Nishat Mehta, President of Iri took the stage at LSA18 to discuss the customer experience and how businesses can meet the ever-changing consumer demands and maintain customer loyalty. According to Mehta, the customer experience is a “balance between machine-centered insights and human-centered insights.” Combining these visions is the pathway toward a successful customer service approach.
Mehta began his presentation by elaborating on poor customer experiences that made headlines; the Wells Fargo fiasco where employees were creating fake accounts (without customer permission) to meet their targeted sales goals, and the United Airlines customer who refused to give up his seat on an overbooked flight, resulting in him being dragged off the aircraft.
He then dove into how the customer experience has developed over time. “Each of you is a customer already,” he said, prior to detailing four components that most customers seek to experience during any given business interaction: personal, magical, simple and empathetic.
- Personal: Customers seek out an experience that is unique and personalized to them and their needs. Providing them with that will only provide benefits.
- Magical: Generating surprise and delighting the customer.
- Simple: It doesn’t have to be elaborate, it just needs to be approached correctly.
- Empathetic: Acting on the things we already know make for a great customer experience. Hiring people that care about your customers and are passionate about providing them with a positive experience.
“Everything can be a customer experience … It enables everything that comes next,” he said.
