We are all consumers of some sort, so why when it comes to our own business does the customer experience (CX) tend to come considerably down the list of areas of focus? In the end without their placing an order or custom, the business, no matter how good the product it is offering, how great the technology invested in, they will go elsewhere.
Going by market trends, CX will overtake price and product as the key differentiator in many consumer’s minds. Top that with research that 55% of customers would pay extra for a better service, it is apparent that a dissatisfied customer is the biggest threat to a brand and a happy customer is its biggest evangelizer. It has now become abundantly clear that customer experience is as important as other traditional business functions.
The question therefore is – how do we create a culture and environment where CX is seen as a core part of your business? The following are a few potential steps among others that will improve the CX for your business.
Sell credibility
The sales tactics of an era gone by, where customers were lulled, lured and sometimes intimidated into buying are now relegated to the annals of history. Customers today are armed with information, have methodically researched alternatives before making a decision. (This is even true for the automotive industry, which used to be counted as one of the most stressful buying experiences).
In these times, coming across as transparent and credible are the two most important customer experience factors. The task in front of you is to train your sales people to be transparent and credible, that can win the hearts and minds of customers.
Focus on improving customer service
Your customer service organization is the most important source of your customer experience statistics. According to the US chamber of commerce, a whopping 68% of customers leave because they are upset with the treatment they received while interacting with customer service and US brands are losing approximately $41 billion due to poor customer service.
However, the statistics are effectively reversed when customers are impressed with customer service, which means that a great customer service bespeaks itself as a great marketing tool. A great customer service experience acts as a vehicle for customer retention, loyalty and new customers by word of mouth reference.
Define your customer experience vision
Lastly, while it borders on cliché, defining the vision for customer experience is different from the norm. When you define your vision for CX, it should be bereft of materialistic results of improving margins or revenue. Why? When you focus on revenue, you are going to fall into the trap of metricizing the true potential of what you would want your customers to experience. Treat company performance and revenue as the by-products of what you envision your customers to experience. For a certain entrepreneur turned philanthropist, putting a personal computer in every home led to the computing revolution we are grateful for.
The more you engage with customers the clearer things become and the easier it is to determine what you should be doing. ~ John Russell
Know what your customers want most and what your company does best. Focus on where those two meet. ~ Kevin Stirtz
Going by market trends, CX will overtake price and product as the key differentiator in many consumer’s minds. Top that with research that 55% of customers would pay extra for a better service, it is apparent that a dissatisfied customer is the biggest threat to a brand and a happy customer is its biggest evangelizer. It has now become abundantly clear that customer experience is as important as other traditional business functions.
The question therefore is – how do we create a culture and environment where CX is seen as a core part of your business? The following are a few potential steps among others that will improve the CX for your business.
Sell credibility
The sales tactics of an era gone by, where customers were lulled, lured and sometimes intimidated into buying are now relegated to the annals of history. Customers today are armed with information, have methodically researched alternatives before making a decision. (This is even true for the automotive industry, which used to be counted as one of the most stressful buying experiences).
In these times, coming across as transparent and credible are the two most important customer experience factors. The task in front of you is to train your sales people to be transparent and credible, that can win the hearts and minds of customers.
Focus on improving customer service
Your customer service organization is the most important source of your customer experience statistics. According to the US chamber of commerce, a whopping 68% of customers leave because they are upset with the treatment they received while interacting with customer service and US brands are losing approximately $41 billion due to poor customer service.
However, the statistics are effectively reversed when customers are impressed with customer service, which means that a great customer service bespeaks itself as a great marketing tool. A great customer service experience acts as a vehicle for customer retention, loyalty and new customers by word of mouth reference.
Define your customer experience vision
Lastly, while it borders on cliché, defining the vision for customer experience is different from the norm. When you define your vision for CX, it should be bereft of materialistic results of improving margins or revenue. Why? When you focus on revenue, you are going to fall into the trap of metricizing the true potential of what you would want your customers to experience. Treat company performance and revenue as the by-products of what you envision your customers to experience. For a certain entrepreneur turned philanthropist, putting a personal computer in every home led to the computing revolution we are grateful for.
The more you engage with customers the clearer things become and the easier it is to determine what you should be doing. ~ John Russell
Know what your customers want most and what your company does best. Focus on where those two meet. ~ Kevin Stirtz
RSS Feed
