Back in January I wrote an article about this concept I created called Loyalty Currency.  As more customer snafu's occur to well-known companies and even local companies that I interact with, this concept becomes Real.  If you are not doing things right most of the time and building Loyalty Currency within your customer base, customers will not hang around when things go wrong.  

I have two unique examples of how Loyalty Currency is Real and what happens when a company has it, and when they don't. 

Unique example #1:  Shutterfly 
Recent Shutterfly had a digital marketing snafu -- sending customers an email congratulating them on their recent delivery.  Sounds lovely, except the recipients of the email were not new parents, nor did they have a new addition to their family.  

Kind of offensive, right?  A blatant misuse of the big data we always hear so much about.  

But Shutterfly recovered.  They tweeted a response, and spent several hours responding individually to customers who had contacted them.  Bravo! 

I suspect that Shutterfly has the Loyalty Currency to survive this issue.  

Unique Example #2:  A local restaurant in Nashville
I am being vague about the name of this particular restaurant, because to be fair, I never told them when they were falling short.  So, I can't call them out if I didn't give them the opportunity to get better.  

But ...this is a real life example of what happens when you don't have Loyalty Currency.  

I dined at the restaurant several times, for both lunch and dinner, and I always found the service to be so-so.  Not very attentive, waiting long for refills, it was never the best experience.  But the food was great, and the location was convenient.  

The last time I was there, the same thing.  Except this time, there was something in my food.  It looked like a very thin piece of metal, about two inches long.  Yikes!

When I brought it to the servers' attention, they handled the situation as they should have - comping the food and apologizing a lot.  But this restaurant just did not have the Loyalty Currency that they needed to keep me coming back.  So, while I miss their food, I have found another convenient location and I get better service.  

As business owners, please, never underestimate the value of a good customer interaction.  They add up, and they really count when you need them.  

You can read my original article on Loyalty Currency here:  bit.ly/1pvFwe3 

In my recent blog about the Customer Experience snafu at Morton’s The Steakhouse I used the term ‘loyalty currency’.  It is actually a term that I made up, so I wanted to write about what I mean when I say loyalty currency.

I actually got the idea from the Covey concept of emotional bank account.  How by continuing to make deposits into that account, trust develops and counteracts any withdrawals that have been made in the past.    

It is similar to loyalty currency– making deposits into your customers’ loyalty account so that you build up currency.  Then, in the event that something goes wrong, you have that loyalty, that trust from your customers who you have treated well all along.

I completely understand that bad things happen to good companies.  But the trick is to be a good company in the first place.  You have to create and deliver a great customer experience every time. 

Doing this creates Promoters – loyal customers who prefer to do business with you, tell their friends & family to do business with you and who will give you another chance should you mess up.  Their loyalty account is full!

Not being dedicated to creating a great experience, creates Detractors - customers who are disenchanted with your company and not recommending you to anyone.  If you mess up, they will leave and be very vocal about their dissatisfaction.  There have been too many withdrawals in the past for your company to recover.

So in 2014, do two things:

1.Become dedicated to creating a great customer experience (making deposits into the loyalty account every time)

2.  Have a plan for handling the exceptions (they will happen and if you handle it properly, it will not be a withdrawal)

As a new business owner, I have the expertise necessary to be of value to my client who wants to measure and improve their Customer Experience.
But I am learning that this does not mean that I can sit back and have a "been there/done that" attitude.  
Am I an expert in creating a great Customer Experience?  YES.
Am I a Certified Net Promoter Score Associate who has lead companies through their NPS programs?  YES again.
Am I creative enough to help any client, regardless of size or industry?  You Betcha.
However, I am noticing that that world of Customer Experience is constantly changing.  Many groups have best practices, research models, and ideas on what is the next best thing.  Join any LinkedIn group on Customer Experience, and you will be overwhelmed with ideas on what to do.  
New technology is being introduced monthly.
Additional feedback channels are popping up daily.
And, customer expectations of what a great experience is are ever evolving.
So how do I keep up?  How do I stay relevant for my clients?

Here are the four steps I am taking -- what I have decided to do -- and what you can borrow from as you see fit.

1.  Be Agile - Change how you are delivering your message based on the needs of your client.  You are not a one-show pony.
2.  Be willing to Learn -- No one is disputing your expertise or experience, but the marketplace changes, new ideas are introduced...understand what they are and apply them to your product offerings.
3.  Stay New/Evolve -- If you see a trend, become an expert.  As new technology unfolds, understand how to use it.
4.  Be a Resource -- Your clients pay you to do work that they are not familiar with, so you must always be a resource.  Bring new information to them, and not the other way around.

