Table of Contents
Customers are the lifeblood of every business, so imagine instead of turning your buyers into loyal customers, you might be driving them to other competitors!!
Or even worse, they could spread negative word of mouth about your business! All that could happen due to neglecting your customer’s experience!
86% of buyers are willing to pay more for a great customer experience, that’s what studies say. So, ignoring the needs of customers leads to losing big opportunities.
But what is customer experience? As simple as it sounds, it is all about the journey your customers go through with your business. They interact with your business through several touchpoints until they form a relationship with your business, which can be positive or negative; the total of those interactions creates customer experience.
In other words, the quality of a product or service is not enough, customer support is also not enough, and neither is any factor on its own. Achieving a great customer experience happens when all the factors combined are perfected.
Here are 6 factors that, when overlooked, can cause poor customer experience… Pay attention to them!
1. Prioritizing customer experience can drive more than just sales
It might be taken for granted that fulfilling customers’ needs should always be the primary goal of any business looking for long term success, however greed always gets in the way! Creating a temptation to put sales and business expansion before customer experience. Yes, both are the foundation of any business, however nobody wants to buy from a business that lacks social proof.
Let’s take a quick test:
If you were approached by two vendors who sold juice, one selling an orange bottle and the other selling blue, remember you haven’t tasted any of them before, then you remember your colleague saying poems about the blue bottle, then which one would you choose?
THE BLUE ONE INDEED!
This is how much customer experience and satisfaction can affect your business! When customers are satisfied and have a customer experience, they will spread a positive word of mouth about your business which will for sure increase your sales.
According to research, 64% of people think customer experience is more important than price in their choice of brand. Remember, not all sales can generate a positive customer experience, yet customer satisfaction can bring not only sales but also long-term customers.
2. Optimize your customer service, it is the defense line of your business
Many people mistake customer experience with customer service. Although they’re not the same thing, they both work hand in hand together.
Customer experience is all about taking all the necessary steps to ensure that the client doesn’t need customer service. So basically, customer service is a plan B to fill any gaps that occur during the customer experience journey.
Customer service is the defense line of your business that occurs at any stage of the customer’s journey. If neglected, it leads to dissatisfied clients who will unlikely purchase from you again or even spread negative feedback to others!
This means that optimizing customer service is CRUCIAL to your business.
Clients get frustrated when they have to be kept waiting for their problems to be solved. To avoid this, utilize the latest technologies such as: live chat with customer service. You can also use self-service solutions like AI chatbots.
3. Make sure your brand experience is remarkable
We’re living in the era of “empowered customer”, buyers don’t settle for an ordinary customer experience or service. You need to do something that resonates with your customers.
No, there’s no magic trick; this can simply be achieved through PERSONALIZATION.
Studies show that 33% of customers who ended their relationship with a business did so due to the lack of personalization.
Personalization is more than just using first names in emails. It involves engaging with your customers in any encounter you have with them. It’s all about making your clients feel valued and cared for, and this inspires brand loyalty.
How to offer a highly personalized experience? It’s simple, start by documenting customer data and interactions constantly, then analyze that information to be able to customize your client’s journey.
Personalization can take the form of communicating to your customers through their favorite channel or providing product recommendation or even responding to their comments on your social media platforms.
4. Always ask for your customers’ feedback
Your customers are the basic foundation of your business, and the key to making profits is to provide the best service possible. So, wherever your place is in the market, it’s because of your loyal customers and their experience with your company.
Getting customer feedback regularly is crucial for the survival of your brand! To get their honest feedback you should regularly ask them how you could serve them better to improve their experience. Customers offer valuable viewpoints and highlight areas that need improvement.
This can be done easily, through surveys or even by asking them directly through the phone or on social media platforms
5. User testing and session recording are your 2 new best friends!
Why would you claim to know how your customers interfere with your interface, when you can simply watch and analyze.
User testing and session recording are great ways to learn about your actual customer journey and how they view your product or service in each step of the way.
For example, if no one is viewing a specific page despite ads designed to bring traffic to it, then it may be time to dig deeper into other methods to drive users there.
This helps you discover which elements of your website work well and which design suits your customers best.
Viewing the buyer’s journey from the customer’s perspective and how they interact with your product or service in each step of the way, this for sure will help you emphasize on the things that work best for your business and strengthen your weak spots.
6. Shipping can be your greatest dream or your worst nightmare
Shipping can “make or break” your customer experience! When utilized correctly, shipping can be an extremely powerful tool to enhance customer experience and even build brand loyalty.
Businesses should always strive to meet customers expectations, especially when it comes to shipping. Offering various delivery options and having an efficient shipping process will not only create a great customer experience, and reduce cart abandonment rate but it will encourage repetitive purchases and brand loyalty.
To sum up:
Ignoring the 6 factors above can lead to poor customer experience which negatively affects your sales, brand reputation and may even drive your customers to other competitors!
