Would You Do That to Your Mother? by Jeanne Bliss

Author:Jeanne Bliss
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group
Published: 2018-05-08T04:00:00+00:00

THE MOM LENS

Living Your Purpose and Promise #MakesMomProud.

IKEA lives its purpose of “being there for the many people.” It unites every silo, every person, and every operation to deliver value to customers at the times in their lives when it’s needed.

Do You Have Clarity of Purpose?

Is Everyone Connected in Improving Customers’ Lives?

Start with Life, Not the Action Item.

Honor the human right in front of you.

How we’re greeted as customers tells us a lot about the treatment we’re about to receive. Whether you’re placing a call to a company, checking in at a hotel, walking into a retailer, or visiting the doctor, that first moment of contact cements it. And as you’re standing there, or still in the line waiting, you get that little catch in your throat while waiting to be acknowledged.

Beth feels fortunate because under her employer’s health-care plan, she can go to an urgent-care clinic in town along with her family members for no additional co-pay. As a teacher on a limited income, this puts her mind at ease. But every time she checks in at the front desk, it feels like filling out forms is the main priority of the front desk personnel. When she gets a “hello,” it’s from someone behind the desk who lifts his head momentarily from his computer screen. What Beth really wants is what we all want: to be the priority—she wants those employees to acknowledge her with respect and ask how they can help her.

What we all yearn for is to be recognized and welcomed. And to have our priorities understood and acted upon. How you welcome customers gives them important clues about what the rest of their experience will be like. It’s all too easy to slip into an ultra-efficient routine that inadvertently focuses on internal processes rather than the human right in front of you.

Would you invite your mom to an event at your home, then give her a number and ask her to take a seat? Of course not. You’d welcome her in, ask how she was doing, and make her comfortable. You’d make sure she knew you acknowledged her importance.

Honor the human right in front of you.

Make-mom-proud companies act on people’s desire to be acknowledged. Hyatt Hotels, which we mentioned earlier, focused their human-centered redesign on the “moment of recognition” we need with a check-in experience. CEO Mark Hoplamazian said that this work began when he personally observed Hyatt’s check-in experience from the perspective of the human customer, rather than from the hotel chain’s. As a result, Hyatt spent two years developing a system that redirects the front desk clerk’s initial focus from keying in the reservation to greeting and welcoming the customer. The redesign has led to an increased focus on hiring personal and engaged people at that front counter. Now empathy and a human connection, rather than the sound of those clicking keys, are hallmarks of a Hyatt hotel welcome.

The great opportunity here is to redesign your welcome—to rethink your “hello” with welcoming eye contact and by calling customers by name.

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