The Power of Personalisation: How to Actually Delight Your Customers with Marc Haine

In a world plagued by impersonal customer service and generic interactions, businesses struggle to provide a truly resonant customer experience. The lack of personalization leaves customers feeling undervalued and unimportant, leading to dissatisfaction, disengagement, and ultimately a loss of business. But what can you do about it? Well, that's what we're talking about today. On Experience Leadership.

Welcome to Experience Leadership, a podcast that challenges small business owners and entrepreneurs just like you to dare to be the exception. Join our host, customer experience expert Marc Haine, as he uncovers relevant and timely content to help you script and direct your business and teams to create jaw-dropping experiences your customers and staff deserve. Here is the host of Experience Leadership, author of Lights! Camera! Action!, customer experience expert Marc Haine.

Welcome to this episode. We are going to dive into the transformative power of personalization in customer experience. We're going to put a spotlight on the secrets behind creating unforgettable customer interactions. So, I hope you will stick with me. Please feel free to be part of this conversation. I would love to hear your comments. Feel free to post in the comment box with the hashtag #ExperienceLeadership. I'd be more than happy to answer any questions you might have or even hear your feedback. I would love for you to be part of this conversation. So, picture this. You receive an email that starts with Dear valued customer. Or worse, it starts with, dear first name. How valued do you really feel? Not much, right? Well, you're not alone. Studies have shown that generic interactions and lack of personalization lead to customer dissatisfaction and disengagement. Did you know that there is an in-person equivalent to the dear valued customer? Yesterday I went to a restaurant for lunch. Hi, welcome to blank. I don't want to shame the place publicly, so I'm calling them blank. So, welcome to blank. Are you alone? She asked. How embarrassing! No, I said. I'm not alone. I'm Mark. A little irritated with me and my dumb joke, she says, a table for how many? No, I responded. A table for me.

Marc.

