As I was talking to this owner-operator, he was thinking about what life was going to be like after the pandemic, with employees coming back to the office for the first time in a year.
“For that matter,” he said, “how are we going to re-engage with each other?”
One-on-one engagement was an interesting topic before the world shut down. Today, it’s a critical question.
One of the foundational truths of customer experience is that people crave human interaction. In the two decades before the pandemic, human connection had been on a serious decline.
In fact, research suggested that we have 1/20th the real-life connection that we used to.
Why?
Online shopping, social media, ATMs, pay-at-the-pump gasoline and all the trappings of a digital world combine to eliminate human interaction.
Loneliness was a social epidemic before social distancing was a public health strategy.
What’s our loneliness number today?
Who knows? But it hasn’t improved.
In business, it’s an opportunity to give our customers the experience they’ve been missing, to stand out in the marketplace even more. But it won’t happen by accident.
The post-pandemic challenge is that every person brings their own comfort level with personal interaction.
People want to be engaged only and exactly in the way they want to. You will have customers who thought Covid was something approaching a hoax and others who are still highly cautious.
Some will be starved for human interaction. Some will be nervous just to be in the same physical space with another human being.
And both are your customers.
That means that it’s more important than ever for businesses to teach, train and role-play. Don’t leave it to chance and hope you get it right every time.
The fact is, employees also bring social boundaries and perceptions of public health standards to the interaction. Your body language and attitude will influence your customer’s experience.
If your aren’t comfortable, trained and confident in how to deal with customers, you won’t be at your best.
What does that mean for your business? I wish I had one answer that would work for everybody.
I don’t.
But I do know there is a right answer – a set of standards, guidelines and behaviors – that can be adapted for you and your situation.
I know it’s out there.
The ideas that make a remarkable customer experience haven’t changed.
Going forward, the businesses that adapt and find those answers will succeed.
Let’s talk about how to make it work for you. Start by determining your customer experience score and then let’s get you ready to re-engage with your customers.