Running a successful company can only happen if your customers are satisfied with the experience they have doing business with you. This not only means your products or services need to go above and beyond but also that your sales need to be convenient and seamless. Building the right customer experience program is essential for ensuring your customers are happy and your company thrives.
Know What Makes an Excellent Customer Experience
Understanding what your customers expect from you is crucial for creating your CX program. Customers want timely and effective communication, omnichannel representation, and for the company to maintain a human touch while going above and beyond when necessary.
Timely and Effective Communication
Timely and effective communication is essential. Customers want companies to respond promptly, especially if the situation at hand is a concern. They need to know that the companies they do business with are communicating effectively and being transparent as well. This means being honest about your products and services, being clear about your policies, and adding that extra human touch.
The Human Touch
The human touch is vital as well, and it starts with your employees. Do the people you hire represent your brand’s value and style? Have you trained your employees in how to be personable while remaining professional? Whether you’re doing business in a brick-and-mortar store or online, make sure your customers are talking to humans.
An Omnichannel Presence
Speaking of online, that’s where the omnichannel customer experience comes in. Consumers want to be able to reach your company in a variety of ways. Even if you have a storefront, you should also have a website, blog, and social media presence on the internet.
Assess Your Current Customer Experience
How do your customers feel about the experience you already provide them? There are several things to consider while assessing the experience you currently provide.
Listen To Your Customers
The right customer experience is built on data. Send a survey to current customers asking them what they like and dislike about their experiences with your business. Pay attention to how you’re perceived on social media as well. Do you have a lot of engagement? Are you responding to your customers?
Meet With Your Team Members
Creating a better customer experience may mean that you need to make some changes in various departments. Ask our team leaders and their teams what they want to see changed to create a better experience. They may want to change how a product is presented or create a better user interface on the website, for example.
Assess Your Current Technology
Using the right technology both in customer-facing situations and behind the scenes is essential for improving their overall experience. Your customer relationship management software should be capturing, analyzing, and reporting customer data. Are there other features you could be using as well? It’s also important to ensure all of your customer-facing technology is integrated and provides a convenient experience for them.
Build an Emotional Connection With Your Customers
Customers want to feel connected to the people who run the businesses they frequent most. This means paying attention to each person and customizing their experience based on their needs and current emotional state. Research suggests building on emotions can improve your sales growth by as much as 85%.
So, how do you do it? Pay attention to your customer. Do they seem happy and upbeat during your interaction? Return their enthusiasm with a smile and an upbeat demeanor yourself. Perhaps your customer seems upset and begins to tell you about something they’re going through. Be empathetic and kind. If you can, go above and beyond for your customers as well. Send them flowers on their birthday or wish a couple well when they’re celebrating their anniversary. Paying attention to their big moments in life shows that you care about more than the money you make.
The customer experience program isn’t something you can roll out overnight. However, if you spend the time to build an excellent experience, you’ll likely see happier customers and an improvement in revenue.
