Written by Linda Hamman
Image by https://talk2us.link/John-Schnobrich
A change of ownership, followed by a buy-out, high churn of front-line people, who might not have been thoroughly auditioned and probably haven’t gone through the necessary rehearsals to create the experience, that I always found worthy of a standing ovation, is most definitely an impact that is going to be felt, especially by big retail.
The light bulb moment…
I was in a retail store late yesterday afternoon, just made their closing time, but was on an urgent mission to help a sick young adult. The red tape, the complete lack of empathy and irrational approach to my ‘pending doom’ (some dramatic licence taken here!) took me off guard as I have been frequenting this outlet for close on 28 years. I have during over the years been a loyal client and, in fact, gone out of my way to support them as they are not in the vicinity, I conduct all my other mundane shopping errands.
On my way home, for the first time in a long time, I questioned the rationale for my loyalty, something I hadn’t had reason to, or have questioned, for the longest time. It hit me – the EXPERIENCE is why I have been going out of my way for the past 28 years. Late this afternoon, when I probably most needed a positive experience, it was as though there was just a VOID. I was a nameless face amongst a sea of nameless faces with a problem that no-one cared about and an assistant trying to convince me not to care about it, to hold it over to a more convenient time. Upon reflection I realised the ‘magic’ had fizzled a long time ago, the barriers to move and avoiding extra effort just seemed like a greater problem then ‘making do’ with what was offered… this had been the order of the day… UNTIL TODAY. An Ah-Ha moment indeed!
What lies at the heart of this failure is a lack of building the employer brand experience which will deliver the consumer brand and ultimately have an impact on the organisations market value and go a long way to realising innovation investment.
Consider what it takes to deliver a consistent experience for your customers… let us help you create you plan with our page to stage methodology.
