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By Sean Mulcair

How did we go from talking about customer service to talking about customer experience? A customer asked me a few weeks ago, “Sean why is everyone talking about customer experience, whatever happened to customer service?”

It’s actually customer service which drives the customer experience. Customer service has not gone away but the focus has shifted to how the client actually feels about dealing with their Broker.

« Whereas
customer experience
is a lifetime of interactions;
it creates the feeling
or emotion. »

It can also be explained by saying that customer service is the transaction piece and is quantifiable. For example, answering the phone, replying to an email, being prompt, processing the transaction. Whereas customer experience is a lifetime of interactions; it creates the feeling or emotion. For example, making the client feel secure, making the process easy on them, customizing informative interactions, listening to the voice of the customer (feedback) and most importantly…wowing them!

Our customers will actually “feel” a specific way after we have spoken to them. The feeling they get from our interactions and our level of service is proven to be what makes them stay with us and more importantly, what motivates them to refer new customers to our organization.

My client quickly asked “What can we do to improve the customer experience we deliver to our clients?” I will write several other segments on this topic explaining how Brokers can drive customer experience and demonstrate the positive impact that it has on their business.

Here’s is a great video by Shep Hyken, who explains what a taxi driver did to create a great customer experience for his passengers. If you have 5 minutes, it’s really worth watching!