Customer experience is the new edge which companies need to look into when competing for business. In an age when people value the experience more than the goods they buy, focusing on customer experience can give you the winning edge. How do you go about developing a customer experience strategy for your business?
STEP 1: Know the difference between customer experience (CX) and customer service
Customer service is the interaction which you have with your client whether it is face-to-face or over the phone. Customer experience refers to the whole customer journey from the initial introduction to your product or service to the purchase and finally to the after-sales service. This is all important when it comes to the CX of your business. Therefore, it can be said that customer service is a cog within the greater CX machine for your business.
STEP 2: Analyse your customer experience
You need to know what the customer experience is for your brand and product. How do people view your brand? What is their opinion of you? You can see this through the feedback you may receive on social media or you could send out a survey and ask your customers what they think of the customer experience offered by your business.
STEP 3: Create a clear customer experience vision
You need to create a customer-focused vision which is then communicated throughout your organization. Everyone should know what the vision is and implement it into their job. It must be in your training manuals and development. Your employees should know it off by heart and be the living example of your vision for your business.
STEP 4: Know your customer
The next step is to identify your customer and create personas for each type of customer you have. What do they want from your brand and how can you provide it to them. You need to know your customer better than they know themselves. This will assist in you offering them an experience they didn’t even know they needed.
STEP 5: Build relationships
People want to have a human connection with your brand. They want to know that you value them as a human not just as another transaction. You can do this by sending out a birthday card or a handwritten thank you note. This will all add to your brand experience.
STEP 6: Have quick responses times
It is important that should your customer encounter a problem with your product that you respond quickly. They don’t want to be hanging in limbo wondering if you will help. If this is the case, they will just move on to your competitors so it is important to attend to their problems quickly and efficiently.
STEP 7: Hire top talent
It is important that the people you hire for your business share your vision. If they don’t, don’t hire them. You want people who will work with you to create the best customer experience. Furthermore, it is important to have systems in place where your employees can give you feedback on processes which are not working and how they think they should be improved. This helps them to take ownership of their work.
Word-of-mouth advertising travels like wildfire with the latest technology so it is important to focus on your customer’s experience. Make it an enjoyable one and not only will you retain the current customers, but you could grow your customer base exponentially.
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