So you're eating by yourself then? Follow me. She sits me down and says, your server will be right with you. For the next 20 minutes, 3 servers walked past me multiple times, none of them making any kind of eye contact or saying anything. Eventually, a lady with a name badge walked up and says, have you been served? It turned out that each of the servers thought I was someone else's responsibility. Was I a valued customer? Really didn't feel like it. So today, I'd like to know from you. Our Question of the Day. How far do you go to make your customers feel valued? What system is in place to personalize that experience? I'd really love to hear your thoughts. Why don't you share this episode on your favorite platform And hashtag the post with #ExperienceLeadership. I'd really love to hear what your opinion might be. You know, I am amazed at how frequently we as leaders are really delusional when it comes to how we rate the level of service that we provide. Last April, I was commissioned to do a secret shopper visit for a retail franchise. I uncovered some inconsistencies in how service was being delivered to the customers and to the promise and mission statement held on by the franchise. When I asked the manager to describe the level of service provided to the customers, they were absolutely adamant that customers received the very best service from their team. When I spoke with the team members, they were a little bit more realistic about their performance and knew they could do much better. When I measured the actual rating that I and my 3 other secret shoppers generated, Based on the customer's performance definitions, the store barely delivered to the 20% level dictated by the franchisee. And it's funny because the managers are like, we insist that all our members give extraordinary service. We have the best team of service providers anyway. I know we rock our service, said another manager. Yet, when speaking with the staff, they complained about things like bottlenecks in their service delivery. We tell the managers all the time, said one employee. How can we deliver our best service when they, meaning the managers, keep cutting the schedules and our hours? We are always short-staffed. The bigger issue we uncovered with our undercover visits was really the generic approach the staff took with our transactions. So today, in spite of the secret shopper reporting that we did, I don't really want to harp on the leadership component of the problem. Today, I'd really like to talk about the power of personalization within the confines of delivering on our promise of delivering a customer experience. So we're going to explore some practical knowledge and strategies to enhance the customer experience through personalization and how by just doing that effectively, one can really augment the business's reputation. So why is personalization so vital in enhancing customer experience? Well, let's take a quick look at the numbers. Based on a report by McKinsey and Company, they talk about that personalized experiences can increase sales by up to 15% while boosting customer satisfaction and loyalty. It really is a win-win situation for businesses and for the customers alike. It really does come back to that what's now becoming the cliché of the know, like, and trust factor. Personalization isn't about just slapping customers' names on emails. It's about creating genuine connections to make customers feel that they're truly valued. There's a great Harvard Business Review emphasizing the emotional impact of personalization, stating that customers are more likely to engage with and trust businesses that tailor the experiences to their individual needs and preferences. But how do we achieve this level of personalization, especially if you're just a small business? Now, it's all about understanding your customers on a deeper level. Collecting and analyzing customer data. Oh no, I just said the word data. Oh, it's terrible. I'm talking data. Yes, we do collect and analyze customer data, but it's not as complicated as you might think. But it is absolutely essential to uncovering valuable insights about their behaviors, their preferences, and what they want. And we all know based on previous episodes, if you can find out what they want, you can deliver what they need. Put that in your pipe and smoke it. In my presentation and training session called Strings Attached: Going from Onboarding to Foreverboarding, I talk about the journey that customers and employees experience with us and how their needs and indeed their questions change over time and through their repeat contact with us. A perfect example of this would be Would you talk to a brand-new employee, let's say day 1 on the job, as you would to a 5-year employee on the job? The answer is absolutely not. The needs of the day 1 employee is different from the needs of an employee who's been with you for 5 years, which means employees evolve with us. And there is a journey and definable milestones. Well, the exact same thing happens with our customers. Would you treat a customer that you've seen 3 times a month for the last 5 years the same way that you would treat a customer walking in for the very first time? I hope not. The premise is that if we understand how our customers change through subsequent transactions with us, we can then actually personalize the experience just for them. Crafting personalized recommendations, customizing offers, and creating engaging content that really resonates with that market. Now, personalization isn't without its challenges. I mean, there's a lot of issues. Balancing personalization with customer privacy, for example, is really a tightrope act that businesses must navigate. But by implementing transparent data practices, by obtaining consent and respecting privacy regulations, or even just having open conversations with your clients, you can strike a really good balance between protecting the customer's information while delivering really good personalized experiences based on their unique needs. By recognizing catering to our customers' unique needs, preferences, and emotions, we can create memorable experiences that keep them coming back for more. So before we get into some strategies for crafting and designing personalized experiences, let's talk about what it takes to build genuine connections When the spotlight shines on your business, are customers applauding or yawning? In other words, how is your business performing? Make your business a star with a new book, Lights! Camera! Action!, Business Operational Excellence Through the Lens of Live Theater by Marc Haine. Marc uses his business and acting experience to help you see your business like a live show so you can create a show worth watching. Welcome back to the show. Create a performance your customers will never forget.

