Christians Pub: Great Newfoundland Experience

Our third and final winner of our #GreatCX2014 contest goes to Christian's Pub! We want to highlight this George Street gem on the recommendation of one of our international consultants.

Here's the story.

One of our most trusted consultants was visiting from the United States. Based out of our Buffalo, NY office. He had managed customer experience accounts for businesses such as Apple, PepsiCo, Procter & Gamble and Target Corp, yet it was this humble pub on George Street that knocked his socks off. He was in town visiting some friends for Christmas and randomly dropped into Christian's for a couple of drinks before meeting friends for dinner.

First thing the next morning, he sat down in my office and said he found the greatest pub experience in North America.

"It was hands down the friendliest pub I've ever seen," he told me. "The bartender was friendly, informative, and accommodating."

Being a visitor in town, our consultant was offered some great information on Newfoundland traditions and customs, such as mummering and the famous Screech In.

"Bartenders need to be knowledgeable in today's industry," he said. "This girl really knew her stuff. I asked a simple question, 'what is a good local beer?' and she instinctively rattled off a handful of local beers and some tasting notes on each. I was really impressed."

Another patron sitting at the bar was becoming bored of the "fireplace channel" on the TV, and asked if they could put on something more interesting. The bartender pleasantly obliged and surfed the channels until they found something everyone enjoys, Dragons Den (one of our favorites here at Fortress!).

This display of friendly staff, knowledgeable service, and flexibility is exactly what makes a phenomenal customer experience. Congratulations Christian's, and keep up the great work!

Fred's Record: A shining, glowing beacon of Joy

As we continue our month-long highlight of businesses with amazing customer experiences, we turn our attention to the music world. The business of selling music has been pushed into the realm of "almost impossible" thanks to online downloads and pirates. Many industry giants have fallen (remember Music World and CD Plus?), but there's a few that not only survived, but thrived!

This can only be made possible through an amazing shopping experience. These businesses need to provide their customers with something the convenience of online cannot: amaze them! So, without further adieu, we'd like to recognize Fred's Records in downtown St. John's as one of the best in the biz for providing a great customer experience!

Here's the nominating message sent to us on Facebook: "For the #GreatCX2014 contest, I nominate Freds! Bright outside, bright people inside. Live music and local flavour. Perfect music store!"

The experience at Fred's starts before you even step inside the building. From the sidewalk, the bright purple building and bold yellow letters makes this place almost glow. It pulls you in. Resembling St. John's famous townhouses, the friendly personality of the building itself puts you at ease as you approach the front door.

Inside, you get knowledgeable staff who are active in the local music community. These aren't your typical mall music store kids, they're true Newfoundland music enthusiasts who have personal connections to most of the music they sell. An amazing rare trait in today's industry. If you show up on the right day, you may run into your favorite local star. Most musicians from the east coast frequent this shop. Either to socialize, play a few live tunes, or pick up the latest and greatest local albums.

We're sending a big digital high-five to the team over at Fred's for giving a great customer experience ever day! Great job!

If you'd like to nominate a business for the Great Customer Experience contest, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, or Google+ and send us a message using the hashtag #GreatCX2014

Great Experience 2014: Newfoundland Chocolate Company

At Fortress, we believe that businesses that provide amazing customer experiences should be recognized. Each year we hold a Great Experience contest, where the public can nominate their favorite business and tell a story of an amazing experience they had there.

This year, our first highlighted business is the Newfoundland Chocolate Company! For those who haven't heard of this east cost gem, the Newfoundland Chocolate Company is a chocolate manufacturer and retail operation that specializes in hand-made gourmet chocolate. If you still have some Christmas shopping to do, make sure you check these guys out for the best stocking stuffers ever (and yes, they have an online shop).

So here is the winning experience, sent to us via Google+:

"#GreatCX2014 The NL Chocolate Company deserves this! My husband and I wanted a special wedding favour that had a distinct Newfoundland twist for our out-of-province guests. We visited their chocolaterie and were given the warmest of welcomes! It was like being in another world, right out of a fairy tale. They were friendly and actually showed us where the chocolate was made. The product was phenomenal and the packaging was perfect for our wedding. Make the day even more special!"

