I’m lucky to be friends with the owners of Clifton Coffee Roasters in Bristol. It means I can drop in to their roastery to say hello and get to taste perfectly made coffee.
I went in this week to talk with James and Eddie about an event I’m planning at the roastery, and while we talked, the team in the roastery was going through the tasting process, which ensures that roasting profiles stay in line with what’s been asked for by customers.
The importance for Clifton Coffee to do this lies within the fact that they work from a natural raw product, so adjustments are sometimes needed to the roasting process to maintain the tasting notes expected by customers.
Cat, their chief taster, gave me the opportunity to join her and talked me through the process, helping me identify the subtle differences. This got me thinking…what are you doing to make sure your product or service is continually delivering what your customers expect?
This is where Customer Journey Mapping makes the difference to the customer experience you deliver. When you follow the process to identify where you can improve, it takes you beyond the focus of selling and getting your product delivered. It makes sure customers continue to be satisfied, and even delighted, with your product.
Even if you have great account managers and a responsive customer care team, the fact that you are being reactive to issues means there is already a problem, and no matter how big or small, when the time comes for your customer to review your contract, this could be a factor that goes against you. That’s lost revenue from them and potentially lost business referrals, too.
So, what can you do to add a process to monitor the quality of your service, to make sure you keep delivering what your customer expects? Any investment will quickly be returned in retained business and the relationships that creates.