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today at your favorite online retailer or directly at marchaine.com. Welcome back. I hope the first segment, we now understand the benefits of personalization. So I'd like to jump into the wonderful world of building genuine connections with our customers. I have to tell you, you know, a few months ago, my wife, Gail, and I decided that it was time to buy a new living room set. We have 2 massive dogs And these beasts did a real number on our 15-year-old sofa. It was really time for something new. It was getting to the point where our furniture was an embarrassment. Now, I will tell you, one of the things about me is I hate dealing with salespeople. I hate shopping for cars. I hate shopping for houses, furniture. It's all the same. You know, in my mind, their job is to sell me something, period. That's all they're there to do. In most of the furniture stores, as soon as we walked in, we feel like we're the artichoke dip at a vegetarian buffet. Everybody's eyeing us, right? As soon as we walk in, men and women are armed with tablets strung across their chest like AK-47s, ready to strike us. Now, like, we know that there's a pecking order, so we are safe from everybody jumping on us, but we also know that we are being evaluated. Like, I wonder if, you know, the everybody watching the sales rep who's up. Yeah, so I wonder if Sammy's gonna score with these guys. What do you think? You think Sammy's gonna get something out of these guys? And then of course, up walks Sammy. Hi guys, out furniture shopping? I know, I know, he's just doing his job. But that's such a dumb question. No, I'm here because I want to buy artichoke dip in a furniture store. It's so funny because we meander in trying not to make eye contact with anybody because first of all, you know, the way that we shop, we want to look around. We want to see what's out there before we start getting to sales pitches. So of course we try not to make eye contact and we're like, oh no, no, we're just looking around. Thanks. Sammy, of course, plasters a forced smile on his face and he's like, no problem. If you need anything, my name is Sammy. And of course, then he proceeds to follow us around the showroom like a store detective ready to pounce. Behind, you know, 15 or 20 steps behind us, peering around and looking at his iPad and pretending he does not see us. I can honestly tell you that we couldn't wait to get out of there. It just felt so high pressure. Now, I know that my salesperson phobia is a me issue, but I'm sure I'm not the only one out there. I'm sure that other people don't like that as well. On our shopping tour, we stopped into La-Z-Boy. We knew the brand was outside our price range, but the brand would give us something to compare to. I wanted to see, you know, what is a good quality piece of furniture and then use that to be able to compare to what we want to buy. We walked around on our own, sitting on various chairs and recliners. And there's a reason why I feel that the La-Z-Boy is the Cadillac of living room furniture. After about 15 minutes, Tom approached us. I know you're just looking around, but if you have any questions, my name is Tom. It's pretty warm outside. Can I get you each a bottle of water? When Tom came back with the bottle of water for each, unfortunately, the water wasn't branded, which I thought was a shame. I thought that was a lost opportunity that it didn't have the La-Z-Boy logo on it. I thought that would have been pretty cool. But by the time he came back, we indeed did have some questions. But there was something different in how we were approached. Somehow Tom knew our personalities. He knew that we needed time and distance. I'm sure he was tuned into our body language as she and as my wife and I talked to each other and sat down on stuff and tested things and then jumped onto another piece of furniture. And I think he knew just when it was appropriate to step in, and he seemed to do it with genuine concern and authenticity. Whether Whether it's in-person transactions or online transactions, the key to any transaction with a customer or our employees is to be authentic. I mean, nobody likes their fake friends, right? I'm sure if you have a fake friend, you can't— you don't want to spend any time with them. Well, I think it's the same thing with our relationships that we create in our businesses. Show genuine interest in your customers by actively watching for clues and listening to the needs and concerns. You automatically start tapping into— you almost like become the customer whisperer. You decode their desires without any of the magical mind-reading abilities. But you can really see when you watch people enough that people's behavior changes when their needs come to the surface. And I think that was the difference in Tom's approach. The best I could do is I could summarize it down into that Tom fulfilled 4 key engagement areas. With us. I'd argue that it's probably a mixture of all of them. I think it's the fact that different furniture stores also had the mix, but it was on a different level. The way that Tom did it though was he had it nicely balanced. First, he was approachable and friendly. As soon as he learned our names, he used our names. Now, Sammy was approachable and kind of friendly, I think, but we didn't stay long enough to figure out how friendly or approachable he was. Approachable he was. Just the fact that he came in with the salesman. Somebody, somebody on a past presentation over last weekend, somebody called it and says, you can always smell salesman breath. And that's what Sammy was versus Tom. But there's something about being approached in a way that you're a friend, that you're familiar. It's just like that neighborhood barista who knows your name and your favorite coffee order. The minute you walk in, they're like, hi, I got your coffee right here. Right? Tom instantly made us feel comfortable and valued. Then, Tom was the master of empathy. That's the second kind of step I would say in creating this relationship. Using empathy as your superpower, you put yourself in your customer's shoes and understand their challenges. In our time together, Tom understood what we were looking for and Our limitations. The 3rd key engagement tool that he used was surprise and delight. He let us know how to negotiate better pricing and leverage a slower month. He told us a little bit about what goes on behind the scenes when it comes to pricings and specials and that sort of thing. The surprise and delight stage doesn't have to be like a grand or outlandish gesture. It could be something as small as a thank you note, a personalized discount, or a little gesture like Bringing a bottle of water to your customer on a hot day. It's more about making your customer's day a little bit brighter by doing little things that would make a huge impact. And my mom is a perfect ambassador for this in that she recognizes kindness and consideration. And really, this is where this level I think really pops in is that if we could look at situations and say, how can I be a little bit kinder? How can I care just a little bit more? And it works. And then of course, the 4th key that Tom kind of emitted was that he was human. He told us stories about the store where the furniture was made and even told us stories about his son, who, by the way, played the lead role in The Arrow, the TV show The Arrow. That is his son. It's like, this is awesome. Building genuine connections is all about being authentic, approachable, empathetic, and human, and surprising your customers with a little bit extra love. I teased a colleague of mine. We went out for lunch one day and I said, the food was okay. The service was okay. And I said, it always amazes me what a difference just a little bit of care would take in changing the dynamic. And really, I told her, I said, you only really have to care this much. And really, it just makes a world of difference. So there was a saying that says, no one cares how much we know until they know how much we care. Well, we had a great tour with Tom in La-Z-Boy. I have to say, and I will be the first one to admit it, we didn't buy La-Z-Boy that day. But after looking, at other places. 