Customer experience (CX) is the impression a brand leaves with those who interact with it, influencing how they perceive the organisation. Besides pleasing the consumer, good CX can promote your business and increase your revenue. The reason is that satisfied customers will come back and refer their friends.
According to research by Microsoft, 96 per cent of consumers become loyal customers when a business offers them positive customer service. Another study by RightNow suggests that 82 per cent of customers decide to buy elsewhere after a bad experience.
For this reason, you should never take customer experience for granted. This article discusses customer experience management and provides practical tips to keep your customers happy.
Customer Experience Management
The objective of customer experience management (CEM) is to guide the opinion of customers about your organization. It starts with a comparison between how consumers perceive your brand against how you would like them to view it. The assessment assists you to understand your position so you can make the necessary adjustments for better customer experience.
To accurately analyse customer experience, you need a lot of data, which you can collect using a reliable CRM solution. CRM software can provide insights to help your team forecast customer behaviour and create future solutions.
Creating a Customer Experience Strategy
Your business needs a customer experience strategy to interact with customers smoothly. To develop one, think through the desired outcomes. Your objectives can be increasing sales, customer retention, more referrals, appearing as the best supplier, or emerging as a business with impeccable customer service.
Next, understand your customers and define what inspires them. Do they want reliable customer service or quick delivery? Also, know your customers' touchpoints so you can streamline your interactions.
You can now plan on how to make improvements. If your business is experiencing high customer attrition, for instance, including customer retention tactics in your CX strategy can help.
Ways to Improve Your Customer Experience
Let's now look at the strategies you can use to optimise customer experience and grow your revenue. We shall focus on seven ways.
Concentrate on the Customers
While this may sound obvious, many business owners don’t keep it front-of-mind. They focus more on boosting sales and profits without caring much about the feelings of their customers. Make customer experience your priority and your organisation will reap long term benefits of customer loyalty.
Personalise Customer Experiences
While reaching out to customers, ensure your content is relevant to various consumer segments and personas. You can segment your customers using parameters like the area of residence, their job, income, interests, and so forth.
Exploit social platforms like Facebook, Google, and Twitter to collect insights and develop comprehensive customer profiles. When you understand your customers, you can tailor their journeys so that they only engage with what is relevant to them. Personalisation shows that you value and care about them.
Incentivise Your Clients
Rewarding customers for buying from you is another way to show appreciation and nurture loyalty. You can offer rewards like freebies, loyalty points, discounts, and coupons to persuade buyers to come again.
According to research by InMoment, 77 per cent of customers remain loyal to the brands they like for at least 10 years. Apart from coming back, impressed shoppers will spread the word about your brand to other consumers.
Simplify Customer Engagement
Consumers won't tolerate a complicated buying process when they can have a simplified customer journey with your competitor. If they get confused along the way, they might give up and look somewhere else.
Consider the elements of your website, such as ease of use and visual appeal. How long does it take to load? Is it user-friendly? Which details do the customers have to fill to order something?
If you ask for too much information, some users will be hesitant to provide it. Even if you operate a brick and mortar store, identify the areas that impede a smooth shopping experience and simplify them to make the journey more intuitive.
Optimise Your Mobile Experience
Mobile devices have become so popular with internet users to the extent of surpassing desktop usage. According to the Pew Research Center, 51 per cent of American adults have used a smartphone to buy something.
It's imperative to optimise your website and apps for mobile devices. Your business software tools should be fast, navigable, and compatible with various devices and operating systems. A poor mobile experience can put off potential customers and drive them out of your sales funnel.
Develop an Omnichannel Customer Experience
Traditionally, consumers had to visit stores to view products before making buying decisions, but things have changed. Modern enterprises have to use different communication channels for smooth interactions with customers.
The reason is that buyers expect to find products and services on the internet. They also want to engage with brands via calls, email, messaging, chatbots, social media, and so on. Use as many channels as possible to accommodate as many users as possible.
Be sure to engage with consumers throughout all mainstream channels, and respond to their queries and comments promptly. If someone expresses dissatisfaction with your service, solve the matter professionally to avoid ruining your reputation.
Build Customer Lifetime Value
Another element of an adequate customer experience strategy is adding some value to your clients. Don't just sell. Stand as an industry leader and educate your customer base on various matters in your niche. Identify their pain points and lead them to viable solutions.
By so doing, you will develop a lasting relationship with them. However, building lifetime value doesn't mean making every single person who interacts with your business a close friend.
It's more about providing valuable information in channels like your website, blog, and social media. Focus on driving prospects into your sales funnel as you continue to offer satisfactory customer service.
Summing Up
Executing a customer experience strategy is vital, no matter how much time and effort it may take. Knowing what your customers expect from your business helps you to devise a painless purchasing process. When you satisfy your customers at all touchpoints, you meet their needs and retain them for longer.
If you would you like some help in optimising your customer journey, contact us for a free consultation.
