Taking Great Care: What world-class customer experience brands have in common

Most companies have multiple statements—a mission, purpose, and core values. The problem with having numerous statements is that employees can’t keep track of them or remember them. The one statement that all world-class customer experience organizations have in common is they all have a customer experience action statement that they make sure every one of their team members knows and understands in detail. 

So why would a company consider adding another statement? The reason is that a customer experience action statement is the one thing that is actionable for employees. Don’t get me wrong: I love mission statements and purpose statements. However, a mission statement is a compass for what the organization wants to achieve in the long term. A purpose statement is the why. 

For example, when we worked with Starbucks, the company’s purpose statement was “To inspire and nurture the human spirit one person, one cup, and one neighborhood at a time.” That is a great purpose statement. However, if someone comes in and orders a venti soy latte and the barista gives it to them exactly how they ordered it in 90 seconds, did the barista inspire or nurture their human spirit? Probably not. That is something that takes dozens and dozens of positive experiences. 

Mission and purpose statements are both outcomes. A customer experience action statement is the brand’s CX North Star. It is a clear call to action about what every employee should intentionally achieve when interacting with a customer.

If your employees are only going to remember one thing, one organizational statement, it should be your customer experience action statement. Unlike your mission and purpose statements that you may post on your website, a customer experience action statement is not for anyone outside the organization to see. It is only to be marketed to your employees. That is why when The DiJulius Group helped Starbucks create its customer experience action statement, the phrase went inside of every green apron so that all partners (employees) would see it multiple times a day.

The 3 pillars

The customer experience action statement outlines what you want your team members to deliver and your customers to feel every time they interact. The three supporting pillars help you achieve this:

1. Expertise. The first pillar represents your expertise or being the best at what you do: the best pizza makers, doctors, nurses, delivery drivers, etc. Your focus is on quality, technical ability, professionalism, and operational excellence.
2. Customer interaction. The second pillar focuses on customer interaction: hospitality, relationship building, and personalized experience.
3. Above and beyond. The third pillar focuses on where you can go above and beyond. It focuses on taking a step further to surprise and delight when the opportunity presents itself: exceeding expectations, offering opportunities, and being proactive.

While the customer experience action statement is vital, I believe the pillars are even more important. Without the pillars, the service vision statement is just a statement. However, the pillars are the You can achieve the experience action statement by executing the pillars every time.

A shining example

Chick-fil-A has revolutionized its industry by mastering hospitality, unlike any other QSR. Its story is remarkable. With more than 3,000 locations in the U.S. and more than 40 years of double-digit growth, Chick-fil-A is one of the best case studies for customer service consistency. Its customer experience action statement is “To make our guests feel cared for, unlike anywhere else.”

I love that—make their guests feel cared for like no one else does. They didn’t say, “Make our guests feel cared for better than Burger King or McDonald’s.” They said better than anywhere else customers go. Chick-fil-A knows it is not only competing with other fast-food restaurants. After you go to a Chick-fil-A restaurant, you don’t drive down the street to one of its competitors. You don’t need to, but you do go to other places, like running errands and dealing with other businesses.

“Cared-for-meter” 

Chick-fil-A has a metaphoric “cared-for-meter” that it uses as a training example to demonstrate how much people need to feel cared for. Remember the Chick-fil-A video? It demonstrates all the different situations that are going on in its customers’ lives. Besides the personal situations, think about how often people experience subpar service in a day, constantly hearing things like “No, we can’t do that” and “It’s our policy.”

During any given day, a person’s cared-for-meter could be around a three or a four out of 10. When they walk into a Chick-fil-A restaurant, they are greeted with an enthusiastic smile, and they hear words like “certainly” and “my pleasure.” Suddenly, their cared-for-meter spikes to a nine. Something significant happens to a person when they feel cared for. They may not realize it then, but they want that feeling again. They need that feeling again. A few days later, someone is dying for a chicken sandwich from Chick-fil-A, but it might not be only the sandwich drawing them back. 

Invest in creating your own customer experience action statement and ensure every existing employee, franchisee, and new employee gets trained on it and can clearly articulate it.

John DiJulius III, author of The Customer Service Revolution, is president of The DiJulius Group, a customer service consulting firm that works with companies, such as Starbucks, Chick-fil-A, Ritz-Carlton, Nestle, PwC, Lexus, and many more. Contact him at 216-839-1430 or [email protected].