How an engineer developed customer engagement

They said we were nuts: How an engineer developed customer engagement.

“Creating an opportunity doesn't necessarily create a need. So it's just making sure that in those critical interactions you have with customers, that they are awesome experiences not crappy ones.”

So says Flux Federation CEO (and Powershop Founder) Ari Sargent, as he reflects on early Powershop days in his latest video contribution, “Developing Customer Engagement”, part of this month’s Leaders Review televised & online series of leadership vignettes.

“Opening up engagement doesn't mean 24/7 - it means that at the time they (customers) engage, they can engage on things that are meaningful and get value in a simple and enjoyable way,” says Ari.

“I think the other thing is to do as much as you can to automate the interactions so you don't involve people answering phones for stuff that people can do themselves... that's where the Internet and mobile technology offers a great way for customers to serve themselves and engage with their product in high volume transactions. Make it an enjoyable and fun experience,”.

“If you find that you're getting called about the same thing frequently then that presents you an opportunity to say, ‘Actually, how can I do something in that space to make it better for customers and avoid them having to call?’ ”

“Typically when customers call about services it's because they're grumpy not because they're happy. So take that grumpy experience away by selling the benefits - if the customer see benefits they almost self-learn, particularly if you've designed a good experience.”

“If you can provide the motivation to a customer and say okay here's the benefit of doing this thing - then they'll learn themselves.”

“The other thing that we've found which was extremely useful and in our context was crowdsourcing - people telling their mates about how ‘this thing’ seems really cool and this is how you do it...or there might be a problem they have and they post a question on Facebook.

“We would have our customers asking other customers’ questions which is kind of the ultimate in customer service because that you've got your community supporting themselves.”

What: Leaders Review Focus Points - 2018 series. Short-form video series of public service videos for business by invited New Zealand business leaders (televised and online).

Where/When: On-demand at LeadersReview.co.nz as well as series signature TVC spots broadcast on TV Three various weeks throughout the year, just before the the AM Show’s 7AM National News bulletins.

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