Article courtesy of Tom Hughes HUGHES Advertising, LLC

Every auto body shop, auto glass company, and every other business for that matter, needs to ensure that it knows the specific experience it wants to provide its customers, and that its employees can clearly articulate the customer experience the business intends to deliver.

Do you as a business owner or manager have planned the experience you'd like your customers to receive in advance of their visits? Or is it this driven by fate? Have you thought it through? Can you articulate the customer experience you are trying to deliver? Can your front line people articulate it? Go on, try now, and think. If it doesn't roll off the tongue effortlessly, you likely have a problem. The good news is that it's a common problem shared by many companies, and it's one you can rectify.

What specific customer experience are you trying to deliver?  

Most business owners don't know the answer to that question, and therefore, by definition their customer experience is not deliberate.  It just happens.

In the book, Building Great Customer Experiences, we learn that a company's culture, systems, measurements, targets, people, processes, and so on affects customer's experiences

If you were providing a DELIBERATE customer experience someone somewhere would have considered how customers receive each aspect of your business.  I used the word "deliberate" in the preceding sentence purposely.  Look at the word "deliberate", and break it down.   

"De" ...  "Liberate" ...

"Liberate" means to make free, "De" means to limit. Deliberate, therefore,  means to "limit liberation." Perhaps a better way of explaining this is by using the word "focus". Focusing is exactly what you should be doing - focusing your customer experience on something you really desire - providing a fantastic buying experience so your customers will return and send their friends -  rather than letting everyone on staff treat customers in whatever manner takes their fancy.

Research finds that the vast majority of consumers believe that emotions account for over half of their customer experience. OVER HALF! Therefore, if your customer experience is deliberate you should be planning to deliberately evoke the emotions you have defined, otherwise, again, what you will be doing is leaving your customer's buying experience to CHANCE. When it's left to chance, the customer experience can't be deliberate.

Ask a group of people to close their eyes and point to true  north.  Then, ask them to open their eyes and see the direction they and other group members pointed. Most everyone will be pointing in different directions.

In businesses left to chance, employees tend to define their own North by treating customers the way they understand  the correct way to be.  Ultimately, this freedom allows confusion to reign, and is quickly picked up on by shoppers.  The customer who has different "Moments of Contact" during his/her association with a business or  organization may see haphazardness and inconsistency that leaves them feeling at times like they were treated fairly, and at other times unfairly depending on the mannerisms and beliefs of employees that assisted them.

Everything from your web site to your in-store shopping experience should be purposefully planned to enhance the customer experience, including follow-ups after the sale.  Each moment of contact should convey  the specific message you wish to send - We REALLY, REALLY, REALLY want your business!

Without clear articulation of the deliberate customer experience you are trying to deliver, you're leaving your auto repair business to chance.  Think about it!  How in the heck do you expect others who work with you to deliver a consistent customer experience if you don't spell it out in clear detail for them?

content & design 2002-2008 David Williams and SafeCollisionRepairs.com

About Safe Collision Repairs

For more than ten years, David Williams of Wheelersburg, Ohio's Safe Collision Repairs has worked with consumers and attorneys in the tri-states of Ohio, Kentucky and West Virginia to expose unsafe auto repairs and maximize recovery on auto insurance claims. Some of the company's services include Post-Repair Inspections, Prepurchase Inspections, Auto Damage Assessments, Lemon Law Investigations, Expert Court Testimony and Diminished Value Calculations using an advanced version of Network Information Communication's WreckCheck program.

Inquiries can be directed to: Safe Collision Repairs David A. Williams Post Office Box 70 Wheelersburg, Ohio 45694 (740) 456-1111 (740) 355-4056

Disclaimer

The content expressed on this website and in the article above represents the opinions of David A. Williams. Williams is neither an attorney nor public insurance adjuster, but is an expert, consultant, and writer specializing in the field of automotive collision repair and valuations. The information provided herein is not intended to be a substitute for legal or insurance advice. Because collision repair is a continually evolving science, any text, materials or links found herein are provided without claim or guarantee to their accuracy or completeness.