Picture this: It’s Monday morning, and you stop by your favorite coffee shop. The barista smiles, greets you by name, asks how your weekend was, remembers your usual order, and somehow that customer experience makes Monday feel just a little less… Monday.
Now picture the opposite.
You walk in and stand there while employees chat with each other. Or worse yet, they scroll on their phones before someone finally looks up and says, “Can I help you?” with zero enthusiasm.
You still leave with your coffee, but the experiences couldn’t be more different. One that leaves you feeling welcomed and looking forward to your next visit, and another that leaves you irritated, making a mental note to not come back.
So what made the difference? It probably wasn’t personality. Giving them the benefit of the doubt, the baristas playing on their phones might be lovely people outside of work. But they lacked the preparation and groundwork to provide a pleasant experience.
Customer Experience Doesn’t Start with the Customer
We hear leaders say it all the time: “We just want our employees to provide an amazing customer experience.”
Which prompts us to ask: What did you train them to do?
Can you hear the crickets?
The truth is, we’re not born with built-in customer service skills. Somewhere along the way, we started expecting people to deliver experiences they were never taught how to create. You wouldn’t hand Michael Jordan a football and expect him to score a touchdown.
Customer experience works the same way.
Companies Known for Great Service Don’t Leave It to Chance
Take The Ritz-Carlton, for example.
They’ve built a reputation for creating extraordinary guest experiences around the world. Not because every employee naturally knows what exceptional hospitality looks like, but because they’ve been taught by leadership through an extensive training program.
They train employees on how to anticipate needs, how to make decisions that align with the company’s values, how to recover from mistakes, and how to create moments customers remember long after they’ve checked out. This attention to training makes people spend the extra money to stay where they know they’ll be taken care of.
That level of experience isn’t luck.
It’s the result of intentional training.
It’s why customers willingly pay more to stay there. It’s why someone chooses Publix over Walmart. And it’s what makes customers choose your business over a competitor.
Every Employee Represents Your Brand
Whether you realize it or not, every interaction your employees have with a customer tells people what your company stands for.
When an employee confidently solves a problem, your brand wins. When they freeze because they don’t know what to do, your brand pays the price. They are a reflection of how your company operates. Customers don’t separate the employee from the company. To them, they are the company.
Stop Training People on Tasks. Start Training Them on Experiences.
Most onboarding focuses on systems and processes. How to log in, complete paperwork, use the software, etc.
Of course, those things matter and cannot be skipped. But your customers don’t remember how quickly someone navigated the software. They remember how they were treated.
Have you ever called a business and someone answers the phone with just “Hello?” They don’t say their name or the name of the business. It’s jarring and starts the interaction off on a weird note. They were never taught how they should be answering calls. Train your employees to communicate the way you want your brand to sound. That means phone and email, too.
A few more tips:
- Role-play difficult conversations: This teaches them how to handle an upset customer before one ever calls
- Shadowing: Have them sit in on your conversations to see the skills work in real time
- Build Deep Product/Service knowledge: Ensure employees have the most thorough understanding of the product/service and build trust with customers
- Teach Active listening: Educate employees on what questions to ask and to listen more than they speak
The goal isn’t simply getting the work done. It’s creating an experience worth coming back for and referring your business to others. Celebrate employees who create memorable experiences, not just those who complete the most transactions.
The Customer Experience Pipeline
At Orange Leaf, we believe customer experience doesn’t begin when a customer walks through the door. It begins long before that. It begins when you are onboarding an employee in the training room. Employees can only deliver the experience they’ve been equipped to create.
So if there’s a gap between the service you expect and the service your customers receive, don’t start by blaming your employees. Start by evaluating your training program (or lack thereof).
The conversations you have today, the coaching you provide, and the expectations you set all shape the experiences your customers will have tomorrow. That’s a pipeline worth investing in.
Because when you invest in your people, your customers notice.
And that’s how you Grow Big or Go Home!®