{"id":32609,"date":"2022-08-17T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-08-17T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hyken.com\/what-mixed-signals-do-you-send-your-customers\/"},"modified":"2023-09-11T13:32:47","modified_gmt":"2023-09-11T13:32:47","slug":"what-mixed-signals-do-you-send-your-customers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hyken.com\/customer-service-strategies\/what-mixed-signals-do-you-send-your-customers\/","title":{"rendered":"What Mixed Signals Do You Send Your Customers?"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n\"RepairI read Jan Carlzon\u2019s book, Moments of Truth, many years ago. It was one of the most powerful customer service and experience books at the time, and the content aligned perfectly with my idea of creating <\/span>Moments of Magic<\/span><\/i><\/a> for our customers. Carlzon\u2019s definition of the <\/span>Moment of Truth<\/span><\/i> was:\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\r\n\r\nAnytime a customer comes into contact with a business, however remote, they have an opportunity to form an impression.\u00a0<\/span><\/i>\u00a0<\/span>\r\n\r\nAt the time the book was published more than 30 years ago, Carlzon\u2019s wisdom was timely. And it turns out his wisdom is actually timeless, and I predict that 30 years from now, the <\/span>Moments of Truth <\/span><\/i>concept will be just as important.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\r\n\r\nCarlzon was president of Scandinavian Airlines. He used this concept to turn a sub-par airline into one of the most admired airlines in the industry. There are plenty of examples of how various interactions passengers had with the airline\u2019s employees created an experience that made them want to return and do business again. He also discussed how <\/span>Moments of Truth <\/span><\/i>went beyond employee interactions, such as the impressions from advertising, cleanliness of the planes, and more.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\r\n\r\nOne of those non-employee interaction examples was the tray table at each seat on the plane. In short, if the tray table is damaged or doesn\u2019t work, the passenger may wonder what other airplane parts aren\u2019t working. Such as the landing gear!\r\n\r\nI\u2019ll admit that drawing a comparison between a broken tray table and the landing gear on the plane is a stretch. <\/span>\r\n

Or is it?<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\r\nIf you\u2019re driving into the parking lot of a grocery store and you see a dirty truck and a sloppily dressed employee unloading food, then might you be concerned about the freshness and cleanliness of the food on the store\u2019s shelves?<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\r\n\r\nMy favorite version of this type of comparison is the restroom at a restaurant. If I go to the restroom and it is filthy and unkempt, I have to wonder about the cleanliness of the kitchen. If whoever is running that restaurant is not paying attention to something seen and used by many of the guests. How clean is the kitchen? Or what other details are they not paying attention to? <\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\r\n\r\nEvery business has its version of the broken tray table, dirty truck, or filthy restroom. What\u2019s yours? What are the unintended signals you\u2019re sending to your customers because of missed details, big or small? Then, pay attention to those details, as when they are mismanaged or overlooked, they can cause negative impressions. And some of them are easily managed. Don\u2019t let negative signals that are easily in your control taint the customer\u2019s experience.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\r\n\r\n