As a member of Toastmasters International I learned about an important concept called Moments of Truth. According to Toastmasters International, a moment of truth is an episode where a person comes in contact with any aspect of the Toastmasters experience and forms an impression of a club’s quality and service. While this is a definition that applies to Toastmasters, the moments of truth concept can apply to any business.
In Toastmasters, there are 6 criteria for evaluating Moments of Truth:
- First Impressions
- Member Orientation
- Fellowship, variety, and communication
- Program planning, and meeting organization
- Membership strength
- Achievement recognition
In this article I will explore how moments of truth can impact your organization, and how being aware of your customers’ impressions of your business can affect you positively or negatively. I will discuss first impressions, membership orientation, and communication.
First Impressions
Perhaps the most important moment of truth is first impressions, and this applies to any business, not just Toastmasters. When a customer first interacts with your business, this can determine whether they will do business with you. This could be their first visit to your website, or it could be the first time they visit your business in person.
A bad first impression can drive customers away from your business. For example, I still remember visiting a restaurant with my parents in the city of Whitehorse in the Yukon territory in Canada. We ordered our meals, and they brought us our drinks. However, after 30 minutes we still didn’t have our food. We approached the waitress, who had not visited our table during those 30 minutes, and asked how long it would take to get our meals. Her answer was that she had forgotten to put in our order. Can believe that? It was enough to give us a bad first impression and we never visited that restaurant again.
Another example was visiting a restaurant in Ontario Canada. This time, we entered a small restaurant. I had to use the public restroom, but the toilet was plugged, and the overall cleanliness of the restaurant gave the impression of it not being well maintained. When we looked at the meal choices on the menu, the prices were quite steep. We ended up not staying at the restaurant and they lost our business because they were asking too much money for meals, and they did not have a well kept establishment.
Do you want your customers to have negative experiences the first time they visit your business, or positive experiences? Don’t be like the restaurants I mentioned above. Instead, give your customers a good first impression, whether you are a restaurant, a community club, or some other type of business.
Membership Orientation
In Toastmasters, the membership orientation moment of truth is about how you treat your guests after they become members of your club. Do you ignore them once they become members, or do you support them as they move forward on their journey as members of your club?
This can apply to businesses as well. For example, how do you treat a customer after they start doing business with you? Do you continue to offer them prompt service and quality products? Do you continue to show them respect and to respond positively to their feedback?
If you work hard to give a good first impression, but you drop the ball after someone has become your customer, this can also give your customers a bad impression of our business. If you don’t provide quality service or good products, this can lead to a negative reputation for your business.
Your support system for your customers also matters. When a customer has an issue with your product or service, this can impact whether you get future business from your customer. For example, I once bought a fitness watch. I liked the features on the watch, but the wristband was cheap, and it broke easily. I was not impressed by the quality of the product, and I no longer do business with that company because I don’t want another poor-quality product.
Communication
How you communicate with your customers can affect their impressions of your business. Do you regularly communicate with them, or do you leave it to them to request updates on their products? How you respond to customer complaints and issues also matters.
When working on a project for a customer, I think it is a good idea to have regular communication with your customers. For example, in agile project management, you develop products in sprints. Every sprint you have a sprint review where you review what you created in that sprint with your stakeholders. This gives your customers a chance to see what you have been developing for them and to provide you with feedback on how the product meets their needs or how you can adjust it to meet their needs. Doing this gives your customers a positive experience with your business.
Another example of good communication is with how Amazon provides customers with a way to track the progress of their orders. You get email updates when your product has shipped along with a link to page where you can track the progress of your order. This helps you to know when your order will arrive.
A great example of a good impression is when Amazon sent me the wrong product when I ordered a book. Instead of receiving a book in my package, I received some nutrition supplements. When I contacted Amazon, they were happy to help me, and they gave me a packing label so I could send back the wrong item they had sent me. Then they created a new order and shipped me the book I had ordered. Contacting Amazon was easy, and they resolved my issue promptly.
Conclusion
A moment of truth is any point in time when someone encounters any aspect of your business and forms an impression of your business based on that experience. You want these impressions to be good ones. You want word of mouth for your business to be positive, not negative.
Remember that a first impression can color a potential customer’s future interactions with your business, and it can determine whether that customer will give you repeat business. Even if you good a give first impression, future interactions with your customers also matter. Continue to treat your customers with respect and always respond positively to your customers feedback, especially when they have issues with your product or service.
Always strive to ensure that your customers’ moments of truth are positive experiences. Whether they are a first-time customer or a repeat customer.