4 TOP WAYS TO IMPROVE CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE
When was the last time you went to the shopping mall purely for an amazing experience you had earlier? When was the last time you went for shopping because you received a personalised invite from a retailer and not for impulsive retail therapy? You are right if you are thinking that customer experience has nothing to do with shopping behaviour because it all about price. Here’s the news flash! Retailers, online marketers and all other businesses are focusing on customer service to change this behaviour.
In fact, it is one of the most important business benchmarks that differentiate good brands from reasonable brands. So for instance, when Apple tops the list for providing envy-worthy customer experience and exemplary customer experience makes Sephora the talk of the town with around 20 million customers interacting with the brand, you sure would want to know why customer experience is so important.
How important is customer experience?
Customer experience is not just improving on ratings. It is much more than that. Customers these days are not buying products and services. They are buying experiences delivered via products and services. Some of the reasons for need in speed in offering greater customer experience are
- Great customer experience fosters repeat customers.
- Good CX makes a happy customer who will advocate your brand.
- Great customer experience result in greater brand recognition.
- Boosts in revenue owing to incremental sales.
A business that cannot survive without capital can also not exist without its customers. Customers who are happy and loyal! Isn’t it something for which we all are striving and fighting for?
Image courtesy — Super Office
Companies who can’t fight the challenges of delivering a great customer experience often face the consequences at the cost of customers’ trust, less sale and finally worse brand reputation.
The Disruption called Customer Experience
Customer experience is a process that requires hard work and needs to be followed as a disciple. Sorry. Shortcutting the process is only going to waste your money and time. However, done properly it can lead to erosion of faith amongst customers. So if we told you that through great customer experience you can ‘make a dent in the universe’, don’t take it as a laughing matter. Steve Jobs did it. So can you.
Understanding the customers and their pulse can seem daunting but as Walmart’s Sam Walton once said, ‘There is only boss. The customer!” And we can’t risk losing that king.
So some of the ways through which you can keep your customers happy and improve their overall experience to sustain a long term love-hate relationship are:
1. Customer feedback surveys
One of the inexpensive and vastly popular business strategies to gauge customer satisfaction and improve customer experience is capturing customer feedback. The effective way to implement an actionable customer feedback program is the customer feedback app or customer feedback surveys that digs out the most invaluable information about a customer. This information in turn supports businesses in formulating effective marketing and communication strategies.
Zonka Feedback is one such example. It is a powerful customer feedback app to create beautiful customer experience surveys & capture feedback about what customers really think about a service via multiple channels that include tablets, kiosks, mobiles (on-premises) and online via web, email & SMS surveys. It helps take actions on feedback through its detailed insights dashboard and nifty features such as real-time email & SMS alerts. Take immediate actions with tablet feedback app that sends alerts for low-rating feedbacks received. Intercept and try to solve issues personally with your customers while they are still at your premises.
2. Train employees on customer interactions
We all know that your employees are the first representatives of your brand and brand ethos. They are the first ones to touch base with customers. Whether it is a branch manager or wait staff, courier guy or the salesman, they must be customer experience trained irrespective of their role and post. Invest in employees and training to get higher returns from customers. When it comes to customer service and customer experience, even the small things can make a difference. Remember the famous mint story. where the wait staff who followed up with customers with a second set of mints after they presented the bill got 23% more in tips from the customers.
3. Concentrate on creating memories
A proactive customer service in order to improve customer experience is inevitable. Think about customer service before the customer asks for it. Airbnb is one of the most suitable examples here that lets customers experience the new places just like locals do, making sure that their vacation is much more than a simple holiday. Or Disneyland Hong Kong where breakfast is best served with selfies with Disney characters. A thoughtful approach that could deliver the thrill to a customer would most definitely be a stepping stone to excellent customer experience.
4. Powerful personal touch
Customers want speed and convenience coupled with a pleasant attitude. And nothing can be better than surveying on an online survey app, which is most apt when it comes to combining speed and convenience. Give this and most probably the customer will be willing to spend more money on you. Surprise customers once in awhile and let them know how important they are after all life is full of surprises! Remember the customary, unwanted childhood visit to the dentist and then everything turning into a memorable visit just because of the tooth fairy’s tale and a candy? Some of things that will come handy while delivering on the personal touch are
- Remembering the customer
How many times has the customer visited your website? Remember their name, their last order, preferences, and special occasions. - Fixing a customer’s problem
Fix a problem before a customer knows it’s a problem and increase the chances of happy customers for your business. - Acting on customer’s feedback
Once you have collected data, make the necessary changes that customers are looking for. According to Gartner, businesses that act on feedback often enjoy a higher number of satisfied customers.
Need to improve customer experience
We can’t put enough stress on how important the customer experience is for a business’s success and setting it apart from its competitors. Best-in-class businesses are optimizing customer journeys and their experience and redesigning their business strategies and goals.
Bottom line is — create irresistible customer experience as a company culture. Companies that rely on giving superior customer experience enjoy greater customer loyalty that transforms into better financials.
So think like a customer to understand a customer.