Great job Newfoundland Chocolate Company! You guys got one heck of a sweet business!

If you'd like to share your great customer experiences from the past year, send out a message on Twitter, Facebook, or Google+ using the hashtag #GreatCX2014. The best businesses will be featured here and the nominator will be entered into a draw for a $100 prize package.

#GreatCX2014 : Great Customer Experience Awards 2014

We believe that great businesses deserve to be recognized. As the year winds down, we take a look back at some of the best customer experiences from 2014. Each year we like to highlight businesses who have taken their customer experience seriously and provided some special memories.

We're inviting everyone to share their stories from the past year of a time when a business knocked their socks off with their exceptional service, atmosphere, and overall experience. Let us know! If you follow us on Facebook, Twitter, or Google+, just share a post using the hashtag #GreatCX2014 and tell us your story. The best of the best will be featured here. If your submission is features, you can win a sweet prize package valued at $100!

Here are the links to follow us on social media:

Facebook: facebook.com/fortressexperience

Twitter: twitter.com/buildyourfort

Google+: google.com/+Fortressexperiencelive

WestJet Does it Again

Last year, WestJet pulled off an amazing treat for their guests. They had guests read off their wish list to Santa Claus before boarding their flight. When they landed at the destination, all their gifts came down the luggage chute.

So how do you top that? Well, watch this and get ready to sob like baby. This is absolutely what Christmas is supposed to be about. Well done, WestJet!

Santa Claus and the Customer Experience

With Christmas right around the corner, many businesses will be dressing up for the season. Without a doubt, one of the most iconic characters of the Christmas season is none other than Santa Claus. This jolly old elf with his red suit are pretty much a staple in any Christmas themed decor. Should your business cash in on the Santa frenzy by somehow incorporating him into your experience? We'll discuss the pros and cons.

As with almost anything, this decision will depend on your overall brand image and your target audience.

1. If your primary customer base consists of children (well, actually your customers would be the parents) then Santa is a no-brainer. You want Big Red to be involved in your business somehow whenever children are involved. The shopping malls have known this for years. It's a given that every mall across North America will have an opportunity for children to have their picture taken with Santa Claus every December. Why? Because it creates a phenomenal customer experience; the kids are excited, it gets the parents into the mall, which subsequently leads to shopping in the mall while they're there.

2. Even if Santa doesn't show up in person, he can still generate excitement. For example, this holiday season, retail giant Target has a Santa-themed decor throughout the store. This brand takes customer experience very seriously and puts a ton of muscle behind their strategy. As soon as you walk into a Target store this season, you'll be greeted by a herd of reindeer flying in through a hole in the ceiling, pulling a sleigh with the big guy on board. For research purposes, just go to a Target and do some people watching. Take note of how every kid's face will light up as soon as they walk in the store. Guess where kids will want to go pick out their Christmas list (and where parents will subsequently pick up their gifts)?

3. When your business does not cater to children, however, things get a little more tricky. Say you're a shipping company. Does Santa play a role in your December customer experience strategy? Potentially. A particular shipping company in Canada painted an elaborate Santa and reindeer scene across the side of a handful of trucks in their fleet. These select trucks were assigned almost exclusively for distribution to toy stores. Their seasonal tag line was "Helping Santa deliver Christmas". Let me tell you, every kid in town was over the moon when they saw Santa and his reindeer zooming all over town. Stores were talking about it and parents were talking about it. Everybody wanted those trucks delivering to their store.

4. Be aware of cultural sensitivity. While political correctness has given rise to the phrase "Happy Holidays" in place of "Merry Christmas", recent years has seen a resurgence of the "C" word. It's now officially okay to wish people Merry Christmas again. Most people have grown tired of pretending that "Christmas" is a taboo word and have passionately tried to bring it back. That being said, depending on your target audience, involving Christmas may not be wise. Say you operate mostly overseas or the majority of your clients reside in countries where Christmas is not celebrated. In those cases, you would be best advised to avoid Santa. While your clients may not necessarily be offended by the theme, it just might not be culturally relevant. It would be like having a Chinese New Year themed strategy when your business caters primarily to Caucasian Americans; they wouldn't be offended by the theme, it just wouldn't relate to most of them. Essentially, you would be wasting your time and money by developing the strategy because it wouldn't add any value to your customer experience.

