As we enter another season of giving thanks, let’s take a moment and appreciate the good things in life. Thanksgiving in the United States is a time to acknowledge what we are thankful for, and hopefully your customers are thankful for you.
Here are nine things that you should be doing to create a positive customer experience and thankful customers all year round, not just at Thanksgiving:
Using clear, concise language is a simple way to improve the customer experience, but many companies haven’t taken the time to hire a good copy editor. The healthcare industry, for example, still uses words that research has shown patients don’t understand. But companies like Target have written fun, encouraging building instructions for do-it-yourself furniture that remove the stress and dread of a big project (I wrote about this in my book, The Experience Maker). Even legal disclosures are fair game, as translating “legalese” into understandable language is a win for both customers and the lawyers whose goal it is to ensure customers understand what they’re getting into.
The customer experience journey is filled with pain points, and many of them are known to the companies providing them. Technology is filled with “known errors” or software bugs that persist for way too long. Companies that allow these poor experiences to persist put undue pressure on their customers – and service agents – to identify their own workarounds. And yet reducing customer effort is often the quickest way to improve the overall experience. At Discover, my digital team helped the company win its first J.D. Power Award for customer satisfaction by identifying and fixing dozens of errors and pain points on the website, the largest customer interaction channel.
Helping customers to navigate your systems easily is a must if you want to keep them happy. This goes for digital channels like a website or mobile app and for “old-school” channels like the telephone. Navigation fails when it’s designed to mimic the company’s organizational structure, which the customer doesn’t care about. Likewise when all of the options sound the same, customers are confused. With digital properties, look at common search terms to identify things that your customers are having trouble finding; for an Interactive Voice Response (IVR) telephone system, track how often each selection is chosen (you may not need all of those choices) and how many customers are “zeroing out” to the operator because they don’t understand or are frustrated.
When companies are siloed internally, the customer experience is almost always affected externally. This is because everyone is so busy managing their own small portion of the customer journey, there’s no one looking at the entirety of the experience. The connection between multiple experiences is often a source of customer pain points, because the “handoff” isn’t smooth. A classic example of this is a software update that adds new features but creates several “bugs” in the process. When silos are broken, the overall experience flourishes. Take Amazon, for example. It’s not just one of the search, recommendation, ordering, shipping and returns processes that work well; they all work flawlessly – together.
When customers are loyal to a particular brand, they expect that loyalty to be returned. That doesn’t necessarily require a traditional loyalty program though; sometimes all it takes is engaging with a customer’s tweet, or sending a hand-written thank-you card. Customers want to feel special, valued and appreciated by the companies with which they do business. The companies that do this well have customers for life, and even better, ambassadors who willingly provide word-of-mouth marketing by telling their friends and sharing their positive experiences on social media. Unfortunately, many companies are doing the opposite by devaluing their loyalty programs.
Today’s customers are thankful for companies that continuously improve their operations and share the benefits. We often read of companies passing along higher prices to customers, but what if they did the opposite? Whether it’s streamlining supply chains, optimizing delivery routes, or implementing smart inventory management, businesses that find ways to operate more efficiently can offer better value to their customers. When customers see that your efficiency gains translate into savings or improved services for them, they’re more likely to remain loyal and spread positive word-of-mouth.
Modern customers are thankful for companies that respect their time by offering robust digital self-service options while maintaining quality human support when needed. From AI chatbots that handle routine inquiries to seamless mobile apps for everyday transactions, customers appreciate the convenience of digital solutions. However, they’re even more thankful when they can easily reach a knowledgeable human for complex issues or emotional support – creating a perfect balance of efficiency and empathy. In other words, AI shouldn’t aim to replace human customer service agents, but rather help them focus more on the one thing computers can’t do (yet): be human.
In today’s data-driven world, customers are thankful when companies use their information thoughtfully to enhance their experience without crossing privacy boundaries. This means remembering their preferences, anticipating their needs, and providing relevant recommendations – but also respecting their right to privacy and being transparent about data usage. Like a host who remembers dietary restrictions without making a fuss, smart personalization makes customers feel valued while maintaining their comfort.
WISER—the methodology outlined in The Experience Maker which stands for Witty, Immersive, Shareable, Extraordinary, and Responsive—contains all the ingredients needed to create memorable, loyalty-building experiences that customers can’t wait to share with others. It’s like a great Thanksgiving feast, except that you can’t eat it. But you can talk about it the next day.
Remember, creating thankful customers isn’t just about implementing these points individually – it’s about weaving them together into a cohesive experience that shows genuine appreciation for your customers’ choice to do business with you. This Thanksgiving, as families gather to share gratitude, ensure your business gives customers plenty of reasons to be thankful for choosing you. And don’t forget to give thanks back.
Photo by Pro Church Media on Unsplash.
Dan Gingiss is a customer experience keynote speaker who creates a remarkable experience for audiences while teaching them to do the same for their customers.