If you know exactly who your customer is and what great service looks like for that customer, this should be a piece of cake. If you are a banker, you might see a customer walk in, get assisted immediately, deposit a lot of money and thank you for the privilege. If you are a salesperson, you can probably imagine your perfect customer walking in, pleasant greetings exchanged, buying everything you recommend and then some, and again, thank you for the privilege.

What if I asked you to share this with someone? Imagine sharing this perfect experience with your family, or a friend. Imagine telling them all about it.

You would say something like 'So, I was just standing there, and then she, and then I, and then she, and OMG, she was like, wow, can you pack all this and that and that and that and that…'

You would tell a story, wouldn't you?

That's all we want to do in this insight, Tell amazing customer service storied. 

Introducing, The Storyboard.

What Is a Storyboard?

A storyboard is a visual outline for your story. It’s made up of a series of thumbnail images that convey what happens in your story, from beginning to end. It also includes notes about what’s happening in each frame. A finished storyboard looks like a comic strip.

So how does it help in customer service?

Let's go back to that perfect customer service experience we discussed earlier. If you can draw that up into a storyboard, it should be very easy for anyone to see what great customer service looks like for your company, department or process.

This is from a client of mine, where the vehicle delivery team made a storyboard of the customer process. The customer is the one with a crown (as it should be).

All the key interactions are shown as a unique panel. The script or the words they have to use come next and that is called process scripting, but for now, almost instinctively you know the activities that need to happen for this process to be 

1. complete & 

2. good

Storyboarding can help in the following:

• It clarifies the key moments in a process. I call these 'wow' moments, but that's only because I am tired of moments of truth (which to me sounds like a pathological liar trying to balance his karma once in a while)

• It helps you plan your process. If you don't see the customer anywhere in the frame, you know you aren't keeping her at the heart of your operation. If you can't see your customer smiling, feeling happy, elated, then a storyboard allows you to examine the process, frame by frame. In one case, the sheer number of people the customer had to meet to get something done was an eye-opener for the management. They kept asking, so who is in this frame now? and every time they would be told about a whole new designation.

• It helps you communicate your process in an easy & intuitive way. Try running a happy customer service process from a 20-page pdf document. Boring! When you have storyboards, you can print the entire process on one sheet and create a visual reminder for the entire team. You can also regularly work on each frame to make that micro-experience better. Think cold towels/water offered by businesses in summer. It's just one frame of the entire process, but they made it better.

• It simplifies further action. Scripting the words, action, lighting, staging everything becomes so much easier when you start looking at it as a movie.

How to do it?

Start with the basics.

Create a simple outline of your process.

Scene 1 - what happens. Who is in the frame? Where is it happening? Use stick figures. Repeat for every scene.

Stick to some pivotal points or action frames.

So, if the customer has to walk from the main door to the reception, you don't need to draw a frame for every step. 

Frame 1 - Customer opening the door to the shop 

Frame 2 - Customer at the counter

Show it to someone, anyone. They should be able to make sense of the story without you having to explain it. That is the first test of a good storyboard.

Once you have a good first cut, you can keep improving it, crafting a customer experience that will make them share their story with the rest of the world. Word of mouth comes from such craft.

Want to make this WOW? 

I Have 2 ideas for how you can make this wow!

1. Look for emotion in every frame. If you know the emotion you want to create, then you will be able to design a service to create it.

2. Make videos! Yes, not the boring training videos you are used to, but a customer success video. Get your team's best acting talent, write a script, make sure it follows the storyboard you created and simple make the happiest, service experience video ever! Watch it with your team regularly. 

At the heart of great customer service is a great story. Learn to tell yours.

Manage a customer service process? Own a company that has customers? Let me help. Write to me at p.bedi@eclathospitality.com & get absolutely free assistance on creating amazing storyboards > processes.

👋 We put out these small, enjoyable, actionable insights regularly. These are for hospitality & service leaders.

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