Customer Service ISN'T Customer Experience

As a customer experience design type, I definitely help companies deliver better service! But... Service improvements are just one component in elevating the experiences people have when they encounter your brand. Actually, my favorite definition of customer experience comes from my friend Doug Fleener of the Dynamic Experiences Group. Doug says.... "Customer experience is managing the perceptions, emotions, reactions, and actions that a customer has while interacting with a company's environment, product, and employees." Okay, that's easy enough - We're done! Actually, Doug's definition highlights all the important moving parts in the customer experience equation and allows for a quick business assessment. Let's make this a little bit easier by focusing on your key customer group (deep dives require an analysis of all customer segments): How do those customers perceive your company? How do they feel about you? How do they react to your services, offerings, portals, channels? What opportunities exist to elevate your environment or products? What can you do to improve the way your staff interact with those customers? Every moment between your brand and customers (from marketing to post-sale) is THE EXPERIENCE..... What a grand journey!