It's about how to successfully implement a customer experience project, and not let know-it-alls and egocentrics get you off track.
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Customer Experience. We don't need to translate it anymore. Almost everyone knows what is meant by it. Corona flushes it to the surface and into the boardrooms. But when it comes to establishing the topic of customer experience in companies today, we encounter considerable challenges. Customer delight- - everyone wants it, but few want to deal with it, and even worse: many know everything better.
Why? Because we encounter owners or even management staff who basically want the change, they want to go along with it, they even want to initiate it, but they don't have an overview of the individual steps and they don't know the details.
Management does not want unnecessary training. Excellent evaluations from enthusiastic customers should preferably be generated immediately. Everything should be easy. Other KPI's weigh more. "Short-term" counts more than "sustainable long-term". The complexity is often underestimated. Because: Customer Experience is not a department, but an attitude.
Do you know this? What do you do now, if you really want to change the customer experience seriously? You are now at the beginning of a project and already feel the first resistance?
1) Identify clearly: Who is the decision maker?
The owner? The general manager? The Hotel Manager? The general manager or department head? One thing I can say with certainty
I can say with certainty. If you make mistakes here, the whole project will slip. From my own experience, I had to learn to do my homework right here at this point. Especially in
the decision-making role is not always assigned to the person in the front line.
who is in the front line of the company. Look closely. Ask questions. This saves your time, energy and guarantees a smoother process and ultimately the success of the project.
and ultimately the success of the project. So; make clear:. Who makes the decisions?
2) Involve your partners in the project
Right at the beginning, ask each of them what is most important to them. It is best to take notes about it.
An example of experience. I had one case where the owner was 100 percent focused
focused solely on efficiency. All he cared about was processes and procedures.
He wanted to save time, streamline processes, train new employees more effectively, and establish a quality management tool- thus reducing costs while ensuring quality. The customer and his experience were secondary. So far so good.
But the manager was already concerned about the customer experience. He was the one who had his challenges with it in day-to-day business. He was also the one who had to deal with complaints, also being responsible for positive customer comments on social media.
What did I do? I worked with the hotel manager to update the individual processes. They became both customer-friendly and more efficient. And for the owner, I created a dashboard that showed them exactly what processes, when and where they had been updated.
Addresses individual priorities -- hot buttons -- clearly. That's much better than trying to convince everyone of everything.
3) Set pipeline, timeline and project plan together
If you're going to work it out in detail be sure to get buy-in from the decision maker on this as well. The better you plan more precisely in this initial phase and eliminate possible ifs and buts in advance, the the more successful the implementation of then project will be. Don't forget to set deadlines. Ask with the decision-maker. Build in feedback rounds - proactive advance questioning dampens the know-it-all attitude. It doesn't give him a chance to comment from the outside. It deprives the flame of oxygen. This is how you score points with egocentrics and you can work in peace. Annoyed mood, tension and fear of the next comment are gone.
4) Show patience, communication skills and the willingness to cooperate.
Especially egocentrics always want to change something again, question methods, are
always ready to criticise. My tips:
a) Do not take it personally, very important, because, it is a
general pattern of behavior. Independent of you.
b). Try to get to know your counterpart and his personality better.
and place it in the DISC model. It was developed by William Moulton Marston
and further developed as a personality test by John G. Geier in 1979.
Since 2008 there is also an online test Everything DISC.
Just this much: D means - "Dominant", I -- "Initiative", S- - "Steady" , C --
"Conscientious",. This will help you in the way you deal with your
opposite again in particular. Whether fast, compact and direct
communication in a one-on-one conversation is more in demand or better diplomatic, cool, planning. Or quite differently: emotionally, with great speech the facts in stories
picturesquely? Find out.
c) Create a framework for agile working. Always involve them directly, and do so
before they can act as know-it-alls. Be adaptable, responsive to their suggestions.
5) Focus on milestones- Implement small steps
Things that are immediately visible.
Milestones are more effective than distant goals as the only direction. They
often appear unattainable on the horizon. This gives room for the know-it-all with his disruptive comments. Better are immediate intermediate goals. My advice: Set milestones
together in the team, at this point consciously take up ideas of the egocentrics first.
first. If you then reach the milestones, not only the team feels highly motivated,
but also the team members of the egocentric kind, run up with swollen chest,
feel extremely seen and naturally confirmed.
This is how the project succeeds: everything for the customer all by itself.
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Summary
In order to successfully implement a customer experience project, you first and foremost need a smart empathic approach to so-called know-it-alls, I say affectionately. Yes,
sometimes it is also the decision makers. Instead of fear, discomfort, and panic about the
unpleasant comments,- from feelings that paralyze the project, I advise you to stay cool,
always argue positively with the benefits and keep an open communication. Complement long-term goals with medium-term milestones and celebrate them in a native way. Very important. Egocentrics want the middle, so always include them. Ask them once more rather than bypassing them out of discomfort.
This way the project will be successful. Be empathetic and patient yourself. Don't forget, these are the core competencies of CX- being responsive to others' needs.
As Bill McDermott, former CEO of SAP and current chief executive officer of
" Empathy is the key differentiator of the 21st century. "
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