BUSINESS 101

Who Are You?

Not who you think. And customer service guru Scott Deming will tell you why at the Chief eXperience Officer Certificate Program in New York

you are not in the eyecare business serving people. You’re in the people business offering eyecare solutions. Once you grasp this concept, you’ll understand the Chief eXperience Officer Certificate Program, offered at next month’s Vision Expo East, because your focus will be on the customer and the relationship, not on products, services, pricing, features, and benefits.

STUFF VS. SOLUTIONS

Whether you sell glasses, sunglasses, contacts, or eye exams, they are just some of the “things” you sell. They’re part of your inventory of services and “stuff,” but, believe it or not, this is not what you sell.

What you do sell are solutions, service, emotional connections, and unique experiences. All the stuff, it’s just the bridge—the reason for starting the conversation and the relationship.

Hopefully, you offer:

■ Quality, highly valuable products and services.

■ Friendly, courteous, knowledgeable service.

■ Quick responses.

■ Attention to detail.

■ Value for your customer’s money.

■ A well-trained, motivated staff.

But that’s just the beginning. Like your products, they’re the foundation, and they tell customers you’ve made a brand promise.

This promise gets you in the game. You may make one sale because of it, or even one or two repeat visits. But these things alone cannot create a powerful, emotional, and sustainable brand that separates you from your competitors.

ULTIMATE EXPERIENCE

The only way to do that is by creating the ultimate customer experience, which will...

■ Keep people coming back again and again.

■ Turn customers into evangelists.

■ Sell people on you, not your stuff.

Simply put, it makes you more than just another choice. It makes you the ONLY solution to their problems.

To do that, you can’t look at them as customers or opportunities for a sale. Instead, you need to think of them as opportunities for relationships.

To learn how to create that experience, register for the four-hour certificate course, slated for Saturday, March 29 from 9:45 a.m. to 1:45 p.m., at visionexpoeast.com. The program is sponsored by

and Eyecare Business, its exclusive media partner.

Get to know your customers. Find out what they like, what they would most want, and figure out a way to not just get it for them, but to do it in a way no one else is offering. Ask yourself: If I were that customer right now, what would I absolutely love from me at this moment?

Create an unexpected experience and blow them away. Create such wonderful relationships with them that they grow to trust and believe in you. Make your customer a HERO and he or she will never look anywhere else again.

— Scott Deming