11 days later, we went back to that store, we asked for Tom, and then we spent way more for a couch and loveseat than we ever intended. And to be honest, we really could not be happier with the decision. So why don't we get into some strategies, core strategies for crafting personalized experiences? I think looking at the story and then understanding this idea of what a difference personalization can make, If we can understand how to craft personalized experiences, then you can take a look at what your resources are and figure out if you have some capacity to be able to personalize anything, even at the smallest level. And this is really where you can take the information from Strings Attached, my presentation, or on chapter 18 of my book. I have that whole formula, that whole framework kind of built out. And you can take that information, actually design your customers' experiences. Believe it or not, people are predictable, and you are able to actually design the experiences that your customers will get from the various touchpoints in your business. The big objective here, though, is to get the customer into the frame of mind of, wow, you really get me. I don't know how you do it, but you get me. So I'd like to share 4 strategies for creating personalized experiences with you. So if you want to grab a pen, I'll wait. Okay, no, I won't. You can just pause the video. So strategy number 1, know your customer like the back of your hand. It's a simple concept, but it's not easy to do. It means that you have to understand their preferences, their interests, and their needs. You have to be able to look at the transaction that you've done with them and be able to kind of put that peg in that transaction to say, oh, this particular person likes this, or this particular person likes that. When we walked back into the store 11 days later and asked for Tom, right away Tom knew and he remembered the 2 sets that we were considering at the time. Out of all the pieces of furniture, he remembered which 2. Well, there was 3, but right away he told us the 3rd one that we were looking at, which we didn't think would really fit, was already sold. So when it comes down to this idea, if you've done the work, you're able to define 2 or 3 customer avatars. Avatars kind of is a people definition exercise that gives you insights into your perfect customer. Like, can you describe to me, to a neighbor? Can you describe your perfect customer? And if you can't, I suggest that you get together with your team and sit down and say, let's define 3 different types of customers that we have and really get down and dirty with them. This is work that I love doing with Intact teams when we talk about the journey mapping experience. The very first thing that we do is we go into what's called a stakeholder alignment exercise. where we go through and we start picking on— we give the avatar a name and then let's describe the person. Is the person single? Is they married? Does the person have children? Are they working full-time, part-time? What are their stressors? What is it like? Do they have a mortgage? And we go through all this because the more that we understand the avatars, the needs, wants, and desires come to the surface. And then you can support all that by collecting data through Surveys, customers' feedback, or even the good old-fashioned conversations. When somebody says, hey, thanks so much, that was great today, thanks for taking care of me, you can just stop there for a second and say, can I ask you one question? What did you appreciate about what we did for you today? And listen to your customer. Once you can get into their minds and get the feedback, the process is like having cheat codes to unlock their hearts. You become in tune over what resonates with your perfect customer. And strategy number 2 is custom-make recommendations. Who doesn't love a recommendation that feels like it was handpicked just for them? You can use the data that you gathered to suggest products or services that align with their interests and needs. So, you know, at a simple level, knowing that somebody loves pasta In your restaurant. And every time he has mac and cheese, he's like, oh, I love pasta. By the way, I love pasta. When he walks in and sits down at the table, if you're in tune with his needs, you could turn around and say, oh, today we have a special pasta dish. I think you're gonna love it. Right? It's like having a personal shopping assistant minus all the judgmental stares. Really? Yeah, like that. But being in tune to it by able to turn around and making those— who doesn't like that? Who doesn't say, oh, I can't believe you considered my feelings or you considered what I wanted in order to make this happen? And then strategy number 3 is be aware of and celebrate special moments, birthdays, anniversaries, or even just because moments. You know, how cool would it be that you walk into a store and they pull you aside and they say, John, if your name is John, hey, just want to let you know it was 1 year today that you came into our store for the very first time. How valued would that customer feel? You could send personalized messages or exclusive offers to make your customers feel like they're extra special. You could throw a surprise party, you know, or an anniversary party, and you can invite Your special people. And you let them know in the invitation, this is for my special customers just like you. I'm inviting 50 of our best customers. It really is like throwing a birthday party without the hassle of balloons and streamers. But you celebrate behavior. And if you've again watched this podcast for any length of time, you've heard me say it. What gets recognized and rewarded gets repeated. That is, if behavior gets recognized, And rewarded, it gets repeated. So if you see somebody coming in for the second time in the week, you go, hey, welcome back. It was nice to— it's nice to see you. Is there anything else we can get for you? Oh, or somebody comes back, he's a regular customer. By turning around and saying, Steve, it is absolutely brilliant to see you again, right? It's magical and it validates people. And finally, the fourth strategy is use the power of personalizations to create a seamless customer journey. Understanding their journey and designing processes that cater to the various milestones within their journey makes all the difference in the world. And if all you heard was blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah about that, pick up my book, read chapter 18. I go in-depth on the different milestones that people are on. Done right, you can make every step, every touchpoint feel tailored to their needs. It really is like having a virtual tour guide who knows exactly what you want before you even say it. I know you might be saying, but Marc, I'm not one of those big operations. I have such a small team. But personalization isn't just for the big players. Small businesses can get into the action too. You don't need a massive budget or massive department to craft personalized experiences. We all have Relationships with people. I suggest that you just start small, test, and then iterate. What works? What didn't work? Keep an open communication with your customers. They'll let you know when you get it right. Trust me, they will let you know when they're blown away. And remember, Rome wasn't built in a day, and neither is a fully personalized customer experience. This is something, it's an evolutionary process for you. But I do encourage you to tap into your team's genius, tap into the people who are at grassroots dealing with your customers. Get them involved. And remember, personalization is all about making your customers feel like they're getting the red carpet treatment, even if they're just looking around. So, I'd like to wrap up with overcoming some common challenges and implementing personalization. And we'll get to that right after this.

