3. HIRING AND STAFFING DIVERSE TALENT

I wrote extensively about this key point in the last chapter, because it is truly your single best tactic for creating a fantastic customer experience for people not like you. Who knows better than a Gen Y person what another Gen Y person may want, need, or value? Who better than a retired person to connect with others who are also older and/or retired? An African American sales associate or female sales associate may be able to interact more successfully with other African Americans or women than anyone else on your staff. An Asian employee may have unique insights into the local Asian community that you simply don’t have. A bilingual employee who speaks Spanish as well as English will be a huge asset, because he or she is likely to understand the culture, not just the language. When you hire people who are not like you, you’ll see your business grow with new customers very quickly. That’s because we all have a network of friends, neighbors, and family—people we tell about where we work and what we do. So when you hire someone who is tapped into a whole new network, word will get around that your place of business is the place to go. Then when you treat these new customers with respect, care, and understanding, you show that you value them. And assuming they like whatever it is that you sell or provide, they’ll stay with you and become loyal repeat customers.

Get Crafting the Customer Experience For People Not Like You: How to Delight and Engage the Customers Your Competitors Don't Understand now with the O’Reilly learning platform.

O’Reilly members experience books, live events, courses curated by job role, and more from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers.