Customer Experience: The Missing Ingredient

Background

I recently had an experience with Company X. While the brand came highly recommended by a friend, I had a small problem in the middle of my relationship with them. So it got me thinking. Company X was only operating at 50%. They have a great product, the packaging was engaging, and the feel of the product in my hands was exemplary. However, when it came time for me to interact with the company to rectify a problem, the experience was severely lacking. This came at a good time for me to contrast it with a recent experience I had in getting my phone fixed with Apple after I had dropped it into the sink, and I could tell that Apple was operating at 100%

Moments and Truths

In 2005, A.G. Lafley, Procter & Gamble’s Chairman and CEO, developed the idea of the “first moment of truth” and the “second moment of truth.” The first moment of truth (MOT) focuses on a product experience. Essentially, it asks, “What does the user think when they first see a product in real life?” The second MOT focuses on the use of the product once purchased. It asks, “What do they think when they first use that product?”

What we are talking about here is the difference between seeing a product for the first time in person and using the product at home for the first time. FMOT: What does the packaging look like? SMOT: How does it work once I get home with the product? What is that experience like? Together, we want to know if both were a positive experience for the consumer.

After the MOTs had become a more public tool, the idea was created to develop a “customer journey map.” In essence, the map illustrates all the ways a consumer learns about a product, does research about the product (going to a store, talking to a friend, talking to a sales representative), and then purchases that product. The journey is cyclical through the positive experience of having a good product experience. The user may come back to that brand and continue to buy from them, or become a brand ambassador by on-boarding people in their network to the brand.

The Journey Map was well-received when it was first presented, and it continues to be relevant to companies around the world because it helps them to improve the ways consumers can connect with their brand.

Next, MOT idea was broadened by Google when they coined the term “Zero Moment of Truth.” ZMOT is the notion that, in the internet age, once you first hear about a product, the first thing you will do is Google it. We go online and search to gather information from across the web. We collect information before we make the decision to go to the company's website to buy a product or go to a store to look at the product in person. We also ask our social networks, like Facebook and Twitter, what they think of a product to gain further insights.

In addition to ZMOT Brian Solis added the “ultimate moment of truth.” UMOT refers to our using blogs, YouTube, and social networking platforms to share our opinions and experiences. Interestingly, though, Solis suggests that we never share ok experiences, we only share a great experience or terrible experiences.

While knowing and planning for these interactions is a necessity, it is only half the picture. The second half is something many companies are missing because they are focused so heavily on the product and how to sell it. They look at the customer journey only in the context of the buying cycle. Moreover, therein lies the problem - they are so focused on the product experience that they forget to plan for the customer experience.

The rest of the story

Customer experience (CX) is not the same as customer service, though people frequently confuse them. The easiest way I can differentiate between the two is this: customer service is what happens after the customer experience fails. What I mean by this is that if I go to your website to buy your product and your site breaks, then I am starting to have a bad experience. If I have purchased your product, and have a difficult time returning it because it has broken, I am not going to be happy about having to spend extra time trying to remedy the situation. If I am having to rely on workarounds instead of interacting with your website the way I find most efficient, I will eventually stop using your platform. This is where customer service representatives come in; they try to fix a problem retroactively. Instead, companies should focus on proactively refining the customer experience to the point that customer service is reserved for needs that fall outside the bounds of what other touchpoints can offer.

So there’s a good reason for this; most companies grow organically. They start out with one purpose and then add more pieces as the need arises. Eventually, the company ends up looking like the Winchester Mystery House, and the customer experience with it can be equally confusing. Each different department ends up siloed from the others, and potentially duplicating efforts because there is no formal communication between departments. So, there can be significant drop-offs and changes in the customer’s experience as they interact with different departments.

Let’s use a cable company as an example. I have never encountered a seamless experience as I have interacted with the different parts of a cable company, ie. website, sales agent, customer service agent, scheduling department, person (often a 3rd party subcontractor) who comes to install cable, the store to drop off the cable box at the end of the journey. Customer experience takes into account all of the various facets of the company to make sure that each interaction delivers a positive result as a whole. When a corporation focuses solely on any single touchpoint, they run the risk of missing the overarching concept of customer experience.

The Ideology of 100%

I see Customer Experience being the net result of Product Experience, Customer Service, and User Experience. This is where we see a company like Apple excel. From the moment you receive your first Apple product and open the box, you can see the care Apple has put into product experience. When you turn your product on and interact with it, the ease of use tells you Apple spent countless hours perfecting the user experience and design. Then, when you have a problem with the product, Apple make it as easy as possible to schedule an appointment for repair or find out how to fix the product yourself through online support. Once you enter the store to for the appointment, you are immediately met by someone who is friendly and smiling, after which they check you in and direct you to the Genius Bar, then you are finally connected with an Apple Genius who works with you to fix your problem. Each interaction, from the FMOT through UMOT, has been meticulously crafted by Apple so that you will be compelled to buy their products again and recommend the brand to all your friends.

Overall, companies like Apple are not just looking at, "Can we make the best product in the market?" They are saying, "How do we make the best product in the market, and then support our customers through every other touchpoint?” They do this by making sure that each customer has a good phone experience, a good web experience, a good in-store experience, a good front-office experience. They have considered all the areas their brand touches the consumer and the ways they can improve that touchpoint. That is what customer experience is all about.

The point here is that the brands which not only take the product experience seriously but also take the customer experience seriously, really are operating at 100%. A less-successful brand may have a great product that is well-built and innovative. However, when something goes wrong with it, customer support is non-existent, or contact information is impossible to find, or a replacement part is difficult to locate or out of stock.

These negative experiences sour customer satisfaction. It might not necessarily deter a customer from buying from that company again, but you can tell, almost intrinsically, that the business is not operating at 100%. When taken together, all these little things keep many companies from reaching their true potential.