Customer experience (CX) can be explained as the entirety of interactions a customer has with a company and its products or services. This includes a customer’s perception, their rational, physical, emotional, subconscious, and psychological interaction with the company’s products, services and employees.
This perception affects customer behavior and builds memories, which drive customer loyalty and affects the economic value attributed to an organization.
Product or service awareness, discovery, cultivation, advocacy as well as purchases and service are some points of interaction that contribute to a customer’s experience.
Customer experience plays a vital role in an organization, this role includes
- Improving customer satisfaction
- Fostering repeat customers and customer loyalty
- Increasing customer advocacy and referrals
- Reducing customer churn
- Creating competitive advantage
- Increasing revenue and sales
- Building stronger customer relationship
It is no longer enough for an organization to say that it is in customer service but must invest in its interactions with its customers more with an intention of building lasting relationships.
Ways to Develop a Customer Experience Strategy
- Construct a clear customer experience vision Have a clear customer-focused vision within the organization. The easiest way to define this vision is to create a set of statements that act as guiding principles.
- Comprehend who your customers are Identify the different type of customers who interact with your products and services. Capture their needs and wants, then work at connecting and empathizing with them at a personal level.
- Generate an emotional connection with your customers Best customer experiences are achieved when a member of your team creates an emotional connection with a customer. Customers become loyal because they are emotionally attached and they remember how they feel when they use a product or services offered.
- Capture customer feedback in real time The only way to know your customer’s experience is by getting feedback from them directly. Develop post-interaction surveys through which you can collect customer feedback to a specific service or product. It is from this feedback that you will know your customers real experiences and can build on this feedback to be better.
- Invest in developing your team
Employees are an integral component in improving customer experience. Identify the training needs for each member of your customer support team and invest in their equipping.
- Act upon regular employee feedback
Continuous employee feedback can play a role using tools that allow staff to share ideas on how to improve the customer experience and for managers to see how staff is feeling towards the business.
