The 4 Critical Ingredients to a Great Customer Experience

Lots of folks including many I respect, have recently put out new material on imperatives and necessities to the customer experience.  Many tackle strategic and corporate prerequisites which are important, however the tactical customer view is what is really needed and must bridge the gap between this strategic and the tactical, customer-facing view.

So, I have attempted to build my own model and I'd love your feedback on it.  I tossed around a bunch of terms and tried to balance being too specific without being too vague simultaneously.

A great customer experience must be predictable, informative, fulfilling, and trustworthy.  Let me explain.

Predictable:  Predictable to me means that I can anticipate what the agent will say and the agent can anticipate where I am going with my potentially unique request.  Predictable means you can quickly realize whether or not I need to be transferred and respecting my time.  Predictable means an easy transaction, it means I can anticipate how long I may be on hold or whether or not I can handle my needs on line.

Trustworthy:  Trustworthy goes beyond secure data and privacy.  It means that you are benevolent in your interaction and doing what's right for me, regardless of what puts more money in your pocket.  It's genuine.  It's personal without adversity because you looked at my situation as a person and not as how it fits your policy.

Fulfilling:  Fulfilling means closure.  It means I have checked something off my list and it means I just avoided an issue where I may have had to call two weeks from now.  It means complete and at peace with the result.


Informative:  Experiences must be informative.  Informative is mutually beneficial to the customer and the company.  Informative is enjoyable and allows you to think about what to do the next time something happens, whether that is the time to call, the form to retrieve, the information to be prepared with, or the time that something will be on sale or a product that will provide me greater value of my time and money.

I have also included what happens or what the experience is if you only have three of the four.  I'm sure this model will evolve as I get ready to tackle some major consulting engagements here over the next six months, but I have a place to start and would love to learn more from you on how this model can be improved.