What is customer experience ?
Customer experience is not just about how you treat your customers it's about how customers perceive and feel about your company. If you want to create a great customer experience, then you need to be intentional about it.
5 Main Things To Know About Customer Experience
What is customer experience?
Customer experience also called CX, is how businesses interact with customers to provide a positive purchasing experience. Every touch point with a customer from first interaction to ending purchase is summed up through customer experience.
The quality of the product and service are important but the connection to the customer within that experience is what they will remember most. The area of customer connection is where businesses can set themselves apart from others to build a loyal customer base.
How to deliver a great customer experience
For a business to stand out they must be customer service oriented regardless of the product or service being provided. An exceptional customer experience comes when the customer is put first.
If a business provides a great customer experience, the customer is more likely to return. The opposite is true as well. Terrible customer service will no doubt keep the customer from want to return and do business with that company again. Knowing what the customer wants is the way to deliver a great customer experience.
The Importance of Customer Experience
Customers are the lifeblood of any business. Without the customer, the business cannot survive. This is why a memorable customer experience is important to generate interest that has customers returning.
The most successful versions of a customer experience will have customers doing the marketing for the business. They'll have enjoyed their experience so much that they tell others about it. Word-of-mouth is still one of the best marketing tools around. Developing and improving a customer experience will elevate any business.
The 5 Main Things of Customer Experience
Customer experience can become confused with different terms like customer service. Although customer service is a big part of the customer experience, there is a lot more to the term especially from a business perspective.
There are five main components to delivering a great customer experience. Understanding these factors will help businesses develop an authentic experience that will build brand loyalty.
Those five main components to make a memorable customer experience include-
1. Understand the customer's needs
2. Provide a great user experience
3. Offer help with the customer's needs
4. Maintain consistency
5. Always use the customer's language
How to create a good customer experience
Today, customer experience is the most important part of marketing. Providing what the customer needs is what will build business longevity. Exceeding expectations is a way to create a good customer experience.
This can start with listening and understanding. Other areas where customer expectations should be met include-
1. Speed- Technology has become beneficial for guest services. For example, if a customer has a question about a product or service they can enter it in a live chat box on the business website and obtain their answer right away.
2. Quality- The quality of the goods or services being purchased should match the customer's expectation level. Good quality is at the forefront of developing customer experience that resonates.
3. Empowerment- It's important for customers to feel a sense of empowerment. Customer feedback is one way to provide that feeling. When a customer satisfaction form is sent out, the customer will usually fill it out for a chance at being heard.
4. Friendliness- If a customer service rep has a poor attitude it will impact the customer experience. When dealing with a customer, it should always be friendly in nature.
How to Measure Customer Experience
Customer experience is an important element to measure in business. In order to measure customer experience, the GROW framework should be employed.
GROW stands for-
Goals
Reality
Opportunity
Way Forward
All of this can be measured by asking a few questions at the offset-
- What are you trying to achieve?
- What is actually happening on the ground?
- What are the possibilities?
How to Improve Customer Experience
Customer experience is always changing. Understanding how the customers feel when interacting with a brand will help create the framework going forward. Learning what they want through trial and error will help make improvements down the line.
Managing customer expectations can be difficult but making that connection is important to great customer service. Little improvements can mean a great difference.
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Frequently Asked Questions
What is an example of customer experience?
An example of customer experience is when you purchase something and they immediately send you a follow up email with a coupon code for your next purchase.
What is the role of customer experience?
Customer experience (CX) is a term that has been tossed around for years. It's often used interchangeably with customer service and customer satisfaction. But what exactly is CX? CX doesn't happen in a vacuum. It's not just about delivering a great experience, either. It's about how the company's whole system is put together. That's because customer experience is about the entire customer journey, from first contact all the way through to the point where the customer has a problem and the company resolves it. For example, if a customer buys a shirt and it doesn't fit, the shirt manufacturer's CX process will include the customer's order, the production process, and the quality assurance process.
What is meant by customer experience?
What is customer experience? The experience of the customer with your product and your service is what we call customer experience. Customer experience is not just about delivering on time, or providing a quality product. It is about the entire interaction with the customer, from the first contact with your company to their last interaction with it. At its heart, customer experience is about emotions. It is the way your customers experience your product and service and the emotions that their experience generates.