Moments of truth customer service how to#
Moments of truth customer service skin#

Innovative companies such as Nordstrom, Sephora and REI, who really understand customer journeys, are now leveraging Narvar to close this gap and are capitalizing on this new Moment of Truth.

Moments of truth customer service how to#

Shortly after the purchase, the customer would welcome a video on how to put the workbench together, the space needed, the tools required, etc.īoth of these are examples of a branded experience that happens while the customer waits for the merchandise to show up. Or perhaps the customer just bought a workbench from an online retailer that specializes in hardware.

Moments of truth customer service skin#

Maybe it’s the middle of winter and the company sends a link to a video on how to protect your skin against dry and windy weather. In addition to the notice that the product has shipped, the company can now provide suggestions on how to best use the product. The closest thing that resembles that is the thank you email and the notice that the item has shipped.įor example, a customer buys shaving cream through an online retailer. That doesn’t happen with an online experience. He might come around the counter with the merchandise and walk the customer to the door. In a brick-and-mortar shopping experience, a branded moment after the customer has paid for his/her purchase can be ensured by the salesperson who helped the customer and rang up the sale. This is an opportunity to add value with a branded moment. This is your opportunity to do more than send an email confirming that the item has shipped. This is Sharma’s concept of the Actual Moment of Truth. What can you do to reinforce that the customer made the right decision to buy the product and do business with you? How can you boost customer confidence and avoid buyer’s remorse? Maybe the gap is only two days, based on two-day shipping. But, more importantly, there is nothing to control the customer’s emotions during that time. The company loses control over the process, other than keeping the customer informed. And, does the retailer tell the customer that the shipping company is a different company and there is no control once the package leaves the company’s loading dock? I hope not! On the contrary, the retailer usually steps up and apologizes, and then works to right what went wrong, even though it was totally out of their control. Obviously it’s the shippers fault, but who does the customer call? Not the shipping company. If the shipment shows up late, whose fault is it? Perhaps the truck with the package had engine trouble and couldn’t go out for delivery. Not only is there the lack of a branded experience, there’s no control over the outcome. Most companies, unless they have their own shipping department, now turn the order over to a carrier like FedEx, UPS or the USPS. Once the customer hits the “Buy” button on a website, the company may send an email or text notification that the order was received and maybe a follow-up that confirms the order was shipped. While Sharma calls this the Actual Moment of Truth, I refer to it as the Moment of Truth Gap. They might be able to track it on the FedEx page, but there’s no branded moment or cohesive experience.

Sharma shared his philosophy: In the online world, retailers drop the ball after customers click “buy.” Customers don’t know when they’re going to receive their package. It is that gap, as I call it, which is where this new Moment of Truth lives. That can be as short as two hours with Amazon’s new expedited delivery program, or several days, or even longer. Eventually, he left Apple to start his own company, Narvar, which focuses on The After Experience, which is the period of time from when the customer buys a product online to when he receives it. Sharma started working with Walmart in 2006, designing the next generation multi-channel supply chain network, and eventually made his way to Apple in 2010 where he drove all aspects of the shipping and delivery experience. I had the chance to interview Sharma about his concept. It is this new Moment of Truth that I want to take a closer look at today. Now, there is another Moment of Truth, which is brought to us by Amit Sharma, the CEO and founder of Narvar. Which then leads to the Zero Moment of Truth.

came up with a version, which it called the Less Than Zero Moment of Truth (