AFP Article on Customer Experience

Had a great interview last Friday and AFP wrote a nice article, so I thought I would share.

(Feb. 23, 2010) Do you know what it’s like to be a donor to your organization? Bridget Brandt, senior marketing manager at Sage Nonprofit Solutions, offers tips on evaluating your organization’s “customer experience” and enhancing your relationship with donors to foster long-term support.

Brandt is also presenting an interactive session on this topic at AFP’s International Conference on Fundraising in Baltimore, April 11-14, 2010.

“Whether it is a for-profit or a nonprofit, people who support a cause or buy a product or service are looking to have a positive experience,” says Brandt. “If they do, they come back. It’s that simple.” But assuring positive customer or donor experiences means knowing what it’s like to walk in your front door and talk to the receptionist, or call organization staff, or visit your website. “So often executives and leaders are oblivious to what it’s really like for someone trying to get information or get a question answered at their own organization,” she says. For many, when they finally find out, it is a real eye-opener.

Act Like a Donor

Brandt suggests making a call to the general phone number and asking a question about the mission of your organization. Ask what happens with the charitable donations you receive. Or, send a friend to make a visit to the organization and report back on their experience. Was the reception welcoming and informative, or unpleasant?

What you find out about your organization’s donor experience may not be pretty, but if you are open to the feedback and honest about the situation, it can trigger real improvements for the organization. “You should evaluate your frontline volunteers and staff, but do not punish people for being honest about what they do and don’t do for callers, guests, etc.,” says Brandt. “This should be a learning process.”

In fact, improving donor loyalty through a more positive donor experience also means creating a more positive environment for your staff and volunteers. Are they properly trained and prepared for their roles? Are they encouraged to do well?

A Unique Experience

Don’t stop by just tying up loose ends and assuring you are providing a positive experience for donors, though. Brandt explains that your organization has to stand out. Ask yourself: “What are we doing to create a unique experience?” Be creative. Use new technologies. Be interactive. Make it fun to be involved with your organization. It’s not good enough for your donor to have a pleasant experience with your organization, whether online or on the phone or in person—it needs to be an experience that makes them want to come back.

To sum up, enhancing your organization’s donor experience means taking a close and honest look at the various touchpoints of your donors. Each one should be informative, welcoming, even inspiring. Once you fix the flaws, then you can work on making the experience exceptional.

Bridget Brandt will discuss specific methods for evaluating and enhancing your organization’s donor experience in her session at the 47th AFP International Conference on Fundraising in Baltimore, April 11-14. Her session is titled “How You Can Create Experiences That Foster True Loyalty” and will be presented Monday, April 12, at 1:15 p.m.

A Phone Call Can Make All the Difference

Customer Experience can be so many things, but sometimes it can simply be returning a phone call when you say you are going to return a phone call.

This is taken directly from an e-mail I received this week.

“I cannot tell you how much I appreciate your follow-through!!!!! It was great to get your message and to actually hear a real person try to get back to me! That is a first…so THANK YOU for caring about customers!” Jane

Wow, this message amazed me because I was just doing what I thought everyone did; following up with my customer. Apparently that doesn’t always happen, and that is disappointing and alarming all at the same time.

Take away: Remember that your customers are your life blood and contacting them is always your first priority.

Social Media: It's Time

Social Media is everywhere and it’s not going away. Tomorrow we are hosting a webcast on that very topic with the goal of encouraging more nonprofits to get involved. Sadly we don’t have a ton of great examples because people are still in the wait and see mode.

However, instead of waiting to see you should be exploring and learning. Organizations that start now are going to be leaps and bounds beyond those still waiting to see if it sticks.

Ford is doing a spectacular job of using social media and really interacting with their customers. In fact, they are reversing a once negative brand image of the company by leveraging the power of social media. You can check them out all over the place by googling them, but before you do that think about what you can be doing to interact with your customers to be more involved.

Maybe it is time you start by listening? Dan Gonzales, Web Managing Editor for Sage Nonprofit Solutions, says that is a great first step and I couldn’t agree more. After that, start getting involved with Facebook, Twitter, and Linked In. Then move to an actual strategy and plan for your organization.

No matter what, it is time to stop waiting.

Take away: Get involved!

Customer Experience Love Bombs

Today I received this in an e-mail.

It is an amazing example of a great customer experience.

"THIS is why I do what I do!"
http://www.ayellis.com/blog/?p=68
Andrea Moe Atlanta

As organizations, I think we can all do a better job of being in the right place at the right time. With technology and social media it is much easier than it used to be. It no longer is a possibility, it is now a matter of awareness and timing.

The real trick in 2009 is being ready to respond when an opportunity arises. In Peachtree’s case they were 100% ready. They had the tools needed to create this experience, quickly executed, and boy did that pay off.

I am calling these actions “Love Bombs”. Not my idea, but I do love it. In order to be able to drop a love bomb you have to be prepared, and when it goes off you are sure to reap the love. I am confident that Peachtree would tell you that it is working well for them.

Take away: What is your organizations Love Bomb going to be? You never know when your opportunity to make a difference is going to come, so be prepared.

Have Your Cake and Eat it Too!

This past weekend my husband and I celebrated our 10 year anniversary. We had a small celebration, and we were both very excited. As a part of that celebration we ordered a cake. Now, this was not just any cake (obviously). I love all of those new cake shows and wanted to have my very own masterpiece. I enlisted a local cake artist and shared my vision.
He certainly delivered on the cake as you can all see, and it tasted even better than it looks. However, they failed to create a great experience.

When we went to pick up the cake, we were greeted in the pouring down rain in a parking lot. We were then told it would take too much time to drive two blocks to a covered gas station to transfer it from the delivery person’s car to mine. I think you can all imagine how I felt when the delivery person told me this.

Thankfully my hubby had a great idea and we were able to make the transfer, but I could not help thinking, "How is it possible that this company (who clearly had me from the first bite) could be so bad when it came to the final details of my experience?”

Take away: For those of you that have other people involved in aspects of your organizations. Take some time to find out the following:

1. How are they delivering your master pieces in the rain?

2. What exactly happens once the cake leaves the bakery?

(Puns intended, but the questions are serious...experience is not just one part, it is the entire transaction.)