The Four Pillars of an Effortless Experience that Grows Customer Loyalty

06/23/20 • 53 min

We all want our customers to be happy. But what happens when they’re not?

No matter how delighted your customers are when your products and services deliver as advertised, at some point, a shipment will get buried in a blizzard, software will crash, a green employee will say the wrong thing at the worst time ... or a global pandemic will disrupt your supply chain.

According to customer service expert Matt Dixon, how your company addresses those bumps in the road is far more critical to generating customer loyalty than all those perfect, positive experiences the customer might be taking for granted.

On today’s episode, Matt discusses some insights from his book “The Effortless Experience: Conquering the New Battleground for Customer Loyalty" that will help you refocus your customer service on what really creates lasting repeat business: quick problem solving and ease of use.

We all want our customers to be happy. But what happens when they’re not?

Previous Episode

Former Xerox Exec Encourages CEOs to “Debate and Commit” to Stay Ahead of Change

If you really want to grow your business fast, you need to build a team that will disagree with you.

Does that sound counter-intuitive?

Well, it worked for Abraham Lincoln. Our greatest president famously assembled a “team of rivals” in his cabinet because he wanted to work with smart people who would challenge – and improve – his thinking.

So what does your “cabinet” look like? Is your C-suite full of Yes Men and Yes Women? Have you created an atmosphere where your best people are afraid to challenge you with their best ideas?

Either situation can be fatal to a company’s growth, especially in today’s uncertain and rapidly fluctuating economy. Right now, every business leader is being challenged to think outside the box and find innovative solutions to today’s unprecedented problems. In this podcast, Gerry Perkel describes how building a team that disagrees with you can help a CEO not only tackle the challenges that COVID-19 presents, but successfully grow their business to new heights.

Next Episode

Former Home Depot Canada CEO on Keys to Scaling to $1 Billion or More in Sales

Guest: CEO Coaching International’s Stephen Bebis. Stephen held a variety of senior merchandising roles at Home Depot before being named the VP General Merchandise Manager for the Mid-South Division. He also founded Aikenhead's Improvement Warehouse and built it to $1 billion in sales before selling it to Home Depot. After the acquisition, Stephen served as President and CEO of Home Depot Canada and chairman of the Aikenhead/Home Depot Partnership Board. Stephen also founded Golf Town, built it to 65 stores, and took the company public.

Episode in a Tweet: There's always a crisis somewhere. The best leaders have a continuous planning process and the right people to execute it.

Quick Background: When Stephen Bebis joined Home Depot in 1984 the company had just 14 stores. When he left in 1990, he was running a $20 billion division as a head merchant and was the VP of the southern part of the country. And while some might look back on the ’80s and early ‘90s as a booming time for business, think about everything that happened during the 6 years that Stephen helped Home Depot grow. Two presidential elections. Black Monday, 1987. Tumult in the Middle East, including Russia’s invasion of Afghanistan. Not to mention annual hurricane seasons and other unpredictable disasters.

No, running a business isn’t easy during Covid-19. But as Stephen discusses on today’s show, CEOs always have to be prepared to adjust to unforeseen circumstances and refocus their efforts on how to satisfy and grow their customer base.