Are You Putting Enough Effort into Your Customer’s Experience?

What sets your company apart from competitors? Developing your company’s unique selling proposition is an important strategy when seeking to differentiate your brand. Companies are starting to take notice that the power of great customer experience has a considerable impact on profit.

“89% of companies expect to be competing primarily on customer experience by now.” says Gartner Group.

Studies have proven that customers are willing to pay more for better service. Seventy percent of Americans are willing to spend an average of 13% more with companies they believe provide excellent customer service.

You need to have a clear definition of what customer experience means to your company and definitive steps your employees need to take to create this experience. Typically, great experiences mean expectations are exceeded; good experiences mean they’re met; bad experiences mean these expectations are not met. Here are ways to help improve your customer experience after it is defined:

• Engage directly with your customers. If you are not actively seeking direct input from your customer and solely relying on data reports to understand them, you are missing out on a big chunk of customer data. Let them know that you care and reach out to your customers in ways that emotionally resonates and captures their attention. Happy customers will increase brand loyalty and create more word-of-mouth referrals.

“Any business that has delighted customers has a sales force out there that you don’t have to pay. You don’t see them, but they are talking to people all the time,” says Warren Buffet.

• Consider implementing a voice-of-the-customer (VoC) program. VoC programs are a strategic asset for creating a customer-centric brand. Create a team that focuses on customer feedback on their experiences and expectations they have for your product or service. VoC programs focus on customer needs and define actions to take for company improvement based on this data.

VoC programs are the only way to systematically listen to your customers, use this information to take action, and monitor your performance over time.

• Embrace Content Marketing. Use interactive content and storytelling to strengthen ties with the potential and current customers. Don’t get stuck on traditional marketing. Switch it up with blogs, videos, quizzes and visually appealing content. Interactive content marketing offers customers a more valuable buying experience and provides the company with deeper insights for future marketing initiatives.
• Focus on Retention Marketing. Focusing on a new customer’s experience is great, but don’t neglect your loyal customers. Spending the time and money to market and build relationships with pre-existing customers can positively impact your business because:
  • They are more open to upsell and cross-sell opportunities, increasing their lifetime customer value.
  • They’re less price-sensitive because they know you’re worth it.
  • They are more resistant to outreach efforts by competitors.

• Respond to every single customer inquiry when possible. Take it from Zappos, they “respond to every single customer inquiry, whether it’s via phone, email, live chat, Twitter, Facebook, Zappos blog, etc.” In fact, many of their experience improvements are inspired by customer feedback. You never know which customer is going to provide you with the feedback you need.

“And in the end, you’ll be smarter. Client will be happier and your product will be healthier. Everybody wins.” says Alexander Maasil, Contributor for Entrepreneur.

Contact us today for assistance in creating a customer experience that makes the most sense for your company!

Jim DePew
Vice President & Consultant
Mobile: (330) 631-9022
Office: (330) 915-2355 Ext: 103
Email: jdepew@bdewees.com