Are you focusing attention on the experience that your customers/members have when doing business with your organization?  Recently, I took a tour for a client with a video camera to show the C-suite executives what it is like for a prospect to walk into their branches, what the process was like for opening an account, and then the same experience opening an account online.

The “tour” was eye-opening because it is often hard for executives to get out make a similar tour, and by virtue of being an exec, the staff reacts differently than they do to a marketing consultant!  So, what did I show them?

• How the physical branch looked to someone new, from the corporate colors and branding, to the furniture, to the teller line.
• The greeter or lack of a greeter and what impact that has on the walk-in experience of a prospect.
• How long everything took, from the waiting for a staff member to open the account to explaining the documentation to handing over all the paperwork.
• How opening an account online was confusing and consisted of lots of screens to read. More importantly, there was more to be done after the account information was filled out, but could only be done by mail or visiting the physical location.

So, how long has it been since someone actually documented the experience of being a new customer/member with your organization?  You might be unpleasantly surprised at how things have become more about the existing customers/members being already comfortable with your service.

Try it – go video the experience and ask these questions:

• What does the customer/member want and how can we tailor it to today’s busy consumer so that it is more personalized?
• How can we engage staff so that they embrace their importance, as they are the brand?
• How can the member interact with the brand (through social media, on the website and inside branches)?
• Where is your organization in the community? Are managers and staff representing the brand? Are they networking with professionalism and self-confidence?
• What is the culture story – are the right people in the right seats to provide the right service to make it work?

If you want to have LemmonTree be your not-so-secret shopper for identifying ways to enhance your own customer/member experience, give us a call at 480.967.1405 or email us at 7solutions@LemmonTree.com! To read more about our Strategic Marketing Audits, click here.