iTopIt Customer Experience Manifesto

Customer Experience Manifesto Example for Your Small Business

[Download Customer Experience Manifesto]

iTopIt is a self-serve frozen restaurant in Colorado Springs, Colorado formerly owned by Henry Lopez and David Begin. We sold this business in 2021. iTopIt is dedicated to helping families create lasting happy memories. One of our guiding documents was this Manifesto.

Delivering a consistently remarkable customer experience will be our unique competitive advantage, and will ensure the long-term success of our business. We will strive to provide our customers with a remarkable overall experience, not just great yogurt and toppings. Our competitors may easily copy our yogurt and toppings, but it will be difficult for them to match the fun experience and service we will provide our customers.

How do we achieve this? It must be part of our culture. It must be ingrained in every employee. And it must start at the top. We will lead and manage this business to be customer-focused.

• We will hire the right type of employee. We will hire personality and character above experience.
• We will invest in training, both up front and on-going. Training will include the required duties of the job, but will be primarily focused on delivering a remarkable customer experience.
• We will pay and treat our employees well and motivate them to deliver on our customer experience promise.
• We will develop, document and evolve systems that allow our employees to execute their duties efficiently and consistently. Doing so will give them more time to serve the customer.
• We will focus on the next customer visit, not just the current visit. We will always ask ourselves: what can I do to get this customer to come again?
• Our employees will be empowered to deliver a remarkable experience. They will have the authority to resolve most customer issues. They will be trained to view these situations as opportunities to create loyal customers.
• Our customers are not an inconvenience. They are the reason we exist.
• Our customers do not need to come to our store, so we must make them love to do so.
• We will always use good manners. We will say please, thank you and you are welcome.
• We will greet all of our customers. We will thank them for coming in, and we will always genuinely thank them for their business.
• If our customers ask for something, we will try our best to give it to them. One of our mottos will be “Yes.”
• If a customer wants to sample every flavor of yogurt and topping in our store, we will encourage them to do so.
• If a customer fills their cup and does not like it for whatever reason, we will gladly invite them to replace it with another one. If that does not satisfy them, we will immediately offer to refund their money.
• We will always try our best to give the customer what they want. We will try to avoid being taken advantage of by unscrupulous people, but we will always remember that the vast majority of customers are honest.
• Our employees are our most important asset in delivering a remarkable customer experience. They will do everything reasonably possible, and then some, to wow the customer. But they will not have to take unnecessary abuse. There will be some customers that we can never satisfy, and they need to go elsewhere for their frozen desserts.
• We will be involved in our community by supporting and engaging civic, school and charitable organizations.
• We will engage our customers through various methods, including social media. We will encourage and welcome their direction of the iTopIt experience.
• We will reward our loyal and repeat customers. We will make it easy for them to spread the word.
• There will never be a “Tip Jar” at iTopIt. Our customers will “tip” us by returning for another visit and telling their friends and family about us.
• iTopIt will always be clean and organized. There will never be a valid excuse for a lack of cleanliness and organization throughout the store.
• The food part of the customer experience is just as important as the service. Our frozen desserts must be delicious, our toppings fresh and plentiful, and everything should always be clean and tidy.
• Our employees must also always be clean, tidy, professional and in uniform.
• Phone calls are never more important than the customers in our store. Except for a true emergency, personal phone calls or texts at work are never acceptable.
• When a customer is ready to pay, we will do everything possible to complete the transaction quickly and efficiently. This always includes thanking them for their business.
• There is no such thing as taking too much time with a customer because every customer is an exception.
• Our customers will always be able to contact the owners easily, whether to complain or compliment.
• We will empower and encourage our employees to create (help to create a remarkable experience, help to create better ways of serving our customers), connect (with our customers and fellow employee) and surprise (our customers with the little extra things, not just the expected).
• Smile! It sets the positive tone for everything we do.

Related Episodes:

Episode 014: Remarkable Customer Service

Find all past episodes of The How of Business podcast on our Archives page.