Together for the customer, even with multiple teams. How do you do that?

Start from the inside to win outside. I know, perhaps not sexy advice, but I still firmly believe that the greatest gains in customer experience lie in better organizing your internal operations.

So, ensuring that your entire team works together for the client. And that is possible, even if you have to organize a wedding with multiple parties who don't know each other, for example. More on that later; first, in good Customerry fashion, some tips and tricks in plain language.

You never create customer experience alone.

Huh? But Sarah, don't you always preach that we ourselves must first decide clearly what the customer can expect? So if we know that well, surely we have the customer experience in our own hands?

Unfortunately, even if your company has developed a solid strategy around customer experience (and that still applies to only 8% of companies), there are still two major groups that have an influence on your customer experience that should not be underestimated. Rather abstract? A few examples will surely make it clearer.

Internal influences on your customer

• Your employees. You know the drill: in your head, it is crystal clear that customer service always comes first. But throw in a few diverse departments, and it becomes a whole lot more challenging. Not to mention customer-oriented communication, a skill so often overlooked in training programs. Before you know it, one of your employees says, “You need to speak to my colleague about this; I can’t do anything about it.” Right? Maybe. Customer-oriented? Not really.
• Your processes. To you, it might be perfectly logical that you first have to enter some details before you can help the customer with an order, simply because you want that information for marketing purposes. But is that the case for the customer as well? And could you potentially scare customers away by doing this? You can see where I'm going with this. We design many business processes from an inside-out perspective, rather than from the customer's perception and experience.

External influences on your customer

• Suppliers. You are super friendly and customer-oriented towards your client, but is the one delivering your packages just as much? Or did you make good agreements with your raw material suppliers? So that you don't run into problems with your customers due to their suboptimal processes, for example. Golden tip: the message 'yes, but our supplier didn't deliver' means absolutely nothing to a customer! After all, they are your customer and therefore assume that you select the correct suppliers to work with.
• Subcontractors. The above naturally also applies to subcontractors you work with. It is great that you make clear agreements with your client regarding cleanliness during construction, but do you also ensure that your subcontractor respects those same agreements? The same applies to freelancers you engage. All together for the client, even across different organizations.

But I work alone, so that's not a problem for me, right?

Wrong! After all, the chances that you, too, depend on a supplier to print your book, manufacture your product, supply raw materials, or simply deliver your package, are very high. These are things you don't always have control over, granted, but you *can* take them into account when choosing your partners. My advice for solopreneurs? If you don't *know* what you expect from your partners regarding customer service, you will eventually face an unpleasant conversation at the wrong moment: namely, AFTER something has gone wrong. So, ensure that you are clear in advance about your expectations and requirements for each of your suppliers, and how you will handle it if something goes wrong.

3 concrete tips to optimize your customer experience through better collaboration

• Know what you may and can expect from each other.

Make clear agreements, banish assumptions, and question everything from the customer's perspective. Agree together on how to handle an error, a complaint, or a dissatisfied customer.

• Regularly test, measure, and evaluate how things are really going.

Dare to regularly test whether your collaboration is really running as well as you think. Make customer experience, especially with external partners, a fixed part of your evaluation moments.

• Work on your customer experience with a multidisciplinary team.

Ensure that you truly work together for the client! Put together a project team with people from various departments. Do you often work with subcontractors or regular freelancers? Then they certainly belong on it too!

Bonus tip: something about behavior and communication

The above are golden tips that have only a limited effect as long as people have no idea the answer to the following questions:

'What exactly is customer-oriented communication? And how do I do it? What can I say and what can't I say? So train your team with the right skillset regarding communication and behavior. And yes, it can be simpler than you think!'

Our wedding suppliers: all together for the customer

As promised, a real-life story to show that it really is possible. After all, yours truly decided earlier this year that, together with her husband—a project manager—she really didn't need a wedding planner… lol. Anyway, so we chose to plan and arrange everything ourselves. What hadn't we thought about? That on the day itself, all the suppliers might just get in each other's way…

And yet, as a customer, we didn't notice any of that. One helped another with lighting, yet another provided extra manpower for moving the food trucks, and even the schedule was shifted around considerably. Not a single question reached us. How is that possible? Because when selecting our suppliers, we very deliberately looked for partners who exude customer focus. Well, what do you expect when the CX expert is getting married himself! So, I can't resist putting a few of them in the spotlight.

Customerry recommends: top suppliers for a great party!

Sven Soetens

Award-winning wedding photographer, but above all a wonderful, warm person who not only succeeds in capturing your day beautifully but, most importantly, knows how to completely unburden you beforehand. Sven has a super clear onboarding process and a clear step-by-step plan from which there is so much to learn. And oh yes, on the day itself he even took care of extra lighting for our surprise act, without us being disturbed for a single moment. Thanks, Sven!

The Red Scissors

14 days before the big day, the final fitting of the wedding dress. And then the bodice of my dress ripped neatly in two. Before I could even panic, the sisters and owners of bridal shop De Rode Schaar had already reassured me. With words like 'we are going to fix this, this is our profession, you can rest easy', followed immediately by concrete arrangements. Oh yes, and they also make the most beautiful custom designs in the most stunning building. Thank you, ladies!

Camel in flip-flops

Could we still decide a few weeks in advance if we wanted a wooden floor in our tent after all? Sure, we’ll arrange all of that for you. A solid team that comes to set up a beautiful tent and dismantles it neatly afterwards, and while they’re at it, asks if they should quickly lay an extra path for you, because that will be easier for your guests, won’t it? Need a party tent (with decoration if desired) for your next event? One address: Thanks, Team Kameel!

Skinny chef Alexander

I *think* Alexander doubted right up until the day itself whether he would be able to park his—most adorable—food truck at the location we requested. He had also warned us: if it wasn't possible, we would fix it. And they did. Just as they, without asking us, always served our grandparents in the tent first and, together with the other suppliers, resolved every little hiccup where necessary. And all of this while serving no less than 8 different finger food dishes. The fact that everyone went to get business cards afterwards said it all. Thanks Alexander & team, we are booking our next party with you again!

Simple as can be

I didn't need a wedding ring, I thought. And then the 'wedding fever' struck after all… No problem for Inneke, who managed to free up an appointment for me and, to top it all off, conjured up a magnificent piece of jewelry for me using my grandmother's old gold (origin and type unknown). Jewelry with a soul, a story, and a touch of Sex & the City vibes. Eternal thanks, Inneke!

The ice cream cart

Sorry Helga and team! Thanks to the surprise live intermezzo, you had to wait over an hour before you could serve. And yet, everything went smoothly and the guests really warmed up to your friendly service & delicious ice creams. And here too, without us noticing for a single second that anything was wrong. #superstars

And let's be honest: even without Kato Gateaux (mini cupcakes), Cassari (Sven's clothing), DGS rent (the most complete mobile toilet trailer), Eventa Rent (furniture), De maancirkel (ceremony guidance), Koen (DJ), and Otomatiq (photobooth), our day would have looked different.

Not to mention the fan-tas-tic master of ceremonies & the live performance, which we are not mentioning for privacy reasons, but are eternally grateful for. All together for the client? They really did it on September 2nd.