How to build compelling experiences for your customers
Your brand’s customer service team is a key brand differentiator and an essential factor in the purchase decision for consumers today. Many people will select one brand over another simply because of the superior customer experience.
There is a practical purpose to this, even if we consider saving your customer’s precious time. A poor customer experience can lead to prospects navigating for information by themselves, often not knowing where to look and with no contact details to make it easy for them to reach out to you. You know, the websites that do not have a way to contact them or send the user around in loops hunting for a way to reach a human being.
We can all identify generalizations in terms of what a poor customer experience might look like. Still, the essential part of the story for your brand is to focus on what makes for an excellent customer experience that is relevant to your audience to make you stand out from the competition.
This article will look at what exceptional customer experience is made from and explore some methods your brand can implement to achieve this.
What is an exceptional customer experience?
Customer experience is also known as CX, and it refers to the sum of the moments of interaction that your customer has with your brand, which are made up of both pre-sale and post-sale.
Now, I know what you’re thinking; undoubtedly, an experience is unique to the individual. A perfect customer experience can be viewed in multiple ways, as it depends on the type of interaction and the means of communication. However, there are some telltale indicators that your brand is delivering an excellent customer experience.
Your customers feel special
Every moment that your customer interacts with your brand, you need to consider what they specifically value, retain mutual respect, and project a common vision for your future together to motivate them to select your business as their brand of choice. It is like dating before you decide to commit to a relationship in many ways. Take some considerate steps to clarify to your target customers that:
- They are more important than basic transactional value to your organization.
- Their money and time will enable your brand to progress and continue working toward your mission.
- Their personal journey matches your business journey.
Your service goes beyond your customers’ expectations
Setting expectations is a core part of doing business, and this applies to customer experience. Keeping your promise is crucial in being a successful brand today as consumers are increasingly able to detect disingenuous brands or companies that do not deliver on their promises.
Failing to deliver results in a bad customer experience can have further consequences such as poor reviews or, even worse, negative social media coverage or even unwelcome news attention. On the other hand, companies that consistently meet or exceed customers’ expectations are much more likely to receive positive reviews and be shared in a positive light on social media, which helps build trust in your brand and supports customer retention.
Methods in creating an exceptional customer experience
Set up a customer feedback loop
Setting up a customer feedback loop is an effective way to enhance your product or service as it considers your customers’ reactions. A successful feedback loop will enable your brand to continually collect, learn and apply your customers’ suggestions to improve your offer constantly.
As the system can rely on a certain aspect of automation, it is crucial to plan and implement it correctly to get the best results from a customer feedback loop.
You can also be proactive during pre and post-sales by following up with customers to gather feedback to support your customer experience strategy. It is important to not annoy your customers with multiple calls and messages but to present them as opportunities to review the benefits of their possible or just purchased product or service with the promise that this supports the post-sales service in case of any issues or addresses any questions they may have.
Make it simple for your customer
Often, a poor user experience (UX) can immediately block a user from becoming a customer. By carefully mapping out your customer’s journey to brand adoption you will have a better chance of creating an exceptional customer experience.
You should adapt the plan for each customer persona to guide both the customer and your customer service team along the way.
Conclusion
Developing a solid customer service experience can be challenging, but it does not need to be a painful process. A successful experience can convert a brand detractor into a brand promoter.
The key is to care about your customers by answering their questions in a timely, polite manner and sometimes pointing them in the right direction to find the information they are looking for.
Building a customer service experience can be a valuable investment as a successful program should create a key brand differentiator.
If you have any questions about improving your customer experience or customer journey, please feel free to contact our expert team at info@relevantaudience.com for more information.
