The ultimate customer experience test

Earlier this week, I ended up with a seat at the forefront for an unexpected natural experience in business continuity. As I looked at the window of my Hôtel de Santiago, I looked at an entire city darken while the hotel in which I stayed as if nothing unusual happened.

THE Worse power failure In more than ten years, bavering Chile, affecting millions of people and businesses. From my point of view, the urban landscape was mainly black – only the buildings dispersed with rescue generators have remained lit in darkness.

However, inside the Mandarin Oriental Santiago, it was another story:

• The power was restored in less than a minute
• The scheduled events took place without interruption
• The restaurants were packed (because the places outside were closed) but gently operating
• The staff maintained their excellent usual levels of service
• Internet has remained functional while most of the country was offline

It was not lucky. It was the preparation of a foreseeable disturbance.

Continuity of unpredictable activities and predictable

While showing businesses how to reduce friction in their customer experience, I often meet an interesting paradox: organizations invest mainly in the optimization of normal conditions, but often neglect the preparation of inevitable disturbances. Being ready for the latter reveals the real strength of their customer commitment.

These events are not the real “black swans” that no one can anticipate. Rather, they are what I and others call the “unpredictable predictable” – events that will certainly occur, although their timing remains uncertain:

• Prolonged current
• Internet service failures
• Loss of key staff
• Disruptions of the supply chain
• Meteorological events
• Systems

When these disturbances occur, they create a unique moment of truth in the customer experience – which can either cement loyalty or send customers fleeing competitors.

The hidden king of preparation for disasters

A common objection to robust continuity planning is the cost. Backup generators, redundant systems and complete training require significant investments without guaranteed return date. However, this point of view lacks the substantial hidden king of being prepared.

Consider the position of the oriental mandarin during the Chile failure. While other hotels refused guests or provided minimum services, they: they:

Immediate income: They have not lost reservations and probably won it in hotels that have become dark. Their restaurants were filled – their own guests had no room to go, and they undoubtedly attracted additional guests from the outside.

Demonstrated value: The premium price was suddenly justified by a higher preparation.

Created brand defenders: Guests like me now share their history with thousands of potential customers. Histories of the great power outage of Chile will be told for the years to come.

Established competitive differentiation: When I come back to Santiago, my choice of accommodation is already made.

The image of the return on investment changes considerably when you take into account the life value of customers acquired during disruptions and reputation damage avoided by maintaining the levels of service.

Continuity of activities and customer experience resistant to disturbances

How can your organization are preparing for the foreseeable unpredictable? Consider these strategies:

1. card your vulnerabilities

Identify your critical service components and potential failure points. What systems, if interrupted, would prevent you from effectively serving customers? For each vulnerability, develop an attenuation strategy proportional to its probability and impact.

2. Design for degraded conditions

Perfect continuity is rarely achievable, but graceful degradation is. When Southwest Airlines was faced with a Systems In December 2022, they blocked millions of passengers in part because their computer systems were not designed to elegantly recover. Conceive processes that can work for reduced capacity rather than failing completely.

3. Train for the response to disturbances

Santiago hotel staff did not seem stressed or confused during the power failure because they had clearly trained for such scenarios. When we left an elevator just when electricity failed, a member of the hotel staff did not only pointed us on the stairs. Rather, she said, “I will come with you” and walked to the ground floor.

Regular simulations and role playing exercises help teams to develop the muscle memory necessary to maintain composure during real disruptions.

4. Communicate transparently

When disturbances occur, clear communication becomes as important as the response itself. Customers understand that problems occur, but they expect to be informed. Develop models and protocols for crisis communication in advance, focusing on clarity and honesty.

Shortly after the start of the breakdown, the guests received a notification in their room explaining what was going on. He explained that air conditioning systems may not work at full capacity and reassured customers that the hotel would do everything it could to maintain comfort levels. This not only kept informed guests, but he probably prevented a deluge of calls from guests who thought their air conditioning was broken.

5. Create redundancy in critical systems

Identify your “non -negotiable” service elements and strengthen redundancy around them. For my hotel, it was power, water, internet connectivity and safety systems. Non -critical systems, such as a massive pool waterfall, have been closed. Your critical elements can be different, but the principle remains: that can you not work without? What can you sacrifice if necessary?

6. Look beyond your customers

Not all companies have the opportunity to do so, but preparation of disasters can include helping others in the community. I described how the big supermarket chain in Texas, Heb, A emergency truck Ready to leave when there is a potential for a disaster. They often arrive at a site struck by a hurricane before the Red Cross or the Fema. They don’t care if you are a customer or not – Heb is there to help you. People remember it.

Continuity of activities – the ultimate competitive advantage

At a time when customer experience has become a main battlefield for business, preparation of disturbances offers a neglected competitive advantage. When your competitors apologize for service failures, you create loyalty by delivering when it matters most. You help your customers when they undergo maximum stress.

While companies are faced with increasing volatility – climatic events to the disruption of the teaching failure chain – the ability to maintain the continuity of the services will increasingly separate the market leaders.

The next time you assess your customer experience initiatives, ask yourself: “How would we lose ourselves if our main systems failed tomorrow?” The answer could reveal more about your customer commitment than on the results of your last satisfaction survey.

Customers remember how you have played in difficult circumstances. Without a doubt, many hotels have kept the lights on during the Chile’s power failure, but has their customer experience so transparent? I am sure that some customers of my hotel knew no problem outside.

Where do you think that (and other guests who shared my experience) remain on my next trip to Santiago?