The awesome thing about these four steps is that as stated above, they can apply to you as a business owner.  But applied differently, the can also help you manage the Customer Experience you create.  

Let's take a look at how these four steps can apply to your Customer Experience.

1.  Be Agile - Create ways to make it easy for your customer to do things themselves.  This is different than forcing them into your 'self-service' processes.
2.  Be willing to Learn - Put a feedback mechanism in place so that you are constantly learning what your customers like about doing business with you and what they would like you to change
3.  Stay New/Evolve - Create new listening posts for your customers to interact with you on, develop a loyalty program that rewards your Ambassadors and delivers an increase in spend
4.  Be a Resource -- Train employees on your products, your competitors, and your industry so that they come to you first when there is a question or concern about what they need.  

It is not easy being a new business owner.  It is not easy creating a great Customer Experience.  But these four steps will guide you through both of those challenges and you will be better for it.

Any time of year is a good time to say THANK YOU to your customers - the people who choose to spend their money and time with your organization - and to create Promoters. 

This is part two - with easy to implement ideas on how to say THANKS for B2C organizations.

Part II -- B2C Organizations

Here are a few ways for saying THANKS that can be implemented all year round.

Give them something for free - This idea does not have to break your bank.  Think about something you could offer for free - an instructional packet, a newsletter about your company, get creative and provide something extra to your customers.

Create a loyalty program - These programs work well when there is value in being a part of it.  Create an environment where your loyal customers can share ideas, the ways they have used your product, or answer questions from each other - it can be your own private forum.

Fix what they tell you is broken - If a customer tells you about an area where you can improve, or the way a competitor is doing something better, embrace that information and use it to fix the issue.

Ask them what they think - Customers love to tell you what they think when you ask them.  What better way to show your thanks, then to ask for their valuable feedback.

Offer a discount - Think of a way to discount a product or service for a limited time as a way of saying thank you to your customers -- this works even better if the discount is for one of your best selling items.

Say it - The easiest and most cost effective way to thank your customers is to Say It.  Acknowledging their annual spend and thanking them for choosing to do business with you is always a winning proposition.

Any time of year is a good time to say THANK YOU to your customers - the people who choose to spend their money and time with your organization - and to create Promoters.

This is a two-part piece - for both B2B and B2C organizations that will provide you with easy to implement ideas on how to say THANKS.

I recently sent a letter to an organization expressing my displeasure about our long term customer relationship.

The main point of my letter was, that to me, I only receive communication from this organization when there is a request for money or to remind me of their rules of engagement.

As a 'customer' of this organization for over 2 years I cannot recall when I have received a communication, personally addressed to me, about something good that impacts me.  And this bugs me.

While my feedback was most likely contrary to what this organization thought about the experience they are creating or what they had previously heard from others, it was my intent to provide much needed insight into my unique experience as a 'customer'.

The response that I got, while timely (within 48 hours) was shocking.

I will net out the high points - which I actually consider low points because I learned years ago in my career what NOT to do when responding to a customer letter.

Here is what I understood from their response:

1.  I had a defect (the letter accused me of being angry, twice)
2.  The author of the letter had over 22 years of experience in her field (again mentioned twice)
3.  I was wrong, according to the letter, one of the defects that I had pointed out was not true

After absorbing the response it was clear that this organizations leader needed to understand how to properly respond to a 'complaint'. 

So I shared my proven 4 step process with them.  I even included a sample response to my original email using this proven method.

Admit the breakdown
Offer a real solution
Give them something extra
Do it quickly   

Writing this blog is not to show off what I have learned during a career in Executive Complaint Management.  It is however to remind you that your 'customers' come in all forms - parent, student, peer, patient, etc - and that anyone who interacts with customers (think schools, universities, professional agencies, hospitals) needs to know how to treat complaints as gifts and respond appropriately.

Using my proven 4 step process of course.

Had this administrator responded in the proper way I would have been a Promoter of the organization and written a check.  But this mistake of not seeing my complaint as a gift cost them real money because instead of writing a check, I placed the Annual Fund solicitation in the trash.

Any time you interact with people, consider them a customer.  Any time you receive feedback that may be contrary to what you expect, treat it as a gift.

You can't afford not to.