The "perfect" customer experience represents a sort of Holy Grail for most businesses: They're not sure it actually exists, but they're convinced it's something worth striving for. Many experts agree on both counts. Perfection is an elusive state relative to customer experience-if it's ever reached at all, it doesn't last long. Things change quickly in today's multifaceted business environment, and customers interact with your business through multiple touchpoints, so you constantly need to monitor and make adjustments to your customer experience efforts.

"The starting point for improving customer experience is to literally map all the experiences a customer considering buying your product or service might have," says Rita McGrath, an associate professor at Columbia Business School in New York. She suggests looking critically at all the steps you require for someone to become a customer and eliminating any that aren't absolutely critical. For example, if you market via the web, try to make do with the most minimal information until the customer is actually ready to buy. "Most small business owners are astonished at the number of roadblocks that exist in what I call the 'consumption chain' when they are pointed out to them," she says.

Stormy Simon, senior vice president of marketing and customer care at Overstock.com, led a reorganization of the online retailer's customer care department that transformed it into a nationally recognized leader. The keys to her efforts, she says, are the same things small businesses should focus on to improve their customer experience. "Listen to what your customers say, communicate your vision to all customer-facing employees, let them know what your expectations are and invest in the tools, technology and training they need to meet those expectations."

As important as those internal considerations are, there are also keys to your external message:

• Think like a customer-As the philosopher John Locke wrote: "No man's knowledge here can go beyond his experience." Executive coach, author of It Takes a Lot More than Attitude...to Lead a Stellar Organization and adjunct lecturer at Babson College Stever Robbins says that's good advice for business owners as well. "Pretend to be a customer and walk through the experience of finding you, contacting you and using your product," he says.
• Be accessible-Whether it's online or in print, make it easy for customers to contact you regarding their experience with your business, and give them immediate feedback so they don't wonder if anyone even knows they're trying to reach your company, Robbins suggests. After you deliver your product or service, review the transaction and look for things you could have done better. "Most importantly, follow through and do those things better next time," he says.
• Under-promise, over-deliver-One trap some small businesses fall into is overpromising, says David Levin, communication coach and author of Don't Just Talk, Be Heard! "You have to manage expectations," he says. "A customer's level of satisfaction-or frustration-is directly related to how well their experience matches their expectations."
• Set expectations up front-The better job you do of communicating to your customers what to expect in advance, the happier they are going to be with the results. "They're also going to be more passionate advocates for your business, because taking the time to educate them on the process sends a powerful message that you understand, respect, and care about them," Levin says. "And customers who really believe that about you and your products or services aren't going anywhere else."

Finally, as with most things in business life, it's possible to "over-think" your attempts to improve customer experience. "Positive customer experiences don't have to involve over-the-top practices," notes Doug Meyer, chief customer officer at Sage North America. "Often, getting the basics right consistently across all touchpoints will go a long way toward creating strong customer loyalty."

Features

Finding Your 'A' List Customers Offers Many Rewards

Allocating customer resources according to expected return is critical for small businesses

While the Declaration of Independence declares that all men are created equal, any business owner can tell you that all customers are not. Take the time to identify the characteristics of your best customers, and make the effort to seek out more of them. Doing so can result in greater customer loyalty, higher sales per transaction and increased profits.

One of the key ingredients of formal strategic planning is defining your customer. This is particularly important for small businesses because most simply don't have the time, resources or personnel to take a "shotgun" approach-peppering every potential customer with marketing materials-to prospecting, says Chicago-based Ray Silverstein, author of The Small Business Survival Guide and founder of PRO, a small-business peer group advisory board organization.

"Lack of focus is a problem that often comes up at our meetings," he says. "Companies try to be too many things to too many customers, thereby missing the chance to target their best potential customer. Ask yourself who is most likely to buy your product or service, what their characteristics are and what your capabilities to supply them are. In sales and marketing, the key is to hunt with a rifle, not a shotgun."

He adds that this philosophy applies to existing customers as well as new ones. You should not provide equal service to all customers because not all customers are of equal value to you. "Classify your customers, and reserve your very best priority service for customers on your 'A' list," he counsels.

Identifying your best customers depends on several variables, some of which may be specific to your industry, location, size and other factors. Start by determining the criteria that are most important to your company, such as sales potential, profitability, payment history, ease of doing business, etc.

Suzie Boland, president of RFB Communications Group, a Tampa, Florida-based public relations agency, has profitability at the top of her list. Next, in descending order of importance, are:

• growth potential of the client's industry;
• extent of the client's need for her services;
• likelihood of the client showing positive results from the services she provides;
• potential for ongoing business; and
• ratio of client-acquisition cost to projected return on that investment.

Rick Chess, managing partner at Chess Law Firm in Richmond, Virginia, also suggests focusing on customers who:

• pay their bills on time;
• are likely to survive the current economic difficulties;
• make strategic and/or tactical use of the products or services you currently provide them; and
• offer the greatest potential to become consumers of additional products and services.

Joseph Andreula, who owns 18 gyms in New York and New Jersey and an online boxing supply company, is even more pragmatic. He asks three questions about his customers:

• Who contributes the most dollars to his business?
• Who refers the most business to his company?
• Who is lowest-maintenance in terms of the company resources (dollars and time) they consume?

"Anyone who shows up in the top 20% on all three lists fits the profile of your best customer," he says.

Before you can figure out what your best customer looks like, you need to do a little self-examination, advises Paul Kurnit, a consultant and professor of marketing at Pace University's Lubin School of Business. "What's your brand positioning? What do you do particularly well? What makes you unique? Who is your competition? What makes you more attractive to customers than your competitors? You need to answer these questions first," he says.

Ironically, many companies provide their best service to their worst customers. "The customers that hassle you most-those on your 'F' list-may be getting your best 'A' list service," Silverstein says. "There is both a direct and indirect cost to servicing a customer, and you should assess both. Those that pay late, require maximum handholding and return little or no profitability represent an opportunity cost. Why miss out on 'A' level service opportunities at the expense of problematic 'F' list customers?"