Think about the last time you had a really bad experience as a customer.
Perhaps it was a delayed response or no response at all to a query you had, or being transferred from one agent to the next and having to explain the same information over and over again. You probably ditched the brand and even shared the frustration with your family and friends.
As a matter of fact, statistics show that customers tell an average of 16 people about negative experiences (Deloitte) and 32% of customers stop doing business with a brand they love after only one negative experience (PwC).
Harnessing The Power Of a Great Customer Experience
It is important to note that customer experience has overtaken the price and quality of products to become the number one brand differentiator today. Customers would rather invest in a brand that understands their needs, expectations, preferences and constantly provides value beyond the initial purchase.
It's so important to provide a remarkable consumer experience because it is critical for your bottom line. Your customers are a powerful resource for growing your brand awareness and driving conversions. Click To Tweet
Stats That Prove The Value of CX Today
- 86% of customers are willing to pay more for a better experience (PwC)
- Customers are willing to pay a 16% price premium for a great customer experience (PwC)
- $35.3B is lost every year by US businesses in customer churn caused by avoidable CX issues (CallMiner)
- Speed, convenience, knowledgeable help, and friendly service are the most critical elements of positive CX according to U.S. consumers (PwC)
Unpacking Customer Service, Customer Experience & Digital Customer Experience
Customer experience (CX) refers to how a business engages with its customers at every stage of the buying journey. It’s also about how customers perceive their interactions with your company. Customer service on the other hand is one piece of the puzzle of a holistic consumer experience. Moreover, it’s focused on human interaction and directly supporting customers.
You might excel in delivering great customer service, but it doesn’t necessarily mean you are delivering a great customer experience. Click To TweetThe term digital customer experience refers to the sum total of digital interactions a customer has with your brand and is inseparable from the all-encompassing customer experience because modern consumers are now online more than ever before.
Customers are increasingly evaluating companies based on the quality of the digital experiences offered.
Brands that combine these three vital elements have customers who are more engaged, more satisfied, more loyal, and more willing to recommend their businesses to others.
Here are 5 Essential Tips to Improve Your CX
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Optimize the Customer Journey
Any company that wants to understand its customers and create better, more helpful experiences should have a customer journey map. This is a visual representation of your customer’s experience with your service, brand, or product. You want to put yourself in the mind of the customer and experience your business as they experience and consequently see where you may be missing the mark, what you are doing right, and also where you can make improvements across the customer lifecycle.
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Offer Personalized Engagements
Hyper-personalize your customer! Named the marketing word of the year in 2019, personalization has become one of the most indispensable marketing strategies. If you are not offering a tailored experience you are losing sales because 80% of consumers are more likely to buy from a company that understands their needs and offers personalized experiences according to research by Epsilon. Use data to create relevant, hyper-personalized digital content.
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Leverage the Power of Artificial Intelligence
AI has the power to analyze and process huge amounts of data from different sources, including human behaviors and emotions, thereby helping create exceptional, hyper-personalized CX. According to Gartner, enterprise use of AI has grown 270 percent over the past 4 years. AI technology isn’t the future, it’s here right now, and you can use it to deliver exceptional customer experiences.
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Pay Attention to Customer Feedback
The most effective method to provide a seamless customer experience at every touchpoint is simple – reach out and ask. Practice social listening, use post-interaction and real-time feedback surveys, and follow up over calls and email. Useful constructive feedback will not only reveal what you are good at but will also help you improve by reducing areas of friction.
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Understand Your Customer Experience Metrics
If you can’t measure it, you can’t improve it. – Peter Drucker. Measuring customer experience is vitally important for any business to improve. Metrics to measure include Customer Satisfaction, Retention Rate, Churn Rate, Advocacy, Customer Effort Score among several others.
If you would like to bend our ear on actional tips, tactics, and strategies to improve your customer experience, give us a shout.
