Performance driven organizations always look at external benchmarks and international standards for inspiration. In selecting your benchmarks, it is important to ensure suitability and relevance by selecting organizations that share similar organizational mandates, structures, and environmental conditions. This will help to ensure that your benchmarks will be realistic and attainable. Challenging your organization to meet benchmark performance targets is an effective way to ignite organizational improvement. We find a prime local example of benchmarking at the Abu Dhabi Food Control Authority which takes part in various programs that help it compare its lab accuracy and performance with international standards. This allows them to make improvements over time to reach and even exceed these standards.
Segment Customer Results Naturally, not all customers are the same. An organization, especially one in the public sector, has a wide range of customers spread over various ethnic, gender, social, income, and age groups. All these market segments have their own specific needs and expectations. It is important for your organization to define relevant market segments and then decide the best way to fulfill each group’s needs and desires. The use of customer satisfaction surveys and customer relationship management (CRM) systems are great for segmenting customer results and improving the understanding of the behaviour of customer groups. The data collected using these tools can then be used in the development of a holistic marketing strategy to attract, retain, and delight all your customer segments.
Private Sector Insights: The formula for a delightful customer experience As public sector entities become increasingly performance driven and competitive, it is important to draw on private sector experience and insights, particularly when it comes to customer service and ultimately, customer “delight.” A customer is delighted when he or she receives a holistic customer experience, one that satisfies all expectations and desires. To delight a customer, organizations need to focus on delivery of three key experiences:
Functional Experience
This experience is felt by the customer as part of the functional features of the core product or service offering. The fundamental nature of the product is what fulfills the customer’s desire and need; it is the basic reason he or she looked for and purchased the product or service. The firm’s basic responsibility, then, is to ensure the products or services meet the customers’ quality and value expectations.
Social Experience
The social experience develops much earlier than the functional in the customer’s journey toward the product or service. It starts with the very first time the customer begins their search for various service providers and product offerings to identify and shortlist the best provider to finally buy from. This involves research done over the internet, social and print media, as well as feedback and opinions of friends and family who might have already purchased or are using a similar product. Make sure your customers find positive, helpful information about your product or service where they seek it. Create a positive social experience for potential customers by ensuring information is prominent and easily available, with relevant information, evidence of high brand integrity, and positive feedback across all avenues.
Emotional Experience
The emotional experience is the most subtle of the three, yet carries the most powerful effect. It has the ability to influence every major decision including first-time purchase, repurchase, and continued usage. On the other side of the coin, it also may affect or determine whether a customer or client decides to terminate use of the product or service. Thus a vitally important aspect is how your product and/or service makes the customer feel. Does it engender a positive association in the mind of the customer? Do your customers feel a personalized experience that ultimately leads to long term bonding and brand loyalty? Make your customers feel good about using your products and services and ensure that your customers are delighted with your brand at every step of their customer experience journey!
Issue 10 - OCTOBER 2015
25