To summarize, know your customers. Know what they value and what excites them. If Santa makes sense, then find a practical and thoughtful way to work him in. If it doesn't make sense, then skip it.

Star Wars and the Amazing Fan Experience

Today is Black Friday. But more importantly, it is the day the first official teaser trailer for the new Star Wars Episode VII was released. This is possibly the only movie franchise capable of overshadowing the announcement of "Jurassic World" (which also released a teaser this week) .

This is a great case study of how a great customer experience builds a solid brand. Star Wars has been around for decades. It is still a big deal today, if not even more so. A Star Wars fan is incredibly loyal. They are willing to shell out incredible amounts of money for movies, posters, collectibles and more. They are even willing to forgive a disastrous prequel trilogy that had the potential to kill the brand. So what is it about the Star Wars experience that keeps fans coming back for more?

First, let's look at the teaser trailer (in case you haven't seen it yet).

There has been an incredible amount of excitement over this movie. Perhaps because fans believe they are due a truly amazing movie to redeem Episodes I through III, which fell flat among fans. This newest movie (at least as much as we can see from the trailer) will go back to the look and feel that fans loved about the original trilogy. It's dirty, gritty, and has a realistic feel to it. The CGI is less "shiny" than we're used to seeing, which is cool. That's what set Star Wars apart in the first place. In a era where Sci-fi movies where everywhere, Star Wars had the most realistic sense to it because of the grime. We all remember Luke Skywalker referring to the Millennium Falcon as a "piece of junk". 

By returning to its roots and listening to the outcries of fans after the prequel trilogy, Star Wars is poised to redeem itself and solidify the brand as the most successful movie franchise ever.

What can we learn here:

First of all, know what your brand is. If you're a dirty, gritty, grimy sci-fi movie, stick with that. It's what made fans fall in love with you in the first place. Make sure your business and everyone involved knows what you stand for. Be the very best representation of your brand that you can be.

Lesson number two: if you screw up and your fans yell at you, listen to them! Don't dismiss their complaints or justify your decisions. Instead, use it as a learning opportunity. Ask yourself (or your fans), "where did we go astray?" Use that feedback to get back on track and make sure you stick to your brand image.

Providing a great customer experience can give your business a boost through fan loyalty. Star Wars is living proof that if you win over your fans, they'll stay loyal decades down the road. Even after a few blunders.

Why Customer Experience Matters

Last year my wife and I were looking to buy a new TV stand. We shopped around to a few spots, and finally found one we really liked. There was a display model set up in the store for us to look at. We assumed that in order to purchase it, we would need an associate to grab one from the stock room for us.

We looked around for several minutes. No associate to be found. We wandered around the store a little to see if we could find an associate from a different department. Finally, we found one. A lady wearing a name tag clearly identified that she was an employee of the store and was currently on eduty. She was off to the side, tapping away at a computer. We approached patiently waiting for her to acknowledge us. About thirty seconds went by, and my wife (assuming the associate didn't notice us) politely said, "excuse me, can you help us?"

There was no response, not even a glace up from the computer screen, from the associate. She continued doing whatever she was doing. Because of my line of work as a customer experience consultant, I was curious to see just how long this associate would let us wait.

Ten minutes. And probably even longer. We waited for ten full minutes before we gave up and left the store.

Sure, we could have been more forward and sought out the help of another associate, but we shouldn't have to. We're in a store with the intention of buying something. It is the job of every employee of that store to ensure we leave with everything we came for. That's how successful stores make money.

Needless to say, we bought our TV stand somewhere else. Not only that, neither I nor my wife have ever set foot in that store again.

This is a great example of why a great customer experience is crucial to your business' success. A bad experience loses you a sale. But even worse, it loses you the potential of future sales. Conversely, a positive experience will score you that sale. It will also likely produce future sales from that customer. A really great experience will generate referral business. All from one great experience. If you are able to provide that great experience every single day, you'll have a very healthy business.

Here at Fortress, we've seen businesses completely change their trajectory solely because they made a commitment to improving their customer experience. What can we help you do to grow your bottom line through a superior customer experience?