Attention meeting and event planners! Is your company or association planning a live or virtual conference, seminar, or staff retreat? Are you looking for a fresh, energetic perspective on what it takes to put on a jaw-dropping experience for your customers or staff? Book customer experience expert Marc Haine for your next group event. Past participants have said, Marc kept us in stitches while teaching us how important and powerful actually designing our customer experience can be. Read more testimonials And find out how Marc can serve you and your group at marchaine.com. That's M-A-R-C-H-A-I-N-E.com.

Welcome back. As you can tell, I am pretty stoked about today's topic. Okay, I'm a nerd when it comes to this topic. But if you find this interesting and you know someone planning a convention, leadership retreat, or staff training, Why don't you connect them with me? It would be my absolute pleasure to serve. And if you have a business and you want to delve a little bit deeper into this idea of journey mapping and avatar building and crafting personalized experiences and you'd like some help, please feel free to reach out. I'm more than happy to be of service. You're probably at that point now where you're feeling slightly overwhelmed. I mean, we've talked a lot for the last 30-ish minutes. about this idea of crafting personalized experiences. And it sounds good on the surface, but at the same token, it doesn't sound like it might be something really easy to do. We talked about this idea of starting small and just starting with individuals, one person at a time. But realizing that personalizing customer experiences is really necessary, we also have to realize that it's going to take intention and work. And let's face it, we have to craft everything we do with our customers with intent for it to resonate. We have to have it top of mind. It can't be just an afterthought. It has to be done with intent. And there can be some challenges and obstacles. For instance, the very first one is data overload, right? What data do you collect? What data do you analyze? It can easily become really overwhelming. But I suggest that you start small by focusing on The data that aligns with your personalization goals. What do you want to do if you're going to be kicking this program off to start personalizing your interactions with your customers? What's one of the 2 things that would really mean a lot to your customers? And then, you can work with your team to figure out how do we implement this? How do we figure this out? Who do you want to— you have to figure out with your team who you want to design for and for what reason. And that becomes the first step. And you will be able to iterate that and go back and forth with testing it. To see if it resonates. Another concern, of course, is what I talked about at the very top of the show, and that is privacy. Protecting customer data is absolutely crucial. We can't mess around with that. It is important to implement transparent data processes. You have to let your customers know that this is content that we're creating. If you ask them to fill out a survey, you let them know we are out to, you know, we want to use the data to make sure that we are servicing you to the best of our ability. And then you have to obtain customer consent. And please follow privacy regulations. There's no shortcut here. But it is like you have to take the stance with data that you want to wrap customer data in a security blanket and you want to keep it safe. You always want to be looking at what it is you're collecting and only collect for what you're going to use.

