Why is customer experience important?
Can you guess what the most exciting opportunity for a business is?
If you guessed ‘customer experience’ (or CX), you guessed right.
It’s no surprise that customer experience is a high.
In fact, companies who successfully implement a customer experience strategy achieve higher customer satisfaction rates, reduced customer churn and increased revenues.
Furthermore, research by American Express found that 60% of customers are willing to pay more for a better experience.
What is customer experience?
Customer experience (CX) is defined by interactions between a customer and an organization throughout their business relationship. An interaction can include awareness, discovery, cultivation, advocacy, purchases and service.
Customer experience is an integral part of Customer Relationship Management (CRM) and the reason why it’s important is because a customer who has a positive experience with a business is more likely to become a repeat and loyal customer.
If you want your customers to stay loyal, you have to invest in their experience!
Simply put, happy customers remain loyal.
It makes sense, right?
The happier you are with a brand, the longer you stay with them. And so if you treat your customers poorly and ignore their customer service emails, then they are more likely to leave. This is why companies that deliver a superior customer service and experience outperform their competition.
How important is customer experience?
A business cannot exist without its customers, and this is why companies are focusing on how to win new customers and perhaps more importantly, retain existing customers.
A survey by Bloomberg Businessweek found that “delivering a great customer experience” has become a top strategic objective. And a recent Customer Management IQ survey found that 75% of customer management executives and leaders rated customer experience a ‘5’ on a scale of 1–5 (5 being of the highest importance).
The challenge here is that even though it’s a high priority, many companies are failing.
When Bain & Company asked organizations to rate their quality of customer experience, 80% believe they are delivering a superior experience. This is compared to only 8% of customers who believe they are receiving a great customer experience.
So how many brands are truly delivering an excellent customer experience?
Surprisingly, not too many.
The Temkin Group’s recent 2016 Customer Experience Rating study showed a severe decline in customer experience. The biggest cause for concern is that the percentage of good and excellent companies dropped from 37% in 2015 to only 18% in 2016 — it’s lowest rating since 2011.
Customer expectations are rising, and faster than the speed that companies can improve their customer experience. Customers expect every interaction as the best experience they have with any company, so the question is remains, how can your organization create a great customer experience?
