Which companies are doing it right and making customers leave happy?
When it comes to succeeding at business, especially in today's tight economic environment, providing a great customer experience is key. Those of us who are looking for jobs know it's tough out there and people don't have the money to spend like they used to. These days, people are looking for value and aren't going to be satisfied with companies who don't give them the best experience.
Sadly, accomplishing that feat isn't always as easy as it would seem. It's not enough to just invest more resources into having better customer service agents or training sales associates better.
Instead, it seems that the companies who are the best at it are the same companies who understand their customer base. They work to create a strong corporate culture that allows customers to identify with the company and feel good about doing business with them. Companies like Apple work hard to try to gauge their customers emotions and give them what they want. For example, last month, my daughter broke her iPhone. It was completely her fault, she dropped it on the cement and even though it is a pretty sturdy device, her glass screen cracked. When I bought the phone, I didn't buy additional insurance and only had the standard one year Applecare plan. We took the phone to the Apple store and had someone take a look at it. Although it wasn't covered under her warranty, the Apple employee understood how important her iDevice was to her. In the end, they replaced her phone for free and quickly making it easy for her to switch over to the new phone.
It wasn't just the great service and the replacement phone that made her customer experience great. It was that she left thinking that the Apple employee understood how she felt and was trying to help her solve the problem.
Here are the top 5 companies that provide the best customer experience:
Instead, it seems that the companies who are the best at it are the same companies who understand their customer base. They work to create a strong corporate culture that allows customers to identify with the company and feel good about doing business with them. Companies like Apple work hard to try to gauge their customers emotions and give them what they want. For example, last month, my daughter broke her iPhone. It was completely her fault, she dropped it on the cement and even though it is a pretty sturdy device, her glass screen cracked. When I bought the phone, I didn't buy additional insurance and only had the standard one year Applecare plan. We took the phone to the Apple store and had someone take a look at it. Although it wasn't covered under her warranty, the Apple employee understood how important her iDevice was to her. In the end, they replaced her phone for free and quickly making it easy for her to switch over to the new phone.
It wasn't just the great service and the replacement phone that made her customer experience great. It was that she left thinking that the Apple employee understood how she felt and was trying to help her solve the problem.
Here are the top 5 companies that provide the best customer experience:
- Disney - They make it easy for people to plan their vacations. They even have programs that make it simple to fly in for their vacation without having to worry about their luggage or transportation to the hotel. By understanding what parents want and knowing what it takes to keep kids interested, they manage to keep people excited for their next vacation.
- Starbucks - They sell expensive coffee all day long by understanding what customers need. They provide a decent latte and throw in comfy chairs, free wi-fi along with a well defined corporate culture.
- Zappos - They claim to deliver happiness, and it's hard to dispute that, especially when they give their customers free shipping, liberal return policies and often surprise their customers with free overnight shipping upgrades. They make buying shoes fun.
- Amazon - I wasn't surprised to find them on the list. Amazon is great at marketing products and always seems to know their customers better than they know themselves. Don't think it's true? Take a look at their weekly emails. Each week, they send out an email recapping what they think you would like to buy. Every time I get one in my inbox, I'm impressed by how right they are.
- Apple - They are still the leader when it comes to mobile devices. They are so incredibly focused on marketing to their customers feelings that they don't even talk about the specs of their equipment. Instead, they tell customers what it will do for them.
What do you think about this list? What other companies do you think should go on it? Let me know in the comments.
By Melissa Kennedy- Melissa is a 9 year blog veteran and a freelance writer for ManhattanJobsBlog and Nexxt. Along with helping others find the job of their dreams, she enjoys computer geekery, raising a teenager, supporting her local library, writing about herself in the third person and working on her next novel.
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