Customer Experience is about far more than solving problems for customers. This game you can play with your customer-facing teams is one which can teach the value of tone, going above and beyond, and how language can shape the experience.

In this game, the exercise leader will pretend to be a bartender making a fancy new cocktail called “Orange Fizz.” You will replay the scenario 4 or more times with different people from the attendees acting as a bar patron in each round. Every time you replay the scenario, you as the bartender will change subtle words and actions that will provoke different reactions from the bar patron. All attendees will rate how they perceived the experience in two categories: Was the problem solved? and How did they feel? At the end you tally up the ratings to see if any patterns emerge.

You can start this exercise off with this excellent video that explains Customer Experience:

Required Materials:

• Pen and paper to rate each scenario for every attendee
• Orange juice
• 7-Up/Sprite or other fizzy drink of choice
• Cranberry juice
• Cups
• Two distinct shot glasses (if one is obviously twice the size of the other, that is helpful)
• Stir sticks
• Optionally – other bar apparatus such as a shaker, dish cloth, ice, fruit garnishes etc.

Explain the following to your Trainees:

• You are a bartender at a local bar
• One at a time, a volunteer bar patron will enter the bar by greeting the bartender
• The bar patron will order the new and exciting cocktail they have read about called the “Orange Fizz”
  • Orange fix is 2 parts Orange juice and 1 part 7-Up and always stirred and never with ice or a garnish
• The bartender will prepare the drink
• Every attendee, including the bar patron will rate the experience in two ways:
  • Was the problem solved (drink prepared and served properly)
    • 1 – Not at all
    • 2 – Close
    • 3 – Exactly as described
  • How did I feel as the customer?
    • 1 – Horrified, will never return
    • 2 – Meh, good but not great
    • 3 – Wonderful, glad I stopped by

Activity:

Unbeknownst to the bar patrons, you will play slightly different characters each time.

Scenario 1 – Great Experience, Perfect Drink

In this scenario, you should greet the customer immediately when they arrive, ask how they are doing, comment on the weather or a recent sports event. Give them the best seat in the house and “drop off a menu”, promise them you will give them a second or two to consider, but recommend the Orange Fizz as your favourite drink, When you come back, act happy they ordered the Orange Fizz and let them know you will make it perfectly and get it to them. Ask if they want any food.

Next Make the drink exactly as described, do it very carefully with exact pours, stir it gently. When you serve say something encouraging like “Enjoy the Drink”, after they take the first sip ask what they think.

Scenario 2 – Awful Experience, Perfect Drink

In this scenario, basically do the opposite. Ignore the bar patron until they comment at least one more time. Barely nod as they come in. No small talk. maybe a terse “Whaddya want?” When they order the Orange Fizz, mock the patron. “That’s an awful drink, but whatever, it’s your taste buds I’ll offend.”

Next make a perfect drink, again very carefully, stir it etc. Don’t say a word when you drop it off and end the scene with no further chit chat. If the bar patron tries to make conversation, ignore it or dismiss it as you are busy.

Scenario 3 – Awful Experience, Wrong Drink

Play as the same character in Scenario 2, with the exception that you make the drink with cranberry juice instead of 7-Up, if they notice, tell them they are wrong and this is how it is made, you’re the expert.

Scenario 4 – Great Experience, Wrong Drink

Play the character the same as Scenario 1, with the exception that you make the drink with cranberry juice instead of 7-Up, if they notice, apologize and say you have no 7-Up so this is the best you can do. Offer them a coupon for their next visit as a way to apologize

Note: You can add more scenarios. For example, partial solutions where the bartender goes to the backroom to ask for assistance on how to make the drink, or Google’s the recipe in front of the customer. Maybe the bartender has never heard of the drink and apologizes. Maybe spill the drink or make some other honest mistake and react differently, how does that change the rating? Depending on your industry there might be specific customer profiles you encounter that would be useful to have an analogous scenarios for and you can have a member of the training team “in on it” to play a character. Be creative!

Reflection:

Tally up the scores for each scenario and then see what the results are. In theory, even when the drink was not made, as long as the customer experience was positive, the average ranking should be higher.

Ask the team to reflect on why this is the case. How did they feel?

Ask how this applies to their work and what actions or words they could use to obtain the same results.

What specific ways can you show you care? (it may vary based on the type of work your team does)