Due to rapidly evolving changes in technology, the customer stands in a unique place in the marketplace of capitalism. With thousands of choices at their fingertips for everything from car insurance to clothing, consumers have greater freedom of choice than ever before in history, and with the addition of open and transparent reviews, companies without a strong customer-centric strategy are hearing the sound of the exit door slamming as their customers look for greener fields.
As a result of this trend, more and more companies have been adopting the “customer experience” approach. This strategy ensures that a customer has a seamless and pleasant experience at every step of the process, from initial interest to product or service purchase and to support and maintenance post-purchase. So, is this just another trend? Why does it matter to my business? Here are a few reasons to consider:
Remember: It’s Far More Expensive To Find New Customers Than To Retain Your Existing Ones
Marketing studies show that it costs five times as much to find a new customer as it does to keep an existing one. Marketing departments spend many hundreds of hours working on strategies to generate new leads through ad campaigns, special offers, and other tactics. Yet is the same time, energy and money spent in making sure your company’s customer service is the absolute best it can be? It seems counterintuitive, but perhaps it would be best to spend five times as much on customer service as you spend on marketing!
“Customer Experience” Data Analysis Allows You to Fill The Gaps In the Customer’s Journey
To best approach implementing a customer experience strategy, it’s often best to start with market studies and data analysis. For example, good data analysis can reveal chinks in your company’s customer service armor. You might be surprised what you find and at what points you are losing customers in the customer experience journey.
Optimizing Customer Experience Increases Customer Satisfaction
A satisfied customer is a return customer, which in turns becomes a loyal customer. Don’t treat customers with a faceless mass of numbers and dollar signs. Consider each one as a separate person with a history and likes and dislikes. Make sure you train your customer service and frontline staff in customer interactions. Make sure that every way your customers interact with your business through technological means is as streamlined and friendly as possible. Your bottom line will thank you for this attention to detail in customer service.
Delighted Customers Are The Best Brand Promoters
Your customers are an integral part of your advertising strategy. With the advent and continued saturation of social media, your satisfied customers can become powerful brand ambassadors for your company and its products, bringing their friends and acquaintances to your doors. Creating a customer experience strategy can expand your marketing strategy exponentially at a little additional financial cost to you.
“Customer Experience” Means Competitive Advantage
Is your company struggling to find its niche in a market already filled with similar competitors? If you do “customer experience” right, this can become your niche and you will find yourself in the upper echelon of most companies in your field. Even if your company isn’t as big or as well-known, having an impeccable “customer experience” strategy may well end up putting you in a class by yourself head and shoulders above your competition.
It’s Not Really About You, Anyway. It’s About Your Customer.
What sustains your business, after all? It’s not your amazing knowledge or experience. It’s not the incredible employees you hire or the phenomenal products you make or service you offer. In the end, your business will last because of the customers you make and keep.
