Deliver Customer Delight…The Mercedes-Benz Way

Sure, we’re all customer focused. But that’s not enough anymore. Today’s successful businesses are customer obsessed.

These companies closely study clients to understand — and anticipate — needs and desires and these insights influence “almost all business decisions,” said Joseph Michelli, Ph.D., who wrote Driven to Delight: Delivering World-Class Customer Experience the Mercedes-Benz Way (McGraw-Hill Education; December 2015). They “build (the) business from the customer outward,” he explained

Michelli worked with Mercedes-Benz USA (MBUSA) to do just this. But smaller companies may have the advantage when it comes to customer obsession as they can “pivot on a moment” to embrace change and more quickly react to customer feedback, he said.

He offered suggestions to ramp up the customer experience (CX):

EVALUATE. You may think you understand the CX at your organization, but it’s very likely customers have a different perspective. Honestly assess this: solicit customer feedback, identify pain points, and create an action plan to rapidly resolve customer issues and deliver emotionally engaging experiences.

“Before you can make changes that will surprise and delight customers, you — and everyone else in your organization — need to get a 360-degree picture of resource misalignments, efforts and initiatives that do not hit the mark, and actions that aren’t valued by the customer,” explained Michelli.

BOOST BUY-IN. Every employee must understand the why behind customer obsession not just the how, as well as how this change agenda affects them individually. “This is the difference between employees who go through the motions and employees who enthusiastically look for opportunities to say, ‘Yes, I can help!’” noted Michelli.

Stakeholders at MBUSA completed a “What’s Holding You Back?” form that helped challenge individual and organizational barriers to delivering consistent customer delight. They also signed written commitment cards pledging to go beyond satisfying customers to delighting those they serve.

EXPERIENCE CX FIRST-HAND. Help employees understand “the kind of experience we want to deliver” by letting them experience it for themselves, said Michelli. This doesn’t cost much, helps instill pride in the service you provide, and is an opportunity to define your CX objectives, he said.

MBUSA flies dealer employees to its Alabama manufacturing plant to see how vehicles are made and to test drive them. “Sometimes the distance between you and the customer is big” — especially if you drive a used Honda and you’re selling $120,000 cars — but this experience helps employees understand “there’s something special going on here and you can make a “difference in people’s lives through our products and the way we deliver them,” said Michelli.

PRACTICE DELIGHTING CUSTOMERS. “Role playing is a brilliant way to say, ‘This is how we do (the customer experience) here,’” said Michelli. And through job-shadowing, employees learn how all the pieces of the customer experience come together.

Customer service training wasn’t a priority for termite technicians in the old days, but it’s become increasingly important. A termite-only technician may see a customer once a year or less, explained Ron Harrison, technical director of Rollins, Inc. As such, Rollins works with these employees to hone their customer service skills “because they have that one touch and if they do a bad job with that touch the customer could be very unhappy for a long period of time,” he said.

SHARE ‘WOW’ STORIES. “Stories are powerful. They have the ability to illustrate concepts and evoke emotions in a way that even the best training can’t” so share examples of real employees delighting real customers, said Michelli.

MBUSA turns these stories into videos. In one, a customer brought in her car for service and mentioned she may have lost an earring in it. The service technician went the extra mile, taking out the seats and finding the earring, which had been a special gift from the customer’s husband. When presented with the earring, the customer burst into tears. “Stories like these inspire everyone who represents the brand to create that type of customer experience because it touches their hearts, not just their minds,” Michelli said. Emphasize “all the other things that had to go right for that customer to have that wow” moment, so everyone knows they have a part in making this experience possible, he advised.

TIE IT ALL TO THE CUSTOMER. Many pest management professionals compensate employees in part with bonuses. Tie one to CX. “People need a strong, compelling vision to buy into the change, but the ‘money’ piece is what solidifies their commitment,” said Michelli.

Just don’t expect fundamental changes to come easily. “We’re talking about dismantling your old culture and creating a new one centered on getting employees to seek out opportunities — both small and heroic — to delight the customer,” said Michelli. “Every initiative you green-light, every dollar you spend, and every decision you make must support and nourish customer obsession.”

The author is a frequent editorial contributor to PCT magazine.