Okay?

And then lastly, scaling the personalization. I mentioned starting small, starting with individual customers, working with your team and saying, hey, pick me out 5 of your best customers over the next 14 days, and let's see what we can figure out about these people to be able to personalize their experiences. As your business grows, personalization and personalizing experiences for a much larger customer base can feel like herding a pack of energetic puppies. It's important to keep your fingers on the pulse of the technology and automation that's out there, And of course, artificial intelligence is going to be playing a major role in the future, and it will be an ace in your pocket as you explore bigger, more meaningful presents. But remember, personalization here is a journey, and challenges are just detours along the way. So put on a personalization superhero cape and let's conquer those challenges, because I know that if you care enough, those challenges Can be dealt with. Has this been helpful? I'm hoping that this has been valuable to you. I hope it's been helpful. If you have some questions about our topic today and you'd like to brainstorm some aspect of your business, feel free to click the calendar link in the show notes. It is the one marked meetwith.marchaine.com and get a complimentary session because at the end of the day, I do live to serve. And please, if you enjoyed this episode, feel free to subscribe to this episode and subscribe to this podcast. And feel free to share it with your network. Bottom line is applying what we learned today will be magic for your business. Even bigger, if you apply these concepts to all your stakeholders, that is your employees, your suppliers, anyone you do business with in any capacity, You will rock your world with the most amazing loyal brand ambassadors. I really appreciate you hanging out with me today. My name is Marc Haine. I hope that you stay safe, stay healthy, and I hope you dare to be the exception. Thanks for joining me today.

Thank you for joining us this week on Experience leadership. Make sure you visit marchaine.com for a full directory of available episodes. While you're at it, if you found today's content valuable, please share it and tell your friends about the show. As Marc says, knowledge is power, but only if you share it. Be sure to tune in each week for the newest episode.

Thank you.

Please stay safe, stay healthy, and dare to be the exception.