Customer experience is all about how your customers feel when they engage with your business. It’s not just about the products and services you offer, but also about how easy it is for them to get in touch with you and what it feels like to interact with people from your company. In other words: customer experience is a holistic measure of how your business interacts with your customers – at every stage of their journey with you. And as we’ll see below, there are many reasons why this matters more than ever before…
Customer Expectations Have Never Been Higher
Customers expect a seamless experience, they expect to be able to use the product or service in the way they want to use it, and they expect to be able to get the product or service when they want it. They also want you as a business leader to be willing and able to listen and respond quickly if a problem does occur.
We’re seeing a shift towards a feedback economy, where customers are more willing than ever before to share their feelings about brands they love or hate. Facebook groups like “I Love Brands That Care” have become extremely popular because they give consumers a platform to share their experiences with brands they feel strongly about – good or bad – and help other consumers make decisions about what products they buy next.
This is why customer experience matters now more than ever: it’s what keeps customers loyal through good times and bad alike.
Customers Can Connect with Each Other Easily Online
The internet has made it easier for people to connect with each other, and customer experience is no exception. Customers can share their experiences on social media and review sites like Yelp, TripAdvisor and Google. These reviews often have more authority than a company’s own marketing efforts because they come from customers who have tried the product or service for themselves.
When customers have to wait for an answer, they’ll become impatient.
If you want to succeed in the feedback economy, you must be able to listen and respond quickly. Customers expect direct responses from businesses, and they won’t hesitate to leave a scathing review if they don’t receive one fast enough.
Loyalty is a Thing of the Past
Loyalty is a thing of the past. They’re less likely to buy from you or buy from you again if they don’t have a pleasant experience with your business. Customers are also more likely to switch to a competitor, recommend a competitor and not return to your business if they don’t like their experience with you. In other words, customer experience matters now more than ever because there’s so much competition out there! Whilst every business should be striving to achieve customer loyalty it is not a given and businesses should be agile and aware of feedback and consumer trends. Knowing that every experience can’t be seamless, make sure to focus on how you put things right when they go wrong too, it’ll go a long way to keeping.
The Millennials are Coming
Not only are millennials a huge market, they are also more likely to share their experiences with each other. This means that your CXM has the potential to impact more people than ever before. Millennials expect companies and brands to be transparent and engaging, which means you need an online presence that can keep up with their high demand for information. Your website should be easy to navigate so customers can find what they’re looking for quickly and provide them with the best possible solution based on their needs at that time. If you want millennial customers coming back again and again because they know they’ll get great service and value every time, it’s important not only having a strong brand presence but also maintaining consistent service delivery throughout all channels available.
The Essential Ingredient for Business Growth and Success
It’s no longer just about price, customer experience is now the number one factor in customer satisfaction. WPP and Kantar TNS found that customer experience is now a key differentiator in the marketplace. It’s also not just about marketing anymore, but rather customer experience is an essential ingredient for business growth and success.
Customer experience is no longer a luxury; it’s an expectation that comes with every purchase decision and interaction with a business. If you fail at delivering this expectation time after time, you won’t have any customers left to serve!
The customer experience is critical, but it’s also the new normal. The competition for your customer’s attention and loyalty has never been more intense, and that’s why you need to offer them an exceptional experience each time they interact with your brand. People want convenience and speed, but they also want personalised attention from someone who’s willing to go above and beyond for them. You’ve got to deliver on all those fronts if you want to compete in today’s marketplace.
Implementing an effective CRM solution will only support businesses in gathering the much-needed customer data required to make informed decisions about how best to serve their customers.
We would love to have the opportunity to discuss how we can work together in creating a bespoke CRM solution for your business.
Let’s start a conversation, here.
