of the survey that exposed competence gaps and allowed the client to immediately increase sales results, without having to spend a single penny more on marketing. Customers also commented on improved service and an increase in NPS scores.

3. Correct measurement

Management guru Peter Drucker said, “What gets measured gets managed,” and Best Practice CX programs recognize that by measuring the right things, teams will take the right actions.

Specific key performance indicators (KPIs) will probably be different for each industry. For example, if you are a retailer, you may measure “average transaction value”, while if you own a veterinary clinic, you may measure “throughput rate”.

Our suggestion is to focus on the rate of improvement and close the performance “gap” between the top 10% and the bottom 10%. Regardless of where each team member starts, set goals to close the gap between their performance and proven best practices (i.e. 10 best practices) in the coming quarter – if they are far behind, aim to improve by 10% in the coming quarter .

Your ultimate goal is to provide each team member with an experience that builds a following. If you recognize and reward improvements and reinforce best practices, it would keep your team members focused and reinforce the right behaviors.

To summarize – first, guess why certain experiences delight your customers and make you their first choice. Then anticipate what they expect and personalize each experience. Finally, consider how you intend to measure success. We suggest focusing on “indicators of improvement.” Remember that your team members will make or break this experience, so your CX program should be manageable, motivating and empowering to hold them accountable for improvement and have a good time success.